10th January 2012
Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) General Secretary Grahame Smith said: “The Secretary of State’s aim of ensuring the Scottish Parliament’s right to hold a legal referendum is welcome in that it potentially avoids protracted and divisive uncertainty on issues of legal competence which would have been to the detriment of the real debate.
12th January 2012
Grahame Smith, General Secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) has today (Thursday 12th January) written to the First Minister of Scotland, The Secretary of State For Scotland and the Leader of the Scottish Labour Party calling for the establishment of an independent Referendum Commission as follows:-
17th January 2012
In advance of the new labour market statistics for Scotland which will be published tomorrow, the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) has released its latest estimate of Scotland’s full-time employment deficit, which at 502,655 or 18.6%, is far in excess of the unemployment rate of 8.5%. On publication of this estimate, Grahame Smith, STUC General Secretary said:
18th January 2012
Speaking on publication of the latest set of labour market statistics which show an increase in unemployment of 19,000 over the 3 months to November 2011, Grahame Smith, Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) General Secretary said:
23rd January 2012
As the House of Lords considers the Welfare Reform Bill today (Monday 23 January), the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) joins children’s charities, voluntary sector organisations, law centres, and others, in speaking up for claimants who face difficulties accessing the childcare they need to allow them to take up employment.
24th January 2012
On the eve of the Scottish Parliament’s Stage One debate on the 2012-2013 Budget, the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) is publishing research into the relative performance of Scotland’s very small firms since the Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS) was introduced in 2008.
25th January 2012
Responding to the Scottish Government's referendum consultation, Grahame Smith said: "STUC will consult its affiliated organisations on the substance of this, and the UK Government's consultation, before making a detailed response to both. Taken together these exercises provide the opportunity to resolve issues of process so that the real referendum debate can move forward. However, such progress will require flexibility from both Governments and a marked improvement in the overall political tone.
