ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT delve into the strange, active – and sometimes predatory – world of plants
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Tackle ‘flags of convenience’ and protect domestic shipping
The lesson from the pandemic is clear: the global maritime industry must be properly regulated, warns MARK DICKINSON
A general view of the Port of Liverpool
A growing coalition, Cymru Together, is challenging traditional politics – calling for practical plans that connect climate action with economic justice, writes BETHAN SAYED
While politicians fixate on defence budgets, the real answers lie in peace-building and economic justice, says ALAN SIMPSON
ANDREA BRADLEY highlights how a City of Glasgow College health and safety dispute is the subject of an STUC Congress emergency motion
Labour government must urgently start to implement the policies on which it got elected, or it will face curtains, writes BRIAN LEISHMAN MP
CND and the Stop the War Coalition are calling for a mass protest this Saturday to end British complicity in illegal US strikes at RAF Fairford. SOPHIE BOLT explains
FLAGS of convenience (FOCs) are a legal aberration and a stain on the shipping industry. They provide shipowners with the means of avoiding effective control by the countries of ownership, mostly from the global North, and the enforcement of strict rules and regulations that protect seafarers.
They have become a powerful vehicle for social dumping by allowing shipowners to exploit weaker legislation and lack of enforcement meaning lower wages, longer tours of duty and hours of work, and unsafe working conditions for seafarers.
Low or no taxes are also a key motivating factor behind a shipowner’s decision to use FOCs, many of which are considered tax havens.
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The biggest strike in global history is a template for our future. The silence tells you all you need to know, writes CLAUDIA WEBBE
MARTYN GRAY asks TUC congress to endorse measures that would help stop the present exploitation of seafarers
The Bill addresses some exploitation but leaves trade unions heavily regulated, most workers without collective bargaining coverage, and fails to tackle the balance of power that enables constant mutation of bad practice, write KEITH EWING and LORD JOHN HENDY KC
TONY BURKE says an International Labour Conference next month will try for a new convention to protect often super-exploited workers providing services such as ride-hailing (taxis) such as Uber as well as fast food and package delivery