Heavy rain, thunderstorms and hail is expected across Palestine, according to the Palestinian Meteorological Department.

"Do not cite an academic paper unless you’ve read it" - I have always taken this for granted. Now I've started saying these exact words to my students at the beginning of every term. And reminding them now and then...

"Silicon samples" www.science.org/content/arti...

📣 Call for doctoral researchers! For our International Max Planck Research School on the Social and Political Constitution of the Economy we’re seeking doctoral researchers with a master’s degree in sociology, political science, economics, or a related field. Please share widely! s.gwdg.de/LNzUNa

Optimism is currently unfashionable. The newly published Community Life Survey asks, "do you agree or disagree that this local area is a place where people from different backgrounds get on well together?" I wondered if we might see a sharp decline this year; it has gone down 1%, to 80% agreement.

Increase in productivity since 1979: 87% Increase in hourly pay since 1979: 32% Just so happens that ~25% of workers were unionized in 1979. Today? 10%. As unions declined, the super-rich have taken a larger share of wealth generated by labor. We must build back union power.

New paper out today: How can we provide income security for the self-employed? Pleasure to work with @communityunion.bsky.social @prospectunion.bsky.social @bectu.bsky.social This paper sets out potential solutions for this vital group of people

Much of the current debate surrounding immigration continues to be based on misinformation. As our trustee, @nandosigona.bsky.social and Laurence Lessard-Phillips show in this new report, people significantly overestimate the number of irregular migrants in the UK. i-claim.eu/project/publ...

The government’s Employment Rights Bill will boost employee protections, but millions of self-employed workers risk being left behind. There are ways to stop this that won't cost the government much but would make a real difference says @lukeraikes.bsky.social of @thefabians.bsky.social

Save the date!! BUIRA 2026 conference will be held on 23-25 June in the Wivenhoe campus of Essex University

Equal pay win! 🎉 Thousands of women will today receive news of their payouts after a five year legal battle. ‘This marks a turning point for hundreds of low-paid women who have waited far too long for justice and equal pay’ said UNISON unsn.uk/4aavka1

Will AI and robots take all our jobs? My paper in the Industrial Law Journal tackles this question - and I've put it on YouTube. Basic answer: tech creates redundancies, not unemployment, which entirely depends on private and public investment. www.youtube.com/watch?v=LTUw...

In May, Human Rights Watch released a report showing how gig platforms use opaque algorithms to erode workers' wages. Now a new investigation finds Instacart is running AI price experiments: charging different people different prices for the *same* groceries, sometimes by more than 23%. Read this:

How is unemployment different for married men vs women? Do they face equal pressure – and receive equal time, space and emotional support – in the search for a new job? Or is it assumed that women have plenty to do at home? Aliya Hamid Rao explores #LSEInequalitiesBlog buff.ly/ydYqWv6

Regular readers will know I’m very exercised by this. It’s worse than covered here in employment/labour market issues (maybe others too) because with Brexit we lost a lot of routine monitoring data and surveys done by the EU. observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Brilliant Judy Wajcman: youtu.be/QqfunA6aSS4?...

"Linking much-needed support for students to international recruitment - an unstable and overworked income stream - is risky and unsustainable."

New report: even schools aren't safe from ‘Uberisation’ of the economy. Solution: EU member states must end the exploitation of the platform employment model by fully enforcing the #PlatformWork Directive.

📅 Two weeks remaining for submissions! With the deadline approaching, this is a good moment to finalize your contributions and explore how your work fits into the broader theme of SASE 2026 in Bordeaux. View the full conference overview: sase.org/events/2026-...

​Who would have thought?... Major AI conference flooded with peer reviews written fully by AI www.nature.com/articles/d41...

"Because our students' ability to *think* is at stake."

"1,000 Amazon employees have signed an open letter expressing “serious concerns” abt AI development, saying that the company’s “all-costs justified, warp speed” approach to the powerful technology will cause damage to "democracy, to our jobs, and to the earth.” www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Meet the DLR cleaners fighting for sick pay.

Disability History Month 2025

Why Elon Musk purchased Twitter :

BREAKING: We have filed an OECD complaint against Amazon for the conditions of their third-party suppliers and the retail giant's lack of due diligence www.ecotextile.com/202511256087...

My new book, The Division of Rationalized Labor, is now shipping! A brief summary of the argument to follow…

EU Court ruling establishes that the EU can set meaningful standards for wage adequacy and collective bargaining coverage, creating a foundation for upward convergence in labour standards across the Union, writes @rolanderne.bsky.social www.socialeurope.eu/eu-court-uph...

Many of the problems identified in the article are inherently caused by marketisation of HE. 'Students as consumers' didn't solve the problems we had, and created worse ones.

"Workplace organizing still has a unique ability to bring diverse people together in pursuit of common aims: a revived labor movement must therefore be a central part of any project of democratic renewal." @samuel-bagg.bsky.social blog.apaonline.org/2025/11/12/t...

Join us to hear from practitioners/academics discussing experimentation and innovation in unions, with insights from ETUC, European federations and national unions, covering cases from Belgium, Canada, Czechia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Poland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, UK, USA

In line with the ETUC, UNI Europa welcomes the ruling by the European Court of Justice confirming the validity of the EU Minimum Wage Directive.

There is no pathway to upward wage mobility as an Amazon driver, as opposed to drivers at a unionized workplace like UPS Stark figure from @dschneider.bsky.social @profsheenalives.bsky.social @juliesulabor.bsky.social Kevin Bruey

New analysis with @ruthpatrick0.bsky.social and @kittyjstewart.bsky.social: If we are serious about trying to reduce child poverty we cannot rely on employment alone. We need serious investment in social security. largerfamilies.study/publications...

Study of union members in Malta shows that when stewards are seen as effective, members report greater trust and willingness to take part in union activities—from meetings to industrial action. doi.org/10.1177/0022... @labornotes.bsky.social @labourstart.bsky.social #IndustrialRelations #Unions

CREW/TMRC Seminar: "Perspectives on ‘social value’ in the contemporary service economy" 📅Dec 10 - 2-5pm GMT 📍University of Greenwich Dr Adrian Madden, University of York: Luke Cheadle, Hospitality UK Dr Oyinkansola Odunjo, CREW Lunch 1pm. Please book here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/perspectiv...

'With education and a move towards renewable energy, we can honour his legacy" By @noosarowiwa.bsky.social (whose travel books are also amazing) www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

Early rainy morning on campus @ University of Greenwich

📣 How are SMEs using generative AI today? Can it help address labour and skill challenges? If you missed our second Autumn 2025 Digit Debates event, ‘Generative AI: A solution to the SME skills challenge?’, you can now watch a recording on our website: digit-research.org/events/gener...

The elimination of USAID was an unforgivable moral atrocity that should haunt Trump, Elon Musk and Marco Rubio for the rest of their days and beyond

Vital piece of investigative reporting from Sky. They've uncovered the X algorithm which feeds users extremist right wing material from the moment they join the site. It is a far-right radicalisation engine, by design. news.sky.com/story/the-x-...

I hope it is now obvious why pillars of democracy like universities, the law, public broadcasting should be funded so that they are beyond the reach of financial coercion by hostile agents.

Important to read: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

What is working-class power? . Watch Masoud Movahed to know more - “Working-class structural power, associational power, and income inequality” #industrialrelations doi.org/10.1177/0022... 📽️ youtu.be/IXdcuV4ol1Q @labornotes.bsky.social @etuc-ces.bsky.social @tuc.org.uk @lawcha.bsky.social

From a family story to a global question. eui-history.bsky.social researcher Julià Gómez Reig explores how fascism spread across borders in 1920s Europe, and why it still matters today. 🎥 Watch the full story: https://loom.ly/u6fXk50

🚨New paper out in @jeppjournal.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1080/1350... @manuelwagner.bsky.social & I re-conceptualize class representation to take into account social mobility between classes and variation in how individuals enter politics.

Employment Rights Bill back in the Lords: Usdaw calls on Peers to end their opposition after MPs reject Lords’ amendments www.usdaw.org.uk/latest-news/...

📢Stop the Agency Rip Off! Supply teachers are being paid below national scales and denied access to their pensions, while agencies profit from the money schools provide. The government must act now to fix this. #StopTheAgencyRipOff

🎧 Tackling Inequality – now on Spotify! Real stories. Real action. Hear how we’re tackling inequality and driving change across the union on this week’s CWU Live podcast 👇 www.cwu.org/podcast/desp...