For me, one of the most interesting things about the screenwriters’ dispute in the States (click here to support it!), is the use that individual Writers’ Guild members have been making of online video to contribute to the overall campaign. Here are a few of them (hat tip: James). Read the rest of this entry »

Writers’ Guild of Great Britain members (though outnumbered in this pic 2:1 by NUJ members) were out in force yesterday, to mark an international day of solidarity with the striking screenwriters of the Writers’ Guild of America. I managed to pop by for the end of it, after an exciting (no, really) team away day morning a few streets over. Read the rest of this entry »

Samarand Salehi is the 17 year old son of imprisoned Iranian unionist Mahmoud Salehi, and I’m sure his Dad would be very proud of him.

He’s written a very moving article (Mahmoud Salehi is unforgetable - Do not forget him!) about the difficulties for his family over the years that Mahmoud has spent in jail, as a result of his trade union activities, since Samarand was 12. Read the rest of this entry »

Geek amusement of the day comes from Tom Watson and Chris Paul, who are gloating to various degrees over the Facebook humbling of South Manchester MP/Councillor John Leech, after it was exposed that his Labour rival for the seat, Lucy Powell, had 124 times his number of friends. Politeness (and a keen awareness that I don’t have too many facepals myself) keeps me from mentioning the exact size of Mr Leech’s online entourage - you’ll have to click. Read the rest of this entry »

‘Welcome to the gang’ for Engadget writer, Conrad Quilty-Harper who, after exercising a bit more determination than most new members are required to show, has just become the latest member of the NUJ. Conrad is unusual, in this the NUJ’s centenary year, as the first ever member to have the job title of ‘Blogger’. Read the rest of this entry »

Rave advance reviews for the new album from the utterly remarkable Marseille Figs. The Dirty Canon sounds like a bigger, bolder and much more brashly produced version of their demo CD stuff, which I really loved. Read the rest of this entry »

I went shopping earlier this year, to find myself a new t-shirt. I’m very hard to please when it comes to t-shirts, and a good shirt hunt can take me quite a way across the city. On this occasion I happened onto the Firetrap shop at London’s Seven Dials, where I found a nice tailored, black, soft cotton shirt, stitched with a large eagle crest. I quite like Firetrap clothes, when I can fit into them, but what really sold me on this one was the legend writ large around the eagle: “Firetrap: Union made”. Read the rest of this entry »

We in TIGMOO love our folk art. Enamel badges and glorious banners are a kind of comfort to unionists - showing us our place alongside the millions who’ve taken that route before.

As unions merge or modernise though, the painted banners of old, with the quasi-heraldic panels showing members’ trades, union heroes and famous incidents are giving way to large, bold logo prints and slogans (though to be fair I guess it’s also as some of them are now precious antiques that we need to preserve a bit better than hoicking them around Clerkenwell in the rain). Read the rest of this entry »

Clever ploy by the NUJ to make us Stand Up for Journalism, by cramming so many people into the room for last night’s rally that we didn’t have a choice about standing up Read the rest of this entry »

A most unexpected burst of sunshine made Saturday’s demo for the NHS into a pretty enjoyable way to spend a few hours. It wasn’t your run-of-the-(trouble-at)-mill union demonstration either - the attendance of a whole bunch of carnival artists really jolted people out of the traditional slump you’re likely to get halfway round a march. It’s hard not to be jolly when you’re walking next to a couple of giant lobsters on stilts.

Read the rest of this entry »