Emiliano Mellino

A graphic which uses the colours of the Palestinian flag: white, black, red and green. Text at the top reads “No games for genocide”, and text at the bottom reads “Boycott Xbox, Sign the pledge”, with the website nogamesforgenocide.com below. In the middle of the graphic is an icon of a fist punching upwards, splitting a missile in half. One half of the broken missile has the Xbox logo on it, and the other half has the Microsoft logo on it.

SIGN OUR BOYCOTT XBOX PLEDGE: We are asking gamers, game workers, streamers & journalists to join us in boycotting & divesting from Xbox, to force Microsoft to end its complicity in the genocide of Palestinians.

We’ve provided concrete actions everyone can take. Sign here: nogamesforgenocide.com

This is something we've raised since "day one" rights were first mentioned.

Farm workers here on temporary visas remain without unfair dismissal protections-even when returning every year.

Last yr we had 145 dismissal cases: used as a threat, used when people complain, used to maintain power.

One of the reasons I'm so interested in getting full rights the first day of employment is I've been seeing more and more games industry companies firing workers for bullshit reasons before their probation is up.

So they're giving one-week pay and notice after 6-9 months of work.

Screenshot of IER analysis: "If business had succeeded in persuading the government to accede to suspend unfair dismissal rights for six months, the consequences might have been profound. There would be an increase in five-month fixed term contracts. Seasonal workers would never gain the protection which the New Deal envisaged for all workers. Many workers would be induced to accept zero hours contracts under threat of dismissal within six months. There would be a widespread fear of asserting Day One rights for fear of dismissal without redress during the first six months. Probationary periods would be likely to become universal."

When the proposal for day-one unfair dismissal rights was last under threat @ieruk.bsky.social said the impact of replacing it with a 6-month qualifying period was profound: 5-month fixed term contracts, no rights for seasonal workers & people pressured into 0-hours.
www.ier.org.uk/comments/a-b...

What I’d like to understand is how these journalists become aware of these stories, because they are certainly not going through the decision database systematically. Are law firm PR departments complicit?

Yeah, like you spotted with this one what tends to happen is that in the desperate attempt to get a catchy headline they will find one small aspect of the ruling and misrepresent it entirely.

I wish it was just them, but unfortunately it is a problem across most media.

Station chief who allowed the word ‘fireman’ loses tribunal case Simon Bailey, who described himself as old-fashioned, was sacked for a ‘longstanding campaign’ of ‘derogatory’ comments after Sasha Acheson complained new

The Times’ reporting on employment tribunals is routinely awful. The headlines are clickbait claims which the body copy often contradicts. In this case the issue was not the use of the word “fireman” but failing to challenge a campaign of persistent offensive behaviour. And he wasn’t fired. He left

Graphic shows Andy McDonald MP in Commons overlaid with text which reads: When Keir Starmer asked me to work with our trades unions to develop a programme for the biggest uplift in workers’ rights and protections in a generation, I did exactly as I was asked and we produced the New Deal for Working People.  That committed the party to, amongst other things, day one rights for all workers, including basic rights of protection against unfair dismissal.  Our manifesto was clear: Labour will deliver day one rights.  The plans announced today to merely reduce the qualifying period for unfair dismissal, from two years to six months is a complete betrayal. We cannot support that halfway measure. This is a wrong-headed move and I will campaign to have this concession reversed.

When Keir Starmer asked me to work with our Trades Unions to develop a programme for the biggest uplift in workers’ rights and protections in a generation, I did exactly as I was asked and we produced the New Deal for Working People.

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It's always interesting to see what they are willing to sacrifice.

Why major unions refuse to organise seasonal farm workers Farm workers go on unofficial strikes as their temporary visas create barriers to union membership

I imagine that unions didn't even mention this in their negotiations.

As I wrote a few weeks back, these workers are ignored by the union movement. But really, nobody with any influence cares about them, even though they are vital to our food security.
www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2025...

Much will be said about this, but I can't help but think that the biggest losers will be seasonal agricultural workers.

The six-month threshold is meaningless since their visa forces them to leave the country before it kicks in. It will remain completely legal to sack them unfairly at any time.

A few weeks ago this Reform rising star went on LBC & said young people were being paid too much,citing his experience in hospitality.

So we looked into his companies & found 3 tribunal judgments for failure to pay wages, holiday pay & provide contracts
www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2025...

A few weeks ago this Reform rising star went on LBC & said young people were being paid too much,citing his experience in hospitality.

So we looked into his companies & found 3 tribunal judgments for failure to pay wages, holiday pay & provide contracts
www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2025...

Up to 50,000 nurses could quit UK over immigration plans, survey suggests Exclusive: union leaders say proposed changes are immoral and could threaten patient safety if there is staff exodus

'Nursing leaders told the Guardian the plans were “immoral” and treated highly skilled migrants as “political footballs”. They said a mass exodus of nurses would threaten patient safety'.

Combine this with the number of UK universities shrinking or closing their nursing programmes....

The FCA is consulting on plans to anonymise the short positions data it publishes. Currently anyone can see which firms have positions >0.5% in UK stocks.
The firm with the most short positions today is Marshall Wace.
Paul Marshall funds GB News, he and Ian Wace previously funded the Conservatives.

How racist AI Facebook posts made one Sri Lankan influencer rich The content creator made his fortune from racist Facebook groups aimed at Brits; now he’s sharing his formula

Islamophobic and racist AI-generated posts aimed at Brits helped make one Sri Lankan influencer rich – and now he’s sharing his formula

I've been investigating the huge levels of exploitation faced by workers on the seasonal worker visa for the last few years, and have often asked myself why the trade union movement has ignored these workers.

So I spoke to unions, big and small, to try and answer that question.

Great work by @mellino.bsky.social

Why no one is organising seasonal workers?

We've discussed with workers through 2025

@carolinerobinson.bsky.social WSC

“They feel like things have been raised already, and there’s a lack of care about those issues in the UK in general – so what would change?”

Next up in our solidarities feature, this vital piece on blindspots and tensions around trade union organising to support seasonal workers.

By the brilliant @mellino.bsky.social as a collab between @beyondslavery.bsky.social & @tbij.bsky.social

The seasonal worker visa’s structure impedes union organising, with workers in the country for no longer than six months. But with the scheme ongoing since the 2019 pilot and looking like it’s here to stay, it makes sense to ask whether major unions could be doing more to overcome these challenges

As always I want to thank everyone who spoke to me, but especially @drellac.bsky.social for convincing me to write the piece, and the members of the Unite agriculture subsector, whose honest reflections were essential in helping me understand the union and members' perspectives.

Unite did make some efforts to organise workers on a seasonal visa, but that was 20 years ago, when it was still TGWU.

The campaign was successful in improving conditions on the farm, but those successes were short lived, because members left the country at the end of the season.

But there are barriers, some structural, the six-month visa makes member retention incredibly difficult, and others are a matter of union culture.

In other countries, like Germany and Canada, unions have invested resources in supporting seasonal workers.

Photo of worker with tape over her mouth and a sign saying "End forced Labour on your farms" There is a headline which reads: ‘An indictment of the trade union movement’: Why no one is organising seasonal workers Farm workers go on unofficial strikes as their temporary visas create barriers to union membership

The answer isn't that workers themselves are not organisnig. There are several wildcat strikes that fly under the radar, but without support, they often fizzle out.

Some have even organised protested at the Home Office, as shown in this photo.
www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2025...

I've been investigating the huge levels of exploitation faced by workers on the seasonal worker visa for the last few years, and have often asked myself why the trade union movement has ignored these workers.

So I spoke to unions, big and small, to try and answer that question.

Which one is more English?

Such a great piece from @tbij.bsky.social that highlights how difficult it is for workers to access and enforce their rights - it shows truly staggering figures of non-payment of tribunal awards by employers, and that's not even counting the personal cost to workers.

Vital investigative journalism. Employment lawyers please check this out.

More on this important investigative journalism about Employment Tribunals here