Distracting himself from writing a report of Wednesday's UNISON NEC meeting, Jon Rogers has written a commentary on the current state of the trade unions in respect of equal pay - possibly the most important issue facing our unions, and their members, and one we are almost completely prevented from debating because of the fear that something someone says or writes might be used as evidence in litigation directed against the unions at a later stage.

It's a big problem, and one that I don't think the trade union rank and file activists have even begun to get a grip on. Since we can't ever talk about it, it is difficult to see a way out of the blind alley the unions have walked in to.

Today there is a day of acton directed against the Starbucks Coffee chain, organised by No Sweat, the IWW and others.

There will be protests in many parts of the UK, calling for "justice from bean to cup". The point is not only does Starbucks (and most other coffee house chains, to be honest) exploit the growers and suppliers of its coffee - but it also then exploits workers in this country and seeks to deny them their rights to join a trade union. Like similar initiatives in the fast food industry in other parts of the world, the IWW in the UK is trying to challenge that directly by setting up Baristas United, a direct action trade union for coffee workers.