News

Contractors provoke fury over breach of agreements (396 words)

The Unite general union is opposing attempts by a breakaway group of major mechanical and electrical companies to throw away long standing national agreements ...

Wealthiest pay least for the crisis (242 words)

The cost of the economic crisis is not being fairly shared, according to a TUC analysis which demonstrates that people on bottom and middle ...

Redundancy watch (269 words)

The latest announcements of job losses are confined to the private sector. ...

Millions to be balloted in battle over public sector pensions (369 words)

Public sector unions UNISON, Unite, the GMB and the Fire Brigades Union all gave notice of strike ballots over pensions at September’s TUC Congress ...

Bombardier decision slammed (237 words)

Rail unions at TUC Congress last month called for the government to reverse its decision to award a £1.6 billion order for train carriages ...

Manchester rally (70 words)

The TUC has organised a march and rally in Manchester on 2 October to coincide with the Conservative Party’s annual conference in the city. ...

PFI projects (96 words)

PFI projects provide a better deal for the private sector than the public sector, according to a report by the Public Accounts Committee. ...

Southern Cross (75 words)

Following the collapse of the Southern Cross care home operator, the GMB union has been supplied with a list of prospective operators who will ...

Jobless count soars to 2.5 million (264 words)

The latest official unemployment figures show rises on both counts. ...

Inflation on the up (89 words)

Inflation under the Retail Prices Index (RPI) was up to 5.2% in August from 5.0% the previous month, according to the Office for National ...

Key economic indicators

Key economic indicators (188 words)

Inflation +5.2%, Average earnings +2.9% ...

Union news

TUC may mount legal challenge to UK’s ‘draconian’ labour laws (298 words)

The TUC general council will consider a legal challenge to current UK labour laws and will campaign “vigorously” to stop any further tightening of ...

Unease greets launch of new unions (366 words)

Two new unions, one for social workers and the other for teachers in Scotland, have been set up — to the dismay of some. ...

Levy for campaign (131 words)

Extra funds may be raised by the TUC from its affiliates for the next two years to help step up the campaign for alternative ...

Labour Party (59 words)

Trade union groups may be allowed to submit petitions to change Labour Party policy under controversial plans to change the party’s constitution seen by ...

Building society (37 words)

The 700-member union for staff at the Derbyshire and Cheshire building societies, OURS, has transferred its engagements to the Nationwide Group Staff Union (NGSU). ...

European news

Spanish unions reject new constitutional arrangements (375 words)

Spain’s unions have protested against a change to the Spanish constitution, which makes imposing tight limits on government deficits an essential requirement of economic ...

Redundancy rights threatened (244 words)

The Italian government, led by prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, has passed legislation adversely affecting redundancy rights which is opposed by the country’s three main ...

New code leads to walkout (217 words)

Slovakia’s main trade union confederation, KOZ, has walked out of the tripartite body which brings together representatives of the unions, employers and the government ...

Features

Workers’ rights attacked (2093 words)

Across Europe governments are using the crisis to hammer public sector pay and jobs and to make major changes to employees’ individual and collective ...

Toughening up UK strike laws? (1681 words)

Autumn is set to see more mass national strike action in the public sector. Will the voices urging harsher restrictions on strikes have their ...

More work needed on low pay and welfare (1914 words)

It’s almost a year since Labour leader Ed Miliband announced the party’s wide-ranging policy review in the wake of its general election defeat. What ...

Net gains for unions in the age of social media? (1618 words)

Unions may not yet be at the forefront of social media use, but they are increasingly realising its potential. ...

Law Matters

Shared blame and pain in loss over claim (393 words)

Where there are multiple respondents to a discrimination claim, for example the employer and a line manager, any award of compensation will normally be ...

Prayer leave ban lawful (293 words)

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled that refusing a Muslim employee leave to attend Friday prayers was lawful. ...

Highs and lows of awards (250 words)

Compensation of £289,167 was awarded by a tribunal in a sex discrimination case, annual statistics from the Ministry of Justice show. It was the ...

Law Queries

Collective agreement (244 words)

Q. As per our collective agreement, we have annual pay talks coming up. However, some of our members report that the employer has been ...

Maternity leave (250 words)

Q. Following on from discovering that she was pregnant, our member informed her employer. She arranged to take 12 months’ leave, which the employer ...

Hiring policy (223 words)

Q. We have dealings with an employer operating in the construction industry. It has some questionable policies. One of them relates to the hiring ...

Law Back-up

Victories for long-term sick over holidays (959 words)

Decisions over long-term sickness and entitlement to holidays have featured in recent cases, both here and in Europe. Back-up reports. ...

Health & Safety Matters

Widow wants action on school asbestos dust (348 words)

A teacher’s widow is calling on the government to take steps to address the threat of asbestos dust in schools. ...

Work traffic accidents (176 words)

Employers must do more to reduce the high level of work-related road traffic accidents, says the professional body the Institution of Occupational Safety and ...

Violence survey (134 words)

Shopworkers’ union Usdaw is running a survey over the violence and abuse suffered by retail staff. ...

Flu jabs in NHS (123 words)

Workers in the healthcare sector should be vaccinated against flu, according to the public sector union UNISON. ...

Health & Safety Back-up

How reps can control dust in workplace (909 words)

Employers should be taking action to deal with risks associated with workplace dust according to new TUC guidance, Dust in the workplace: guidance for ...

Equality news

Recession brings rise in minority prejudice (413 words)

There has been a slight rise in Scotland in the perception that people from ethnic minority groups and people from Eastern Europe are taking ...

Gloom on women’s jobs (275 words)

Further evidence has emerged that women’s unemployment is set to rise around the UK as the government’s public sector job cuts begin to bite. ...

Young unemployed (80 words)

A commission on youth unemployment, to be chaired by Labour MP David Miliband, has just closed its initial call for evidence. ...

UN advice for UK (159 words)

The United Nations race committee has recommended that the government “should implement all of the provisions of the Equality Act and ensure that there ...

Workplace Back-up

Tips on appropriate networking at work (819 words)

Employment relations service Acas has published new guidance to managing social networking in the workplace. Back-up looks at the advice. ...

Reviews

A walk-on part (227 words)

Diaries 1994-1999 ...

Man’s worldly goods (235 words)

The story of the wealth of nations ...

E-views

e-views (367 words)

The internet has led to an increasing clash between personal and professional lives. Once upon a time only your CV or application form counted ...