Fact Service September 2020

Issue 37 (17/09/2020) - UK on brink of jobs crisis; Inflation drops to five-year low; Workers' victory sets major precedent; 'Amazing victory' as Arcadia U-turns on redundancies; Health unions protest over PHE axing

Issue 36 (10/09/2020) - TUC: new model needed for social care; Over 300,000 redundancies planned; Extend furlough or lose competitive edge manufacturers say; TUC calls for wage pledge to be honoured; Up to £3.6bn in furlough payments fraudulent or erroneous; Civil service unions query 80% return plan; Aviation plan is 'jam tomorrow', union warns; Lords consider mass unemployment risks

Issue 35 (03/09/2020) - TUC calls halt to pressure to return; Union: 'scrap campus reopenings'; Unions confront aviation crisis; Government continues furlough rundown; Manufacturing recovering, but cutting staff; Retail jobs plummet; Advisory groups 'exclude workers' voices'; Welcome for Welsh carers top up promise; Unions call for inquiry into grading debacle

Issue 37

UK on brink of jobs crisis (738 words)

The UK is teetering on the brink of a crisis in employment, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show. ...
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Inflation drops to five-year low (898 words)

Inflation has dropped dramatically to a five-year low of 0.2% CPI and 0.5% RPI, according to the latest figures from the ONS, which attributes the ...
Subscribers only

Workers' victory sets major precedent (389 words)

A victory by 10 homecare workers could have major implications for others who aren’t paid for the time spent travelling to the sick and elderly ...
Subscribers only

‘Amazing victory’ as Arcadia U-turns on redundancies (174 words)

General union Unite has declared "an amazing victory" after Arcadia - whose high street brands include Topman, Topshop and Dorothy Perkins - agreed ...
Open access

Health unions protest over PHE axing (155 words)

A total of 13 health unions and professional organisations have written to health and social care secretary Matt Hancock to protest at Public Health ...
Open access

Issue 36

TUC: new model needed for social care (491 words)

A report by the TUC indicates that annual adult social care spending in England is now £600m lower than it was in 2010 in 112 of the 150 responsible ...
Subscribers only

Over 300,000 redundancies planned (238 words)

Employers planned to make over 300,000 redundancies in June and July, a freedom of information request by the BBC has revealed. ...
Open access

Extend furlough or lose competitive edge manufacturers say (494 words)

Manufacturers’ organisation Make UK (previously the Engineering Employers' Federation) is the latest body to call for the CJRS furlough scheme to ...
Subscribers only

TUC calls for wage pledge to be honoured (169 words)

The TUC has condemned rumoured plans to drop the planned rise in the National Living Wage next year. ...
Open access

Up to £3.6bn in furlough payments fraudulent or erroneous (109 words)

Up to £3.6bn in furlough payments could be fraudulent or erroneous, HMRC’s (Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) chief executive told the Public ...
Open access

Civil service unions query 80% return plan (355 words)

Civil service workers' unions the PCS and FDA continue to question government plans to have 80% of civil servants in England back in their workplaces ...
Subscribers only

Aviation plan is ‘jam tomorrow’, union warns (262 words)

Amid continuing huge job losses in the aviation sector, general union Unite has issued its strongest warning yet that the government’s proposed ...
Subscribers only

Lords consider mass unemployment risks (94 words)

The House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee will take evidence from the TUC and others next week as it examines the effects of Covid on the labour ...
Open access

Issue 35

TUC calls halt to pressure to return (200 words)

The TUC has challenged the government’s latest push to make people return to work, an ad campaign that will allegedly warn that they could lose ...
Open access

Union: ‘scrap campus reopenings’ (263 words)

Any reopening of universities this year is now in doubt, after the UCU (University and College Union), warned that it would lead to a “public ...
Subscribers only

Unions confront aviation crisis (562 words)

Unions are leading a fightback against the loss of jobs in aviation, one of the sectors worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic, lockdown and ...
Subscribers only

Government continues furlough rundown (250 words)

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme moved a step nearer its predicted end this week, as employers became liable to pay 10% towards the wages of ...
Subscribers only

Manufacturing recovering, but cutting staff (132 words)

Manufacturing production has risen at the fastest pace since May 2014 according to research by information provider IHS Markit – yet firms are ...
Open access

Retail jobs plummet (240 words)

Despite some evidence of recovery in the retail sector jobs have been cut there at the fastest rate in a decade, with worse to come, according to ...
Open access

Advisory groups ‘exclude workers' voices’ (165 words)

The TUC has warned that proposals on the makeup of trade advisory groups to the government will mean a lesser role for unions. ...
Open access

Welcome for Welsh carers top up promise (231 words)

Plans announced by the Welsh government to examine how to top up the wages of care workers if they have to self-isolate have been welcomed by the ...
Open access

Unions call for inquiry into grading debacle (114 words)

Four education unions have written to education secretary Gavin Williamson calling for an independent inquiry into last month’s gradings ...
Open access