Fact Service October 2020

Issue 43 (29/10/2020) - TUC: factor children into new Job Support Scheme; Applause for Welsh rail public ownership move; Union launches legal challenge over college return; Teachers' unions back free school meal extension; 'Time for change' for night-workers; Spending review offers chance to recognise nurses, says union; Leaked report shows driverless trains too costly

Issue 42 (22/10/2020) - Support snowballs for campaign to save union learning; Inflation bounces back from record low; Survey finds BAME workers lacking PPE; Union warns against cashpoint removal; Cap on excess salaries would save jobs and spread wealth; Free online advice offered to those facing redundancy; Union slams Trump for double dealing at Scottish resort; BT accused of 'shameless' move of jobs abroad;

Issue 41 (15/10/2020) - UK on precipice: employment drops, unemployment and redundancies hit new highs; Unions call on government to use its influence over Amazon; New lockdowns will need economic support; Union sounds alarm over shared vans plan; Union Learning Fund 'under threat'; Frontline staff facing 'campus chaos'

Issue 40 (08/10/2020) - Aid for unemployed scheme gets union thumbs down; Planned redundancies reach half million; Union accuses govt over NHS surcharge; 10 year anniversary 'time to fully implement Equality Act'; Minimum wage now covers seafarers; Coalition asks for inquiry into shop violence; Journeys to work down, job adverts up

Issue 39 (01/10/2020) - Government bows to pressure for furlough replacement; Concern as Uber wins London licence; Extend visas to avoid crisis, union says; EasyJet redundancies 'breakthrough'

Issue 43

TUC: factor children into new Job Support Scheme (596 words)

The TUC has asked the government to build more support for children into the latest version of its Job Support Scheme (JSS), which was announced on 22 ...
Subscribers only

Applause for Welsh rail public ownership move (341 words)

Rail unions have overwhelmingly welcomed the effective renationalisation of the nation’s railways by the Welsh government – and wondered if the ...
Subscribers only

Union launches legal challenge over college return (159 words)

Lecturers’ union the UCU is preparing to open proceedings for a legal review of what it alleges was an unlawful decision by the UK government to ...
Open access

Teachers’ unions back free school meal extension (277 words)

Education unions have spoken in favour of extending free school meals during school holidays in England. ...
Subscribers only

'Time for change' for night-workers (327 words)

The TUC used the end of British Summer Time on 24 October to call for a better deal for those who work night shifts. It acted after finding that one ...
Subscribers only

Spending review offers chance to recognise nurses, says union (230 words)

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has used the announcement by government of a spending review to call for a meaningful pay rise for nursing staff ...
Open access

Leaked report shows driverless trains too costly (224 words)

Aslef says that it is in possession of a leaked Transport for London (TfL) document that shows that making all of London Underground’s trains ...
Open access

Issue 42

Support snowballs for campaign to save union learning (780 words)

Major employers, unions and organisations have leapt to the defence of the endangered Union Learning Fund (ULF) and the TUC’s newly-announced ...
Subscribers only

Inflation bounces back from record low (280 words)

The UK CPI inflation rate rose to 0.5% in September, up from its five year low of 0.2% in August. The RPI rate reached 1.1%, more than doubling from ...
Subscribers only

Survey finds BAME workers lacking PPE (147 words)

More than one in four BAME workers had not been given necessary person protective equipment (PPE), according to a survey by the general GMB union. ...
Open access

Union warns against cashpoint removal (103 words)

The GMB has welcomed a government plan under which people will be able to get cashback from shops without needing to buy anything, but warned that it ...
Open access

Cap on excess salaries would save jobs and spread wealth (448 words)

Capping the highest salaries could save jobs and lead to a fairer redistribution of wealth, research by think tanks The High Pay Centre and Autonomy ...
Subscribers only

Free online advice offered to those facing redundancy (142 words)

With the National Institute of Economic and Social Research forecasting that up to one in 10 UK workers may face unemployment by the end of this ...
Open access

Union slams Trump for double dealing at Scottish resort (186 words)

The RMT has accused US president Donald Trump of rank hypocrisy after learning that he has received ‎permission to build a second multi-million ...
Open access

BT accused of 'shameless’ move of jobs abroad (177 words)

Communication workers’ union the CWU has accused BT of shamelessly exporting UK jobs at a time of rocketing unemployment. ...
Open access

Issue 41

UK on precipice: employment drops, unemployment and redundancies hit new highs (808 words)

UK unemployment has increased to its highest level in over three years, reaching 4.5% in the three months to August, up from 4.1% in the previous ...
Subscribers only

Unions call on government to use its influence over Amazon (486 words)

Unions are calling on the government to use its purchasing power to effect change at retailer Amazon. ...
Subscribers only

New lockdowns will need economic support (417 words)

Unions have warned that the new local lockdowns will cost jobs if not coupled with extra financial support. ...
Subscribers only

Union sounds alarm over shared vans plan (123 words)

Communication workers’ union the CWU has warned that a reported plan by the Royal Mail to reintroduce shared delivery vans on a voluntary basis ...
Open access

Union Learning Fund ‘under threat’ (116 words)

The government is said to be planning to withdraw its support for the successful Union Learning Fund in March 2021. ...
Open access

Frontline staff facing ‘campus chaos’ (295 words)

Public services union UNISON has called on managers and ministers to step in to end what it describes as “the Covid campus chaos” that has left ...
Subscribers only

Issue 40

Aid for unemployed scheme gets union thumbs down (376 words)

Unions have rejected the chancellor’s promised aid scheme for those unemployed during the pandemic as “a drop in the ocean”. ...
Subscribers only

Planned redundancies reach half million (181 words)

Employers planned 58,000 redundancies in August, bringing the total to almost half a million for the first five months of lockdown, new figures have ...
Open access

Teaching unions take fair exam proposals to minister (372 words)

Four teaching unions and the organisation for school governors have jointly submitted proposals for making next year’s exams as fair as possible, ...
Subscribers only

Union accuses govt over NHS surcharge (282 words)

Public services union UNISON has accused the government of breaking its pledge to remove the immigration health surcharge. ...
Subscribers only

10 year anniversary ‘time to fully implement Equality Act’ (303 words)

The TUC has called on the government to implement the Equality Act 2010, which reached its tenth anniversary this week. ...
Subscribers only

Minimum wage now covers seafarers (194 words)

Transport Union the RMT has welcomed the entry into law of the National Minimum Wage (Offshore Employment) (Amendment) Order 2020, which extends the ...
Open access

Coalition asks for inquiry into shop violence (355 words)

Shopworkers’ union Usdaw has joined retailers in writing to the chair of the Home Affairs Committee to request an inquiry into violence and abuse ...
Subscribers only

Journeys to work down, job adverts up (133 words)

The latest ONS survey of the effects of Covid-19 on the UK society and economy shows 11% of the workforce on furlough and 85% of businesses trading. ...
Open access

Issue 39

Government bows to pressure for furlough replacement (871 words)

Trade unions have reacted largely positively to chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcement on 24 September of a replacement for the furlough scheme – ...
Subscribers only

Public sector premium at 7%, but no good news for young workers (411 words)

Analysis by the Organisation for National Statistics (ONS) has found the public sector earnings premium – the difference between the average ...
Subscribers only

Concern as Uber wins London licence (301 words)

Ride hailing firm Uber has won an appeal against Transport for London’s (TfL’s) safety-based refusal to grant it an extension to its licence to ...
Subscribers only

Extend visas to avoid crisis, union says (451 words)

General union the GMB has called on the UK government to extend working visas for key workers in order to avoid a crisis this winter. ...
Subscribers only

EasyJet redundancies ‘breakthrough’ (237 words)

Pilots’ union BALPA has announced what it describes as a breakthrough in negotiations at airline easyJet, where hundreds of redundancies had been ...
Open access