News

Jobless low before election (54 words)

Labour will be boosted in the election campaign by relatively low unemployment, the count remaining below the one million mark in April. The number ...

Inflation low for polling day (219 words)

The last annual inflation figure before the election showed a sharp fall from 2.3% to 1.8% in April. ...

EMPLOYERS FAILING TO BOLSTER LEARNING REPS (306 words)

Many employers are not yet making full use of union learning reps and some are actively preventing them reaching out to potential learners, according ...

UNIVERSITY UNIONS CONSIDER DEAL (399 words)

Proposals to resolve the pay dispute in higher education and implement new bargaining arrangements were being considered by union members as Labour Research went ...

NURSERY NURSES PUSH PAY CASE (84 words)

Nursery nurses organised by public services union UNISON Scotland staged a demonstration in Glasgow last month to push their case for professional recognition in ...

LABOUR WILL REVIEW CONSULTATION RIGHTS (268 words)

A re-elected Labour government would review arrangements for requiring employers to inform and consult with workers, according to Labour's election manifesto. This is the ...

PARTY CASH ROLLS IN (132 words)

The Labour Party gained some ground in the political donations war earlier this year, according to the Electoral Commission, which is now responsible for ...

TUBE STRIKES LOOM IN ELECTION WEEK (232 words)

As the general election loomed two major industrial disputes were continuing in the transport sector, one long-running dispute had just ended and a new ...

Features

FULL-TIME AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS (319 words)

All workers 411.3 ...

The rich who fund the party tricks (1022 words)

The Labour and the Conservative parties are both increasingly funded by a few wealthy individuals. But the Tories are still the favourites for corporate ...

The companies who still play politics (483 words)

Corporate political donations to the Conservatives may have been drying up in recent years but the latest listing still shows they receive more than ...

Has New Labour satisfied unions? (1533 words)

During the build-up to the general election of 1997, Labour published a manifesto, Building prosperity, containing 177 promises. Although only a very small number ...

Tory front bench: business as usual (1550 words)

Her Majesty's Opposition has been very busy over the last year or so - but more with their extra-parliamentary business interests than anything else. ...

Unions may get rights to consultation (1217 words)

During its first term of office, Labour refused to agree a European directive giving workers rights to information and consultation on management plans. The ...

UNIONS WIN OUT ON PARENTAL LEAVE (371 words)

The government announced an extension to parental leave rights just days before the European Court of Justice was due to hear the TUC's challenge ...

Equality award (120 words)

An award to recognise individuals whose efforts have had a real impact on equal opportunities in the workplace is being offered by the Wainwright ...

Equal pay claims (132 words)

Plans to close the gender pay gap announced by the Department for Education and Employment (DfEE) include a cash injection of £145,000 to train ...

PORTUGUESE WORKERS (206 words)

Last month saw the TUC running its first-ever advice surgeries for Portuguese workers living in London. ...

THOUSANDS PROTEST AT M&S CUTS (312 words)

Over 2,000 people marched through London last month to protest at Marks & Spencer's decision to close all its stores in continental Europe as ...

PERSONAL E-MAILS PROTECTED IN SPAIN (122 words)

A Spanish court has overturned the decision of the US multinational NCR to sack a trade unionist because of his use of e-mails for ...

BERLUSCONI FACES CLASH WITH UNIONS (307 words)

The right-wing government of Silvio Berlusconi, which won last month's Italian elections, looks set to plunge the country's industrial relations into further difficulties, having ...

CERTIFICATION OFFICER TO GIVE VERDICT ON MSF (256 words)

The government certification officer is about to decide whether to order a statutory inspection of the finances of manufacturing, science and finance union MSF ...

Merger green light (113 words)

Two unions with a professional and managerial membership are to ballot their members on merger this month. ...

Recruiting black members (49 words)

Scottish TUC general secretary Bill Speirs said his organisation was increasing its efforts to attract more black union members after being "horrified" at research ...

No subs rise (283 words)

Delegates at the annual conference of the USDAW shopworkers' union have blocked a bid to raise union subscriptions from £1.55 to £1.61 a week. ...

Three month index (410 words)

First number of reference indicates issue eg 3 = March 2001 ...

Events (232 words)

June ...

Law Q&A (786 words)

* At my workplace there are a number of temporary workers who are self-employed. What rights do they have in relation to unfair dismissal ...

Law Matters

TEACHERS CAN ACT OVER DISRUPTIVE PUPILS (200 words)

Teachers have a legal right to take industrial action that involves refusing to teach children who they consider to be disruptive and unteachable, according ...

Employer liability (87 words)

The House of Lords has held that a boarding school was liable for sexual abuse against children carried out by a warden employed by ...

Whistleblowing policies (93 words)

A survey of whistleblowing policies in universities and colleges found that most have policies in place, although more than half had been in operation ...

Racial discrimination (45 words)

The Court of Appeal has held that tribunals dealing with racial discrimination cases should look at any previous conduct of the decision-maker in coming ...

CAC DEMANDS PROOF OF GROWING MEMBERSHIP (274 words)

A recent decision taken by the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) has rejected a union claim for recognition on the grounds that it could not ...

Law Back-up

ARBITRATION SCHEME IS FINALLY UP AND RUNNING (819 words)

A long-awaited arbitration scheme for unfair dismissal claims, originally announced in 1998, is at last in force in England and Wales. Back-up explains the ...

Health & Safety Matters

STATION STAFF SHOW LEAD POISON SYMPTOMS (203 words)

A TUC helpline has been set up following reports that more than 70 people working at a city train station may have developed lead ...

ALL-NIGHT PUB STAFF "NEED PROTECTION" (223 words)

Pub workers must have their working conditions protected under government plans to allow 24-hour opening of pubs, according to the Transport and General Workers ...

BOSSES TO INVESTIGATE INCIDENTS (126 words)

Companies and organisations would have to investigate all reportable work-related accidents, ill health or "near misses" that could have resulted in serious injury under ...

THOSE KILLED AT WORK REMEMBERED (198 words)

Events were held across Britain on Workers' Memorial Day on 28 April to commemorate the many workers who have died or been injured because ...

Health & Safety Back-up

SYSTEM "IS NEEDED" FOR LOCATING ASBESTOS (807 words)

According to a new TUC report, the past four years have seen 18,000 people in Britain - 12 every day - dying as a ...

Workplace Back-up

ARE EMPLOYERS DOING ENOUGH TO TRAIN STAFF? (640 words)

Growing skills shortages in today's labour market mean that employers who fail to train their staff will find it increasingly difficult to meet their ...

News from LRD

News from LRD (117 words)

Learning at work ...

Reviews

Glorious summer (168 words)

Class struggle in Britain 1972 ...

Putting back the P in PLC (107 words)

Will Hutton, The Industrial Society, 48 Bryanston Square, London W1H 2EA, 13 pages, A4 size, £10.00 ...

Imagine, A socialist vision for the 21st century (153 words)

Tommy Sheridan & Alan McCombes, Rebel Inc, 251 pages, paperback, £7.99 ...

E-views

E-views (290 words)

Last month saw a conference hosted by the TUC to discuss whether the internet will change the way unions work and the practical implications ...