Labour Research October 2014

The cuts that do no justice - The coalition government’s policies are having a devastating impact on access to justice for working people

Britain needs a pay riseLabour Research examines why Britain’s pay packet needs an increase

Labour and the election - In the run-up to the 2015 general election, unions have been having their say on Labour policy

Mental health - Austerity has not been good for workers’ emotional wellbeing - or the services they rely on to tackle mental ill health

News

Unions step up opposition to proposed transatlantic trade deal (326 words)

Unions have stepped up their opposition to the proposed EU-USA trade deal which could open up UK public services to American corporate interests and ...
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Probation workers reject reforms (319 words)

Probation service workers have delivered a damning verdict on the government’s controversial reforms to the service. ...
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Rise in the under-employed (230 words)

The number of people who are under-employed is over a million higher than it was before the recession. ...
Open access

Movement must reverse decline in living standards, Congress hears (377 words)

Union leaders have united in calls for the movement to make a stand to reverse the decline in living standards in Britain and protect public services. ...
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Radiographers call for resources (170 words)

A motion from the SoR Society of Radiographers calling on the government to increase funding for radiotherapy, diagnostic imaging services and ...
Open access

Teachers face aggression (247 words)

Staff in state schools are having to deal with high levels of aggression from students and their parents, a survey from the ATL teachers’ union ...
Open access

Bonus payments on the rise (227 words)

Bonus payments are almost back to their pre-recession levels, according to an official analysis. ...
Open access

Recovery stalls (71 words)

The recovery in manufacturing stuttered as output in the three months to July was down by 0.6% on the previous three-month period. ...
Open access

Union news

Strategy needed for recruiting and organising young people (199 words)

TUC general council support for a strategy to organise young workers, particularly those in casualised workplaces, was demanded by delegates at ...
Open access

Usdaw members welcome reforms (149 words)

Co-op workers who are members of the Usdaw retail union have welcomed the decision to reform the group’s senior management structure. The reforms ...
Open access

Agreement helps protect workers (94 words)

The TUC and the Portuguese trade union centre CGTP-IN have signed a co-operation protocol to help protect the thousands of Portuguese workers coming ...
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PCS election (93 words)

The 247,000-strong PCS civil servants’ union has begun the process of electing a general secretary as required every five years by law. Nominations ...
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Political fund (115 words)

Members of the GMB general union have voted by 95% in favour of retaining the union’s political fund. ...
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Recognition (44 words)

The GMB general union has been granted statutory recognition at pesticides manufacturer Doff Portland after none of the workers voted against in a ...
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European news

Unions and bargaining face major change in Germany (414 words)

Strikes last month at the Lufthansa airline and the Deutsche Bahn railway company have increased pressure on the German government to act on one of ...
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Outrage over French dole clampdown (216 words)

French unions have condemned a statement from labour minister, François Rebsamen that employment offices should “strengthen the checks” on the ...
Open access

Polish union rates (132 words)

Levels of unionisation in Poland have remained largely unchanged over the last eight years, although they are only half the level they were 20 years ...
Open access

Italian public sector pay stays frozen (140 words)

Mariana Madia, the Italian minister of public administration, has announced that salaries in the public sector are to be frozen until the end of 2015. ...
Open access

Features

Cuts signal a travesty of justice (2,360 words)

The government has systematically attacked access to justice for workers who have been unfairly treated by their employers or who have been injured ...
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Why Britain needs a pay rise (1,641 words)

The TUC-organised demonstration on 18 October is making the case that “Britain Needs a Pay Rise”. Labour Research examines the backdrop. ...
Open access

Shaping up Labour’s manifesto (2,201 words)

What do unions want from a future Labour government? Labour Research looks at some likely manifesto commitments. ...
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Austerity policies are bad for your mental health (1,541 words)

Unions point out that austerity cuts are taking their toll on workers’ emotional and mental well-being. ...
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Law Matters

Retrospective legislation on workfare scheme was unlawful (350 words)

In yet another twist to the long-running Poundland saga, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been humiliated by a highly critical High ...
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Health and Work Service update (519 words)

The government has named the provider of its new Health and Work Service in England and Wales as a private sector company, Health Management Limited, ...
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Law Queries

Incentives for new contracts (245 words)

Q. Where I work, there is a recognised union and our terms and conditions, including pay, are negotiated by the union through collective bargaining. ...
Open access

Dismissal (382 words)

Q. I have worked for five years for my employer without a break. Twelve months ago, I accepted an internal transfer to a different post that fell ...
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Child’s disability (123 words)

Q. My daughter has a disability and I want to work fewer hours to spend more time caring for her. Is my employer obliged to make reasonable ...
Open access

Law Back-up

New rules on parental leave come into force (875 words)

The Children and Families Act 2014 (CFA14) rewrites the rules on parental leave following the birth or adoption of a child. It also contains ...
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Health & Safety Matters

Union slams building site accommodation (260 words)

Construction workers’ union UCATT has said that it is not acceptable to be living on a construction site because of major safety and welfare ...
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Campaign demands justice (269 words)

The FBU firefighters’ union has launched a campaign for justice after two members of the fire service, firefighter Geoff Wicker and fire service ...
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Rail firm’s publicity posters condemned (228 words)

The RMT rail union has demanded that Northern Rail explain why it is issuing public posters highlighting the safety role of their train conductors ...
Open access

Health & Safety Back-up

Protective equipment: employers’ duties (860 words)

The regulations on Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) place a duty on every employer to ensure that suitable PPE is provided to employees who may be ...
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Equality news

Poverty levels higher for ethnic minorities (328 words)

The high levels of poverty among all ethnic minority groups in the UK — when compared to white British people — has been highlighted in a new ...
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Female bosses earn less (290 words)

A female manager would have to work for at least another 14 years to earn the same amount of money as a male counterpart retiring at the age of 65, ...
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Youth work plunged into crisis (239 words)

More than 2,000 youth workers have been axed and 350 youth centres closed since 2012 because of government cuts, research by the UNISON public ...
Open access

Workplace Back-up

Working families lose out from benefit cuts (925 words)

Recent TUC research looking at all the welfare changes announced by the coalition government during this Parliament reveals that most of the cuts ...
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Reviews

The Establishment And how they get away with it (245 words)

Owen Jones, Allen Lane, 368 pages, hardback, £16.99 ...
Open access

Captain Swing (223 words)

Eric Hobsbawm & George Rude, Verso, 384 pages, paperback, £14.99 ...
Open access

E-views

e-views (417 words)

If you’re involved with a website, then you’ll want to know how popular the site is. This is where website analytics software comes in. ...
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