Labour Research July 2017

A century not outLabour Research marks its 100th birthday this month by looking at developments in unions since 1917; Mental health and work - Attitudes towards mental health may have changed over the century. But stigma continues to be a problem; Automation - A new wave of automation appears to be underway. What does this mean for workers and their jobs? Picture perfect - The work of the Report photo agency is frequently used by unions, charities and progressive publications

News

TUC and unions demand action on looming cost of living crisis
 (490 words)

As inflation continues to outstrip wage growth, official figures reveal that workers in the UK are experiencing the biggest drop in real earnings ...
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Victims must be central to inquiry (252 words)

The FBU firefighters’ union has demanded that there be no cover-up in the inquiry into last month’s catastrophic Grenfell Tower fire which had ...
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Centenary news
 (252 words)

Two months after Margaret Thatcher became Britain’s first female prime minister, the July 1979 issue of Labour Research examined the ideological ...
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Unions hail end of ‘business as usual’ and beginning of fightback
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Last month’s general election outcome was hailed as the “start of the fightback” by Dave Prentis, general secretary of the UNISON public ...
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BA cabin crew set for strike action (257 words)

Up to 1,400 British Airways (BA) cabin crew were scheduled to start two weeks of strike action this month over allegations of blacklisting, according ...
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Unemployment records another fall 
 (213 words)

UK unemployment has recorded yet another fall. The number of unemployed people fell by 50,000 to 1.53 million in the three-month period ending April 2 ...
Open access

Inflation hits a high (87 words)

In May, the annual rate of inflation under the Retail Prices Index (RPI) was up to 3.7% from 3.5% the previous month. It was last as high as 3.7% in ...
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Key economic indicators

Inflation hits a high (420 words)

Inflation +3.7%, Average earnings +1.2% ...
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Union news

Fall in union membership is largest for over two decades (298 words)

The 2016 statistics on trade union membership in the UK reveal that the year saw the largest annual drop in the overall level of membership since the ...
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No re-run of UNISON leadership poll
 (168 words)

Public services union UNISON has welcomed the decision of the assistant certification officer (ACO) not to order a re-run of its 2015 general ...
Open access

Unite General Secretary election (91 words)

Gerard Coyne, who lost his bid to lead general union Unite earlier this summer, has been sacked by the union. Coyne, Unite’s West Midlands regional ...
Open access

Unions elect 
woman for ILO
 (95 words)

Amanda Brown of the NUT teachers’ union has become the first woman to be elected by the UK union movement to the governing body of the ...
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Palestine occupation
 (57 words)

Public services union UNISON has collaborated with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign to mark the 50th anniversary of Israel’s occupation of ...
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Bargaining reach recedes
 (76 words)

Employees were less likely to have their pay determined by collective bargaining in 2016 than the year before, according to the latest official trade ...
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European news

Macron sets out plans for major changes to France’s labour laws
 (427 words)

France’s new president, Emmanuel Macron, whose party won an overwhelming victory in parliamentary elections last month, has wasted no time in ...
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Membership falls in Spanish unions
 (224 words)

One of Spain’s two big union confederations, CCOO, has published new figures on its membership and employee support in the run-up to its ...
Open access

Gender equality improves
 (235 words)

The latest gender equality survey by the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) shows some improvements in the position of women in unions across ...
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Features

One hundred years of service
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Labour Research this month celebrates 100 years of service to trade unions. We look at the many issues of concern to the movement the magazine has ...
Open access

Promoting good mental health
 (1,618 words)

With one in four experiencing a mental health problem in any one year, the issue continues to be a workplace concern, as Sally Buffard reports.
 ...
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Addressing the rise of the robots
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Our centenary feature on pages 9-12 looks back over a century of developments in the labour market and in unions. Here, we ask if what appears to be ...
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Zooming in on struggle, politics and social issues
 (806 words)

If, like Labour Research, you require images showing protest or depicting a range of social concerns, the Report picture agency may well have what ...
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Law Matters

Teachers’ union racks up significant victory
 (287 words)

The NASUWT teachers’ union has achieved a significant legal victory relating to the calculation of strike pay deductions. 
 ...
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Fight against false self-employment continues
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The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) is continuing the fight against bogus self-employment with a new employment tribunal case ...
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Equal pay secured (240 words)

The GMB general and UNISON public services unions have scored a major equal pay win for thousands of female members employed by Glasgow City Council, ...
Open access

Law Queries

Political belief (305 words)

Q. What sort of protection do employees have against being discriminated against because of their political beliefs? ...
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Holiday requests (157 words)

Q. Can an employer turn down a holiday request? ...
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Mobility clauses (265 words)

Q. When an employee has a mobility clause in their employment contract, does this mean they have no right to a redundancy payment if they are ...
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Law Back-up

Overtime, commission and holiday pay entitlement
 (900 words)

There have been several recent and significant cases on the correct way to calculate holiday pay. With the summer holiday season under way, Back-up ...
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Health & Safety Matters

Insecure employment traps up to 10 million
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A new report from the GMB general union shows that up to 10 million UK workers, a third of the workforce, are now trapped in insecure employment, and ...
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Health & Safety Back-up

Work-related suicide remains overlooked
 (907 words)

The conclusions of the inquest into a young apprentice, who killed himself after facing a “catalogue of bullying abuse” at his workplace, have ...
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Health & Safety Matters

Warning over terror risks
 (315 words)

The RMT rail union has called for an urgent security summit and warned that rail staff cuts and the introduction of driver-only trains will increase ...
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Union condemns beard ban (258 words)

The Unite general union has condemned a ban on beards by outsourced housing maintenance company Mears as “penny pinching stupidity” after the ...
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Equality news

Think tank calls for end to health taboos
 (362 words)

Under-recognised chronic gynaecological health conditions are holding-back women’s productivity and could be damaging their career and earning ...
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Mental health and work
 (298 words)

Only one in four people with a mental illness or phobia lasting for 12 months or more is in employment, a new report published by the TUC points ...
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Boost for women in parliament (244 words)

Last month’s general election has seen women’s representation in Parliament break the 200 barrier for the first time, with 207 women winning ...
Open access

Workplace Back-up

Are ethnic pay audits set to become reality?
 (901 words)

Among the many U-turns performed by prime minister Theresa May in the run-up to last month’s general election, one change in the right direction ...
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E-views

e-views (425 words)

It’s time again for me to publish the annual trade union website league table on my website. So how have the metrics changed in the last 12 ...
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