News

Sacked safety rep was victimised - rail union (420 words)

At South West Trains members of rail union RMT were due to strike on 23 and 31 March, after voting by five to one ...

Low morale in councils threatens recruitment (299 words)

Public service union UNISON has warned that local government faces a recruitment timebomb, with two-thirds of its workers having considered leaving over the last ...

Top firms downplay relations with unions (188 words)

Top companies are downplaying their relations with staff and their unions by failing to refer to them in their annual reports, according to a ...

Disabled workers' jobs saved (131 words)

More than 1,000 disabled workers' jobs have been saved following the reversal of the policy of factory closure and redundancies by Remploy, Britain's largest ...

Unions seek alternative future for Rover (795 words)

Unions representing the Rover workforce are opposing BMW's plans to break up and sell off the company to venture capitalists Alchemy Partners. They are ...

Features

Union slams UK law on redundancy consultation (285 words)

Manufacturing, science and finance union MSF has called on the European Commission to investigate UK laws on rights to consultation over redundancies, which the ...

Contents (156 words)

General.Union matters.Law matters.Money matters... Green and safety ...

Blair's "family-friendly" credentials challenged (338 words)

A union leader has challenged the government to "match the rhetoric with the reality" over its campaign to get employers to introduce flexible working ...

All-women shortlists (135 words)

A Bill to allow political parties to select candidates using all-women shortlists was put forward by former women's minister Joan Ruddock in the House ...

Disabled staff targets (137 words)

Targets to double the proportion of staff with disabilities in the ...

Firms reap rewards from ethnic diversity (211 words)

Evidence of the financial benefits of having an ethnically diverse ...

Employers advised on cutting sick pay costs (268 words)

Organisations are cashing in on the emerging harsh line employers are being encouraged to take on employee sickness absence. ...

Criticism over 10p rise in minimum wage (239 words)

As cabinet ministers pocket a pay rise of over £52 a week (see this page), trade and industry secretary Stephen Byers has announced an ...

Politicians get pay rises above inflation (323 words)

Prime minister Tony Blair and his ministerial colleagues are to get an above-inflation pay rise of 2.9% following recommendations from the review body on ...

German unions want deal after bank merger (187 words)

The two German unions representing bank workers, HBV and DAG, have ...

European industry may do deal on agency workers (232 words)

New rules on the employment of temporary agency workers within the ...

Quotas for sexes rejected (70 words)

The European Parliament has rejected a proposal that would have ...

French union goes cold on ETUC (164 words)

FO, the third largest union confederation in France, is showing signs of increasing dissatisfaction towards the European Trade Union Confederation. The FO, which was ...

Three states move towards Euro (315 words)

Sweden, Denmark and Greece, which together with the UK are the only European Union states outside the single currency, have all recently taken steps ...

Agency workers (101 words)

The government is to make it easier for employers to take on agency staff permanently and is currently consulting over proposals to end the ...

Tribunals hearing in public (119 words)

Employment tribunals must conduct their business in public and ensure that the public has a right to access, the Employment Appeals Tribunal has confirmed. ...

Permanent health insurance (205 words)

If an insurance company refuses to pay up to an employer for an employee who is on long-term sick, the employee has no right ...

Right to bail (100 words)

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that UK legislation which denied bail to defendants charged with homicide or rape after a previous ...

Police cleared of race discrimination (207 words)

Police officers were not guilty of race discrimination despite giving a local council misleading and inaccurate information, as a result of which the council ...

Black trade unionists meet (70 words)

The TUC Black Workers Conference, which is to be held in Southport on 14-16 April, will be addressed by the new chair of the ...

Training for black activists (112 words)

The Communication Workers Union is trying to increase the number of activists from ethnic minorities by holding one-off training schools. ...

UNISON general secretary (99 words)

Dave Prentis is to be the new general secretary of public services union UNISON. He will take over when current general secretary Rodney Bickerstaffe ...

Unions share in partnership money (296 words)

Last month trade and industry secretary Stephen Byers announced the first winners of funds to encourage innovative approaches to partnership in organisations throughout the ...

TUC organises May Day at the Dome (84 words)

The TUC has negotiated a special £10 May Day ticket offer for trade unionists wanting to visit the Millennium Dome in Greenwich, south east ...

Women call for motions to go to Congress (152 words)

Delegates to the TUC Women's Conference last month narrowly agreed that there should be provision for two motions from the conference to be placed ...

MPs slam HSE's investigation record (293 words)

A highly critical House of Commons select committee has called on the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to increase its investigation and prosecution record ...

NHS "should provide occupational health" (101 words)

The system of NHS hospitals providing occupational health services to local employers should be expanded, according to health secretary Alan Milburn. He has proposed ...

Sellafield commercial operations could close (192 words)

British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) has been threatened with the closure of commercial activities at its Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant after an investigation by the ...

"Poor safety culture" helped cause rail crash (340 words)

Fragmentation of the rail industry as a result of privatisation and a poor safety culture contributed to the 1997 Southall rail crash, which resulted ...

How Europe raises its minimum (1602 words)

Although the government has announced rises in the national minimum wage, it has a completely free hand on whether to and by how much. ...

Minimum wage fears unfounded (1447 words)

A year after the implementation of the national minimum wage, fears about job losses have not been borne out, says the Low Pay Commission. ...

What senior Tories do all day (1487 words)

If the Conservatives seem an ineffective Opposition, despite the problems of the Labour government, it might just be that their senior figures are too ...

Unions ring call-centre changes (1599 words)

The dangers of call-centre working, highlighted by a major strike of BT staff late last year, are being tackled by unions with significant success. ...

Lowest benefit rises ever (1941 words)

The Labour government's failure to change the Tories' rules on uprating state benefits means that this year's increases are some of the lowest on ...

How does local government pay compare? (1079 words)

Comparability is always an important issue when pay awards are up for negotiation. Union members often want to know how their pay compares with ...

Discrimination ruling advances rights (796 words)

The House of Lords has issued its ruling in a long-running case concerning the increase in the service qualification for unfair dismissal rights, introduced ...

Remembering those killed at work (743 words)

People killed at work will be remembered on the 28 April when trade unionists and safety campaigners, as well as bereaved relatives, mark Workers' ...

Budget brings some cheer to health service (862 words)

Last month's Budget brought cheer in the form of increased spending on health and education, but little to boost manufacturing. Back-up sets out the ...

THE ECONOMY THIS MONTH (976 words)

In February the retail price index rose by 0.5% over the previous month to stand at 167.5 (January 1987=100) and the annual rate of ...

Reviews

The formation of the Labour Party: lessons for today (244 words)

Jim Mortimer, Socialist History Society, 6 Cynthia Street, London N1 9JF, 36 pages, £2.50 ...

Economics (169 words)

The Economist, Profile Books, 356 pages, hardback £20.00, paperback £10.99 ...

Monitoring poverty and social exclusion (177 words)

Catherine Howarth et al, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, York Publishing Services, 64 Hallfield Road, York YO31 7ZQ, 89 pages, A4 size, £16.95 plus £2 p&p ...

Street credo: churches in the community (184 words)

Edited by Michael Simmons, Lemos & Crane, 185 pages, paperback, £12.99 ...

Snoopers at work (148 words)

Catharine Seddon, Channel 4 Television, PO Box 4000, Manchester M60 3LL, 28 pages, A6 size, £1 inc. p&p ...

Desmond Greaves and the origins of the civil rights movement in Northern Ireland (242 words)

Sean Redmond, Connolly Association, 244 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1X 8JR, 24 pages, £2.50 ...