Financial services

Unions are continuing to introduce new services for members, according to a TUC survey.

Focus on union services, carried out by the Labour Research Department, found that unions have brought in at least 48 services this year and more in the next six months.

Most are finance-related, such as discount shopping and insurance. But there are other new projects such as public service union UNISON's scheme to help low-paid workers get access to the internet.

Unions are now running 36 telephone helplines on subjects ranging from general legal advice to debt counselling. They took over 300,000 calls in the year.

The survey also revealed that the average union subscription rate is £2.26 per week.

TUC general secretary John Monks praised the unions, saying: "Offering top-class services that members want has to be a key feature of the work unions do from now on."