Features

UNIONS IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM (2150 words)

Trade unions can enter the 21st century with more confidence than they have had for 20 years, according to Professor John Kelly, of the ...

WHO'LL BE AT WORK IN 2010? (1244 words)

Over the next few years the labour force will comprise more women and more part-time workers, but fewer young people and workers over the ...

THE STORY OF UNIONS IN 20 MINUTES (1675 words)

Trade unions have scraped through 200 years of advances and setbacks. Labour Research races through some key points of their development to date. ...

UNIONS IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM (1913 words)

What is the state of the British trade union movement as we enter the new millennium? On the one hand there has been a ...

WORKERS' AIM - TO GET A LIFE (1489 words)

The bargaining agenda at the start of the new millennium will be lead by people's desire to spend less of their lives at work, ...

Academic bodies must tackle discrimination (418 words)

The secretary of state for education, David Blunkett, has issued guidance to the Higher Education Funding Council, the body that funds academic institutions, which ...

Anti-discrimination package announced (238 words)

Cabinet Office minister Ian McCartney has announced a package of measures to tackle discrimination. He said the government "will act to stamp out discrimination, ...

Union raises the roof over domestic violence (193 words)

Public services union UNISON is adding its weight to a campaign against domestic violence. The Women's Aid millennium campaign to end domestic violence has ...

Working practices in call centres under scrutiny (216 words)

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has announced that it is to carry out new research into the working practices in call centres. ...

Research links keyboard work and RSI (264 words)

A study has confirmed that there is a link between keyboard use and RSI/upper limb disorders. The study of upper limb disorders (or ULD ...

Stiffer penalties needed for safety breeches (276 words)

The TUC and the British Safety Council (BSC) have described the current level of fines imposed on companies in breach of health and safety ...

OP report "disappointing" (100 words)

The conclusions of a government report on organophosphate (OP) sheep dips have been greeted with surprise and disappointment by unions and pesticide campaigners. ...

UK company pay gap "widest in Europe" (420 words)

Britain's top company directors' pay packets are fatter than ever despite calls from the chancellor Gordon Brown for pay restraint in the boardroom. As ...

Heseltine Haymarket millionaire (56 words)

Publishing group Haymarket, headed by former deputy prime minister Michael Heseltine, has cut its support to the Conservative Party (see December 1999 Labour Research, ...

UK water profiteers (96 words)

The UK water industry enjoys some of the highest profit margins in the world, according to new research by the Public Services International Research ...

Rock industry fortunes (84 words)

The fortunes of rock artist Eric Clapton and his manager Roger Forrester were closely entwined for almost 30 years until they split in early ...

Public bodies tackling fraud successfully (220 words)

Councils and NHS bodies in England and Wales detected £108 million worth of fraud in the past year, according to the public spending watchdog, ...

Council workers strike to defend conditions (436 words)

Haringey Council in North London witnessed action by almost 5,000 members of public services union UNISON and the GMB and T&G general unions last ...

Organising is key to recruitment, study finds (487 words)

Union recruitment drives that emphasise organising are proving successful in raising the number of lay activists as well as membership levels, according to a ...

UNISON election (74 words)

The election for the leader of public services union UNISON, which commences later this month, will be a three-cornered contest. The candidates are Roger ...

Minister endorses unions (60 words)

Trade unions were accorded a government seal of approval last month. Competitiveness minister Alan Johnson, himself a former leader of the CWU communication workers' ...

MSF expands (35 words)

The 10,000-member National Union of Insurance Workers merges into manufacturing, science and finance union MSF on 1 January 2000. Meanwhile, general union GMB is ...

IG Metall opposes Vodafone (136 words)

Klaus Zwickel, president of the IG Metall, Germany's largest union has come out strongly against the planned take-over of the German company Mannesmann, by ...

Possible progress on European Company (139 words)

The European council of ministers for labour and social affairs has again discussed the plans for employee involvement in companies set up under a ...

Little progress on Alliance for Jobs (170 words)

Germany's tripartite discussions on employment between the unions, government and the employers made little progress when the three sides again came together last month. ...

European works councils for the UK (144 words)

The UK government has taken the last steps to extend the European works council directive fully to the UK. Last month it laid the ...

Dutch "consensus" model under pressure (279 words)

The Dutch model of industrial relations, based on achieving consensus between employers, unions and government, has come under pressure as a result of the ...

New Europe-wide anti-discrimination measures (460 words)

The European Commission has published details of a package of new proposals, which, if agreed, will greatly extend the scope of European laws against ...

Safety Rep: The Labour Research Department's new bulletin (118 words)

This month sees the launch of a brand new monthly health and safety bulletin from the Labour Research Department. ...

Union legal services cheapest and best (207 words)

Union legal services are substantially cheaper than any other legal expenses insurance, according to a TUC survey, Focus on union legal services. For an ...

The way forward for health and safety at work (1006 words)

Major proposals for reforming health and safety regulation have been put forward by some of the leading UK health and safety specialists, including trade ...

THE ECONOMY THIS MONTH (558 words)

KEY INDICATORS ...

Law Matters

Appeal Court rules no second bite at cherry (304 words)

The Court of Appeal has ruled that if an issue is not raised at an initial employment tribunal hearing it cannot subsequently be used ...

Bonuses and pay rights (139 words)

The European Court of Justice has ruled that, for the purpose of equal pay rights, pay can include discretionary bonuses even if paid mainly ...

Part-time workers denied benefit (109 words)

Many local authorities, which at one time paid ancillary staff for the whole of the year, including during the school holidays, have made cuts ...

National minimum wage (75 words)

In the first six months of the operation of the National Minimum Wage (NMW), the new NMW Helpline has dealt with around 90,000 calls. ...

Change to race relations law (149 words)

The government intends to amend the Race Relations Act 1976 by extending it to cover public authorities, including the police. ...

High Court set to gain eight new judges (183 words)

The government is set to appoint a further eight High Court judges in England and Wales, raising their number from 98 to 106. The ...

Law Back-up

Judges encourage zero-hours contracts (1051 words)

The House of Lords, the UK's highest court, has given a ruling which represents a setback for employee rights, gives a green light to ...

Health & Safety Back-up

More powers for safety reps on the way (980 words)

Safety representatives could be given greater protection and more rights, if some of the proposals set out in a Health and Safety Commission (HSC) ...

Workplace Back-up

Getting the time for a break (998 words)

Demands for increased flexibility and productivity made meal breaks a "negotiable" item during the 1990s. The Working Time Regulations have now created an opportunity ...