News

Rail strike could be averted (237 words)

Strike action may be averted after intensive discussions between the rail unions and employers over the future of the rail workers’ pension scheme. ...

NUT critical of "inclusion on the cheap" for special needs children (326 words)

Including children with special needs in mainstream classes amounts to “a form of abuse” unless there is appropriate support, academics said last month in ...

Weak UK labour laws are blamed again as Vauxhall axes 900 jobs (198 words)

Unions have again spoken out against the UK’s weak employment laws following Vauxhall’s announcement of 900 job cuts at its Ellesmere Port plant — ...

Universities withhold pay as exam boycott bites (234 words)

Unions representing academic and related staff — NATFHE, the AUT and the EIS — were maintaining a boycott on exam marking as Labour Research ...

Better work advice is needed to stop exploitation of new migrants (242 words)

The TUC has called for greater co-ordination between regional health, employment, housing and education services, to make it harder for rogue employers to exploit ...

Calls to ban thinking out of the box (243 words)

From bullying to ineffective communication, poor management is rife in UK workplaces, a new study by law firm Eversheds has said. ...

Inflation rises to 2.6% (57 words)

Dearer air fares and higher gas and electricity bills pushed inflation higher. Inflation under the Retail Prices Index (RPI) rose to 2.6% in April ...

Unemployment creeps up (232 words)

Unemployment is at a six-year high, according to the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Its data showed it has risen by 44,000 to 1.59 million ...

Key economic indicators

Key indicators (334 words)

March 2005 (r) 3.9% 3.6% 4.1% 3.9% 4.2% 3.4% ...

Union news

New recognition deals fall by a third (288 words)

Unions are operating in “the toughest recognition climate” since the statutory right to recognition came in the year 2000, according to the TUC’s latest ...

GMB elects Kenny (185 words)

Paul Kenny, who has been acting leader of the GMB general union for the past 14 months, has been elected unopposed as the union’s ...

Merger results in world's largest academic union (165 words)

A new post-school education union of over 110,000 members is created by the merger of the NATFHE and AUT lecturers’ unions on 1 June. ...

Strike ballot is back on at ASDA, says GMB (85 words)

The GMB general union is pressing ahead with a national strike ballot in ASDA Wal-Mart over union recognition for workers in the company’s 20 ...

European news

Borders come down (145 words)

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has praised a decision by three more EU countries to remove labour barriers to workers from member states ...

New deal allows Spanish temp workers to go permanent (415 words)

Unions, employers and the government in Spain have reached agreement on new arrangements for temporary workers, which will make it easier for them to ...

WWII actions may lose relevance in France (303 words)

A new report for the French government could lead to a major shake-up in the structure of French trade unions. It questions the current ...

Features

School reform Bill sparks volatile debate (1586 words)

The government’s planned educational reforms have caused uproar among unions representing teachers and other education staff, despite Labour’s assurance that the reforms will provide ...

Demanding the right to acceptance (1839 words)

Airline worker Marlene Davidson was driven out of her job after telling colleagues she was undergoing treatment to change from male to female. ...

Time to play catch-up (1502 words)

“The problem with childcare is that the government is having to reverse a 20-year trend of zero investment and the closure of vast numbers ...

When the deal is done (1269 words)

The UK has seen a recent flurry of multi-billion pound company takeovers from overseas. ...

Law Matters

Airline staff lose battle to protect retirement age (346 words)

The Court of Appeal has ruled that an employee’s normal retiring age is not the same as their contractual retiring age and does not ...

ECJ advisor queries legality of linking pay to long service (230 words)

Employers who pay higher wages to employees with longer service may be guilty of sex discrimination unless they can provide a business justification, Europe’s ...

More time for claims over deductions (285 words)

If a worker’s wages are not paid in full, the time limit for bringing a claim runs from the date that the payment is ...

Law Queries

Temporary to permanent (149 words)

Q: Do temporary workers qualify for permanent status after a certain period of time? ...

Restructures and redundancy (297 words)

Q: Our members have been told that their jobs will change as a result of a company restructure. Does this amount to a redundancy ...

Continuity of service (267 words)

Q: One of our members has been reinstated following a dismissal, and the employer says that he has lost his continuity of service. Is ...

Law Back-up

Workers have right to redundancy scores (903 words)

When a group of welders were put at risk of redundancy as part of a cost-reducing reorganisation, they were informed of the criteria that ...

Health & Safety Matters

Mesothelioma ruling will cut victims' compensation (376 words)

Victims of mesothelioma, a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos fibres, will see their compensation payments savagely reduced following a legal ruling last month. ...

Scotland's politicians dither over corporate killing law (275 words)

Unions have expressed their anger after the minister responsible for the new law on corporate homicide in Scotland appeared to backtrack on promises to ...

Stress management works, says research (84 words)

New research carried out for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has shown that giving workers more control of their work can reduce stress, ...

USDAW demands PINs for safety reps (78 words)

Shopworkers’ union USDAW passed a proposition at its annual delegate meeting last month, calling for safety reps to have the power to issue legally ...

European research on safety reps (59 words)

The European Trade Union Institute is looking into the “union safety rep effect”. ...

Health & Safety Back-up

Don't put yourself at risk over assessments (938 words)

The idea of risk assessment — the process of identifying the hazards that exist in a workplace and how likely they are to cause ...

Equality news

Are disabled people shut out of professional jobs? (347 words)

The Disability Rights Commission (DRC) is launching a formal investigation into public sector “fitness standards”. ...

Single equality commission takes a step closer to reality (278 words)

The launch of a website for the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR) has highlighted the progress being made to unify equality ...

Councils are still failing BME workers (247 words)

Almost half of local authorities in England still do not have any employees from black and minority ethnic (BME) communities among their top earners, ...

Workplace Back-up

Bosses' "sickie" claim deserves a red card (809 words)

According to the annual sickness absence survey from employers’ body the CBI, published last month, sick leave is at its lowest level for 20 ...

News from LRD

European agreements (130 words)

Getting access to information on developments on pay and conditions in other countries is often difficult and time-consuming. ...

Reviews

Regulating health and safety: an agenda for change (174 words)

Phil James and David Walters, Institute of Employment Rights, 170 pages, paperback, £12.00 (cheaper if bulk ordered) ...

Poor workers' unions: rebuilding labor from below (140 words)

Vanessa Tait, South End Press, 272 pages, paperback, £14.99 ...

Global trade: past mistakes, future choices (132 words)

Greg Buckman, Zed Books, paperback, 294 pages, £9.99 ...

E-views

e-views (354 words)

Without a list of your members’ and supporters’ e-mail addresses, there is almost no point in having a website. This is very clear for ...