News

Driving examiners (61 words)

On 17 July nearly 2,000 driving examiners and administrative staff at the Driving Standards Agency took strike action against the threat of office closures, ...

Prison officers (50 words)

The Prison Officers Association is balloting its 35,000 members for strike action following the imposition of a 1.6% pay award and what the union ...

Adult education cuts (64 words)

Members of the UCU lecturers' union took part in a protest rally against cuts in adult education in Liverpool from September, which will result ...

Rail pensions (50 words)

The RMT union has decided to take part in an industry-wide commission to try to find a long-term solution to the pensions crisis in ...

Asda Wal-Mart depot workers win right to national bargaining (321 words)

GMB members have won the right to national collective bargaining in Asda Wal-Mart distribution depots, following talks hosted by the TUC in June. As ...

Unions win support for Peugeot boycott campaign (310 words)

Manufacturing union Amicus and the T&G general union launched a £1m boycott campaign last month, aimed at persuading Peugeot to keep its Ryton car ...

USDAW claims victory in fight for Sunday shopping hours (236 words)

The government has rejected the idea of an extension in Sunday opening hours for large stores, in a move hailed as a victory by ...

Strawberry pickers protest (303 words)

Supermarket chains Tesco and Sainsbury have agreed to investigate working conditions at S&A Produce, one of the UK's biggest strawberry growers, following protest action ...

Fire control room cuts (217 words)

Plans to close all 47 fire control rooms in England and replace them with nine regional centres are risky, according to a House of ...

Energy prices drive up inflation (63 words)

Higher energy prices have helped to fuel an increase in prices. The Retail Price Index (RPI) rose to 3.3% in June - its highest ...

Unemployment hits six-year peak (206 words)

Unemployment is at its highest level for six years. Under the Labour Force Survey (LFS) count, it rose by 90,000 to 1.65 million in ...

Key economic indicators

Key economic indicators (338 words)

May 2005 3.9% 2.3% 4.4% 3.3% 7.1% 3.2% ...

Union news

Unions successfully bounce back from deficit to surplus (337 words)

Union finances were in healthy shape in 2004-05 with only the specialist and professional union Prospect going into the red, according to the annual ...

NUMAST wins TUC press award (251 words)

The judges of this years TUC Press and PR awards voted unanimously for the National Union of Marine, Aviation and Shipping Transport Officers' magazine, ...

Bill Speirs retires from STUC (187 words)

Bill Speirs has stepped down from the post of STUC general secretary after working for the organisation for nearly 30 years. ...

European news

Finnish proposals extend rights (197 words)

A working group of representatives of the government, unions and the employers has put forward a series of joint recommendations which extend employees' rights ...

Pressure grows at Volkswagen as talks fail to produce results (370 words)

Last month's second round of talks at Germany's largest car maker, Volkswagen, failed to produce agreement on arrangements to preserve jobs in the company's ...

Italian union backs migrant law (296 words)

The largest Italian union confederation, CGIL, has backed a proposal from the Italian government to allow more than 300,000 migrants to regularise their position ...

Features

The road to riches (1793 words)

Pay rises averaging 10.8% were given to the chief executives of the FTSE 100 companies last year, according to the latest Labour Research executive ...

Winds of change (1319 words)

Workplaces burn energy, consume resources, generate waste and are the most obvious starting point to tackle climate change and sustainable development issues, according to ...

Business must be made accountable (1781 words)

Corporate social responsibility, usually referred to as CSR, has become a familiar concept in the business world. Most household name companies now have Corporate ...

One more gets on board (1599 words)

It is more than 20 years since representatives of UK employees last sat on the board of a major company operating in the UK. ...

Law Matters

Bias claim wasn't enough to remove tribunal chair (376 words)

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has set out the approach to be taken in cases of alleged bias by an employment tribunal. ...

Whistleblowers' protection is extended post-employment (318 words)

Workers who suffer a detriment because they have blown the whistle on their employer can now bring a tribunal claim even if the detriment ...

Asleep but working (169 words)

A hotel worker was working even when he was asleep, the EAT has said. ...

Lords back Appeal Court on harassment (99 words)

An employer is liable for harassment carried out by its employees in the workplace, the House of Lords has confirmed. ...

Law Queries

Dress code (189 words)

Q: Our employer insists that all its male staff wear ties, even in this heat. Women don't have to wear them. Is this sex ...

Length-of-service benefits (302 words)

Q: I have been negotiating with management over long-service benefits but am concerned that they may be in breach of the new age discrimination ...

Redundancy meetings (193 words)

Q: Our employer has consulted the union over proposed redundancies but will not allow reps to attend individual meetings with members. Is there any ...

Law Back-up

Age discrimination law faces legal challenge (878 words)

The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 are due to come into force on 1 October this year - but an offshoot of the charity ...

Health & Safety Matters

Childcare must be available to all, says study (234 words)

Black and minority ethnic (BME) families face a number of hurdles in gaining access to and using childcare, according to a new study by ...

Fear motivates employers into action on diversity (472 words)

Many companies claim to be keen to increase the diversity of their workforce - but human resource organisation the Chartered Institute for Personnel and ...

Small firms remain ignorant of new age discrimination law (173 words)

A survey by the Employers' Forum on Age (EFA) and the British Chambers of Commerce have found that just a quarter of small and ...

Workplace Back-up

Employers must stop going for the burn (760 words)

The heat is on in the UK's workplaces this summer - but there's a lot that union reps can do to persuade employers to ...

News from LRD

TUC stand (96 words)

LRD will again have a stand at this year's Trades Union Congress, which takes place in Brighton from 11 to 14 September. ...

Reviews

Europe and your rights at work (144 words)

Stephen Hughes and David Lea, TUC publications, paperback, 53 pages, £5 (hard copy) or free from www.tuc.org.uk/extras/europerights.pdf ...

Participation and democracy at work (159 words)

Jeff Hyman, Paul Thompson and Bill Harley (eds), Palgrave, 257 pages, paperback, £26.99 ...

Inequalities of the world (137 words)

Göran Therborn (ed), Verso, paperback, 332 pages, £19.99 ...

E-views

e-views (346 words)

A few weeks ago, union-backed campaigners managed to get a billboard erected not far from the corporate headquarters of Wal-Mart, the world's largest employer. ...