Pay and prices

Settlements fall further behind prices (207 words)

The latest figures from the LRD Payline database of collective agreements show the overall median pay increase unchanged at 3.0% for the three months ...

Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (79 words)

Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered) ...

Other pay analysts (23 words)

Industrial Relations Services (median, three months to end October 2006) 3.0% ...

Full-time weekly average earnings (16 words)

All workers£548.00All male£602.80All female£462.70Managers£826.90Professionals£744.00Associate professional£565.90Admin & secretarial£363.50Skilled/craft£457.10Services£320.00Sales£303.30Operatives£421.30Other manual£327.20 ...

Average earnings indices (including bonuses) (51 words)

Earnings index*Annual riseWhole economyManufacturingServicesPrivate sectorPublic sectorJuly 2005 (r)121.74.6%3.5%4.9%4.6%4.3%August (r)122.14.1%4.3%4.2%4.1%4.3%September (r)122.33.8%4.5%3.6%3.8%4.0%October122.43.2%4.5%2.9%3.0%4.0%November123.13.5%4.4%3.4%3.2%4.4%December124.04.2%4.4%3.9%3.9%4.7%January 2006124.53.0%5.0%2.8%2.9%4.1%February125.85.0%5.2%5.1%5.3%4.1%March125.34.4%4.8%4.4%4.4%4.3%April124.83.5%5.9%3.2%3.7%2.9%May125.94.4%5.7%4.2%4.7%3.7%June126.64.9%5.8%4.9%5.3%3.7%July126.53.9%4.8%3.8%3.8%4.1%August (r)126.83.8%5.3%3.7%3.9%3.1%September (p)127.34.1%5.5%4.1%4.2%3.3%Headline rate** for Sept3.9%5.3%4.1%4.0%3.5% ...

Prices (10 words)

Retail prices index (RPI)*Annual increasesRPIRPI excluding mortgages September 2005193.12.7%2.5%October193.32.5%2.4%November193.62.4%2.3%December194.12.2%2.0%January 2006193.42.4%2.3%February194.22.4%2.3%March195.02.4%2.1%April196.52.6%2.4%May197.73.0%2.9%June198.53.3%3.1%July198.53.3%3.1%August119.23.4%3.3%September200.13.6%3.2%October200.43.7%3.2% ...

Inflation forecasts (17 words)

Fourth quarter 2007 ...

Bargaining news

Union deals deliver the goods at courier giants (792 words)

Workers at two of the UK's largest courier firms will get pay increases of well above inflation under new settlements negotiated by the T&G ...

Food fight is settled with two-year deal (248 words)

Members of the T&G and Amicus general unions at a Teeside food factory have accepted a two-year settlement worth 3.8% this year and inflation ...

North Sea divers make a splash with 25% increase (390 words)

Divers and support staff working for seven oil companies in the North Sea have secured a pay settlement that will see their salaries increase ...

Three-year, 21% pay rise is music to orchestra's ears (325 words)

After a pay freeze lasting three years, musicians in the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (RLPO) are to see their wages increase by 21% over ...

'Tipping point' is reached in battle for lecturers' pay (503 words)

The UCU lecturers' union says it has reached a milestone in its campaign to get staff at all further education (FE) colleges onto the ...

Telegraph backs off over new working practices (218 words)

Journalists at the Daily and Sunday Telegraph suspended three days of strike action this month after a threat to impose new rotas and compulsory ...

One goes off the rails after strike threat (276 words)

Industrial action among drivers at One, the train operator covering the East of England, was averted earlier this month after lengthy talks with the ...

Equality news

Disability duty comes into effect (223 words)

Government departments, local authorities, colleges, universities, health trusts, and all other public authorities will be subject to a new duty to promote disability equality ...

Union probes FE colleges' race equality performance (360 words)

The UCU lecturers' union has joined forces with the government's race watchdog, the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE), in a bid to improve race ...

Mental ill health remains a barrier to employment (340 words)

Mental ill health is now "operating as a badge of exclusion from the labour market in the same way that race and gender once ...

Recruitment and organisation news

Activists prepare to fight dirty for London cleaners (300 words)

Justice for Cleaners, the international campaign to organise workers within the world's biggest cleaning companies, has been planning a "big push forward" in London ...

Museum is all at sea as unions seek recognition (160 words)

A statutory recognition ballot is being run this month among staff at the National Maritime Museum, in the wake of an acrimonious campaign by ...

M&S staff tell USDAW: "We want a union" (180 words)

Shopworkers' union USDAW has launched a renewed drive to increase membership at Marks and Spencer, after a survey of existing members indicated strong support ...

Learning and training news

CWU celebrates Royal Mail learners (191 words)

The Mallusk Mail Centre in Belfast played host to a "celebration of learning" last month as 25 Royal Mail employees were recognised for their ...

European news

Belgians have 5.5% room for manoeuvre (267 words)

The Belgian Central Economic Council (CEC) has published a report providing a framework for the country's pay negotiations over the next two years - ...

Dutch Corus renews its five-year jobs guarantee (419 words)

The Dutch part of steel manufacturer Corus has guaranteed its employees' jobs for another five years, while at the same time increasing their pay ...

First deals are signed in Austria's new pay round (339 words)

The current Austrian pay round has opened with an inflation-beating deal for around 161,000 manual and non-manual workers in metalworking and mining. ...

Law - Dismissal

Dismissal law (408 words)

This month's rulings look at potentially fair and reasonable grounds for dismissing employees. ...

Appeal hearings (255 words)

Andrew Taylor, who is deaf, was dismissed at a disciplinary hearing whose proceedings he did not fully understand. He appealed, and his former employer ...

Length of service (193 words)

Mrs Watson was employed for 27 years before her employer, Fisher Foods, went into administration. She received redundancy pay and outstanding wages and holiday ...

Reasonableness of dismissal (168 words)

Thomas Connelly was dismissed following a road traffic accident in which he seriously and permanently damaged his hip, leaving him unable to do heavy ...

Retracting a resignation (193 words)

Mr Bogart brought a claim for unfair dismissal, but his employer claimed that he had resigned and not been dismissed. He argued that, although ...

Compensation (198 words)

Mr Green worked as a bus mechanical engineer for 21 years. When his employer asked his permission to contact the DVLA in order to ...

Some other substantial reason (399 words)

Thomas Deans, Derek Mulrine and Gary McClenaghan worked in Glasgow City Council's cultural and leisure services department. As part of a reorganisation following a ...

Disciplinary record (140 words)

Pharmaceutical firm employee Morris Thomson was dismissed after failing to carry out a safety process - a failure with potentially fatal results. His employer ...

Law - Redundancy

Redundancy law (260 words)

Issues covered this month include appropriate selection criteria and protective awards. ...

Contractual redundancy terms (284 words)

Christopher Keeley's written statement of employment terms set out his main terms of employment and referred to company handbooks where employees could obtain further ...

Unfair redundancy (261 words)

Lindsay Taylor was appointed director of a new textiles research centre at the university where she worked, and resigned from her post as head ...

Redundancy selection (289 words)

Mr McCormack was one of 16 employees to claim unfair dismissal following their redundancy. The employer had proposed to make 300 employees redundant for ...

Protective award (284 words)

The T&G general union won a protective award against a company which had failed to consult the union over collective redundancies. The union was ...

Health & safety news

Safety reps cite stress as the big workplace issue (250 words)

Stress is the most pressing concern at work for 61% of union safety reps, a TUC survey has found, while poor enforcement of health ...

Attacks on foreign drivers hide wider safety problem (265 words)

The T&G transport union has condemned a recent wave of xenophobia aimed at foreign truck drivers, arguing that the real issues in the industry ...

Supermarkets face pickets over worker safety (113 words)

Sainsbury's and Tesco stores are facing a series of union pickets aimed at stopping abuses of workers at strawberry supplier S&A Produce. ...

Battersea residents set up safety campaign (74 words)

Residents and workers in Battersea, south London have set up a campaign to investigate a fatal accident which took place in September (see last ...

One in five of us faces bullying at work (116 words)

Workplace bullying remains widespread in the UK, according to two reports published for this year's National Ban Bullying at Work Day on 7 November. ...

Features

Disability discrimination (156 words)

Do "coping strategies" affect whether someone is disabled? This month's round-up provides the answer. ...

Reasonable adjustments (215 words)

Mrs O'Hanlon had clinical depression; over a four-year period she was off sick for 365 days, 320 of which related to her disability. For ...

Definition of disability (573 words)

Police officer Gurpal Virdi had a visual impairment in his left eye, resulting in an overall loss of vision which was assessed at 20%. ...

Retail staff should check out back pain checklist (80 words)

Shopworkers' union USDAW has issued a "checkout checklist" to stamp out back pain among till operators who lift several tonnes of goods during an ...

New guidance on shifts and call centres (181 words)

The Heath and Safety Executive (HSE) has published new guidance on the risks associated with shift work and work in call centres. ...

Asbestos regulations come into force (83 words)

The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006 came into force on 13 November, receiving a cautious welcome from unions. ...

Unions expose low levels of HSE inspection staff (293 words)

There are more traffic wardens in London than Health and Safety Executive (HSE) field inspectors in the whole of the UK, unions have revealed. ...

Complacent HSE must end decline in enforcement (229 words)

Unions have welcomed new Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures showing a reduction in the number of workers experiencing work-related ill health and injury ...

HSC considers safety consultation responses (98 words)

A Health and Safety Commission (HSC) meeting earlier this month heard the preliminary results from the recent consultation exercise Improving worker involvement - improving ...

Who were the pay round's big winners? (3346 words)

Last month Workplace Report reviewed the 2005/06 pay round in the light of the findings of the Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS) 2004, focusing ...

Make sure the sack race has a level playing field (2035 words)

The introduction of age discrimination laws last month has required unions and employers to check their workplace agreements for compliance. But a survey carried ...