Pay and prices

Prices are rising faster than earnings (223 words)

For the first time in nearly four years, inflation is outstripping growth in average earnings. While pay settlements recorded on the LRD Payline database ...

Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (75 words)

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

Other pay analysts (23 words)

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

Average earnings indices (including bonuses) (42 words)

Earnings index*% annual riseWhole economyManufacturingServicesPrivate sectorPublic sectorSeptember 2005 (r)122.33.8%4.4%3.5%3.7%4.0%October (r)122.43.2%4.4%2.9%3.0%4.1%November (r)123.23.5%4.5%3.4%3.3%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%August126.83.8%5.3%3.7%3.9%3.2%September127.34.1%5.4%4.2%4.3%3.4%October (r)127.64.2%5.3%4.4%4.4%3.3%November (p)128.03.9%4.7%4.0%4.0%3.1%Headline rate** for Nov4.15.1%4.2%4.2%3.2% ...

Full-time weekly average earnings (16 words)

All workers£551.30All male£606.40All female£465.40Managers£831.80Professionals£748.40Associate professional£569.20Admin & secretarial£365.70Skilled/craft£459.80Services£321.90Sales£305.10Operatives£423.70Other manual£329.10 ...

Prices (17 words)

Retail prices index (RPI)*Annual increase in RPIAnnual increase in RPI excluding mortgages November 2005193.62.4%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%August199.23.4%3.3%September200.13.6%3.2%October200.43.7%3.2%November201.13.9%3.4%December202.74.4%3.8% ...

Inflation forecasts (17 words)

Fourth quarter 2007 ...

Bargaining news

FBU considers proposals on CPD payments (270 words)

Members of the FBU firefighters' union are being consulted on a new Continuing Professional Development (CPD) scheme designed to reward experience and its benefits ...

Research reveals market forces behind "pay drift" (417 words)

New research has revealed that high recruitment and retention payments and employers' support for training are among the factors explaining why growth in average ...

Pension plans unveiled for public sector workers (297 words)

Public services union UNISON has given its initial response to the new draft regulations on the local government pension scheme (LGPS), which were introduced ...

Surrey social workers win battle for paid overtime (275 words)

Approved social workers (ASWs) employed by Surrey County Council settled a prolonged dispute over workloads and unpaid overtime at the end of last year. ...

Union grounds air firm's plan to impose pay rises (438 words)

Airport cargo handlers represented by the T&G transport union are celebrating a 3% pay rise and an agreement by their employer never to impose ...

Ambulance redundancies are halted (254 words)

Unions have persuaded the Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust to withdraw redundancy notices served on managers and administrative and support staff just days before ...

Equality news

Migrant workers are still being exploited (186 words)

Employers are continuing to take advantage of migrant workers' ignorance of UK employment law, the GMB general union has claimed after winning more than ...

STUC recognises reps who fight discrimination (93 words)

The Scottish TUC (STUC) has launched a new award to recognise members of Scottish unions who challenge discriminatory attitudes and practices in the workplace. ...

IBM tops Stonewall list of "gay-friendly" employers (371 words)

Campaign group Stonewall has declared IT giant IBM to be the best employer in Britain for gay, lesbian and bisexual (LGB) workers. ...

Psychologists uncover employers' hidden biases (307 words)

Legislation outlawing age discrimination has not altered the ageist attitudes of employers, according to a new study, with older women in particular thought not ...

Recruitment and organisation news

NUJ recognition victories bring Christmas cheer (441 words)

The last days of 2006 brought tidings of comfort and joy for many members of the NUJ journalists' union, following the successful conclusion of ...

USDAW seeks organisers (60 words)

Retail union USDAW's Organising Academy has had its most successful year to date, recruiting 10,000 new members and more than 1,255 activists to the ...

Co-op derecognition sparks GMB fury (87 words)

Co-operative FuneralCare has derecognised the GMB general union after more than 100 years of recognition. The GMB slammed the move as "disgraceful, outrageous and ...

Learning and training news

UCU leads fight against ESOL cuts (335 words)

A new campaign is aiming to reverse government proposals that would severely curtail the availability of free courses in English for speakers of other ...

European news

Pay outstrips prices in the Netherlands and France (268 words)

Dutch unions have reached agreement on a pay rise worth 7.25% for the country's building workers over the next 27 months. ...

Belgian union slams new national pay agreement (520 words)

Belgian unions and employers have signed a new national framework agreement on pay and other issues for the next two years - but the ...

Portugal's minimum wage receives a welcome boost (186 words)

Portugal has followed the lead of several other European Union member states, including its neighbour Spain, in taking a deliberate decision to improve the ...

Law - Discrimination

Discrimination case law (725 words)

Topics this month include tribunals' ability to infer discrimination and the circumstances in which an employer has a duty to make reasonable adjustments. ...

Equal pay (269 words)

A group of 31 hospital domestic staff (28 women and three men) brought equal pay claims, arguing that they should receive bonus payments which ...

Knowledge of transsexuality (259 words)

Andy Baldwin was employed by a local council as a community safety development officer for lesbian, gay and bisexual people. His post was temporary, ...

Fixed-term workers (232 words)

A Greek law implementing the European directive on fixed-term work says that fixed-term contracts are deemed to be successive if they are separated by ...

Inferring discrimination (559 words)

Police sergeant Nicholas Alldred asked to be considered for a different post which would help with his childcare arrangements, but the job was given ...

Duty to make adjustments (436 words)

Legal assistant Mrs Ferguson developed chronic fatigue syndrome, one of the effects of which was that she could not concentrate for any length of ...

Racial harassment (170 words)

Miss Nyateka's manager came into work for a meeting that Nyateka knew nothing about and to which she would normally have been invited. The ...

Disability discrimination (446 words)

Miss Difolco was left partially paralysed after an accident at work and started working part-time, some of it from home. She was later selected ...

Time limits (149 words)

Mr Chouafi submitted unfair dismissal and disability discrimination claims three months outside the time limit for doing so. He suffered from severe depression and ...

Associated discrimination (171 words)

Ms Coleman resigned after her employer failed to grant her request for flexible working, although it had agreed to requests by parents of non-disabled ...

Continuing discrimination (182 words)

Dr Vivienne Lyfar brought a race discrimination claim more than three months after some of the incidents she complained of (an allegation made against ...

Correct comparator (189 words)

Ms Ward worked as a cleaner. Her manager, believing that she was skiving, went into the women's toilets while she was in there and ...

Absolute immunity (165 words)

When Mr Hasan's service as a police constable was ended during his probationary period, he claimed racial and religious harassment and discrimination. The police ...

Subconscious discrimination (198 words)

Mr Lewis, who is gay, was dismissed for gross misconduct following alleged inappropriate sexual conduct. He claimed discrimination on grounds of his sexual orientation. ...

Compensation (200 words)

After Miss Gilbank told her manager, Ms Miles, that she was pregnant, she was subjected to a campaign of bullying and harassment. A tribunal ...

Health & safety news

Driving for work remains a dangerous business (254 words)

More than a quarter of road deaths and a fifth of serious road injuries involve people driving for work, according to new figures from ...

GMB and TUC surveys reveal the extent of stress (223 words)

Stress remains a huge issue which employers must tackle, a TUC survey of workplace safety reps has found. ...

Employers refuse time off for DSE sight tests (184 words)

Safety reps have told Workplace Report that employers are abusing the law relating to eye tests for users of display screen equipment (DSE). ...

Union safety stand is vindicated by HSE (155 words)

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has backed union claims and served an improvement notice on a firm producing ready meals for major UK ...

Unions reveal "cyber-bullies" in schools (120 words)

Bullying of school teachers via mobile phone, e-mail and the internet is a growing problem which must be tackled, according to the ATL teaching ...

Features

Government consults on facilities for reps (649 words)

The government is inviting the views of unions and other interested parties on the facilities and legal rights available to workplace reps. ...

T&G opposes cuts at HSE (116 words)

The T&G general union has protested to Gordon Brown about cuts to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). ...

HSE and HSC consult on proposed merger (88 words)

The Health and Safety Commission is carrying out a public consultation on proposals to merge it and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) into ...

Nuclear safety is put at risk by government cuts (273 words)

Planned budgetary cuts in the nuclear industry will threaten safety for both workers and the public, unions have claimed. ...

GMB seeks safety review after BASF chemical spill (175 words)

The GMB general union has called for a major safety review after 37 workers were injured in a toxic leak at a chemical factory ...

REACH agreement will not protect workers' health (239 words)

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has warned that REACH, the new European chemicals framework, will be "inadequate" at protecting workers' health. ...

Disability audits offer a route to equality in the workplace (2134 words)

Since last month, the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 has required employers in the public sector to promote disability equality and eliminate discrimination against disabled ...

Public sector is left behind as European pay rises accelerate (1885 words)

For the past seven years, Workplace Report and its predecessor Bargaining Report have carried out an annual analysis of representative pay agreements in Europe. ...