Pay and prices

Inflation races ahead of pay rises again (225 words)

With the retail prices index (RPI) up to 4.6% - its highest level since 1991 - and pay settlements still running at 3.5% , ...

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 February 2007) 3.5% ...

Average earnings indices (including bonuses) (56 words)

Earnings index*% annual riseWhole economyManufacturingServicesPrivate sectorPublic sectorNovember 2006 (r)123.33.6%4.3%3.6%3.4%4.5%December (r)124.14.3%4.5%4.0%4.1%4.7%January 2006 (r)124.12.6%5.1%2.2%2.2%4.2%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%October127.64.2%5.1%4.4%4.4%3.3%November (r)128.24.0%4.7%4.1%4.1%3.1%December (r)128.93.9%3.9%4.2%4.0%3.3%January 2007 (p)130.04.7%3.0%5.3%5.2%3.3%Headline rate** for January4.2%3.9%4.5%4.4%3.2% ...

Full-time weekly average earnings (16 words)

All workers£559.90All male£615.80All female£472.70Managers£844.70Professionals£760.00Associate professional£578.10Admin & secretarial£371.40Skilled/craft£466.90Services£326.90Sales£309.90Operatives£430.30Other manual£334.30 ...

Prices (20 words)

Retail prices index (RPI)*% annual increase in RPI% annual increase in RPI excluding mortgage payments 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%January 2007201.64.2%3.5%February203.14.6%3.7% ...

Inflation forecasts (17 words)

Fourth quarter 2007: ...

Bargaining news

Strikes are averted on buses, trains and Tube (750 words)

Groundbreaking pay settlements have been reached by public transport unions, although in each case it has taken the threat of strike action to bring ...

North East ambulance crews reject meal deal (86 words)

Members of public services union UNISON in the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) have rejected an offer of a £35 payment for every lunch ...

More unions vote to accept BA pension offer (180 words)

Following a recommendation made by their reps, the Amicus professional union's 6,000 members at British Airways (BA) have voted in favour of the company's ...

Yorkshire print journalists agree rules on new media (240 words)

An "enabling agreement" governing the introduction of new media such as video reporting has been negotiated at the Yorkshire Post and Yorkshire Evening Post, ...

Rig builders get 4.2% rise (212 words)

After three months of negotiations and the threat of imminent strike action, workers at a oil-and gas-rig manufacturer have secured a 4.2% pay increase ...

Meagre rise in minimum wage is announced (226 words)

The government has announced that the National Minimum Wage (NMW) will go up by just 17p this year. ...

Brown imposes staged pay rises in public sector (627 words)

The announcement of below-inflation pay rises for more than a million public-sector workers has provoked anger this month from unions - and from the ...

3% increase at Soho Images ends overtime ban (170 words)

Entertainment union BECTU has negotiated a pay deal at film laboratory and post-production house Soho Images, following a prolonged dispute. ...

O2 pay rises will be part-consolidated (283 words)

The CWU communication workers' union has negotiated a pay offer at telecoms firm O2 that will increase wage packets by up to 5.5% this ...

Black and Asian women are missing from work (372 words)

Two years of research by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has uncovered a widespread lack of women from ethnic minorities in the UK's workplaces. ...

Equality news

BA gives in over mother's reduced hours (271 words)

A long-running dispute over a female airline pilot's right to reduce her working hours by 50% has been settled by pilots' union BALPA and ...

Gender equality duty begins next month (55 words)

The new gender equality duty will come into force on 6 April, requiring all public authorities - and private firms withing to bid for ...

Nurses and teachers fear the "stigma" of disability (196 words)

Teachers, nurses and social workers are scared to disclose hidden disabilities and health conditions, the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) has claimed. ...

Recruitment and organisation news

Connect calls for Vodafone rights (312 words)

Communication managers' union Connect has applied for statutory recognition on behalf of members in the Regional Operations North section of telecoms giant Vodafone. ...

Unions take to workplace gates (267 words)

Organisers from two unions were at workplace gates last month in recruitment drives aimed at securing full representation for workers. ...

Learning and training news

Reps get help to boost basic skills (289 words)

Unionlearn, the TUC's learning and skills organisation, has published a series of six booklets to help reps tackle the UK's skills crisis. ...

European news

Dutch unions achieve their pay-rise target (149 words)

After several years of wage moderation, pay rises this year in the Netherlands are outstripping inflation and meeting the 3.0% goal that the FNV, ...

Chemicals industry sets the standard in Germany (523 words)

Chemicals firms and the chemicals union IGBCE in Germany have agreed a 3.6% pay increase - more than double the country's current (February) inflation ...

EDF agrees to support staff mobility (344 words)

Unions at French energy company EDF have signed a new agreement with the employer to help individual workers adapt to change, both in the ...

Law - Tribunal procedures

Tribunal case law (414 words)

Topics covered this month include the exacting requirements of the statutory grievance procedures. ...

Striking out a claim (335 words)

Mr Essombe brought claims of unfair dismissal and race discrimination after he was dismissed from his job at a restaurant. He had videoed the ...

Exclusion of evidence (180 words)

Planning officer Mr Digby brought a claim of unfair dismissal, part of which related to the fairness of a final written warning he had ...

Modified grievance procedure (262 words)

Elaine Pratt left her job as a cleaner after 20 years and wrote to her employer, a local council, claiming equal pay with male ...

Size of claim form (216 words)

Claire Grant faxed her claim form to a tribunal within the three-month time limit. The tribunal secretary rejected it, saying it was not on ...

Fairness of hearing (196 words)

When Ms Hendrie's employer failed to submit a response to her claim, the tribunal issued a default judgment, upholding her claim without going to ...

Non-attendance (170 words)

Three employees issued claims after being made redundant when the contract they were working under was taken over. Two of them attended a tribunal ...

Chair sitting alone (206 words)

Mr Wilkinson brought a claim for breach of contract and unlawful deduction of wages because his employer had failed to pay his final month's ...

Statutory grievance (219 words)

When Mrs Wild brought an equal pay claim against her employer, the tribunal held a pre-hearing review to decide whether she had raised a ...

Health & safety news

Put health at the heart of "good work", say unions (249 words)

Unions and campaigners have advised the government's new safety minister to focus on making work safe and healthy, not on forcing people back to ...

HSE is failing safety reps in fight for their rights (233 words)

The government admits that safety reps do life-saving work but won't give them the time to continue doing it, a new report in the ...

CWU negotiates violence policy with Royal Mail (95 words)

The CWU communication workers' union has negotiated a policy at Royal Mail to tackle violence and assaults on postal workers. ...

Food firm tackles falls (111 words)

A food manufacturer has reduced accidents and near-misses after taking advice from shopworkers' union USDAW. ...

Clyde nuclear safety fear (92 words)

Union members at the Clyde Naval Base fear that funding cuts may cause a nuclear incident. ...

Features

Employment contract case law (457 words)

This month's round-up includes more rulings on the status of agency workers in long-term assignments, and guidance on the circumstances in which an employee's ...

Definition of employee (215 words)

Dr Kettle applied for the position of orthodontic practitioner, which was advertised as a salaried position within a Ministry of Defence (MoD) clinic with ...

Change of workplace (218 words)

A local council employed special needs teacher Beryl Luke to work part-time at a pupil referral unit called the ACE Centre; she also had ...

More than one employer (213 words)

Ms Cairns was an administrative assistant at the same company for seven years. For over half that time she worked through the agency MSX, ...

Frustration of contract (147 words)

After a check-up revealed possible heart problems, light-goods vehicle driver Martin Waller was temporarily suspended from driving pending further health tests. When he submitted ...

Contractual agreements (361 words)

Gardener Edward Cunningham was one of 590 members of the GMB general union at Glasgow City Council who claimed unlawful deduction of wages on ...

Agency workers' status (399 words)

Merana James was supplied by an agency to work at a local council. She was there for five years, although she switched agencies during ...

Wrongful dismissal (199 words)

Sarah Jones and Christine Shingler, both nurses with long service, were dismissed summarily (without notice) after agency nurses alleged that they had mistreated patients ...

Teaching union organises to combat bullying (130 words)

The ATL teachers' and lecturers' union has launched a vigorous campaign against workplace bullies. ...

New safety rules hit the statute books (265 words)

The early months of 2007 are witnessing a number of changes to health and safety law. ...

Workplace accidents "are heavily under-reported" (234 words)

A new study for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has found that most legally reportable workplace accidents, including major injuries, are not being ...

Industrial disease scheme is too narrow, argues TUC (168 words)

The TUC is using a government consultation to argue for the widening of the Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB) scheme. ...

USDAW slams cuts in food safety inspections (196 words)

Usdaw shopworkers' union has criticised plans by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to scrap one of its two inspectors responsible for national safety ...

Who monitors the monitors? (4492 words)

Rapid advances in electronic surveillance technologies, together with increased affordability, have led to a corresponding increase in workplace monitoring in recent years. ...

Don't accept third-rate first aid (1465 words)

Perhaps surprisingly, the law governing first aid at work - the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations 1981 - is tight-lipped about minimum levels ...