News

TUC says a voluntary code will not end the private equity debate (395 words)

Controversy over the role of private equity companies and the inadequacy of UK labour legislation continued again last month as the recently-formed Virgin Media ...

Welfare reform plans are slammed (253 words)

The TUC says it is disappointed with the welfare reform green paper 'In work better off'. It was published by the government last month ...

Kwik Save staff are left without jobs (352 words)

The final collapse of the budget supermarket chain Kwik Save last month has left members of USDAW angry and out of pocket, raising serious ...

Strike action is possible over NHS pay (212 words)

The government remained unmoved by union efforts last month to persuade it to set aside the staging of this year's 2.5% pay award for ...

Mansour Osanloo (85 words)

The TUC is joining in protests from around the world calling for the release of Iranian bus workers' union leader Mansour Osanloo. He was ...

Royal Mail action (64 words)

The Communication Workers Union's Postal Executive agreed last month to escalate industrial action in its dispute with the Royal Mail over pay and cost ...

Manufacturing Matters (87 words)

Leaders of general union Unite have called on MPs to back their "Manufacturing Matters" campaign and for stronger government support for the sector. ...

Co-op job cuts (83 words)

Cooperative Financial Services (CFS), which runs the Co-op Bank and the Co-operative Insurance Society as part of The Co-operative Group (the UK's largest consumer ...

Pension crisis (76 words)

Overall pension scheme membership and contribution levels have continued to fall, according to the Office for National Statistics. Between 2004 and 2006 total active ...

Siemens pay success (69 words)

Members of PCS civil service union and BECTU broadcasting union working at Siemens IT Solutions and Services (SiS) have secured an improved pay offer ...

Interest rates push up inflation (70 words)

Higher mortgage interest payments, resulting from May's increase in interest rates, pushed up inflation. In June, the Retail Prices Index (RPI) rose by 4.4% ...

Redundancies hit record low (213 words)

Unemployment has fallen under the Labour Force Survey (LFS) count - it was down by 35,000 to 1.66 million in the three months to ...

Key economic indicators

Key economic indicators (187 words)

% annual riseLRD average pay deals*Whole economyManufacturingServicesPrivate sectorPublic sectorMay 2006 (r)4.45.44.24.73.43.0June 4.95.94.85.33.73.0July 3.94.83.83.84.13.1August 3.85.33.73.93.23.0September 4.15.44.24.33.43.0October4.25.14.44.43.33.0November 4.04.74.14.13.13.4December 3.93.94.24.13.33.5January 20074.63.55.05.03.33.6February 5.23.55.75.72.83.6March (r)3.63.53.43.73.13.6April (r)3.43.13.63.43.33.5May (p)3.54.53.43.72.83.5Headline rate for ...

Union news

Biggest unions are in the red as spending rises across the board (340 words)

The largest three unions lurched into the red in 2005-06, with spending across the union movement rising faster than income. ...

Statutory recognition claims are on the up (248 words)

The number of statutory recognition claims has risen slightly over the last year, according to the 2006-07 annual report of the Central Arbitration Committee ...

Union votes (60 words)

Turnout among union members in June's Labour Party deputy leadership elections was just 8%, according to a report in The Guardian newspaper. This compared ...

Kemp stands down (71 words)

Steve Kemp, national secretary of the National Union of Mineworkers, has announced he will not seek re-election when his period of office runs out. ...

TUC awards (70 words)

Shopworkers' union USDAW won the top prize at this year's TUC/Bank of Scotland Press and PR Awards. Its Arena magazine was named "best publication" ...

Closing down (35 words)

The smallest union in the TUC, the 10-member Sheffield Wool Shear Workers' Union, has been dissolved after 117 years of existence. Set up in ...

European news

Fears grow that workers will lose out in 'flexicurity' debate (447 words)

John Monks, general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), warned last month that the current debates on what is known as "flexicurity" ...

Czech unions mobilise members (203 words)

The leadership of the main Czech union confederation agreed earlier this month to continue with its protests against the Czech government's tax and spending ...

Air France workers protest at migrant expulsions (217 words)

Workers from Air France demonstrated outside the company's shareholders' meeting last month in protest at the policy of allowing Air France planes to be ...

Features

Fighting for first class services (1897 words)

Last month the European Parliament voted in favour of complete liberalisation of postal services across Europe. The UK has had a fully open market ...

Voluntary sector faces bidding war (1765 words)

"The pace of change and the speed of transfer of public services to the voluntary and community sector are having profound implications for the ...

A country on its knees (1635 words)

The already desperate living conditions of the people of Zimbabwe continue to plummet under the tyrannical leadership of president Robert Mugabe. Last month the ...

Who gets to retire in comfort? (1341 words)

Companies are continuing to close their final salary pension schemes to new entrants or existing members. An annual survey by the National Association of ...

Law Matters

Don't exclude volunteers from redundancy figures (419 words)

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has confirmed that voluntary redundancies must be included in the headcount when deciding whether an employer has a legal ...

Human rights court's ruling demands major legal reform (236 words)

Proposed changed to the law extending unions' rights to choose their members do not go far enough, the Institute of Employment Rights (IER) has ...

Comparators in race case were not valid (268 words)

A worker has won a race discrimination claim after the EAT found that a hypothetical British worker would not have been paid the same ...

Law Queries

Statutory grievance (131 words)

Q: I left my job because I was bullied by my manager and my employer did nothing about it. I raised a written grievance ...

Holiday (166 words)

Q: I booked my holiday weeks ago after agreeing it with my manager, but now she says I can't take the time off as ...

Two-tier workforce (201 words)

Q: Staff in our section who were transferred under TUPE last year have kept their terms and conditions, but our employer is recruiting new ...

Equal pay (218 words)

Q: We have a female member who is being paid less than a male colleague even though both are on the same grade following ...

Law Back-up

Is dispute resolution set to become easier? (888 words)

When the statutory dispute resolution procedures were introduced in October 2004, they were aimed at employers - particularly small ones - that did not ...

Health & Safety Matters

Relief as corporate killing bill is passed at last (296 words)

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Bill was finally passed into law last month, after months of "ping-ponging" between the Commons and the Lords ...

NICE performs about-turn on licensing of asbestos drug (231 words)

Unions have welcomed the National Institute of Clinical Evidence's (NICE) decision to license the drug Alimta, used to extend the life of people suffering ...

Whiteboard risks (79 words)

Interactive whiteboards used in education could be endangering the eyesight of teachers and students. ...

Tube staff strike over lone working (102 words)

Members of the RMT rail union on London Underground's Bakerloo Line took a day's strike action last month against a lone working policy imposed ...

Lighten the load (81 words)

This year's European Week for Safety and Health at Work (22-26 October) will take "lightening the load" as its theme, with the aim of ...

Health & Safety Back-up

Reps must break down the language barrier (896 words)

In December last year, Back-up reported on a study by the Working Lives Research Institute which revealed how inadequate training, long working hours and ...

Equality news

NHS must enable more BME workers to reach the top (341 words)

Staff from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds are "disproportionately clustered at the lower rungs of the NHS career ladder" and are over-represented in ...

Carers need voucher scheme (340 words)

Campaigners are using new research from the London School of Economics (LSE) to support their call for a system of vouchers allowing working carers ...

Europe still isn't paying its women enough (281 words)

The UK has one of Europe's worst records on equal pay, according to a European Commission report released last month. ...

Workplace Back-up

Government unveils new plan for skills (892 words)

Last month the government published World class skills, a report paving the way for new legislation and other changes that will address serious deficiencies ...

Reviews

The limits to capital (142 words)

David Harvey, Verso, paperback, 478 pages, £17.99 ...

Hot Mettle (175 words)

Politico, hardback, 274 pages, £17.99 ...