News

More work but no more pay for many school support staff (368 words)

Remodelling of the school workforce has resulted in an expanded role and more work for school support staff — but a new report compiled ...

Unions hail pensions victory (290 words)

Unions have secured a breakthrough in their efforts to improve protection for members who lost savings when their employers’ pension schemes collapsed. ...

Public-sector unions take action against meagre pay awards (383 words)

The government’s public-sector pay woes escalated last month with strikes at job centres, benefit offices, the Pension Service and the Child Support Agency — ...

Minimum wage penalties are stiffened (267 words)

The government is to use new powers, including potentially unlimited penalties for the most serious offenders, to crack down on employers who pay less ...

Strike called over use of casual workers (77 words)

Strike action and a work to rule were being planned by Ministry of Defence marine support workers employed by private contractor Serco as Labour ...

Keele redundancies prompt UCU action (88 words)

The UCU lecturers’ union is opposing Keele University’s plans to make more than half of the 67 academic staff redundant at its School of ...

Postal services will be reviewed (66 words)

The CWU communications union has welcomed a comprehensive review of developments in the postal services market following its liberalisation two years ago. Announced last ...

Rock against Racism is set to be reborn (168 words)

Trade unions are among the organisations planning a series of events to mark the 30th anniversary of the famous Rock Against Racism Carnival in ...

Unemployment figures down (207 words)

Unemployment is decreasing on both official counts, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Under the Labour Force Survey ...

Inflation remains well above 4% (69 words)

Higher petrol prices at the pumps as well as the rising cost of buying a car have combined to increase the rate of inflation ...

Key economic indicators

Union news

NUT ballots on political fund (171 words)

A quarter of a million teachers are set to receive a voting form from their union, the NUT, asking them to approve plans to ...

Join a union, rabbis are advised (199 words)

Rabbis are being encouraged to join the general union Unite, even if this results in their being represented by a Christian priest or an ...

Unite demands legal rights for equality reps (252 words)

The Unite general union has called for workplace equality reps to be given the legal right to paid time off for their union duties. ...

BECTU makes dramatic bid for recognition of freelances (145 words)

Broadcasting union BECTU has launched a campaign to secure union recognition for freelance workers on the BBC1 soap opera EastEnders. Members have being complaining ...

European news

UK loses support in its resistance to EU rules on agency temps and working time (657 words)

Employment ministers from across the European Union (EU) have agreed to postpone a decision on two controversial directives — one on working time limits ...

Italian union pushes for talks with Ryanair (283 words)

The section of the Italian union FIT-CISL representing air cabin crew has written formally to the low-cost airline Ryanair, asking to begin negotiations on ...

Features

Pay will be priority in 2008 (1813 words)

Trade unionists can expect some ups and downs over the year ahead. Tough pay negotiations are likely in the public sector — not just ...

Schools policy is off-target (1645 words)

While prime minister Gordon Brown hasn’t gone so far as to repeat Tony Blair’s chant of “Education, Education, Education”, he has still put education ...

The long wait for working time justice (1994 words)

After years of controversy about whether on-call time should count legally as “working time”, the issue was back on the European agenda again last ...

TUC exposes the cost of in-work poverty (1496 words)

The TUC has made clear its support for the government’s objectives in fighting poverty, including its efforts to get more people into work and ...

Law Matters

Cross-border industrial action ‘must be justified’ (308 words)

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has held that the right to take industrial action in order to protect workers across European Union borders ...

Lower overtime rate may amount to sex discrimination (158 words)

Paying overtime at a lower rate than the normal hourly rate may discriminate against women part-time workers, the ECJ has ruled. ...

Holidays count in strike deductions (224 words)

Employers who deduct wages from workers taking part in industrial action must include annual leave and bank holidays as working days when calculating a ...

Retirement claims are put on hold (43 words)

All age discrimination claims relating to retirement have been stayed in England and Wales, until the ECJ has ruled on the charity Heyday’s challenge ...

Agency workers (69 words)

Cases concerning the status of agency workers have also been stayed (except where there is a written contract of employment with a company which ...

Tribunal chairs (63 words)

Chairs of employment tribunals can now be referred to as “employment judges” — one of the piecemeal changes made by the Tribunals, Courts and ...

Law Queries

Reclaiming maternity pay (301 words)

Q: A clause in our contracts lets our employer reclaim contractual maternity pay if the employee does not return to work for at least ...

Contractual terms (247 words)

Q: Our employer is trying to remove our length-of-service payments; it says they are not a contractual entitlement, but we think they are. The ...

Disciplinary offences (172 words)

Q: One of our members has been suspended for an alleged breach of health and safety. Managers say this is a very serious offence ...

Law Back-up

Lay members at risk in tribunals shake-up (907 words)

In November last year, the government issued Transforming tribunals, a consultation paper proposing a wide-ranging review of the tribunals system. ...

Health & Safety Matters

TUC challenges assertion that ‘work is good for you’ (354 words)

Employers who really want to improve the health of their workforce should address problems such as stress and poor office design that are really ...

Financial health is valued above safety (273 words)

The UK’s courts are hundreds of times more likely to disqualify company directors for insolvency or other financial reasons than for risking people’s health ...

Compensation claims are in decline (74 words)

New academic research has backed union claims that the UK’s “compensation culture” is a myth, by indicating that the number of court claims relating ...

Drug testing is a waste of time (74 words)

Employers are wasting millions on testing and sacking workers for drug and alcohol use, according to Australian government research. ...

Health & Safety Back-up

One in eight exceeds 48 hours’ work a week (949 words)

After a decade of slow but steady decline in the number of people working more than 48 hours a week, the latest official figures ...

Equality news

European women are still tied up in apron strings (220 words)

Domestic chores are holding women back from breaking into senior management positions across Europe. ...

TUC tackles ageism at work (213 words)

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber has called on the government and employers to eradicate the “massive problem” of workplace ageism. ...

Sex equality amendments (165 words)

New regulations to implement the European Gender Directive were due to come into effect as Labour Research went to press. ...

Civil service mentors its BME workers (234 words)

A new mentoring programme is aiming to get more black and minority ethnic (BME) civil servants into senior positions. ...

Workplace Back-up

Flexibility can help cut the cost of caring (972 words)

There are 4.4 million carers — people who look after sick, elderly or disabled relatives or friends — of working age in the UK, ...

Reviews

Hazards at work (200 words)

TUC Publications, 352 pages A4, paperback, £18.00 ...

The enemy of nature (233 words)

Joel Kovel, Zed Books, 330 pages, paperback, £14.99 ...

E-views

e-views (371 words)

There’s a saying in the trade union movement that if workers can last one day longer than the employer during a strike, they will ...