News

Straw withdraws right to strike from prison officers (287 words)

Justice secretary Jack Straw jumped the gun last month by announcing plans to restrict prison officers’ right to take industrial action, before their union ...

Airport pensions are preserved (375 words)

Unions at airport operator BAA have secured a period of “meaningful consultation and negotiation” on the company’s pension scheme, together with the re-opening of ...

Government departments face pay action (262 words)

Besides the police (see right), many other public-sector workers have taken action over pay this month. ...

Tower Colliery closes after 13 years of worker-run operations (388 words)

Coal mining at Tower Colliery in Glamorgan, which was rescued from closure 13 years ago by an employee buy-out, finally came to an end ...

Bus company agrees to talks (227 words)

Bus workers at the Wilts and Dorset Bus Company have suspended their long-running dispute with the company over driving hours. ...

Apprentice pay rise is long overdue (262 words)

With apprenticeships playing a key role in the government’s long-term plans for education and training (see December’s Labour Research), a new TUC report has ...

Mortgages bring inflation down to 4% (71 words)

Inflation fell back slightly in the year to December, on the back of smaller increases in mortgage interest payments compared with a year earlier. ...

Jobless totals fall once again (207 words)

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show further decreases in both measures of unemployment. ...

Key economic indicators

Key economic indicators (180 words)

% annual rise in average weekly earnings*% rise in LRD pay deals**Whole economyManufacturingServicesPrivate sectorPublic sectorNovember 2006 (r)3.94.74.14.23.03.4December 3.94.04.24.13.33.5January 20074.93.55.35.23.33.6February 4.93.65.45.42.83.6March 3.53.53.33.83.13.7April 3.43.23.63.23.23.5May 3.64.43.53.83.03.6June3.23.93.23.23.13.6July 3.84.33.84.22.54.2August ...

Union news

Tories take union political fund allegations to the OFT (259 words)

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has denied a report in The Guardian newspaper that it is investigating unions over their political levy arrangements. ...

Equity aims to be a model union and take on the fashion industry (246 words)

Performers’ union Equity has decided to accept models who do catwalk and photographic work into its membership. ...

Social workers swell Community’s ranks (49 words)

The Community union has expanded its membership by 1,640 — as has the TUC —after the British Union of Social Work Employees (BUSWE) voted ...

Union honours (85 words)

A number of trade unionists featured in the New Year Honours List for 2008. ...

Bert Lyons (27 words)

Former TUC general council member Bert Lyons, who served as general secretary of the TSSA rail union from 1982 to 1989, died on New ...

Inter-union relations (63 words)

The TUC has published its revised code of practice on relations between unions. It includes changes, agreed at the 2007 TUC Congress, relating to ...

European news

Pay discontent continues in France as unions agree employment law changes (682 words)

Four of the five major union confederations in France have accepted changes to employment legislation that will give French employers greater flexibility in taking ...

German postal workers get minimum wage (214 words)

After months of argument, a minimum wage has finally been introduced for workers in the German postal sector. ...

Features

Commission impossible? (1599 words)

Britain’s new “super equalities” watchdog only set up shop four months ago, but it already has a full agenda. ...

Pay restraint is set to continue (2306 words)

January is traditionally regarded as the most miserable month of the year, and the opening weeks of 2008 certainly lived down to expectations for ...

Lead us not into temp nation (1780 words)

Unions will be lobbying MPs this month to support proposed legislation aimed at tackling inequalities between agency workers and permanent staff — but they ...

Private prisons won’t resolve the jail crisis (1591 words)

With 148 prisoners per 100,000 people, England and Wales have the highest rate of imprisonment in western Europe. The number of inmates reached a ...

Law Matters

Grievances for equal pay must identify comparators (374 words)

Comparators identified in an equal pay claim must be the same as those specified in the employee’s initial grievance, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ...

Definition of disability cannot be applied retrospectively (332 words)

Tribunals have been told that, when deciding whether the effects of a health condition are likely to recur for the purposes of defining a ...

ECJ deals new blow against right to strike (208 words)

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has issued another ruling that undermines unions’ fundamental right to take industrial action by balancing it against employers’ ...

Law Queries

Contract terms (345 words)

Q: One of our members was offered a new job six months ago. The offer specified that the job was at Grade 6, and ...

Holiday pay (228 words)

Q: We agreed to a change in our shift pattern two years ago in exchange for an additional payment of £20 per shift, but ...

Work during maternity leave (131 words)

Q: I am on maternity leave and due to go back at the end of six months. I would like to be able to ...

Compensation uplift (62 words)

Q: When a tribunal orders a 10%-15% uplift in unfair dismissal compensation, is this added to the basic award, the compensatory award or both? ...

Law Back-up

Appeal court revisits compensation guidance (906 words)

If an individual succeeds in a discrimination claim at an employment tribunal, s/he will usually be awarded compensation for “injury to feelings” separately from ...

Health & Safety Matters

TUC urges parliament to save HSE from collapse (293 words)

The UK is no longer at the cutting edge of global health and safety, the TUC has told a parliamentary committee. ...

Scotland extends protection for its emergency workers (218 words)

Unions have welcomed the strengthening of Scotland’s law against assaults on emergency workers. ...

Safety penalties Bill (53 words)

Proposals to revise the mode of trial and the maximum penalties for certain health and safety offences will get their second reading in parliament ...

Workers still face lung cancer risks (91 words)

A study of 200,000 people in Europe and the USA has found that lung cancer caused by workplace exposure to hazardous substances is still ...

Fire safety threat (97 words)

Cutbacks in the fire service threaten workplace safety, especially at high hazard sites, the FBU firefighters’ union has warned. ...

Health & Safety Back-up

Leap into action and raise RSI awareness (847 words)

Repetitive strain injury (RSI) is a general term covering a range of conditions that are also known as “work-related upper limb disorders”. These can ...

Equality news

Stonewall hails employer improvement on LGB issues (392 words)

Nacro, the charity which works to improve the lives of ex-offenders and people from disadvantaged communities, has been named as the country’s most forward-looking ...

Fathers remain undervalued (301 words)

Parental leave provision must be improved so that fathers can spend more time with their young children, according to a leading think tank on ...

Scope reaches 20% target for disabled staff (244 words)

A variety of initiatives has helped disability charity Scope to secure 20% representation of disabled people among its 3,300-strong workforce. ...

Workplace Back-up

work-based degree has solid foundations (866 words)

Established in 2001 by the government and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), foundation degrees are qualifications which aim, in the words ...

News from LRD

LRD AGM (53 words)

The Labour Research Department’s annual general meeting will be held from 2pm on Monday 21 April at the Jerwood Space, 171 Union Street, London ...

Reviews

Global flashpoints (154 words)

Reactions to imperialism and neoliberalism ...

Exploited (137 words)

Migrant labour in the new global economy ...

Economics transformed (156 words)

Discovering the brilliance of Marx ...

E-views

E-views (404 words)

The emergence of social networking websites such as Facebook and MySpace has divided opinion among trade unionists. Some see these websites as powerful new ...