News

Unions press to make local government pay round deliver (395 words)

Local government will move to the centre of the public sector pay stage this month, as pay anniversaries for 1.4 million workers in England ...

British Gas comes under scrutiny (277 words)

Public sector union UNISON and the GMB general union joined in widespread criticism at the leap in profits for British Gas’s residential arm, up ...

Unscrupulous bosses abuse driving time regulations (241 words)

Average paid working hours for drivers of larger goods and passenger road vehicles have fallen since the Road Transport (Working Time) Regulations were introduced ...

Unite steps up campaign to protect Northern Rock staff (324 words)

Following the nationalisation of building society Northern Rock, after months of uncertainty, union attention has now turned to measures that can provide job security, ...

Acas staff ballot for strike (230 words)

Advisory and arbitration service Acas received a funding boost last month in a government shake-up designed to improve the dispute resolution system. But the ...

Aerospace pensions (91 words)

Aerospace company Goodrich has conceded a five-year guarantee that there will be no changes to its final salary pension scheme for existing members following ...

Police pay (97 words)

Over 9,000 members of PCS civil service union at the Metropolitan Police, including police community support officers, wardens, and admin support staff, were voting ...

“Well note culture” (54 words)

Health secretary Alan Johnson wants to explore how GPs can help to change a “sick note culture into a well note culture” by setting ...

Rising food prices trigger inflation rise (66 words)

Higher petrol prices at the pumps and dearer food pushed the inflation rate higher. In January, the Retail Prices Index (RPI) rose by 4.1% ...

Unemployment hits 30-year low (211 words)

Unemployment is under 800,000 for the first time in over 30 years, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). ...

Key economic indicators

Key economic indicators (188 words)

% annual rise in average weekly earnings (1)% rise in LRD pay deals (2)Whole economyManufacturingServicesPrivate sectorPublic sectorDecember 2006 (r)3.93.94.34.13.33.5January 20074.93.55.35.23.33.6February 4.93.65.45.42.83.7March 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 ...

Union news

Education leaders face big changes in their four unions (363 words)

A shake-up among four unions representing leaders in education is underway, with both a “federal” merger and a joint association, which may progress to ...

Offshore workers join the RMT (153 words)

Membership of the RMT rail and maritime union is to expand by 2,000 after members of the offshore union OILC voted by four to ...

NAPO election (70 words)

Jonathan Ledger, the assistant general secretary of probation staff union NAPO, will replace Judy McKnight as leader when she retires in June. McKnight has ...

Anti-union busting (57 words)

The TUC has signed an anti-union busting protocol with its US counterpart, the AFL-CIO. The aim is to stop the practice from spreading in ...

New political fund (86 words)

Members of the NUT teaching union have voted in favour of establishing a political fund. The majority was large but the turnout was only ...

European news

French unions remain divided as they face tough employer negotiations (538 words)

Negotiations over the extent to which unions should have bargaining and representative rights in France are reaching a climax. ...

Germany faces strike action as unions prepare for a difficult bargaining round (307 words)

Unions representing 1.3 million workers in both central and local government in Germany are conducting warning strikes to back their demand for an 8% ...

Features

Women’s union profile is on the rise (1705 words)

Female members of the UK’s biggest unions are finally becoming more active, according to a new survey by Labour Research. Every two years we ...

Calls grow for national action (1681 words)

Last month Birmingham City Council, the biggest local authority in the UK, was hit by strike action, as was Argyll and Bute District Council ...

The race is on to get equal (1920 words)

The shop steward has her hands full. She is juggling a heavy caseload — including two disciplinaries and a grievance, a case involving a ...

Managing the balancing act (1457 words)

Working parents were left in limbo last month when business secretary John Hutton appeared to be withdrawing backing for increased flexible working. ...

Law Matters

Court ruling denies agency workers employee status (483 words)

In siutations where there is a clear agreement between an agency worker, the agency and the end user, the Court of Appeal has held ...

Revised compensation limits (121 words)

With effect from 1 February, the Employment Rights (Increase of Limits) Order 2007 has increased the limits on the compensation that can be awarded ...

Refusing part-time work was discrimination (260 words)

An employer’s refusal to allow part-time working was sex discrimination and a breach of contract, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has held. ...

Law Queries

Disciplinary procedures (343 words)

Q: One of my members has been called to a disciplinary hearing to discuss some “capability issues”. Her manager has not told her what ...

Temporary workers’ rights (229 words)

Q: My partner has worked on a series of temporary contracts for 18 months. The company is about to make 165 staff redundant; what ...

Holiday entitlement (130 words)

Q: I work a five-day week and get one day’s holiday per month plus eight bank holidays a year. Is this right? ...

Law Back-up

Expired warnings may be factor in dismissal (946 words)

Two years ago, the Scottish Court of Session ruled that it was “a contravention of the principle of fairness” for an employer to put ...

Health & Safety Matters

Research reveals growth in attacks on firefighters (306 words)

The FBU firefighters’ union has demanded government action to reduce the incidence of violence against fire crews, in the wake of new research showing ...

Unions recognise urgent need for action on climate change (275 words)

Trade union leaders have called on their members to be at the forefront of the fight to stop climate change. ...

European research praises reps’ role (58 words)

Union-backed health and safety reps help to improve the quality of preventive workplace policies, according to a new study from the French labour ministry’s ...

Scots need stiffer corporate killing law (84 words)

With weakened legislation on corporate killing set to come into force across the UK next month, the Scottish TUC (STUC) and campaign group Families ...

Unions seek pleural plaques reversal (78 words)

Trade unionists and asbestos support groups lobbied the Houses of Parliament on 29 January in protest at last October’s ruling by the Law Lords ...

Health & Safety Back-up

Safety practices must be appropriate to all (858 words)

Health and safety may not seem to have much overlap with equality issues at first sight, but the levels of injury and sickness experienced ...

Equality news

Single women suffer most from long-hours culture (352 words)

Single women are the biggest victims of the UK’s long-hours culture, according to new TUC analysis of official statistics from the Labour Force Survey ...

Cost limits childcare choices (197 words)

Researchers from London University’s Institute of Education have uncovered a “growing divide” between the childcare available to rich and poor parents. ...

20% of early retirees want to work on (259 words)

As many as one in five workers who retire before the age of 65 have been forced into it by their employers, a survey ...

Workplace Back-up

Employees’ data must be better protected (910 words)

You’d be forgiven for having missed it, but Monday 28 January was “European Data Protection Day” — an occasion organised by the Council of ...

Reviews

Surviving climate change (215 words)

The struggle to avert global catastrophe ...

The dictionary of alternatives (232 words)

Utopianism and organisation ...

E-views

e-views (410 words)

Thursday 6 March has been declared a global day of action in support of Iranian workers. The call has been made by two leading ...