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Workplace Report April 2008
Three years after the introduction of the Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations, we examine whether they have reduced unions' workplace influence. And our round-up of the 2007/8 pay round's first six months reveals that unions in the private sector are responding well to the new inflationary climate.
Pay and prices
Settlements are steady as inflation falls (224 words)
Pay deals recorded on LRD’s Payline database are running slightly ahead of inflation for the first time since July 2007. The median pay increase in ...
Open access
Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (227 words)
Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered). ... Open access
Other pay analysts (25 words)
Industrial Relations Services (median, three months to end March 2008) 3.5% Incomes Data Services (median, three months to end March 2008) 3.5% ... Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (41 words)
All workers £574.00 All male £632.80 All female £483.20 Managers £863.80 Professionals £774.50 Associate professional £592.30 Admin & ... Open access
Average earnings indices (including bonuses) (178 words)
* 2000=100. ... Open access
Prices (72 words)
Retail prices index (RPI), Jan 1987=100 % annual increases RPI RPI excl. mortgages February 2007 203.1 4.6 3.7 March 204.4 4.8 3.9 April 205.4 4.5 3.6 ... Open access
Inflation forecasts (30 words)
Fourth quarter 2008 ... Open access
Bargaining news
TSSA secures 4%-plus for rail and bus staff (630 words)
A two-year, inflation-beating pay deal for clerical and station staff at Network Rail has been reluctantly agreed by the TSSA transport union. ...
Subscribers only
RMT makes waves with robust response to rostering dispute (112 words)
The RMT seafarers’ union has reached a deal with the Wightlink ferry company after a long-running dispute over rostering. ... Open access
BBC unions warn of future battles over redundancies (457 words)
Union members at the BBC have voted to accept a wide-ranging deal on redundancies and changes to allowances, but the broadcaster still faces the ... Subscribers only
Express settlement may bring work back in-house (227 words)
A lengthy anti-outsourcing campaign at Express Newspapers seems to have made progress as part of a new pay deal negotiated by the NUJ journalists’ ... Open access
CWU prevents real pay cuts for O2 staff (261 words)
The CWU communication workers’ union has reached agreement with O2 on a “historic” pay deal described by the union as the best negotiated ... Subscribers only
NHS workers are balloted on controversial offer (786 words)
For the second year running, the government has tinkered with the recommendations made by the independent pay review body (PRB) for NHS staff covered ... Subscribers only
Theatre staff get 3.5% in national deal (160 words)
Backstage and front-of-house staff in more than 200 theatres outside London have accepted a pay deal worth 3.5%. ... Open access
Prison officers still can’t strike over 2.2% award (169 words)
The POA prison officers’ union has failed in its legal battle to pull out of its voluntary no-strike agreement. ... Open access
Equality news
Watchdog thinks big with first equality scheme (443 words)
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published its first equality scheme, setting out the practical steps that it will take to promote ... Subscribers only
Employers aren’t keen on mums who return to work (275 words)
New mothers “do not receive the support in coming back to work that they deserve from their employers”, according to a survey by online ... Subscribers only
One in five gay people is bullied at work (264 words)
A new report from the Stonewall campaigning organisation has revealed that, more than four years after the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) ... Subscribers only
Recruitment and organisation news
CAC helps Unite to win two recognition disputes (300 words)
General union Unite has secured statutory recognition at two employers without the need for ballots. ... Subscribers only
GMB and NCP see benefits of co-operation (82 words)
A dispute over Christmas bonuses has led the GMB general union to sign a voluntary recognition deal with NCP Services on behalf of traffic wardens in ... Open access
Organising Academy commences recruitment for 2008 (76 words)
The TUC is seeking recruits to its 2008 Organising Academy programme for trainee union organisers, and is hosting two-day events around the country ... Open access
Learning and training news
TUC helps Poles know their rights (185 words)
London-based Polish workers in the cleaning, security and building services sectors are being offered free training in workplace rights, union ... Open access
Lack of training caused T5 chaos (179 words)
Last month’s troubled opening of Heathrow’s Terminal 5 was largely the result of inadequate staff training, unions have said. ... Open access
European news
German public-sector deal is almost double inflation (569 words)
Unions representing 1.3 million workers in Germany’s public sector have agreed a two-year deal involving an average 5.1% pay increase this year ... Subscribers only
Supermarket staff sweep up 3.2% (291 words)
Carrefour, France’s largest supermarket chain, has agreed a 3.2% increase for staff in its 218 French hypermarkets. ... Subscribers only
Dutch pay growth is on the increase (196 words)
The Central Bureau of Statistics in the Netherlands has revealed that agreed pay rates are rising faster now than they were a year ago. ... Open access
Law - Contracts
Contract law (543 words)
f Airline pilots’ pay must include allowances as well as their basic pay (case 1). ... Subscribers only
Holiday pay (572 words)
Case 1: The facts ... Subscribers only
Employee’s breach of contract (310 words)
Case 3: The facts ... Subscribers only
Sick pay (185 words)
Case 4: The facts ... Open access
Unpaid bonus (180 words)
Case 5: The facts ... Open access
Overpayment of wages (199 words)
Case 6: The facts ... Open access
Employee status (203 words)
Case 7: The facts ... Open access
Part-time workers (153 words)
Case 8: The facts ... Open access
Modern apprenticeship (338 words)
Case 9: The facts ... Subscribers only
Law - Tribunal procedures
Tribunal case law (425 words)
f A flight attendant due to transfer to London Heathrow could not bring a claim of unfair dismissal in the UK, because she was at the time on ... Subscribers only
UK jurisdiction (240 words)
Case 1: The facts ... Open access
Collective grievances (351 words)
Case 2: The facts ... Subscribers only
Deposit order (244 words)
Case 4: The facts ... Open access
Amendment to claim (207 words)
Case 5: The facts ... Open access
Bias (223 words)
Case 6: The facts ... Open access
Time limits (226 words)
Case 7: The facts ... Open access
Health & safety news
Teachers lack support to deal with school violence (218 words)
More and more students are carrying offensive weapons in school, according to a study carried out for the NUT teaching union. ... Open access
RMT halts unsafe rail work (229 words)
Maintenance work on overhead power lines along the East Coast rail line and its branches was cancelled last month when key engineering staff refused ... Open access
Unite is here for beer workers (141 words)
The Unite general union is campaigning for brewers and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to create new minimum safety standards for beer delivery ... Open access
Dangerous footwear may be booted out (83 words)
Royal Mail has agreed to review the introduction of new footwear for postal workers, following pressure from the CWU communication workers’ union. ... Open access
Casualisation kills (102 words)
A series of accidents in Northern Ireland has prompted the UCATT construction union to warn of the risks from greater casualisation on building sites. ... Open access
Safety reps’ rights No.1: Appointment of reps (156 words)
In the run-up to the 30th anniversary of the Safety Representatives and Safety Committees Regulations, which came into force in October 1978, this ... Open access
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
Corporate killers must pay for their crimes, says CCA (404 words)
Companies that are convicted following work-related deaths face fines that are rarely more than 1/700th of their turnover and 1% of their gross ... Subscribers only
HSE avoids budget cut, but more funding is needed (286 words)
Prospect, the union representing HSE inspectors, has welcomed the news that there will be no reduction in the HSE’s funding over the next three ... Subscribers only
‘New’ HSE is created (99 words)
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) merged with the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) on April Fool’s Day. ... Open access
Workboost Wales (74 words)
The Welsh Assembly and the HSE have launched a new scheme offering free health and safety, sickness management and return-to-work advice to firms ... Open access
The danger of diacetyl (123 words)
The HSE has issued a warning on a food flavouring agent after workers in the USA’s popcorn industry developed severe lung disease by inhaling fumes. ... Open access
Features
Does consultation have a cost? (4,115 words)
The Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations 2004 came into force on 6 April 2005, implementing a European directive which sought to ... Subscribers only
Pay awards start to respond to inflation (1,783 words)
Every April, Workplace Report analyses the first half of the current pay round (from August to February) to identify the key trends in pay bargaining. ... Subscribers only