Pay and prices

Deflation (271 words)

In the year to March the Retail Prices Index (RPI) fell by 0.4%. The last time inflation was negative was in 1960. ...

Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (72 words)

Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered). ...

Full-time weekly average earnings (16 words)

All workers£569.70All male£626.10All female£481.60Managers£845.90Professionals£762.70Associate professional£588.80Admin & secretarial£394.50Skilled/craft£478.50Services£338.20Sales£313.00Operatives£442.70Other manual£343.50 ...

Average earnings indices (including bonuses) (64 words)

* 2000=100. ** Average of earnings increases for latest three months compared to a year earlier. (r) revised. (p) provisional. Source: National Statistics. ...

Other pay analysts (21 words)

Industrial Relations Services (median, three months to end March 2009)2.8%Incomes Data Services (median, three months to end February 2009)3.4% ...

Inflation forecasts (18 words)

Fourth quarter 2008 ...

Prices (14 words)

Retail prices index (RPI), Jan ’87=100% annual increasesRPIRPI excl. mortgages February 2008211.44.13.7March212.13.83.5April214.04.24.0May215.14.34.4June216.84.64.8July216.55.05.3August21.7.24.85.2September218.45.05.5October217.74.24.7November216.03.0 3.96December212.90.92.8January 2009210.10.12.4February211.40.02.5March211.3-0.42.2 ...

Bargaining news

Pay deals begin to slide (800 words)

Pay increase levels have dropped significantly and are continuing to decline. Negotiated pay settlements recorded so far on Labour Research Department’s Payline database for ...

Civil service union claims 6% (367 words)

PCS, the civil service union, is claiming 6% with a £1,000 underpin, for 2009-10. The figure aims to address what it sees as a ...

Education unions press government on pay (402 words)

Education unions are increasing pressure on the government over pay at all levels. ...

Equal pay claims progress (191 words)

Public sector union equal pay claims received a boost when the Court of Appeal ruled that claimants did not have to specify a male ...

Train drivers’ rise (65 words)

Workers on London Overground rail system are to receive a 20% pay increase following a strike ballot by the RMT rail union. In addition ...

Redundancy pay (18 words)

Stop press: The Budget on 22 April raised redundancy pay to a maximum of £380 a week. ...

Council workers offered 0.5% or nothing (297 words)

Unions have reacted with dismay to the offer by Local Government employers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland of 0.5% for 2009-10. The offer ...

QinetiQ angers unions with pay freeze (258 words)

Prospect professional union and the PCS civil service union reacted with anger and dismay to the announcement of a pay freeze for 2009 by ...

Barclays staff share pay pot of 5% (118 words)

Employees at Barclays bank received increases according to a performance-related pay matrix at Barclays this month, with a total pay pot of 5%. The ...

Prison pay talks collapse (139 words)

Talks between the Prison Officers Association (POA) and employers the Prison Service over workforce modernisation and pay have collapsed (see Workplace Report, February 2009, ...

Defaulters’ register (131 words)

The government has announced plans to publish a new register naming and shaming employers who default on employment tribunal award payments. The register will ...

Equality news

Sexual orientation issues more challenging (351 words)

Religion or belief (RB) issues in the workplace tend to revolve around accommodating religious observances, while sexual orientation (SO) issues are more concerned with ...

Bargaining for black women workers (268 words)

Encouraging increased union activism by black women and changing union negotiating agendas to reflect black women’s priorities are among a range of the themes ...

Flexible working extension (275 words)

Unions and the TUC have welcomed the extension of the right to request flexible working to parents of older children – effective from 6 ...

Recruitment and organisation news

Unions embark on recruitment campaigns to boost numbers (411 words)

A number of unions have been taking a strategic look at their organisation with the aim of improving membership levels and activity. ...

Learning and training news

Unionlearn reaps praise from Ofsted for ethnic learning success (248 words)

The government inspectorate Ofsted has assessed the TUC’s learning organisation unionlearn to be among the best providers of learning and skills in the country ...

Government contracts to include training (135 words)

The government has published new guidance aimed at encouraging contractors to provide skills training and apprenticeships in all publicly-let contracts. In effect, companies can ...

European news

Ford workers in Spain throw out pay deal (503 words)

Workers at Ford’s Valencia plant in Spain have thrown out a pay deal giving them inflation-linked increases over five years. The surprise vote came ...

Polish miners’ pay-outs after strike threats (277 words)

Miners at Poland’s and Europe’s largest coal company, Kompania Weglowa, this month won a substantial one-off payment plus the prospect of a permanent increase ...

Car firms will maintain pay in lay-offs (283 words)

France's two largest motor manufacturers, Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroën, have both agreed to maintain 100% of net salary during plant shut downs. But ...

Law - TUPE

Collective agreements (278 words)

Case 1: The facts ...

Fragmented transfer (351 words)

Case 2: The facts ...

Liquidation of assets (469 words)

Case 3: The facts ...

Law - Dismissal

Gross misconduct (227 words)

Case 1: The facts ...

Legal representatives at disciplinary hearings (512 words)

Case 2: The facts ...

Contributory fault (399 words)

Case 3: The facts ...

Loss of pension (290 words)

Case 4: The facts ...

Law - Redundancy

Dismissal procedure (925 words)

Case 1: The facts ...

Health & safety news

Safety rep blacklisting (342 words)

Unions want legislation following revelations that safety representatives are among those blacklisted by employers. ...

Night work and cancer (252 words)

Night work is a probable cause of cancer in humans and the government needs to act, a leading occupational health researcher has demanded. ...

CWU slams “dog attack” posters (158 words)

The CWU communication workers union has slammed South Eastern Trains for acting irresponsibly by displaying season ticket posters illustrated by a postal worker being ...

Drivers need bus attack protection (94 words)

Bus companies must protect drivers from violence and assaults, the GMB general union has said. ...

Teacher attacks condemned (109 words)

Schools must do more to protect staff from assault, the NASUWT teachers union has argued, after a member suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder following ...

Not so NICE absence guidance (59 words)

New National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance, published last month, was compiled without union involvement and does not improve on existing ...

Health & safety - HSE Monitor

TUC scolds government over light touch on law (273 words)

Unions have sharply criticised the government for suggesting that small and medium-sized enterprises should not generally be prosecuted when they break health and safety ...

Impose directors’ duties, GMB tells HSE watchdog (278 words)

The government should impose safety duties on directors as part of the new Health and Safety Executive (HSE) strategy to reduce accidents and ill ...

UNISON welcomes meat safety review (105 words)

“Light touch” enforcement of meat hygiene should be reviewed and more resources put into food safety, says UNISON, the union which organises meat inspectors. ...

HSE guidance on nanotubes (98 words)

The HSE has warned of risks of using carbon nanotubes, molecular-scale forms of manufactured carbon. Its new information sheet, Risk management of carbon nanotubes ...

Scotland’s dedicated HSE prosecutors (113 words)

Unions have welcomed the announcement that a new specialist division is to be set up within the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to ...

Features

Sacked at 65 – time to put an end to forced retirement? (2178 words)

Unions and age campaigners are urging the government to scrap employers’ right to sack workers solely because of their age. The call follows last ...

The pay round so far — mixed fortunes in a worsening recession (3192 words)

Things seem to be getting worse for union pay negotiators the further we get into the pay round. The combination of negative RPI inflation ...