News

Campaign continues to drive home message about far right (348 words)

Use your vote, get out and campaign, stop the BNP — that’s the clear union message as the far right mounts its electoral challenge ...

Posted workers row reignites (330 words)

The row over access to jobs in the engineering construction industry flared again on 19 May with strikes at a series of sites. ...

Recession Watch (277 words)

The rate of job losses continued at such a high level that we only list some of the bigger job losses announced over the ...

Unions find some optimism amidst manufacturing gloom (297 words)

Unions and engineering employers are hoping that the government’s scrappage scheme will boost demand for new cars and vans. ...

University bosses wield jobs axe (239 words)

A tide of university job cuts across the country has prompted united resistance by higher education unions the UCU, UNISON, Unite, the GMB and ...

Minimum wage up (115 words)

The government has accepted most of the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission on the National Minimum Wage, although it has deferred for one ...

Visteon success (60 words)

Occupations and protest action over the closure of car parts plants owned by Ford spin-off Visteon have achieved spectacular results (see Labour Research May ...

Agency workers (67 words)

The government is running a consultation on implementing the EU Temporary Agency Workers’ directive. The new right to equal treatment on pay and conditions ...

Jobless rise is biggest since 1981 (210 words)

Unemployment posted its biggest rise since 1981, according to the latest figures. Under the Labour Force Survey (LFS) count, unemployment rose by 244,000 to ...

Inflation rate hits record low (72 words)

Inflation has now broken all records. It hit an all-time low in April, falling to its lowest level since records began in 1948. Under ...

Key economic indicators

Key Economic Indicators (177 words)

% annual rise in average weekly earnings*% rise in LRD pay deals**Whole economyManu-facturingServicesPrivate sectorPublic sectorMar 2008 (r)4.74.55.04.83.84.0April3.83.04.03.73.83.7May3.43.33.53.53.13.7June3.42.53.73.62.93.8July3.62.83.93.54.04.0August 3.22.93.43.13.64.0September 3.13.03.22.84.03.8October 3.62.93.93.63.83.6November 2.62.32.92.24.33.8December 2.91.83.32.73.93.9Jan 2009 (r)-0.31.5-0.7-1.23.73.5February ...

Union news

Public sector sees sharp fall in trade union density (323 words)

A worrying decline in the proportion of public sector employees who are in trade unions is revealed in the latest government statistics on trade ...

“Modern reps can deliver gains” (222 words)

The CBI employers’ organisation has joined with the TUC and the government in extolling the virtues of union reps in the workplace. ...

Blacklisting setback (118 words)

The UCATT construction union has expressed disappointment that a government plan to outlaw blacklisting will be delayed. ...

Community work (120 words)

Union reps are eight times more likely than others to engage in voluntary work, and give more of their time to community organisations. ...

European news

Unions vow to fight on despite working time defeat (401 words)

The last few weeks before this month’s European elections have produced decisions on a number of European Union directives, some of which have been ...

Thousands march over crisis (240 words)

Coordinated demonstrations last month in four European capitals brought more than 300,000 people onto their streets in a further sign of growing concern about ...

Tripartite Irish talks face collapse (218 words)

Talks between the Irish Congress of Unions (ICTU), the Irish employers’ association IBEC and the Irish government on an agreement on national economic recovery ...

Features

“We are not border guards” (1759 words)

The government’s latest immigration crackdown means that UK colleges and universities are being obliged to turn their staff into “immigration snoops” by getting them ...

Unions value European influence (1572 words)

The European Parliament has proved a useful friend in union campaigns, while union mobilisations have undoubtedly helped to influence the Parliament’s decisions. As this ...

Pushing for a green agenda (1479 words)

If climate change has become the environmental question on everyone’s lips, then so far few have looked to trade unions for the answer. But ...

Global unions respond to crisis (1608 words)

The scale of the global economic crisis is huge. And trade unions are in no doubt about the cause of this crisis. The general ...

Law Matters

EAT looks to Lords for compensation guidance (313 words)

Further consideration may have to be given to compensation in cases of constructive dismissal, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has said. ...

An employer must be fair in choosing staff for the axe (319 words)

Where an employer genuinely needs to make staffing cutbacks, it should first create a pool of the relevant employees. Employers must apply objective criteria ...

Worker registration scheme runs to 2011 (104 words)

The government has extended the Worker Registration Scheme for employees from the eight Accession states — the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, ...

Support is wanted for academic’s case (120 words)

The May edition of Labour Research reported on the decision in the Fosh v Cardiff University case. ...

Law Queries

Reneging on pay (175 words)

Q. Recently we agreed a pay deal. However the employer has now announced that it will renege on this. Is there anything we can ...

Length of service (263 words)

Q. During a TUPE consultation process the old employer said that no employees would be made redundant by the new employer. This turned out ...

Change of hours (241 words)

Q. A member cares for his disabled wife. His supervisor (with whom he doesn’t get on very well) wants him to change his hours. ...

Law Back-up

Workers have to ensure that their claim is in time (952 words)

It’s easy to do, but it is critically important not to miss the time limit for bringing a tribunal claim, while running through a ...

Health & Safety Matters

TUC Turns up the heat over climate change (269 words)

Over 200 delegates attended the TUC’s green growth conference at the end of April to insist that the transition to a low carbon economy ...

Unions boil over Barometer (254 words)

Unions have condemned a business body for overstating the cost of safety regulation to business and for ignoring the costs of safety failures. ...

Bill addresses pleural plaques sufferers (68 words)

A Private Members Bill, tabled by Labour MP Andrew Dismore, seeking justice for pleural plaques sufferers is passing through Parliament. ...

Priority chemicals are listed for REACH (84 words)

A list of priority chemical substances for authorisation under REACH, the new chemicals regime currently coming into force across Europe, has been sent by ...

Men must get wiser over prostate cancer (68 words)

General union Unite is promoting prostate cancer awareness, after surveys revealed that many men would rather “sit tight” and hope the problem goes away. ...

Health & Safety Back-up

More understanding is needed on skin disease (836 words)

Affecting one in 50 people, psoriasis is a chronic skin condition characterised by grey or silvery flaky patches on the skin, which are red ...

Equality news

Muslim women want to reach for the top (423 words)

A third of working Muslim women say they can see themselves one day as chief executive or leader of the organisation they work for. ...

Homophobic bullying is widespread in schools (229 words)

Three in five secondary school teachers and a quarter of primary school teachers have addressed sexual orientation issues in the classroom and 95% say ...

Recesssion is a threat to BME Workers (260 words)

While previous recessions have seen BME workers hit harder than other groups, this does not appear to be the case so far this time ...

Workplace Back-up

What options are there when money runs out? (810 words)

At the start of last month, prospects for the Birmingham-based van maker LDV improved sharply when the government intervened and agreed to lend the ...

Reviews

Marching to the fault line (205 words)

The miners’ strike and the death of industrial Britain ...

“Plebs” (216 words)

The lost legacy of independent working class education ...

E-views

e-views (394 words)

It seems like every day, there’s another way to publish information on the net. There are traditional websites, RSS feeds, Twitter, blogs, social networks, ...