News

Government faces test on support for industrial jobs (367 words)

News of new automotive jobs at Nissan last month has been more than overshadowed by the threat of further job losses in the car ...

Lecturers warn on university cuts (265 words)

Last month’s announcement of an extra 10,000 university places this autumn, while welcome, will do little to offset cuts in jobs and student numbers ...

Recession Watch (251 words)

The rate of jobs losses continued at such a high level that we only list some of the larger announcements over the last month. ...

Anti-fascists urge support for demo against BNP gathering (253 words)

Unite Against Fascism (UAF), the union-backed anti-fascist organisation, plans a mass protest at the BNP’s annual “Red, White and Blue” event on 15 August ...

Blue collar jobs are hardest hit (292 words)

As the latest unemployment figures show an unprecedented rise in jobless numbers — an increase of 281,000 on the last quarter, to a total ...

Ballot for “fairness” (133 words)

Unions in the engineering construction industry were planning an official strike ballot of members at a series of power stations and oil refineries later ...

Pensions ballot (120 words)

Members of the Unite union at Barclays Bank are to be balloted for industrial action over the bank’s decision to close all its remaining ...

Jobless rise is largest in decades (216 words)

Unemployment posted the largest quarterly increase since comparable records began almost 40 years ago, according to official data. ...

Inflation remains in freefall (69 words)

The Retail Prices Index (RPI) was pushed into greater negative territory, falling to minus 1.6% in June from minus 1.1% the previous month. It ...

Key economic indicators

Key Economic Indicators (179 words)

% annual rise in average weekly earnings*% rise in LRD pay deals**Whole economyManu-facturingServicesPrivate sectorPublic sectorMay 2008 (r)3.33.83.33.43.33.7June3.42.53.73.62.93.8July3.62.83.93.54.04.0August 3.22.93.43.13.63.8September 3.13.03.22.84.03.5October 3.62.93.93.63.83.5November 2.62.32.92.24.33.6December 2.91.83.32.73.93.8January 2009 -0.31.5-0.7-1.23.73.3February ...

Union news

Consultation gets underway over blacklisting regulations (228 words)

Unions have welcomed the government’s launch of consultation on regulations to outlaw blacklisting of union members. ...

Firefighters’ entry sets judges alight at union awards contest (358 words)

In an era of electronic communications, print is still an important mechanism for unions to communicate with members, judging by last month’s 2009 TUC ...

Union partnership (104 words)

The largest teaching union, the NUT, and the University and College Union last month launched a partnership to “avoid competitive trade unionism” and “maximise ...

Time off for reps (67 words)

After extensive consultation, a new code of practice on time off for trade union duties and activities has been published by industrial relations service ...

Youth join UNISON (60 words)

Young people are joining public services union UNISON in record numbers, the union reports. In the first half of 2009, 12,472 signed up to ...

European news

Union pressure cuts German job losses following takeover (460 words)

A major US company, EDS, has agreed to bow to union pressure in Germany and make fewer workers redundant than initially planned. A strike ...

Danish workers now get improved terms when firms go to the wall (205 words)

Employees in Denmark whose companies go bankrupt are now more likely to get all the money they are owed, following an increase in the ...

ETUC calls for working time delay (229 words)

The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has called on the European Commission not to rush into new proposals for a revised working time directive. ...

Features

“What do we have to lose?” (2043 words)

A “truly astounding victory“, is how Kevin Nolan, Unite union convenor at the Visteon factory in Enfield, north London, described the outcome of the ...

Who’ll drive away with GM Europe? (1749 words)

The complex and as yet unfinished story of the negotiations around General Motors’ (GM) European operations indicates how the fate of whole plants depends ...

Public sector is targeted again (1682 words)

Both the government and its critics talk repeatedly about the need to get value for taxpayers’ money and improve public sector productivity. Perhaps the ...

Privileged background still counts for top jobs (1443 words)

Last month’s report into fair access to the professions produced by Alan Milburn MP made wide-ranging recommendations to improve the chances of ordinary young ...

Law Matters

Reasonable test is not relevant in dismissal (338 words)

In a departure from three earlier decisions, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has held that the range of reasonable responses test does not apply ...

Employers do not have to consult after transfer (265 words)

Employers must inform and consult with staff before a TUPE transfer takes place. ...

Parental leave provision may rise to four months (271 words)

Proposals to increase parental leave have been made by the European social partners — employer and employee representatives. ...

Law Queries

Redundancy procedures (235 words)

Q. In March, a member was called into a meeting and told, without having received advance warning, that he alone was being made redundant. ...

Benefits after transfer (216 words)

Q. A company is trying to cut back on the benefits of staff who were TUPE transferred to it a few months ago. Can ...

Changes to contracts (300 words)

Q. Without having met employees to discuss it, the employer simply put up a new rota. Due to family commitments some staff cannot do ...

Law Back-up

Employers get a bloody nose in sick leave case (934 words)

Employers can seem resentful of individuals who are on long-term sickness absence. Despite HR staff often professing to be sympathetic, a more accurate assessment ...

Health & Safety Matters

Reports back legal duties on directors (259 words)

Unions and safety activists have stepped up the campaign to impose legal health and safety duties on employers after two official reports backed the ...

Restructuring is health risk (240 words)

Employers should carry out risk assessments when restructuring, public services union UNISON has warned, in the wake of new findings which show that the ...

Dog law needs more teeth, unions say (159 words)

A parliamentary Bill aimed at amending the Dangerous Dogs Act to cover attacks on private land and to allow owners to be prosecuted has ...

Pressure on to rid schools of asbestos (74 words)

Unions and asbestos campaigners are stepping up the pressure for action on asbestos in schools. ...

Health & Safety Back-up

Safety reps are force for good in workplace (809 words)

Having trade union representation leads to better observance of safety rules, lower accident rates and fewer work-related health problems, according to research from the ...

Equality news

How to manage faith and sexuality at work (418 words)

Although workplace conflicts arising from tensions between gay people and people of faith are rare, employers feel less confident about preventing and responding to ...

Motherhood widens pay gap and hits prospects (207 words)

Women’s pay and work prospects take a dive once they have children. That is the stark message from the Fawcett Society gender equality organisation ...

Young people take big hit in the recession (239 words)

Young people and men are among the groups most affected so far by the recession, says a joint report from the Equality and Human ...

Workplace Back-up

New code on internships is urged to tackle abuse (886 words)

As the recession deepens and the job market contracts, young people are facing pressure to work for free in order to get the work ...

News from LRD

Thanks boss! (95 words)

Thanks boss! is a free publication arising from a multinational project which examines the consequences of current restructuring on European workers’ health. ...

TUC Congress (22 words)

The Labour Research Department will once again have a stand at Congress, from Monday 14 to Thursday 17 September in Liverpool. ...

Reviews

Hung, drawn and quartered (219 words)

The cariacatures of Ken Gill ...

Turning down the heat (246 words)

The politics of climate policy in affluent democracies ...

E-views

e-views (384 words)

The increasing diversity in the world of IT poses new challenges to unions. So a union that wants members to be able to follow ...