News

Unions welcome investment but want more support for Corus (336 words)

Questions remain about the decision by Corus to mothball plant at its Teesside Cast Products works at the end of this month. But attention ...

Changes to scheme provoke anger (316 words)

Civil service unions were refusing to accept government changes to the compensation scheme covering redundancy and voluntary severance under the early exit programme, as ...

Recession Watch (261 words)

The rate of job losses in the public sector continued at a high level with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust cutting 400 jobs while ...

Government guarantee hailed as ‘good news for young people’ (323 words)

By including a commitment to extend the Young Person’s Guarantee promising a job, work placement or training for 18- to 24-year-olds in its Pre-Budget ...

New teachers face jobs crisis (194 words)

Further indications that it is not just in the private sector that jobs are scarce, emerged last month from evidence gathered in a survey ...

Disputes set to spill over into 2010 (244 words)

Talks on the Royal Mail dispute were continuing as Labour Research went to press, with the CWU communication workers’ union welcoming six-month financial results ...

Jobless rise continues to slow down (210 words)

The rise in the UK jobless figures continues to slow and benefits claimants were down, latest figures show. ...

Inflation now has plus sign (67 words)

Dearer petrol and oil drove inflation into positive territory for the first time since last January. Under the Retail Prices Index (RPI), inflation was ...

Key economic indicators

Key economic indicators (176 words)

% annual rise in average weekly earnings*% rise in LRD pay deals**Whole economyManu-facturingServicesPrivate sectorPublic sectorOct 2008 (r) 3.62.83.83.53.83.5November2.72.33.12.44.33.2December3.21.83.83.13.93.2Jan 2009-0.71.5-1.3-1.73.73.0February-2.31.0-3.2-3.63.63.0March1.50.41.40.93.42.7April3.32.33.53.43.61.9May2.30.32.82.03.62.0June 2.01.52.21.54.12.0July 1.20.31.30.82.52.0August (r)1.62.01.51.22.82.0September (r)1.32.31.40.92.92.0October (p)1.62.11.51.32.82.0Headline*** ...

Union news

Government accused of giving ‘green light’ to blacklisting (356 words)

The UCATT construction union has expressed anger over the government’s response to the consultation on the blacklisting regulations, published last month. ...

Union advantage is pressed home (161 words)

The advantages of being in a union, particularly in a tough economic climate, are being hammered home by the TUC in new materials produced ...

TUC signs charter on volunteer working (214 words)

A charter recognising the value of volunteers but ensuring they are not used to undercut paid staff has been signed by the TUC and ...

Time off for union activities (96 words)

The revised Acas code of practice on time off for trade union duties and activities comes into effect on the first of this month. ...

European news

Ireland’s social partnership is now ‘dead and buried’ (448 words)

Social partnership, which has been the method used to set pay increases in Ireland since 1987 is now “dead and buried” in the view ...

Daimler gives undertaking on jobs (216 words)

Daimler, the German-based car and commercial vehicle maker, has guaranteed that there will be no compulsory redundancies in the near future among the 37,000 ...

New commissioner (102 words)

László Andor, a Hungarian economics professor, has been given responsibility for economic and social policy in the 27-strong European Commission, which initiates EU legislation. ...

CGT leadership (130 words)

The conference of the CGT, one of France’s two largest union confederations, has backed the leadership of Bernard Thibault, re-electing him as general secretary ...

Features

2010: what’s on the cards? (2633 words)

The effects of the economic crisis will continue to dominate the world of work in 2010, but the outlook is made even more uncertain ...

Recognising the value of support (1651 words)

The numbers, roles and responsibilities of school support staff have undergone tremendous transformation in recent years. According to the most recent government statistics, there ...

What’s the future for pensions? (1708 words)

In the private sector, active membership of occupational pension schemes — people who are in employment and who are paying into the schemes — ...

Making sure the lights stay on (1447 words)

Working by candlelight; shivering in winter; fuel rationing at home and in the workplace; a three-day working week; a surge of unemployment; and scheduled ...

Law Matters

Sexual orientation law is to be amended (412 words)

A change is due in the law that, at present, allows religious organisations to discriminate against people over their sexual orientation. ...

Two wrongs are righted (298 words)

Factors relating to separate discrimination legislation can be considered together in determining if indirect discrimination has occurred. ...

Climate change is ‘a belief’ (279 words)

A belief in climate change can amount to a philosophical belief protected by the Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations 2003, an Employment Appeal ...

Law Queries

Voluntary redundancy (219 words)

Q. At the time a redundancy programe was announced, I put my name down on a list of people willing to consider voluntary redundancy/redeployment. ...

Calculating compensation (291 words)

Q. We know that the principal element of compensation for unfair dismissal is normally comprised of the employee’s loss of earnings. ...

Staff notice board (243 words)

Q. The HR department wants me and my fellow reps to indentify ourselves when using the staff notice board. In particular, we have been ...

Law Back-up

Disability law is to get more discriminating (954 words)

Following the Law Lords’ decision in the housing case involving Lewisham council in London and a schizophrenic tenant, Mr Malcolm, the chances of successfully ...

Health & Safety Matters

Cameron threatens safety regulation (297 words)

Unions have responded robustly to promises by Conservative leader David Cameron to strip away health and safety law if he gets into power this ...

Hack wins over bullying (237 words)

A reporter on Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World, who suffered bullying at work, has won almost £800,000 for unfair dismissal and disability discrimination. ...

Rail union wins RSI breakthrough (95 words)

Rail union Aslef has won a groundbreaking judgment which allows train drivers to claim compensation for carpal tunnel syndrome. ...

Flyers are urged to ‘lighten up’ on bags (88 words)

Airline passengers are being asked to pack less in their bags to prevent injuries to airport baggage handlers. ...

Crane register (53 words)

Construction union UCATT has welcomed the news that a statutory crane register is to be introduced in April. ...

Health & Safety Back-up

Don’t face lone work hazards on your own (845 words)

A large number of jobs require people to be left alone and isolated for long periods at work. The hazards lone workers face are ...

Equality news

Older men need help to get off the dole (405 words)

Men aged over 50 who have lost their jobs in the recession are at serious risk of being shut out of the labour market ...

Employers are told to act positively on jobs (237 words)

Important provisions for the promotion of positive action are included in the forthcoming Equality Bill, delegates at an conference run by the Equality and ...

Race: 10 years after Lawrence murder (122 words)

TUC deputy general secretary Frances O’Grady spoke of the struggle for race equality in Britain at a conference to mark the 10-year anniversary of ...

Uneven progress (121 words)

There is uneven progress among organisations achieving disability equality, the Employers’ Forum on Disability (EFD) has found. ...

Workplace Back-up

How mortgage payments affect cost of living (974 words)

After eight months of negative figures, the Retail Prices Index (RPI) was back in positive territory in November, rising by 0.3% (see page 6 ...

News from LRD

LRD Executive Committee Nominations (91 words)

The Labour Research Department (LRD) would like to invite nominations for the LRD executive committee for the period from April 2010 to March 2011. ...

Reviews

Union bread (218 words)

Bagels, platzels and chollah: the story of the London Jewish Bakers’ Union ...

Comrade or brother? (216 words)

A history of the British labour movement(second edition), Mary Davis, Pluto Press, 304 pages, paperback, £11.99 ...

E-views

e-views (388 words)

The possibility of using Twitter as a campaigning tool was recently tested by LabourStart. We were inspired by the example of American Rights at ...