News

Housing staff face threat to family-friendly arrangements (442 words)

Unpopular changes to carers’ leave, flexitime and payments for redeployed staff put members of the UNISON union on a collision course with a major ...

Action planned to retain guards (256 words)

A number of 24-hour strikes is planned by 550 guards, drivers and sleeper train managers at First ScotRail over plans to impose driver-only operation ...

Recession Watch (272 words)

The rate of job losses in the public sector has accelerated. During the last month announcements have included HM Revenue & Customs cutting up ...

Birmingham slashes 2,000 jobs in care and kids’ services (308 words)

Tory-led Birmingham City Council, Britain’s largest local authority, is planning to axe up to 2,000 jobs in its 2010-11 budget. ...

No let up in gloomy outlook (226 words)

With job cuts and pay freezes continuing to cast a shadow over 2010, despite a huge hike in inflation, the TUC has warned that ...

Safety concerns spark new walkout (218 words)

Construction workers at Staythorpe power station in Nottinghamshire staged a walk-out over health and safety on 16 February, four days after the GMB called ...

Jobless figure takes another dip (205 words)

Headline unemployment has fallen again slightly, according to official figures. ...

Huge surge in rate of inflation (75 words)

Inflation surged to its highest level for 15 months. Under the Retail Prices Index (RPI), the inflation rate was up to 3.7% in January ...

Key economic indicators

Key economic indicators (178 words)

% annual rise in average weekly earnings*% rise in LRD pay deals***Whole economyManu-facturingServicesPrivate sectorPublic sector**December 20082.62.13.22.53.23.2January 2009-2.01.5-2.8-3.13.13.0February-6.3-0.5-7.1-7.73.22.7March-0.91.7-1.9-2.12.32.5April1.41.61.71.13.01.5May0.8-0.21.10.32.81.5June1.21.11.40.43.91.5July0.6-0.60.5-0.53.32.0August 0.71.70.5-0.33.52.0September 0.81.61.10.03.82.0October 0.51.60.5-0.43.82.0November 1.02.01.20.33.82.0December (p)0.93.10.70.23.52.0Headline rate for ...

Union news

Modernisation Fund projects judged ‘broadly successful’ (332 words)

The first round of Union Modernisation Fund projects “generated a high degree of potential for transformational change within trade unions”, according to an evaluation ...

More needed for young people (249 words)

The TUC has committed union activists to supporting and organising young workers as part of a charter of action needed by unions, employers and ...

UNISON election (123 words)

The national executive of public services union UNISON has called a snap general secretary election despite the fact that current incumbent Dave Prentis is ...

Radio Labour (97 words)

An internet-based audio news show has been developed in an effort to build national and international labour solidarity. The show, Solidarity News, is 20 ...

New leader at POA (23 words)

The POA prison officers’ association has elected new general secretary Stephen Gillan to replace Brian Caton, who retires in May. ...

European news

General Motors announces detail of European job cuts (374 words)

After months of discussion, US car maker General Motors (GM), which owns the Vauxhall and Opel operations in Europe, has announced in detail where ...

Age increase gets thumbs down (283 words)

The main Spanish union confederations CCOO and UGT were engaged in a series of joint protests and demonstrations against government plans to raise the ...

German unions (132 words)

Figures just published by the DGB, the main German union confederation, show that German unions have been able broadly to stabilise their membership, in ...

Public sector strike (110 words)

Public servants in Portugal plan to strike this month in protest at government plans to freeze public sector pay. ...

Features

Equal pay problem rumbles on (1812 words)

The local government single status agreement was signed by local authorities in 1997 with the aim of bringing pay discrimination in councils to an ...

Parties divide over policies on women (2051 words)

Each of the two main political parties boasts that it is they who have the most effective policies on women’s rights and, as a ...

Governments eye up the public purse (2251 words)

The level of public spending is one of the key political issues across Europe, including in the UK. Greece is the latest country where ...

Universities challenged (1529 words)

Business minister Lord Mandelson has sought to play down the impact of the £915 million cuts in the higher education (HE) budget announced over ...

Law Matters

IVF women get limited protection at work (345 words)

The extent to which women employees having IVF treatment are entitled to special protection has recently been considered. ...

Give holiday notice or lose it (304 words)

What can an employee do to stop themselves losing untaken holiday or not being paid for it? ...

Keep an eye out for a suitable comparator (239 words)

An employee can lose out in a discrimination case when they do not use a suitable comparator to back up their claim, even when ...

Law Queries

Picketing (234 words)

Q. We have a dispute with our employer and are currently taking industrial action. A large number of us and our supporters are planning ...

Contract of employment (234 words)

Q. A member who despite being hired as a permanent employee three months ago, still has not been given a contract of employment. What ...

Working with a disability (240 words)

Q. A colleague was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis a few months ago. They work full-time, but their energy levels have been dropping and they ...

Law Back-up

Courts fail to protect mums-to-be at work (953 words)

Ms O’Neill, a teacher, was having difficulties at work and relations with her headteacher had broken down. ...

Health & Safety Matters

Green economy jobs must be safe jobs (267 words)

The prosecution of one of the UK’s largest recycling companies and its director provides further evidence that “green jobs” are not necessarily safe jobs. ...

Are notes fit for purpose? (286 words)

In the run up to the introduction of “fit notes”, the TUC has called for GPs to have better training in how to recognise ...

Workers’ Memorial Day is made official (134 words)

Unions have welcomed the Labour government’s announcement that it will officially recognise Workers’ Memorial Day in the UK. ...

Directors’ duties Bill (130 words)

Labour MP Frank Doran has introduced a Bill that would place a positive duty on company directors to take reasonable steps to ensure health ...

Health & Safety Back-up

Safety wear needs to be fit for workers (851 words)

The 1992 Personal Protective Equipment Regulations set out the requirements for PPE. The regulations cover protective clothing and safety footwear, although they do not ...

Equality news

Radical change is needed to help older workers (359 words)

Government plans to scrap the default retirement age (DRA) need to be accompanied by other changes to help workers stay in employment, says the ...

Civil service workforce is getting ever more diverse (320 words)

Civil servants are being recruited from more diverse backgrounds than ever before, research shows. ...

Bisexuals don’t find workplace inclusive (257 words)

A flavour of the experiences of bisexual trade unionists in the workplace and the union movement is given in a TUC survey. It has ...

Workplace Back-up

Work should provide balance to home life (851 words)

Flexible and family-friendly working can include a range of different measures such as scheduling work hours around school times, working from home, job sharing, ...

News from LRD

News from LRD (63 words)

The Labour Research Department annual general meeting will be held on Monday 19 April. ...

Reviews

Killing no murder (219 words)

South Wales and the great railway strike of 1911 ...

More than just a game (218 words)

Football v apartheid ...

E-views

e-views (385 words)

Last month Union Island closed down. If you’re wondering what Union Island was, it existed in the online virtual world called Second Life. ...