News

Equality watchdog acts over police stop and search tactics (364 words)

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is writing to police forces with the most disproportionate use of stop and search tactics, over their ...

Degrading conditions unearthed (284 words)

Exploitation in the meat processing industry, the focus of the Unite union’s Every worker counts campaign, has now been confirmed and documented by the ...

Recession Watch (267 words)

The recession may be “over”, but the job losses continue. ...

Union accuses BA of bully-boy tactics against strikers (368 words)

The Unite union says that management at BA has treated striking cabin crew staff in a way that raises questions about their freedom of ...

Rail workers set for action (141 words)

Members of the RMT rail union in Network Rail’s maintenance and signalling workforces have voted for industrial action. ...

Anti-fascists raise concerns (214 words)

Police accounts of a protest in Bolton by the English Defence League (EDL) on 20 March, and a counter-demonstration by anti-fascists, trade unionists and ...

Jobless are down on both counts (215 words)

There was good news on the unemployment front in the latest official figures. ...

All change on earnings data (70 words)

From last month, the average earnings figures in the Earnings and Pay table below have reflected changes to official earnings data. ...

Key economic indicators

Key economic indicators (177 words)

% annual rise in average weekly earnings*% rise in LRD pay deals**Whole economyManu-facturingServicesPrivate sectorPublic sector***Jan 2009 (r)-0.61.3-2.1-2.43.03.0February-6.3-0.5-7.1-7.73.32.7March-0.91.7-1.9-2.12.32.5April1.41.61.71.13.01.5May0.8-0.21.10.32.71.5June1.21.11.40.43.91.5July0.6-0.60.5-0.52.32.0August 0.71.70.5-0.32.62.0September 0.81.61.10.02.92.0October 0.51.60.5-0.42.82.0November 0.82.01.10.32.62.0December (r)0.73.20.80.32.22.0Jan 2010 (p)1.04.3-0.2-0.73.01.5Headline**** ...

Union news

Membership urged to ‘make your mark’ on general election (468 words)

Unions are gearing up for the general election campaign — whether or not they are affiliated to the Labour Party. ...

Woman bids to lead largest union (131 words)

An assistant general secretary of the Unite general union has become the first woman to throw her hat into the ring to become leader ...

Blacklisting regulations slammed by UCATT (219 words)

The long-anticipated blacklisting regulations have gone through parliament. But construction union UCATT, whose members were worst hit by the Ian Kerr blacklisting scandal last ...

European news

Greek workers take more strike action over cuts (358 words)

Greek unions have again taken to the streets in the third general strike in less than a month to protest against the government’s tax ...

(358 words)

Italian unions are divided as workers go on general strike (268 words)

A four-hour general strike called by Italy’s largest union confederation CGIL has underlined the divisions in the Italian trade union movement as other union ...

Unions in Ireland renew pay talks (239 words)

Last month, talks between the unions and government in Ireland restarted over government imposed pay cuts. ...

Features

New race agenda: all aboard? (2272 words)

In January this year, communities secretary John Denham caused some disquiet among his own Labour ranks when he unveiled the government’s new approach to ...

Defending our communities (1503 words)

As the general and local elections approach, trade unionists are rallying with others to the anti-fascist cause in a bid to beat back the ...

Graduating to a bleak future? (1995 words)

The political parties have been putting the finishing touches to their election manifestos against a background of the highest youth unemployment figures since the ...

Financing pay discrimination (1623 words)

While the current crisis has seen parts of the financial services sector take a considerable battering, the sector nevertheless continues to make a significant ...

Law Matters

There is only ‘static’ protection under TUPE (304 words)

How far does the transfer of undertakings regulations (TUPE) protect transferred terms and conditions? Can, for example, employees continue to benefit from the terms ...

Prof wins in dismissal case (313 words)

Where an employer has fundamentally breached an employee’s contract, if the employer makes amends, will the employee still be entitled to resign and bring ...

Illness must last to be a disability (263 words)

In order for an illness to count as a disability, it must be a “long-term impairment” that is, lasting, or likely to last, over ...

Law Queries

Psychiatric injury (245 words)

Q. A member witnessed an accident at work where his colleague incurred serious injuries. He unsurprisingly suffered psychologically: for example, he is experiencing difficulty ...

Paternity leave (218 words)

Q. Some time ago, a member advised the employer that his partner was pregnant. Now that she’s given birth, he has asked to take ...

Computer monitoring (247 words)

Q. We think that the employer is monitoring employee internet and e-mail use too closely. What are our rights? ...

Law Back-up

Council women wait on bonus claim outcomes (929 words)

Carers — predominantly female — lodged equal pay claims against Sheffield City Council. Their work had been rated as equivalent to that of — ...

Health & Safety Matters

Postcode lottery over pleural plaques (298 words)

Safety campaigners and unions have vowed to carry on the fight for compensation to be paid for everyone suffering from pleural plaques, regardless of ...

Fines set for work deaths (215 words)

Fines for companies and organisations found guilty of corporate manslaughter “may be millions of pounds and should seldom be below £500,000,” according to guidance ...

Government consults on dangerous dogs (146 words)

The CWU postal workers’ union has welcomed the launch of a government consultation to strengthen the law on dangerous dogs. ...

Give us a loo break (130 words)

Many workers have no access to toilets or have to use dirty, poorly maintained ones, according to a TUC report. ...

Health & Safety Back-up

Remember the dead: fight for the living! (878 words)

It was back in 1992 that the late Hazards campaigner Tommy Harte first brought Workers’ Memorial Day to this country with its “Remember the ...

Equality news

Public spending cuts will affect women the most (332 words)

Drastic cuts in public spending would have a profound effect on women’s employment and substantially reduce their income in retirement, according to the TUC. ...

Childcare chore for grans results in hardship (296 words)

Working grandparents who help with childcare in Britain’s most vulnerable families are risking hardship themselves. ...

Workers clam up over mental health (245 words)

Out of fear of losing their job, many employees would not tell their line manager if they had a mental health condition such as ...

Workplace Back-up

Pensions are far from gold-plated, says TUC (960 words)

Tory leader David Cameron claims there is an “apartheid on pensions” between the public and private sectors. ...

News from LRD

LRD annual general meeting (106 words)

The Labour Research Department’s annual general meeting will be held from 2.00pm on Monday, 19 April at the Jerwood Space, 171 Union Street, London ...

Reviews

The spirit level (208 words)

Why more equal societies almost always do better ...

One million climate jobs NOW! (226 words)

Campaign against Climate Change, 52 pages, pamphlet, £2.00 ...

E-views

e-views (368 words)

In January, the government launched a new website aimed at making information more accessible across the web. Inspired by a similar US website launched ...