Pay and prices

Pay lagging behind RPI (258 words)

Pay settlements are now trailing behind Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation. But while private sector settlements show signs of responding, pay restraint is beginning ...

Labour Research Department three-monthly pay figures (75 words)

Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered). ...

Full-time weekly average earnings (16 words)

All workers£592.60All male£648.80All female£505.70Managers£870.80Professionals£791.00Associate professional£612.10Admin & secretarial£415.40Skilled/craft£488.90Services£352.30Sales£327.40Operatives£448.00Other manual£349.80 ...

Annual increase in average weekly earnings including bonuses (44 words)

MonthWhole economyPrivate sectorPublic sectorManufact- uringServicesJan. 2009 0.2-2.13.21.7-1.9February (r)-3.9-7.93.3-0.5-7.3March (r)-3.2-2.62.21.2-2.3April (r)2.11.03.11.52.0May0.80.32.8-0.21.1June1.20.43.91.11.4July0.6-0.53.3-0.60.5August0.7-0.33.51.70.5September0.80.03.81.61.1October0.5-0.43.81.60.5November0.80.33.82.01.1December0.70.33.43.20.8Jan. 2010 1.2-1.04.14.4-0.5February (r)5.76.13.85.45.9March (r)6.27.45.68.66.8April (p)0.90.23.23.20.9Headline rate*4.24.54.25.84.5 ...

Other pay analysts (21 words)

Industrial Relations Services (median, three months to end May 2010)1.0%Incomes Data Services (median, three months to end April 2010)2.0% ...

Inflation forecasts (19 words)

RPIRPI excluding mortgagesAverage3.7%3.7%Oxford Economic Forecasting3.5%3.6%ITEM Club3.6%2.4% ...

Prices (11 words)

Retail prices index (RPI), Jan ’87=100% annual increasesRPIRPI excl. mortgagesApril211.5-1.21.7May212.8-1.11.6June213.4-1.61.0July213.4-1.41.2August214.4-1.31.4September215.3-1.41.3October216.0-0.81.9November216.60.32.7December218.02.43.8Jan 2010217.93.74.6February219.23.74.2March220.74.44.8April222.85.35.4May223.65.15.1 ...

Bargaining news

Coca Cola dispute over national bargaining (825 words)

The Coca Cola could run dry in Britain for this summer’s football World Cup if a dispute over national bargaining on pay and pensions ...

Pay increases remain at 2% (589 words)

Pay increases continue to hold steady at around 2% according to Labour Research Department’s Payline database of negotiated pay deals. In the three months ...

BBC facilities pay deals settled by BECTU (268 words)

BECTU broadcasting union has negotiated a two-year pay deal with Balfour Beatty, the company that runs the BBC’s facilities and buildings in most UK ...

National Physical Lab (187 words)

Prospect professional and managerial union members at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the UK’s national scientific measurement institution, have now voted to accept a ...

Disabled NHS workers (96 words)

The recession is hitting disabled workers in the NHS harder than their non-disabled colleagues, according to the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists (CSP). ...

ITV signs writers’ pay deal (482 words)

The Writers’ Guild, the union for screen, TV and theatre writers, has signed a milestone agreement with ITV to bring minimum fees for writers ...

BT pay talks break down (421 words)

The CWU communication workers’ union has reacted angrily to changes to BT’s pay offer that were leaked by the telecoms company to the media. ...

Siemens pay (143 words)

The IT and technology provider for the BBC, Siemens, will pay a £300 consolidated increase backdated to January for 2010, in a deal negotiated ...

Discrimination at sea (141 words)

The TUC is calling on ministers to end pay rates of less than £2 an hour in the UK shipping industry, following the publication ...

Equality news

Cautious response to new equality measures (384 words)

The TUC was cautious in its response to commitments made by the new coalition government on the equalities agenda. Specific plans made in the ...

Most workers say they can’t afford to retire (381 words)

Almost 70% of UK adults expect to work beyond their retirement date with one in 10 people believing they will never be able to ...

New negotiators’ guide (126 words)

The TUC, UNISON, Unite and the GMB have teamed up with the Migrant Rights Network (MRN) to produce a negotiators’ guide on workplace checks ...

Women drivers (154 words)

Employers are far more likely to offer driver training to male employees, new research shows. ...

Learning and training news

Spending cuts hit skills training (438 words)

The main cuts to education and skills outlined in last month’s announcement by chancellor George Osborne comprise £200 million from the higher education budget, ...

New development fund for skills in Scotland (230 words)

More than 5,000 workers are set to benefit from learning and skills development through their trade unions as a result of funding from the ...

Learning reps go international (195 words)

A new TUC report finds that the union learning representative (ULR) idea is spreading beyond the UK. Union learning representatives: an international movement describes ...

New learning centre (116 words)

The Unite union and transport firm Go North East celebrated Learning at Work Day last month by opening a dedicated union learning centre at ...

European news

Opel-Vauxhall agrees European cost-saving deal to keep jobs (795 words)

Opel-Vauxhall and its European works council (EWC) have reached agreement on a deal to guarantee employment in the company’s European plants – including the ...

Public sector pay feels the squeeze in Spain and Italy (301 words)

In two surprise announcements the Spanish government has imposed pay cuts on the 1.9 million employees who work in the country’s public sector, while ...

Law - Contracts

Contracts – the basic legal rules (267 words)

Employment rights depend, as a minimum, on there being an “employment relationship”. This implies some contractual obligations between the employer and the worker. To ...

Contracts –the key developments (123 words)

• An employee cannot claim constructive dismissal if s/he has previously committed serious misconduct which amounts to a breach of the implied term of ...

Constructive dismissal (766 words)

Mr McNeill was a senior manager in the Council’s leisure department. When Mr Woodock, a more senior manager, was suspended for alleged financial impropriety, ...

Collective agreements (634 words)

Ms Malone, Mr Stott and Mr Devereux were employed by BA as cabin crew on flights in and out of Heathrow. Mr Devereux worked ...

Constructive dismissal and affirmation (582 words)

Ms Southern worked at a day nursery in Liverpool. She resigned on 15 January as a result of a number of matters set out ...

Law - Tribunal procedures

Employment tribunals – the basic legal rules (218 words)

Most tribunal claims must be lodged within three months of the matter being complained of. Tribunals can extend the time-limit in unfair dismissal claims ...

Employment tribunals – the key developments (138 words)

• A tribunal must consider a number of factors in deciding whether it is in the interests of justice to overturn a strike-out for ...

“Unless” orders (758 words)

Mr Thind brought various tribunal claims including one for disability discrimination in relation to a knee injury. On 11 February 2009, the tribunal ordered ...

Legibility (463 words)

Mr May made various tribunal claims against the Council including unfair dismissal and discrimination. He handwrote his claims in black ink on the standard ...

Witnesses (537 words)

Mr Power brought an employment tribunal claim under the Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations 2003 following his dismissal by the Police Authority. Mr ...

Hearing date postponement (225 words)

The claim for unfair dismissal and wrongful dismissal was listed for a two-day employment tribunal hearing. Both parties had properly prepared the case and ...

Health & safety news

Recession hits worker well-being, says MIND (362 words)

The mental health charity MIND says that the recession is having a devastating effect on the well-being of British workers. It has published new ...

New TUC workplace drug testing guidance (364 words)

Many union representatives could find themselves confronted with proposals for drug testing in the workplace as a result of a very aggressive marketing campaign ...

Betting shop safety charter launched (127 words)

A new safety charter for betting shop workers has been launched by the Community trade union following a rise in robberies and violence in ...

Doctors’ union calls for safe shift patterns (129 words)

A NEW report by the Scottish Junior Doctors’ Committee of the BMA doctors’ union, entitled Shift-work, rest and sleep: minimising the risks, highlights the ...

Health & safety - HSE Monitor

European maintenance safety campaign launch (245 words)

The UK launch event for the European Health and Safety Week Campaign on Safe Maintenance takes place this month on 21 June 2010 in ...

HSE at CWU conference (244 words)

More than 150 CWU communication workers’ union health and safety reps and branch officials packed a “Health, safety and environment” fringe meeting at the ...

Questions over teacher assault charges (200 words)

Following a not guilty verdict in the case of assault charges brought against a teacher, the NUT Cymru teaching union has called into question ...

Once in a lifetime inspections (161 words)

Workplaces can expect to see a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector only once every 38 years, compared with every eight years a decade ...

Occupational health advice line pilot (99 words)

The government has launched an occupational health advice line for small businesses and their employees. Running as a pilot until March 2011, the advice ...

Features

Organising for the future (3832 words)

Maintaining strength in numbers through organising is currently a critical activity for unions, particularly in the face of a new Conservative-led government, unfavourable economic ...

London and regional weighting (1723 words)

The recession removed much of the pressure on employers to pay London premia in response to recruitment and retention difficulties. In some instances, especially ...