News

Sick pay cuts are price for single status settlement (361 words)

A row over sick pay and other changes to terms and conditions, as part of a single status settlement at Labour-controlled Nottingham City Council, ...

Focus is on public sector pensions (303 words)

Hopes for a balanced debate over public sector pensions hang on the independence of the review being chaired by former Labour minister John Hutton, ...

Redundancy Watch (257 words)

In the public sector the rate of job losses over the last month remained high. ...

Gove unleashes ‘chaotic free-for-all’ on England’s schools (293 words)

Within weeks of taking office the Con-Dem government launched a two-pronged attack on the state education system and on national bargaining arrangements. Michael Gove, ...

London faces transport strikes (219 words)

Concerns over jobs, pay and conditions for London Underground (LU) maintenance workers employed by Tube Lines, and increased work and responsibilities on the Docklands ...

CBI report is a ‘demolition job’ on the rights of workers (254 words)

Proposals outlining the CBI business organisation’s employment agenda for the coalition government were last month described by the TUC as “a demolition job” on ...

Unemployment rises once more (196 words)

Unemployment rose by 23,000 on the main official count, the Office for National Statistics said. ...

Inflation drifting downwards (67 words)

The latest fall in inflation may be the start of a drift downwards, say analysts. Under the Retail Prices Index (RPI), inflation was 5.1% ...

Key economic indicators

Key economic indicators (181 words)

% annual rise in average weekly earnings*% rise in LRD pay deals**Whole economyManu-facturingServicesPrivate sectorPublic sector***April 2009 (r)2.11.52.01.03.11.5May0.8-0.21.10.32.71.5June1.21.11.40.43.91.5July0.6-0.60.5-0.52.31.9August 0.71.70.5-0.32.61.9September 0.81.61.10.02.91.9October 0.51.60.5-0.42.82.0November 0.82.01.10.32.61.8December 0.73.20.80.32.21.7Jan 2010 1.24.4-0.5-1.02.91.8February ...

Union news

Israeli attack on aid flotilla leads TUC to call for inquiry (201 words)

Unions reacted with horror to the vicious attack by Israel on the flotilla of civilians delivering aid to Gaza, with the TUC calling for ...

Candidates set out their stall for leadership of largest union (310 words)

Five potential candidates for leadership of the country’s largest trade union, the general union Unite, were lobbying delegates at the union’s first policy conference ...

Honours (80 words)

Four senior figures from the trade union movement were made working peers in an honours list announced at the end of May. ...

Pub landlords (66 words)

Pub landlords who are members of the GMB general union have pledged to gain union recognition and free themselves from restrictive practices operated by ...

TUC ad film contest (92 words)

The TUC is offering £1,000 cash plus a day on a film set as top prize in its “60 second ad” contest. The challenge ...

European news

Employment law changes provoke general strike in Spain (337 words)

Spain’s two main union confederations, CCOO and UGT, have set a 29 September date for the country’s first general strike since 2002. ...

Irish unions give backing to deal on pay and reforms (289 words)

Irish public sector unions have agreed to back a controversial deal on pay and reforms, despite its rejection by some unions. ...

Freeze on pay sees protests in Italy (238 words)

Trade unionists from Italy’s largest trade union confederation CGIL have been protesting against government plans to freeze public sector pay for the next four ...

Features

Bargaining on trouble ahead? (2478 words)

Having played down any idea of confrontation with unions during the election campaign, the coalition government now seems set to mount an anti-union assault. ...

Have we still got the right to strike? (1815 words)

The injunctions granted to British Airways and Network Rail against the Unite general and RMT rail unions respectively have reignited anger at the legal ...

More needed on BME promotion (1564 words)

Decades have passed since the first race equality legislation in Britain made it on to the statute books. ...

Improving conditions for migrant workers (1475 words)

Immigration became a hot topic during the election campaign. But while the political parties focussed on the number of migrants coming to the UK, ...

Law Matters

Police failed PC over disability adjustment (340 words)

A police force failed in its duty to make a reasonable adjustment in the work of an officer with chronic anxiety syndrome, an employment ...

Diabetic dismissed unfairly (283 words)

A case concerning a diabetic local government worker who allegedly viewed porn online shows that even seemingly hopeless challenges to disciplinaries can succeed. ...

Vetting extension shelved (219 words)

Plans by the Con-Dem coalition government to scale back a vetting and barring scheme have been welcomed by groups who view elements of the ...

Law Queries

Terms and conditions (247 words)

Q. I was TUPE transferred to a new organisation a few years ago. My employer wants to change a few of my terms and ...

Less favourable treatment (297 words)

Q. What is the legal test for showing that a disabled colleague has been treated less favourably than an able-bodied one? ...

Statutory sick pay (264 words)

Q. What are the rules on entitlement to statutory sick pay for agency workers and individuals on short-term contracts? ...

Law Back-up

Do police investigations affect disciplinaries? (895 words)

Ms Roldan, an experienced nurse from the Philippines, was the subject of a complaint by her newly recruited colleague. She worked in the high ...

Health & Safety Matters

Blacklist workers win on naming and shaming (321 words)

Blacklisted construction workers say a legal breakthrough means that managers in the construction companies who supplied information on union activists to a centralised blacklist ...

Justice missing in Bhopal (211 words)

Seven former managers at the Indian subsidiary of Union Carbide have been successfully prosecuted and face jail sentences over their part in the 1984 ...

Green jobs will suffer through skills gap (108 words)

A low carbon economy will not be delivered unless the government addresses the UK environmental skills gap, says the UCU university and college lecturers’ ...

Behavioural safety (127 words)

The TUC has issued a briefing to help union reps respond to behavioural safety initiatives in their industry. ...

Health & Safety Back-up

Asthma is not a good wheeze at work (792 words)

Asthma is a condition in which the airways of the lungs become inflamed and the airways narrow so less air gets in and out ...

Equality news

Cutting child poverty remains the challenge (350 words)

Income poverty and inequality remain a major problem in the UK, according to an official assessment at the start of the new government’s term. ...

Campaign helps combat mental health stigma (281 words)

Employment discrimination against people with mental health problems in England is occurring less frequently, research shows. It follows the launch of a national campaign ...

Equal pay crusade heats up (232 words)

To mark the 40th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has called on organisations to do more ...

Workplace Back-up

Unions have a positive effect in workplace (822 words)

As public sector workers face job and pay cuts, new research for the public services union UNISON finds that motivation, morale, efficiency, quality and ...

News from LRD

LRD report for EPSU on union response to migrant workers (101 words)

A new report by the LRD for the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) was published recently. ...

E-views

e-views (451 words)

Increasingly, people are spending more time on their phone checking e-mail than they are making calls. Mobile devices are one of the fastest moving ...