News

Communities begin fightback as council cuts start to bite (403 words)

More details of how job losses and pay cuts will affect local government staff should be available after 2 December when central government grants ...

Jobs blow at construction group (255 words)

Building group Rok, which undertakes social housing maintenance, has made more than three-quarters of its 3,800 staff redundant. ...

Redundancy watch (254 words)

In the public sector the rate of job losses has accelerated sharply with the effects of government cuts causing a wave of announcements. ...

Unions attack coalition ‘myth’ of protected funding for NHS (309 words)

NHS unions have warned that the coalition’s promise to protect frontline services is a “myth”. ...

Alarm bells sound on pensions (227 words)

The TUC has responded with alarm to the government’s intention to consult on the discount rate used to calculate the amount public sector employees’ ...

Police jobs cut (122 words)

Manchester police has announced that it is to cut 3,000 jobs over four years which will reduce its overall size by almost a quarter. ...

Commute times­­­­ (140 words)

The rise in numbers of homeworkers has helped cut average commute times to a 10-year low, a TUC analysis of official figures reveals. ...

Long-term unemployment rises (219 words)

Unemployment fell on both official counts, the latest figures show. However, long-term unemployment for both men and women has risen. ...

Housing costs lower inflation (73 words)

Inflation was lower on the back of lower housing costs and food prices, the Office for National Statistics said. Under the Retail Prices Index ...

Key economic indicators

Key economic indicators (176 words)

% annual rise in average weekly earnings1% rise in LRD pay deals2Whole economyManu-facturingServicesPrivate sectorPublic sector3Sept 2009 (r)1.11.91.0-0.12.81.8October0.31.50.6-0.62.81.5November1.01.81.10.12.61.5December0.53.40.80.22.21.2Jan 20100.43.8-0.3-0.82.91.8February5.55.35.55.82.52.0March6.89.56.47.33.12.0April0.43.70.3-0.52.02.0May0.94.11.00.9-0.22.0June1.13.20.90.12.22.3July (r)1.84.71.81.71.92.2August (r) 2.14.22.11.91.82.3September (p)2.23.62.11.92.12.3Headline rate4 for ...

Union news

Balloting for action is officials’ top tactic when facing impasse (477 words)

The most effective way of dealing with impasse in industrial disputes is to conduct a ballot for industrial action, according to a survey of ...

‘Mystery shoppers’ tackle unions (221 words)

Union head offices generally perform well when contacted by non-members for information about joining, but in some cases there is much room for improvement, ...

Blacklisting win (120 words)

The union movement has notched up its first successful case against a major construction company engaged in blacklisting. ...

Anti-cuts campaign (115 words)

Unions can use the anti-cuts campaign to strengthen their membership and organisation, according to the TUC. ...

European news

Plans to slash public sector wages see Czech strike call (229 words)

The main Czech union confederation CMKOS, has called for strike action on 8 December against government plans to slash public sector wages. ...

Greek unions planning to strike in December (54 words)

Greek unions are planning a strike in December. GSEE, the main private sector union confederation, has called for action against the government’s programme of ...

Maternity leave proposals await Euro states’ approval (340 words)

Although legislation setting new minimum standards for maternity leave has been approved by the European Parliament, progress is not guaranteed as the proposals must ...

French pension changes go ahead (244 words)

French president Nicolas Sarkozy has formally approved changes to the French pension system which have mobilised millions in opposition since the end of the ...

Features

You’ve been quangoed! (1745 words)

The government is ploughing ahead with plans to abolish, hive off or absorb hundreds of “quangos”, apparently oblivious to the damage that could be ...

Coalition slash and burn begins (1787 words)

Reform was one of the buzz words of chancellor George Osborne’s Comprehensive Spending Review presented to Parliament in October. Slash and burn would be ...

Young review - safety first? (1385 words)

After several postponements, Lord Young’s review of health and safety law was finally published in October, claiming to restore “common sense to health and ...

Politics, culture and rainbow pie (1536 words)

The staff at the London-based Bookmarks socialist bookshop suggest books from among their year’s bestsellers you might like to consider as Christmas gifts for ...

Law Matters

Appeal tribunal finds error in award penalty (360 words)

A cut in a tribunal award over a claimant’s conduct after her unfair dismissal has been remitted to a tribunal to re-consider remedy after ...

Retirement age of 65 is to be put out to grass (271 words)

A tidy majority of men and women would prefer to carry on working past retirement age and their hopes are to be met next ...

Ballot bill falls on filibuster (242 words)

A bill, which would have made it harder for employers to exploit minor balloting irregularities before strike action, has failed to progress through Parliament ...

Law Queries

Fixed-term contracts (217 words)

A. Under the Fixed-term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002, employees on fixed-term contracts have the right not to be treated less ...

Works council (258 words)

A. Under the 2004 Information and Consultation of Employees Regulations (ICE regulations) 10% or more of the workforce, on the basis of the average ...

Default retirement age (255 words)

A. Discriminating against an employee on the grounds of their age is unlawful unless it can be objectively justified — that is, unless an ...

Law Back-up

Agency worker reform gives fairer treatment (937 words)

Essentially the regulations will entitle agency workers to receive the same basic terms and conditions as permanent staff. However, only agency workers who have ...

Health & Safety Matters

We are not fit to sign new note, say doctors (237 words)

Two-thirds of GPs feel ill-equipped to provide the new fit note, according to a survey by insurance company Aviva. ...

Consultants’ register is only voluntary for now (262 words)

A new Occupational Safety Consultants Register is to be launched at the start of next year by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). ...

Lessons learned from building site fires (107 words)

Revised guidance on fire safety in construction has been published by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). ...

Stress over sickness (156 words)

Millions of British workers feel obliged to lie to their bosses about having to take stress-induced sick leave, new research published by mental health ...

Health & Safety Back-up

Cut to HSE budget puts workers’ lives at risk (895 words)

Unions have reacted angrily to the 35% cut by 2015 in the budget of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). The TUC said that ...

Equality news

Employer notions on cancer must change (351 words)

Employers are failing to make simple changes in the workplace that would enable people with cancer to stay in work or return after treatment ...

Spending cuts threaten grandparents’ care role (305 words)

Welfare reform and spending cuts will penalise an army of grandparent carers, according to a report by the Grandparents Plus charity. ...

Equality and Human Rights Commission reform (157 words)

The role of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is to be “radically reformed” following the government’s spending review. The EHRC is facing ...

Gender guidance (88 words)

An updated version of Legal protection and good practice for gender variant, transsexual and transgender people in the workplace has been published by the ...

Workplace Back-up

Gaining skills is set to load debt on trainees (866 words)

The new skills strategy, Skills for sustainable growth, was announced last month and confirmed plans to fund more apprenticeships for adults with numbers expected ...

News from LRD

LRD invites nominations to executive committee (108 words)

The Labour Research Department (LRD) is inviting nominations for the LRD executive committee for April 2011 to March 2012. ...

Reviews

Freedom (212 words)

Jonathan Franzen, Fourth Estate, 570 pages, hardback, £20 ...

The Obama Syndrome (240 words)

Surrender at home, war abroad ...

E-views

e-views (370 words)

A new report shows just how important the internet now is to the UK economy. ...