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Labour Research March 2013
Community unionism - The Unite union's "community membership" scheme brings together working and non-working people; Women in leadership - The recent spotlight on female executives doesn't address the inequality women face lower down the ranks; Equality duty - How have union officials and reps made use of the duty on public sector bodies to prevent discrimination?; Retail woes - Retail sector changes are having an impact on union organising
News
Public sector job cutbacks could be even worse than predicted (290 words)
Around 1.2 million public sector jobs might be lost by 2017-18 if government departments stick to their current trajectory of cutbacks. ...
Subscribers only
Ruling sees calls to scrap workfare (381 words)
A Court of Appeal ruling that it is unlawful for someone to be made to work for free under the government’s welfare-to-work schemes has led ... Subscribers only
Industrial news (248 words)
The BBC was hit by a one-day strike on 18 February over compulsory redundancies. ...
Open access
Horsemeat scandal points to need for more independent inspections (377 words)
As the scandal over mislabelled horsemeat continued to grow, unions last month increased their calls for more inspections and testing for horsemeat. ... Subscribers only
Anger over privatisation move (254 words)
Firefighters have responded angrily to plans from fire minister Brandon Lewis to privatise the whole of Britain’s fire and rescue services ... Subscribers only
Final salary pensions (176 words)
Final salary pensions in the private sector have closed their doors to new staff at the fastest rate on record, according to a survey by the ... Open access
Kyran Connolly (75 words)
The Labour Research Department was saddened to hear of the death last month of former NUJ president and organiser Kyran Connolly. ... Open access
Unemployment rate unchanged (236 words)
Unemployment edged down to the 2.5 million mark at the end of 2012, according to Labour Force Survey figures. ... Open access
Retail price inflation is up (81 words)
There was a bad start to the year for inflation, official figures show. The annual inflation rate, as measured by the Retail Prices Index (RPI), was ... Open access
Key economic indicators
Key economic indicators (399 words)
Inflation +3.3%, Average earnings +1.4% ... Subscribers only
Union news
Boots defeated in significant trade union recognition ruling (563 words)
An independent pharmacists’ union seeking recognition at Boots nationwide has forced an important amendment to the statutory union ... Subscribers only
Prison Service Union merger (39 words)
The non-TUC Prison Service Union, which has 3,860 members, is to transfer its engagements to the Community union, which is a TUC-affiliate. PSU ... Open access
TUC appointment (97 words)
The TUC has appointed a second assistant general secretary following last December’s decision to scrap the position of deputy general ... Open access
Representation remains ‘robust’ (73 words)
The first findings have been published of the most thorough study of workplace relations in the UK — the 2011 Workplace Employment Relations ... Open access
Napo leader (55 words)
Probation and family court staff union Napo has advertised for a new general secretary following the abrupt departure of former incumbent Jonathan ... Open access
European news
Draft directive sees move towards Robin Hood tax (429 words)
The publication of a draft directive by the European Commission last month marks a further move towards the introduction of a financial transaction ... Subscribers only
Spanish airline workers strike over cuts (242 words)
Flights at the Spanish airline Iberia have been badly affected as a result of 15 days of strikes called by unions protesting against large scale job ... Open access
German union membership (51 words)
After years of falling membership, unions in Germany’s main union confederation, the DGB have reported a virtually unchanged membership ... Open access
New time off rights in Luxembourg (94 words)
The government in Luxembourg has introduced proposals which will give employee representatives an extra 16 hours paid time off for training in the ... Open access
French unions’ launch joint action (91 words)
CGT and FO, two French union confederations who have a long tradition of mutual suspicion, have agreed to a joint day of action on 5 March. ... Open access
Features
Engaging with the community (2,060 words)
The new “community membership” scheme created by the country’s largest union is giving non-working people a structure to ... Subscribers only
It’s still a hard climb to the top (1,555 words)
Women continue to lose out in UK boardrooms, and this simply reflects the huge inequalities faced by the majority of them lower down the ranks. ... Subscribers only
Turning the clock back on equality (2,226 words)
The duty on public sector bodies to prevent discrimination has had mixed results, according to union reps and officials. However, they do not want ... Subscribers only
Downturn sees high street all over the shop (1,577 words)
In the second in our series of occasional features looking at particular sectors of the economy, Labour Research examines changes in the retail ... Subscribers only
Law Matters
Cash settlements will be inadmissible (317 words)
The fact that an employer has offered cash in return for ending an individual’s employment, will soon not be admissible as evidence in an ... Subscribers only
Dismissal cap revealed (357 words)
As part of its response to the Ending the employment relationship consultation, the government has revealed how it intends to cap the size of the ... Subscribers only
tribunal award levels increased (204 words)
The increases to the levels at which tribunal awards are paid from this month have been announced by the government. ... Open access
Law Queries
Tribunal fees (247 words)
Q. We bring quite a lot of claims in the tribunal on behalf of our members. So we’ve read with concern about the forthcoming introduction of ... Open access
Collection of union subs (235 words)
Q. For years our employer has collected union subs via check-off. In other words, the monthly dues of members at our workplace are taken out direct ... Open access
Holiday and maternity leave (249 words)
Q. Our member is due to go on maternity leave soon. Even though financially it will be a stretch, she is planning on taking the full year away. One ... Open access
Law Back-up
New code clarifies your rights to personal data (903 words)
A new Code of Practice clarifying the rules on accessing personal information has been the subject of a consultation. Back-up summarises the key ... Subscribers only
Health & Safety Matters
Royal Mail foots the bill for slippery boots (307 words)
The CWU communications union has won compensation for members who suffered slips and falls while wearing company footwear. ... Subscribers only
Asbestos database set up (207 words)
The UNISON public services union has started a database recording members’ exposure to asbestos. ... Open access
Warning issued on hard hats (230 words)
Some construction workers may have been supplied with poor quality counterfeit hard hats. ... Open access
Health & Safety Back-up
Guide outlines support for disabled workers (894 words)
The TUC has issued new guidance for unions on how to deal with discrimination against disabled workers who lose their jobs as a result of failure to ... Subscribers only
Equality news
Youth unemployment sees fastest rise in UK (320 words)
Since the start of the recession, the UK has experienced the fastest rise in youth unemployment of any country in the G8 group representing eight of ... Subscribers only
Worklessness across generations is unfounded (283 words)
New research refutes the idea often put forward by politicians that a culture of worklessness is held in families and passed down the generations. ... Subscribers only
Education divide exposed (223 words)
Britain’s cities are blighted by hotspots of educational under-achievement, according to a new analysis. ... Open access
Workplace Back-up
Reducing sick leave through ‘well-being’ (859 words)
A new TUC guide argues that employee well-being is the key to reducing sick leave and suggests a number of ways unions and employers can tackle the ... Subscribers only
Reviews
Union voices (211 words)
Tactics and tensions in UK ... Open access
Women of the revolution (234 words)
Forty years of ... Open access
E-views
e-views (370 words)
The increase in the popularity of tablets and smartphones means that a growing proportion of website visitors are using these devices rather than ... Subscribers only