Fact Service March 2013

Issue 12 (28/03/2013) - Fight for facility time; Work-related stress; UK unprepared for ageing population; Banking millionaires, but low-paid miss out; Union movement and company governance; Low pay adviser gets thumb up; Make equality count in public procurement; Reject no-strike plan

Issue 11 (21/03/2013) - Budget 2013; Slide in average earnings growth; No joy for Osborne on unemployment; RPI inflation remains above 3%

Issue 10 (14/03/2013) - Real wage growth is missing in the UK; Gloomy start to year for manufacturing; Changes to inflation's basket of goods; Take-home pay index shows sluggish growth; Recognition successes; Jobs gap needs to close; Big pay divide splits Barclays workers; Acas consults on flexible working

Issue 9 (07/03/13) - Pickles attacks facility time and check-off; Homecare staff lose out; Mixed messages from pay settlements; Parental leaves increases to 18 weeks; Police won't be taking industrial action; From top to bottom — a fairer way to pay; Childcare now in 'luxury bracket'

Issue 12

Fight for facility time (280 words)

New resources have been developed by the TUC to help reps fight back against employers' attempts to cut back on time they can spend on union work. ...
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Work-related stress (299 words)

Work is the most stressful factor in people’s lives, according to research commissioned by the mental health charity Mind. ...
Subscribers only

UK unprepared for ageing population (415 words)

As a country we are not ready for the rapid ageing of our population and more than 10 million people in the UK can currently expect inadequate ...
Subscribers only

Banking millionaires, but low-paid miss out (153 words)

More annual millionaires in banking have been revealed, this time by Lloyds Banking Group. However, thousands of low-paid workers at the bank have ...
Open access

Union movement and company governance (526 words)

The TUC and its two largest affiliated unions, the Unite general union and the public services union UNISON, have launched Trade Union Share Owners. ...
Subscribers only

Low pay adviser gets thumbs up (166 words)

The Low Pay Commission, the statutory body which plays an important role providing independent advice to government about the national minimum wage, ...
Open access

Make equality count in public procurement (284 words)

Guidance has been published by the Equality and Human Rights Commission to help public authorities in England comply with the Public Sector Equality ...
Subscribers only

Reject no-strike plan (180 words)

The House of Lords should reject plans in the Crime and Courts Bill which would prevent over 3,000 civil servants working for the National Crime ...
Open access

Issue 11

Budget 2013 (590 words)

The UK economy will not perform as well as previously thought, but the UK will escape a triple-dip recession, chancellor George Osborne said in his ...
Subscribers only

Slide in average earnings growth (585 words)

Average earnings started the year on a poor footing, with growth down in most sectors, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics ...
Subscribers only

No joy for Osborne on unemployment (660 words)

Budget day dawned for chancellor George Osborne with the bad news from the Office for National Statistics that unemployment was up. ...
Subscribers only

RPI inflation remains above 3% (466 words)

Retail price inflation is down, while consumer price inflation is up, the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show. The ONS ...
Subscribers only

Issue 10

Real wage growth is missing in the UK (233 words)

Workers in the UK have suffered a bigger fall in real wages (adjusted for inflation) than any other workforce in the world’s top 10 developed ...
Open access

Gloomy start to year for manufacturing (348 words)

Manufacturing output had a bad start to 2013, which along with other figures, raises fears of a triple dip recession. ...
Subscribers only

Changes to inflation's basket of goods (492 words)

E-books have been added to the basket of goods and services used to calculate Britain’s rate of inflation, while Freeview boxes have been ...
Subscribers only

Take-home pay index shows sluggish growth (220 words)

Sluggish growth continues and pressure remains on wage growth across all sectors, according to the latest VocaLink Take Home Pay Index. At the same ...
Open access

Recognition successes (116 words)

Unions continue to rack up recognition successes. Shop and distribution workers’ union Usdaw has won recognition at the Andover site of the ...
Open access

Jobs gap needs to close (317 words)

The UK is 850,000 jobs short of what it needs to restore employment rates to those seen before the recession, a study from independent think tank ...
Subscribers only

Big pay divide splits Barclays workers (354 words)

A total of 428 Barclays employees earned at least £1 million last year, according to the bank’s 2012 annual report. The 2012 figure is 45 ...
Subscribers only

Acas consults on flexible working (99 words)

The employment relations service Acas has launched a consultation on a Draft Code of Practice on the extended right to request flexible working. ...
Open access

Issue 9

Pickles attacks facility time and check-off (285 words)

Government calls for councils to save money by reducing trade union facility time were an “attack on ordinary people”, the GMB general ...
Subscribers only

Homecare staff lose out (230 words)

Up to 200,000 workers are being paid less than the minimum wage with clients also losing out, the public service union UNISON says. ...
Open access

Mixed messages from pay settlements (349 words)

The rather subdued pay environment in manufacturing over the past two years is set to continue, according to the latest survey on pay data from the ...
Subscribers only

Parental leave increases to 18 weeks (368 words)

The entitlement to unpaid parental leave increases this week. ...
Subscribers only

Police won’t be taking industrial action (203 words)

The Police Federation of England and Wales has failed to achieve enough votes to lobby the government for industrial rights. ...
Open access

From top to bottom — a way to fairer pay (471 words)

Even a modest level of wealth redistribution could make a substantial difference to the standard of living for low-earners, and would not be greatly ...
Subscribers only

Childcare now in ‘luxury bracket’ (422 words)

Increases across the country put the everyday necessity of childcare into the luxury bracket, according to the 2013 survey by the Daycare Trust and ...
Subscribers only