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Labour Research May 2013
Disability supported? - Improvements to a disability employment support scheme won't help counter the cuts faced by disabled workers; Trades councils - Trades councils' renewal continues, boosted by the need to campaign against austerity; Statutory recognition - The statutory recognition procedure has brought unions both challenges and opportunities; TUC Aid - The TUC's international development aid charity doesn't merely offer charity, but solidarity
News
TUC accuses government of ‘dithering’ over green policy (437 words)
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady has warned that companies are being put off from investing and creating jobs in the UK because of ...
Subscribers only
Mandarin comes under fire (252 words)
Head of the Home Civil Service Bob Kerslake has been ticked off for writing a eulogy to Margaret Thatcher in the Daily Telegraph when the service he ... Subscribers only
Industrial news (270 words)
On budget day, 20 March, thousands of civil servants (members of PCS, the largest civil service union) took strike action. ... Subscribers only
‘Ill-thought-out’ rights for shares proposal resurfaces (285 words)
The spectre of second-rate employment rights being traded for share ownership returned last month. On 16 April, the House of Commons voted down a ... Subscribers only
Privatisation sparks move for action (236 words)
The University of Sussex is facing possible industrial action over its failure to consult on plans to privatise the university’s facilities ...
Open access
Health assistants (131 words)
A union has accused the health secretary Jeremy Hunt of being “out of touch” due to his refusal to introduce regulation of healthcare ... Open access
Homelessness (132 words)
One in three people could not pay their rent or mortgage for more than a month if they lost their job, homeless charity Shelter has revealed. ... Open access
Inflation goes up (68 words)
There was no good news on inflation in official and unofficial figures. ... Open access
Unemployment rises again (211 words)
Unemployment was up again, official figures show. ... Open access
Key economic indicators
Key exconomic indicators (400 words)
Inflation +3.3%, Average earnings 0.0% ... Subscribers only
Union news
Trade unionists make net gains as online use increases (264 words)
Trade unionists are increasingly using the internet via tablets and smartphones, but unions may not have quite caught up with this trend, a survey ... Subscribers only
Unite election (118 words)
Len McCluskey has been re-elected general secretary of the Unite general union, it was confirmed last month. ... Open access
Ballot sees political fund’s retention (229 words)
Members of the Prospect managers and specialists’ union have kicked off a round of union political fund ballots with resounding support for ... Open access
Transport alliance (94 words)
A “trans-Atlantic alliance” has been agreed between the RMT transport union in the UK and the Transport Workers Union of America to ... Open access
Unions to influence boards (156 words)
The TUC and its two largest affiliated unions — Unite and UNISON — have launched a group which will use their large pension funds to ... Open access
European news
Union confederations get mandate for new legitimacy (490 words)
All of France’s five main union confederations can continue to negotiate and sign national agreements, and now they have a clear democratic ... Subscribers only
Court throws out pay cuts (183 words)
For the second time in the last year, the Portuguese constitutional court has ruled that the government’s plan to cut public sector workers ... Open access
German union takes on Amazon (149 words)
Ver.di, Germany’s second largest union, which organises in the service sector, is pressing the online sales company Amazon to improve ... Open access
Public sector pay talks get underway (91 words)
Unions and the new Slovenian government have started negotiations on pay in the public sector, with the government calling for “linear ... Open access
Features
Employment support changes under attack (2,119 words)
Unions say that new measures to improve the Access to Work disability employment support programme don’t begin to counter the attacks facing ... Subscribers only
Trades councils’ revival continues (1,886 words)
The steady growth of trades councils will be one reason for delegates to next month’s annual TUC Trades Union Councils’ conference to ... Subscribers only
Is it only a flash of recognition? (2,206 words)
There has been a sharp decline in applications under the statutory procedure for union recognition, while the procedure has brought UK unions both ... Open access
TUC aids development and trade union growth (1,464 words)
As the trade union movement celebrates International Workers’ Day on 1 May, Labour Research looks at the work of the TUC’s ... Subscribers only
Law Matters
Acas issues updated redundancies guide (390 words)
The Acas employment advisory service has published a new booklet for employers: How to manage collective redundancies, updating its guidance and ... Subscribers only
Unions slam TUPE ideas (256 words)
In a consultation that closed on 11 April 2013, the government has proposed sweeping changes to the Transfer of Undertaking (Protection of ... Subscribers only
Report condemns blacklist operators (210 words)
The House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee has published its interim report into the blacklisting scandal. And its interim conclusions are ... Open access
Law Queries
Suspension (308 words)
Q. I’m representing someone who is under investigation for alleged gross misconduct who has been suspended so far for three months. Is the ... Subscribers only
Withdrawing notice (214 words)
Q. I’m having second thoughts about having handed in my notice. Can I take it back? ... Open access
Cross-examining witnesses (237 words)
Q. I am a workplace rep. My employer says I’m not allowed to cross-examine witnesses in a disciplinary. Is this right? ... Open access
Law Back-up
Past performance needs to be given due weight (842 words)
This month’s Back-up looks at redundancy selection, focusing on a helpful new case: Mental Health Care (UK) LImited v Biluan ... Subscribers only
Health & Safety Matters
Union calls for change over prohibition notices (397 words)
Construction union UCATT is calling for an urgent revision of safety laws after it was revealed that a construction site in Aberdeen had been found ... Subscribers only
Prison educators stressed (169 words)
Education staff working in prisons have considerably higher levels of work-related stress than British workers in general, says a new report. ... Open access
Asbestos fine (135 words)
Leading hotel chain Britannia Hotels was fined £160,000 with costs after pleading guilty to two separate breaches of the Health and Safety at ... Open access
Occupational deaths (119 words)
Around 20,000 people die annually due to occupational disease, notes the TUC’s latest bulletin in its Time for change series. ... Open access
Health & Safety Back-up
Guidance on checking protective equipment (851 words)
Back-up looks at problems with personal protective equipment recently flagged up by unions, at the law in this area and at information, advice and ... Subscribers only
Equality news
Carers must be given much greater support (430 words)
Over two million adults have given up work to care for an elderly parent, or disabled or seriously ill loved ones, a recent poll has revealed. ... Subscribers only
TUC shuns government’s disability organisation (216 words)
The TUC’s Disabled Workers’ Committee has decided not to accept an invitation from the government to join its new Disability Action ... Open access
University entrance (166 words)
The gap between working class boys and girls going to university widened in the first year of the new tuition fees regime, according to new findings. ... Open access
Women on boards (77 words)
The TUC has called on ministers to introduce compulsory quotas to increase the number of women in the boardroom amid recent revelations that ... Open access
Workplace Back-up
Making workplaces more autism-friendly (841 words)
This month’s TUC Disabled Workers’ Conference sees a resolution from the RMT transport union on improving the lives of people with ... Subscribers only
Reviews
Justice deferred (227 words)
A critical guide to the coalition’s employment tribunal ... Open access
Unequal health (204 words)
The scandal of our ... Open access
E-views
e-views (419 words)
Crowdsourcing is a form of working made possible by the internet. It means getting work or funding from a large group of people, usually from the ... Subscribers only
News from LRD
Paul Nowak to speak at LRD AGM (69 words)
The annual general meeting of the Labour Research Department (LRD) is on Monday 20 May 2013, from 2.00pm at Jerwood Space, Union Street, London SE1 ... Open access