Features

UNIONS SEIZE THE MOMENT (2237 words)

The number of union recognition deals signed in 1999 more than doubled over the previous year. A major report for the TUC carried out ...

"SEE YOU IN COURT," SAY UNIONS (1417 words)

Employment tribunal claims have been soaring, and will almost certainly rise further in the light of changes to unfair dismissal law. And it is ...

THEY WANT JAM ON IT (1760 words)

Many of the directors of the UK's top 100 firms would receive six-figure company pensions each year if they were due to retire right ...

MARKS & SPENCER'S FALSE ECONOMY (1258 words)

Thousands of jobs in the already hard-hit textiles industry have been jeopardised by Marks & Spencer's shift to sourcing from abroad. But a Labour ...

IS MUNICIPAL MUTINY BREWING? (1562 words)

Plans to overhaul local authority democracy are causing nervousness that most elected councillors will be reduced to back-benchers while a small group makes the ...

New entitlement to dependency leave (1067 words)

A new right to time off for dependents gives all employees the right to take "a reasonable period of time" off work to deal ...

Recognition won after year-long campaign (175 words)

Staff at the Pricecheck London supermarket chain won a notable victory when they secured recognition for their union after a year-long campaign. ...

Technology unions talk merger (100 words)

Merger talks are underway between two engineering and scientific unions. They are the 75,000-strong former civil service specialists' union, the IPMS, and the Engineers ...

Personnel changes (77 words)

David Coats has taken over as head of the TUC's Economic and Social Affairs Department following the departure of Bill Callaghan to chair the ...

Individual rights guide (40 words)

The TUC has published a leaflet giving details on individual rights at work as part of a series of leaflets in the "Know your ...

Union name change (37 words)

The Society of Telecom Executives (STE) changed its name to Connect - the union for professionals in communications from last month. Its e-mail and ...

CWU man watches Web (51 words)

Roger Darlington, head of research at the Communication Workers Union, has been appointed to also work part time for the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF). ...

Clarification (65 words)

Roger Lyons, general secretary of the manufacturing science and finance union MSF, has asked us to clarify a point in our story on the ...

Unions ballot over choice of London mayor (789 words)

The vast majority of unions who are entitled to participate in the selection of Labour's London mayoral candidate are balloting their members before making ...

Thai women earning under £1 an hour (206 words)

In early January the government announced that it had successfully secured £12,000 owed to a group of Thai women who have been working in ...

Small firms exempt from stakeholder pensions (218 words)

Social security minister Alistair Darling has announced that small companies will not have to make stakeholder pensions available when the new low- cost pension ...

BSkyB extends its football empire (154 words)

Satellite TV group British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) has added a fourth investment in an English football club. BSkyB, 40% owned by Rupert Murdoch, is ...

Director's pay rise (60 words)

Stephen Rubin, chair of branded clothing group Robert Stephen Holdings (RSH), gave himself a 21.2% pay rise in the year to December 1998 putting ...

Boardroom seat for Major (61 words)

The former Conservative prime minister John Major has taken up his first boardroom seat in a UK company since his party's 1997 election defeat. ...

GMB backs passive smoking case (155 words)

The GMB general union is backing croupier Micky Dunn in his battle to win damages from his employer after developing asthma. Dunn believes his ...

Hearing into injury compensation levels (134 words)

Later this month five Court of Appeal judges will examine whether the damages paid out for injuries sustained at work, on the road, and ...

Hazards Campaign Charter (173 words)

The latest edition of the Hazards Campaign Charter setting out the National Hazards Campaign's health and safety demands on the government is now available. ...

Unequal penalties for for workers and directors (276 words)

An MP has condemned the unequal treatment of workers and directors involved in deaths caused by work. Andrew MacKinlay, Labour MP for Thurrock, complained ...

UNISON member gets record stress award (200 words)

Public services union, UNISON, has secured a record £203,000 plus payout for stress in an out-of-court settlement from Worcester County Council. Randy Ingram, a ...

Global women's strike (134 words)

A global women's strike is being called for 8 March, International Women's Day, by the International Wages for Housework Campaign. The strike call originated ...

EOC marks a century of women's progress (145 words)

The dramatic changes in women's lives in the last century are highlighted in an Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) publication, Women and men in Britain: ...

Stats hide gender gap (137 words)

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland has published a report claiming that official statistics on gender sometimes hide the full extent of inequalities between ...

Support for repeal of Section 28 (122 words)

Lesbian and gay campaign group Stonewall has produced a campaign pack for lobbying in support of the government's proposals to repeal Section 28. Repeal ...

Women lose out from national insurance (274 words)

Many women are losing out on unemployment, health and sickness benefits and pensions, because they do not understand the importance of paying national insurance ...

Surprise breakthrough on German Alliance for Jobs (520 words)

In a surprise development, German Chancellor Gerhard Schr"der persuaded unions and employers' representatives to agree a joint document at last month's meeting of the ...

35-hour week in France (214 words)

The 35-hour week comes into force this month in France, after the constitutional council rejected most elements in an appeal by a group of ...

Works council elections in Spain (226 words)

Figures from the Spanish works council elections show that the two main confederation the CCOO (Comisiones Obreras) and the UGT (Uni¢n General de Trabajadores) ...

Italian unions clash (97 words)

The decision by Italy's second biggest trade union confederation, the CSIL, to organise a demonstration on jobs on 29 January provoked a clash with ...

New Year kicks off with transport strikes (592 words)

A dispute over working hours is underway at train operating companies Connex South East and South Central. Drivers and transport unions ASLEF and the ...

"Hall mark agreement" for BT call centres (261 words)

The dispute in BT call centres, which led to a one-day strike last November by around 4,000 members of the CWU communication workers' union, ...

THE ECONOMY THIS MONTH (1056 words)

KEY INDICATORS ...

Law Matters

Connex fails to prevent overtime ban (242 words)

Connex, the south of England rail company, must be eligible for the title of employer most likely to go to the courts to stop ...

Cashing in on new employment rights (428 words)

New services aimed at both employees and employers are springing up as companies seek to cash in on the anticipated increase in cases going ...

New maternity rights (122 words)

Women who are pregnant with a baby due on or after 30 April 2000, have gained new additional rights to maternity leave and greater ...

Stop and search (75 words)

A study, commissioned by Scotland Yard, has found that the overuse of the power to stop and search young Asian men could have the ...

Foreign contractors and minimum pay (68 words)

A case referred to the European Court of Justice, by a tribunal in Belgium, has resulted in a ruling by the court that foreign ...

Law Back-up

Important new ruling in transfer rights (983 words)

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has said that contract protection applies even where transfers take place between subsidiaries of the same company. This ...

Health & Safety Back-up

The appointment of "competent persons" (946 words)

The new Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999 came into effect at the end of December 1999 and replaced the earlier ...

Workplace Back-up

Pay and conditions of childcare workers (977 words)

Paid childcare provides work for a large number of people, most of them women and many part-time. Their numbers are expanding and are set ...

Reviews

Marxism & social science (177 words)

Edited by Andrew Gamble, David Marsh and Tony Tant, Macmillan, 381 pages, hardback £47.50, paperback £15.50 ...

Central Books: a brief history 1939 to 1999 (133 words)

Dave Cope, Central Books, 99 Wallis Road, London E9 5LN, 80 pages, paperback, £5.99 ...

Natural capitalism (214 words)

Paul Hawkin, Amory B Lovins and L Hunter Lovins, Earthscan, 396 pages, hardback, £18.99 ...