![[Basket]](images/basket.png){kind=small}
Your order![[cover image]](images/issue/FS202104.jpg)
![[PDF]](images/pdf.gif)
Fact Service April 2021
Issue 17 (29/04/2021) - Day of action kicks off anti-fire and rehire campaign; 'U-shaped' employment losses show need for more support; Survey shows high numbers working when unwell; Three quarters of social care workers report pandemic mental health damage; Local elections 'offer chance to influence pay'; Security company signs up to disability passport; Union demands halt to use of app; Switch to FFP3 now, says union
Issue 16 (22/04/2021) - Covid mortality 'twice as high' for insecure workers; Mixed signals on unemployment as under-25s take further jobs hit; Union and charity bury differences to seek sleep-in shift fairness; Survey examines homeworking rise; Union leaders join to reject racism report; Inflation edges up to 0.7%; Unions back school arts festival
Issue 15 (15/04/2021) - Unions speak up for public-facing workers as lockdowns ease; Economy and exports show some recovery; Government considers post-return office measures; Majority of nurses 'have had first jab'; Union warns on hi-tech monitoring; Ethnic minorities 'twice as likely' to face discrimination in local services; Campaign group calls for cross-party financial services clean up
Issue 14 (08/04/2021) - Unions criticise 'miserly' sick pay rise; Action on Amazon launches with ad campaign; Government bows to advice on masks in schools; New figures reveal pensions gaps; School cleaners win case two days into strike; Unions welcome V&A's restructuring rethink; EU making 'very slow progress' on decent work
issue 13 (01/04/2021) - Asda women workers win 'massive victory'; Some recovery in economy from overall lows; One in three earning less than £10 an hour; AI advances 'demand new legislation'; Youth jobs crisis could continue post-pandemic; Child poverty rose alongside living standards pre-pandemic; Fire death 'due to cuts'
Issue 17
Day of action kicks off anti-fire and rehire campaign (225 words)
General union Unite has launched a national push against the practice of fire and rehire. ...
Open access
'U-shaped' employment losses show need for more support (499 words)
Action is needed after Covid-19 created the largest annual employment fall for workers over 50 since the 1980s, according to think tank the ...
Subscribers only
Survey shows high numbers working when unwell (203 words)
Professionals’ trade union Prospect is pointing to a survey by the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel Development) as backing its warnings ... Open access
Three quarters of social care workers report pandemic mental health damage (516 words)
Three-quarters of social care workers have experienced a rise in anxiety and a drop in mental health, according to research by general union the GMB. ... Subscribers only
Local elections ‘offer chance to influence pay’ (198 words)
Public sector union UNISON is reminding voters in next week’s elections that thousands of public sector staff are facing a pay freeze. ... Open access
Security company signs up to disability passport (129 words)
The GMB has reported that Securitas has become the first security employer to sign up to a “life-changing” reasonable adjustments disability ... Open access
Union demands halt to use of app (174 words)
Transport union the RMT had condemned the use of an app which it says outsourcing company Mitie is attempting to force on staff. ... Open access
Switch to FFP3 now, says union (154 words)
Nursing union the RCN has repeated its call for a change to infection control guidance after the government's Sage scientific advisory released a ... Open access
Issue 16
Covid mortality ‘twice as high’ for insecure workers (342 words)
Covid death rates could be twice as high for workers in insecure jobs – those involving zero-hours contracts, agency work, casual work or low-paid ... Subscribers only
Mixed signals on unemployment as under-25s take further jobs hit (806 words)
There has been a slight reduction in the unemployment rate, down to 4.9% in the three months to February – but payroll figures show the loss of ... Subscribers only
Union and charity bury differences to seek sleep-in shift fairness (388 words)
Public services union UNISON and charity Mencap have joined to call for urgent reform of minimum wage laws affecting thousands of care workers. ... Subscribers only
Survey examines homeworking rise (266 words)
More people spent time working from home last year, did more overtime, and put in more hours there, according to ONS figures. ... Subscribers only
Union leaders join to reject racism report (194 words)
Twenty-seven trade union leaders have published an open letter to the prime minister rejecting the recent report by the Commission on Racial and ... Open access
Inflation edges up to 0.7% (119 words)
The UK’s inflation rate rose to 0.7% CPI (consumer prices index) in the 12 months to March, up from 0.4% in February, according to ONS figures. For ... Open access
Unions back school arts festival (102 words)
Unions are among nine education organisations planning to hold a festival on 28 May to celebrate the role of the arts in schools and colleges, and ... Open access
Issue 15
Unions speak up for public-facing workers as lockdowns ease (350 words)
As lockdown measures relax in the UK’s nations, unions are taking the lead in reminding the public that workers continue to deserve protection and ... Subscribers only
Economy and exports show some recovery (347 words)
The UK economy returned to growth in February and exports to the EU grew, even in the face of Covid restrictions, according to the Office for ... Subscribers only
Government considers post-return office measures (522 words)
UK companies have been consulted by the government about the possibility of implementing up to six months of social distancing each year and the ... Subscribers only
Majority of nurses ‘have had first jab’ (383 words)
More than nine in 10 nursing staff have had at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and nearly two-thirds (62%) have received both doses, according ... Subscribers only
Union warns on hi-tech monitoring (179 words)
General union Unite has warned that safeguards are needed to protect workers from “unintended consequences” of hi-tech monitoring. ... Open access
Ethnic minorities ‘twice as likely’ to face discrimination in local services (202 words)
Ethnic minority communities have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, the RSA (Royal Society of Arts) says. ... Open access
Campaign group calls for cross-party financial services clean up (133 words)
The Transparency Task Force (TTF) has written an open letter to the prime minister calling for a clean up of the UK’s financial services sector. ... Open access
Issue 14
Unions criticise 'miserly' sick pay rise (353 words)
Unions have hit out at this week’s rise in statutory sick pay (SSP) from £95.85 to £96.35 a week – an increase of just 50p. ... Subscribers only
Action on Amazon launches with ad campaign (237 words)
Unite has launched an advertising campaign promoting a confidential whistle-blowing hotline as part of its Action on Amazon (@ActionOn_Amazon) ... Open access
Government bows to advice on masks in schools (530 words)
The government appears to have listened to the concerns of school staff, after announcing that face coverings must continue to be worn in secondary ... Subscribers only
New figures reveal pensions gaps (274 words)
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that, while 86.4% of people in full-time work are enrolled in a pension scheme, only 57.8% ... Subscribers only
School cleaners win case two days into strike (178 words)
The United Voices of the World (UVW) union has announced a “historic victory” two days into a planned 40-day strike at the La Retraite Roman ... Open access
Unions welcome V&A’s restructuring rethink (305 words)
Prospect, the FDA, and PCS – three unions that represent staff at London’s Victoria and Albert museum – have welcomed its announcement that it ... Subscribers only
EU making 'very slow progress’ on decent work (141 words)
No EU country has a sustainable and fair economic model, and the EU as a whole is making “very slow” progress on decent work, the ETUC (European ... Open access
Issue 13
Asda women workers win ‘massive victory’ (316 words)
Asda supermarket workers have won a victory in their campaign for equal pay after the Supreme Court upheld a ruling that lower-paid shop staff, who ... Subscribers only
Some recovery in economy from overall lows (119 words)
The UK economy exceeded expectations by growing by 16.9% and 1.3% in the third and fourth quarters of 2020, in an otherwise very poor year that saw ... Open access
One in three earning less than £10 an hour (140 words)
As the new minimum and living wage rates come into effect this week, the TUC has urged the government to raise the minimum wage to £10 an hour. ... Open access
AI advances ‘demand new legislation’ (491 words)
The TUC has unveiled a report into artificial intelligence (AI) with the warning that, unless laws are modified, it could lead to discrimination and ... Subscribers only
Youth jobs crisis could continue post-pandemic (621 words)
The crisis in youth unemployment is likely to continue once the economy recovers from the Covid pandemic, according to a report from the Learning and ... Subscribers only
Child poverty rose alongside living standards pre-pandemic (287 words)
Before the pandemic Britain was experiencing a “mini-boom” in the standards of living, coupled with a rise in child poverty, according to the ... Subscribers only
Fire death ‘due to cuts’ (169 words)
Firefighters’ union the FBU has warned a county council that there could be more deaths, after it took 14 minutes for a fire engine to arrive at a ... Open access