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Labour Research December 2022
Workers’ rights thrown on the scrapheap? Tory legislation abolishing the supremacy of EU law could see the sweeping away of worker, environmental and public health protections.
Europe: dealing with inflation Inflation is at record levels across Europe. Labour Research looks at how European governments and unions are addressing this.
Beating back the growth of the far right Trade unions in the UK and internationally continue to play a significant role in tackling the far right and far-right narratives.
News
Wave of action continues to grow as more vote for strikes (434 words)
The huge wave of industrial action sweeping the country continued to grow last month, with nurses, civil servants, and lecturers among those voting ...
Subscribers only
Funding increase ‘not sufficient’ (241 words)
The relaunch of the School Cuts campaign, together with ballots for fully funded inflation-proof pay rises, clearly resulted in the government’s ...
Open access
Victory for dockers (131 words)
Liverpool dockers at Peel Ports have won pay hikes of between 14% and 18% in an “inflation-busting” deal secured by the Unite general union. The ... Open access
Tech barons (110 words)
Silicon Valley does not trump UK standards on how people should be treated at work, said the Prospect specialists’ union. ... Open access
Tory austerity Budget will hit ordinary people, say unions (359 words)
Ahead of chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement, new research by the TUC and NEF economic think tank revealed that an additional £43 billion a ... Subscribers only
Poverty for care workers’ kids (205 words)
More than one in four (28%) children with care worker parents are growing up in poverty, a new TUC analysis has revealed. ... Open access
Arrests prompt concern (222 words)
The NUJ journalists’ union joined nine more organisations to highlight the “chilling effect” on freedom of expression after Hertfordshire ... Open access
Inflation jumps (64 words)
In a single month (September-October) the Retail Prices Index (RPI) rose by almost 2.5%, taking the annual inflation rate by the trade ... Open access
UK economy enters recession (194 words)
With the UK economy entering recession, there are fears that unemployment will rise. But there’s little sign of that yet in official data. The ... Open access
Key economic indicators
Key economic indicators (410 words)
Inflation +14.2%, Average earnings +6.0% ... Subscribers only
Union news
General secretary retires amid misconduct investigation (277 words)
The TSSA transport union has announced the retirement of its leader of 11 years, Manuel Cortes, amid an independent inquiry into sexual misconduct by ... Subscribers only
Blacklisting inquiry reaffirmed by BSG (191 words)
The Blacklist Support Group (BSG) has declared its satisfaction with progress in the inquiry into possible collusion by construction union officials ... Open access
Paddy Lillis (117 words)
Paddy Lillis has been re-elected unopposed as general secretary of retail trade union Usdaw. He was the only candidate to receive the required 25 ... Open access
Apple workers (88 words)
Apple retail staff in Glasgow have become the first to win union recognition at an Apple store after two-thirds of the shop’s mostly young workers ... Open access
Strike support (44 words)
The RMT transport union has released a fundraising single by high-profile artists Primal Scream and Dexys in support of the union’s fight against ... Open access
PCS subs (58 words)
The PCS civil service union has kept its subscriptions increases to 2%, following a freeze the previous year. ... Open access
Alan Jinkinson (49 words)
Alan Jinkinson, the first general secretary of public services union UNISON, who played a key role in its formation, has died aged 88. ... Open access
European news
Macron administration begins talks over pensions (369 words)
The French government has begun talks with the unions over its planned changes to the country’s rules on retirement. ... Subscribers only
Poland: Unease with government grows (265 words)
One of Poland’s three main union confederations, NSZZ Solidarnosc, seems to be becoming increasingly disenchanted with the government — led by ... Subscribers only
Finland: First female leader (81 words)
Maria Löfgren has been elected president of the AKAVA Finnish trade union confederation representing workers with degree-level qualifications such ... Open access
Czech health plans rejected (64 words)
Czech health unions have rejected a suggestion by health minister Vlastimil Válek that the government should consider allowing people to pay extra ... Open access
EU: Equality index (80 words)
EU agency the European Institute for Gender Equality has published its gender equality index for 2022. ... Open access
Features
Tories enact hammer blow to workers’ rights (2,107 words)
The government’s “Brexit Freedoms” Bill has begun a countdown to what employment law specialist Richard Arthur, head of trade union law at ... Subscribers only
Europe and rising inflation (2,161 words)
In examining Europe’s response to inflation, Labour Research has looked at four key areas: action to limit energy price rises; direct financial ... Subscribers only
Unions push back against far right (2,100 words)
The recent electoral success of Giorgia Meloni and the Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) party “must set a ringing alarm around the world for ... Subscribers only
Law Matters
Dismissal for lateness (303 words)
A dismissal for persistent lateness was fair, even though the employer’s disciplinary policy was not disclosed in evidence, the Employment Appeal ... Subscribers only
Certification Officer did not consider apparent bias (354 words)
The Certification Officer (CO) was wrong in failing to consider and apply the relevant law to whether a union’s disciplinary process gave rise to ... Subscribers only
Guidance on suspensions at work (233 words)
The Acas employment rights advisory service has published new guidance on how employers should handle suspensions at work. ... Open access
Law Queries
Second job (384 words)
n I’m finding it difficult to manage on my current hours and pay. I’d like to take on a second job, but I’m not sure if I’m allowed to, or ... Subscribers only
Asymptomatic Covid-19 and pay (406 words)
n A member working in a care home tested positive for Covid-19. She had no symptoms, but the employer said she should not attend work for at least ... Subscribers only
Law Back-up
what are your rights to time off for union duties? (910 words)
Both unions and employers benefit from having trained union representatives with enough time to carry out their functions, and sections 168-170 of ... Subscribers only
Health & Safety Matters
Unions call for action over violence at work (294 words)
The UNISON public services, Usdaw retail and NUJ journalists’ unions have called for action over unacceptable levels of work-related violence and ... Subscribers only
Those ‘at the top’ to blame for Grenfell Tower disaster (210 words)
The Grenfell Tower fire “is a direct consequence of a generation of government policies”, FBU firefighters’ union lawyer Martin Seaward said in ... Open access
Rise in MSDs may be triggered by homeworking (227 words)
There has been a rise in the number of economically inactive people reporting musculoskeletal problems or disabilities (MSDs) connected with their ... Open access
Health & Safety Back-up
Responding to suicide risk in the workplace (876 words)
The report’s findings and recommendations provide further weight to union and safety campaign calls for the HSE to recognise, monitor and regulate ... Subscribers only
Equality news
Bias against working class accents prevails (331 words)
Social mobility charity the Sutton Trust says accent bias is entrenched in the United Kingdom. And this bias persists throughout an individual’s ... Subscribers only
More women than men are in severely insecure work (255 words)
New research by think tank The Work Foundation finds that women are nearly twice as likely to be in severely insecure work than men. And the ... Subscribers only
Trans healthcare benefit welcomed (125 words)
The CWU communications union reports that telecoms company Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) has introduced a trans healthcare benefit. ... Open access
Hair discrimination in schools (107 words)
New guidance from the EHRC equality watchdog says that pupils should not be stopped from wearing their hair in natural Afro styles at school. ... Open access
Workplace Back-up
Bank Holidays: Can I take the day off work? (972 words)
Looking forward to a break from work? There’ll be nine bank or public holidays in England and Wales in 2023, one more than the usual eight. ... Subscribers only