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Labour Research March 2023
Sexual harassment and the movement How are trade unions progressing work on preventing and tackling sexual harassment within the unions themselves?
Sick pay scheme: still unfit for purpose The pandemic highlighted Britain’s parsimonious statutory sick pay regime. More than two years on, things are no better
Mental health services in meltdown Our creaking mental health services are characterised by underfunding, increased demand and a workforce suffering stress and burnout
News
Pregnant workers get new rights (217 words)
Last month marked a significant step forward for pregnant workers and new parents, as the Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy and Family Leave) ...
Open access
Physiotherapists join strikes as wave of action continues to build (380 words)
Members of the CSP physiotherapists’ union walked out of NHS trusts across England in January and February in the profession’s first ever strike ...
Subscribers only
Energy profiteering condemned (280 words)
The Shell energy company’s massive £32 billion profits show it is leading the way on endemic corporate profiteering, said the Unite general union. ... Subscribers only
Unions prepare for national strike action on Budget Day (355 words)
As Labour Research went to press, teachers were set to join 100,000 PCS civil service union members in national strike action on Budget Day on 15 ... Subscribers only
Housing crisis ‘at boiling point’ (242 words)
The government is set to spend almost £60 billion (£58.2 billion) subsidising private landlords over the next four years, five times more than the ... Open access
Seafarers’ Bill won’t close loopholes (233 words)
Maritime unions say the government still has a long way to go to address legal loopholes that allowed P&O Ferries and its chief executive, Peter ... Open access
No move on inflation (71 words)
There has been no significant fall in inflation yet, the Office for National Statistics (ONS)revealed. Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation stuck at 13 ... Open access
Labour market indicators (198 words)
People have been moving out of “economic inactivity” at a record rate, including moves into employment, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) ... Open access
Key economic indicators
Key economic indicators (421 words)
Inflation +13.4%, Average earnings +4.5% ... Subscribers only
Union news
Union’s senior staff suspended following sexual harassment report (709 words)
Five senior staff at the TSSA transport union were suspended by the union’s executive committee (EC) last month following publication of a damning ... Subscribers only
Changes in leadership in trade unions (183 words)
The General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) has appointed a new general secretary to replace Doug Nicholls, who is retiring after more than a ... Open access
European news
Pensions protests (87 words)
French unions continue to mobilise hundreds of thousands in opposition to the government’s plan to raise the pension age from 62 to 64. The next, ... Open access
Amazon accused (81 words)
The OZZ Polish union has presented official complaints to local prosecutors, accusing retail giant Amazon of preventing it from holding a strike vote ... Open access
ETUC calls for pay rises (74 words)
Inflation had nothing to do with wage increases, said Esther Lynch, general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) last month. ... Open access
Italian unions signal concern over lack of consultation (288 words)
The three main Italian union confederations, CGIL, CISL and UIL, have expressed their concern that the new Italian government has scrapped a ... Subscribers only
German strike closes airports (312 words)
The German services union Ver.di has increased pressure on employers to meet its pay claim by calling out its members in a series of warning strikes. ... Subscribers only
Features
Setting our own houses in order (2,454 words)
As the TUC has pointed out, people across the UK are sexually harassed at work every day. ... Subscribers only
UK’s sick pay scheme is unfit for purpose (2,129 words)
It should not have taken a lethal global pandemic to focus attention on the fault lines in Britain’s Statutory Sick Pay scheme, which have been ... Subscribers only
Underfunding meets rising demand (2,102 words)
On 11 March, the union-backed SOS NHS campaign is holding a national demonstration in central London to support health workers striking for better ... Subscribers only
Law Matters
Marital status: who is the right comparator? (311 words)
An Employment Tribunal (ET) was wrong in deciding that an employee was discriminated against because of her marital status. In Ellis v Bacon and anor ... Subscribers only
draft fire and rehire code (339 words)
Following P&O’s dismissal of around 800 employees in 2022, the government announced its intention to introduce a new statutory Code of Practice ... Subscribers only
Increase in statutory payments (148 words)
April marks the increase for a number of statutory payments affecting workers. ... Open access
Employment appeals checklist (93 words)
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has devised a new guide. ... Open access
Law Queries
Q&A (867 words)
n I often have members who’ve been dismissed with less than two years’ service, when they fail probation. I thought that if there was ... Subscribers only
Law Back-up
Will changes advance flexible working rights? (880 words)
Since 2003, legislation has provided a right to request flexible working. And since 2014, this right has applied to all emplyees with 26 weeks’ ... Subscribers only
Health & Safety Matters
Call for independent complaints process (129 words)
The FDA senior civil service union has called for a fully independent process for civil servants to raise complaints against ministers as deputy ... Open access
Gove admission cuts no ice (101 words)
The levelling up, housing and communities secretary, Michael Gove, has admitted that government building regulation guidance “was so faulty and ... Open access
Legal agreement aims to protect employees (310 words)
The BFAWU foodworkers’ union has welcomed news that the McDonald’s fast food giant has signed a legal agreement with the EHRC equalities ... Subscribers only
NHS staff sick with burnout (233 words)
An analysis of NHS sickness figures by The Observer has found that burnout and stress among doctors, nurses, paramedics and other health workers has ... Open access
Health & Safety Back-up
clean air more crucial than ever, say unions (775 words)
Unions, health and safety campaigners, occupational health bodies and other organisations have written to health secretary Stephen Barclay demanding ... Subscribers only
Equality news
Ministers reject menopause proposals (126 words)
Ministers’ rejection of the Women and Equalities Committee’s recommendation to make menopause a protected characteristic under the Equality Act ... Open access
Maternity discrimination (76 words)
The Protection from Redundancy (Pregnancy & Family Leave) Bill has passed its final reading in the House of Commons. ... Open access
Bleak picture for women workers in Scotland (353 words)
Women’s all-time high employment rate in Scotland masks a bleaker picture of Scotland’s female workforce. ... Subscribers only
Government urged to deal with pensions gap (265 words)
The gender pensions gap is more than twice the size of the gender pay gap, while UK women’s retirement wealth averages only one-third of men’s. ... Subscribers only
Workplace Back-up
warnings sounded over viability of pensions (888 words)
The old certainties of “defined benefit” schemes (where sponsoring employers guarantee adequate funding) have increasingly given way to ... Subscribers only