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Workplace Report June 2023
BARGAINING Unions prepare for fight over local government pay Payline top deal wins 20% Journalists strike over cuts Uni and college disputes continue More rail strikes likely
EQUALITY Groups urge government to protect women workers
LEARNING AND TRAINING Learning resource tackles risks posed by AI
RECRUITMENT AND ORGANISATION Amazon recognition bid could make history
EUROPE Public sector deal benefits lowest paid
LAW AT WORK Employment law — the latest cases
HEALTH AND SAFETY TUC renews call for asbestos removal Near doubling of deaths prompts call for law reform HSE under pressure, union says
WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT WORKLOADS? Workload pressures are a daily concern for many workers, union reps and employers alike. They are also a major theme in the current round of industrial disputes, but what can unions do about it?
THE ROYAL MAIL COLLECTIVE PENSION PLAN: A PENSION FOR THE FUTURE? Last month the CWU, Unite and Royal Mail Group cleared the last hurdle needed to establish a pioneering collective pension scheme. In a further look at union-achieved innovations in this area after last month’s feature on the UCU’s win, we assess what this scheme might mean for the future
Pay and prices
Minimum pay boost (130 words)
Inflation rates slowed in April to levels last seen around a year ago (with RPI at 11.4%) while median pay settlements (bolstered by April increases) ...
Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (33 words)
... Open access
XpertHR (21 words)
Median increases for three months to end of April 2023 ... Open access
Labour Research Department’s Payline database (271 words)
Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered) ...
Subscribers only
Average weekly earnings (AWE) (204 words)
(r) revised, (p) provisional ... Open access
Prices (65 words)
... Open access
2023 Forecasts (37 words)
Source: HM Treasury, Forecasts for the UK economy, May 2023. 1Fourth quarter 2Calendar year
... Open access
Bargaining news
Teachers' pay on the brink after review leak (754 words)
The three-cornered standoff between schoolteachers’ and school leaders’ unions, education secretary Gillian Keegan, and the School Teachers’ ... Subscribers only
Unions prepare for fight over local government pay (165 words)
Care workers, refuse collectors, social workers, teaching assistants, community workers, street cleaners and other local government workers are ... Open access
Pay and anniversary dates harmonised (90 words)
Workers at the Newry site of Northern Irish construction supplier Haldane Fisher are to see their pay and anniversary dates harmonised with the rest ... Open access
Payline top deal wins 20% (490 words)
Workers at CNC Speedwell, which manufactures and processes components for the car industry, have received their second pay rise in a year, taking ... Subscribers only
Journalists strike over cuts (370 words)
BBC journalists in England are due to walk out in a 48-hour strike on 7 and 8 June. They have voted to take a third action after rejecting the ... Subscribers only
Uni and college disputes continue (511 words)
In May, the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) published a report which claimed to explain in numbers why a new pay offer for ... Subscribers only
More rail strikes likely (338 words)
Strike days in May and June by RMT transport union members working for the 14 train operating companies look set to continue in the absence of any ... Subscribers only
Glasgow aviation workers win 11% rise (109 words)
Ground services crew employed by Menzies Aviation at Glasgow Airport have accepted a new one-year pay deal worth 11% on basic pay. ... Open access
Union flies to Hong Kong to get dockers reinstated (172 words)
In May, the Unite union sent experts to Hong Kong in an attempt to get four unfairly sacked dockers from Felixstowe port reinstated. As part of a ... Open access
Equality news
Make ethnicity pay gap reporting mandatory, says TUC (154 words)
The TUC has called for employers to be given a legal duty to report ethnicity pay gaps following the release of new government guidance on the issue. ... Open access
Lack of support hampers neurodiverse workers (112 words)
Employees with invisible disabilities are left to find their own support at work, according to a new report by diversity and inclusion consultants ... Open access
Groups urge government to protect women workers (222 words)
Campaign groups are urging the government not to backtrack on its support for legislation “essential” for protecting women workers from sexual ... Open access
Discrimination stops lesbian workers coming out (185 words)
Three-quarters of LGBTQ+ women and non-binary professionals are reluctant to come out at work due to fear of discrimination, according to research ... Open access
Women on IVF facing ‘shocking’ discrimination (139 words)
Almost one in four women undergoing fertility treatment are treated unfairly at work, a new report from Pregnant Then Screwed has stated. The ... Open access
Learning and training news
Learning resource tackles risks posed by AI (225 words)
The TUC has produced an online learning resource for union reps and members who would like to know more about the impact of artificial intelligence ... Open access
Learning fund launched (80 words)
The PCS civil service union has launched a national Branch Learning Fund, which allows branches or groups to apply for a trade union tutor or ... Open access
Recruitment and organisation news
Amazon recognition bid could make history (489 words)
A potentially historic bid for statutory union recognition at Amazon’s Coventry warehouse has been made by the GMB general union. If successful if ... Subscribers only
Industrial dispute attracts new members (166 words)
The PCS civil service union’s industrial dispute has reportedly resulted in members joining the union at a faster rate than previously and more ... Open access
European news
Philips staff get up to 10% in 18-month deal (201 words)
Around 11,000 workers at the electronics company Philips in the Netherlands, will see their pay increase by 10% by June 2024 in a deal signed on 10 ... Open access
Unions sign labour protection agreement (87 words)
Poland’s three main union confederations, Solidarnosc, OPZZ and FZZ, have signed an agreement with the country’s labour inspectorate, the PIP, on ... Open access
Public sector deal benefits lowest paid (407 words)
Unions have reached a settlement for some 2.5 million workers in central and local government in Germany, which provides increases of up to 16% over ... Subscribers only
Unions and employers reach national pay pact (356 words)
After months of negotiations, Spain’s two main union confederations, CCOO and UGT, have reached agreement with the two main employers’ ... Subscribers only
Employment law - Case reports
Domestic worker could claim minimum wage (820 words)
Ms Puthenveettil was brought from India as a domestic worker in 2005 to work in Mr and Mrs Tukalil’s home, where she worked until she resigned in 20 ... Subscribers only
Furlough wages were set by contract (1,309 words)
Miss Mones was employed by skincare clinic Lisa Franklin Ltd as a part-time receptionist from November 2018 to September 2020. Her contract of ... Subscribers only
Claim brought out of time should not have been accepted (1,287 words)
Ms Fellows was employed by residential care provider B.L.I.S.S. as a service manager from July 2007 until her dismissal on 8 October 2020. She wished ... Subscribers only
Full time rep was not union employee (1,203 words)
Mr Embery was employed by London Fire Brigade (LFB). He was a member of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), the main trade union in the fire and rescue ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
TUC renews call for asbestos removal (360 words)
Following new research showing 87,000 public buildings still contain asbestos, and the death of former Labour MP Alice Mahon from the ... Subscribers only
Nearly half of bus drivers have suffered abuse (368 words)
Almost half (48%) of bus workers have experienced incidents of abuse at work over the last two years, according to a new survey by the RMT transport ... Subscribers only
Scottish teachers stressed, survey finds (127 words)
A new survey of almost 16,500 teachers by the EIS Scottish teachers’ union “has laid bare” the impact of workload, chronic underfunding, and ... Open access
Smart motorways cancellation welcomed (132 words)
The Community trade union has welcomed news that the government has cancelled plans for new smart motorways over cost and safety concerns. ... Open access
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
New podcast on disability and long-term health conditions (67 words)
The HSE has launched a new podcast outlining seven principles to support disabled workers and those with a long-term condition in work. Presenters ... Open access
HSE improves guidance on controlling risk (86 words)
The HSE has improved the structure of its guidance to employers on what they must do to comply with health and safety law. This includes a brief new ... Open access
Union calls for joint investigation into death (107 words)
The Unite general union has called on the HS2 Balfour Beatty Vinci (BBV) joint venture to fully investigate, with trade union involvement, a fatal ... Open access
Near doubling of deaths prompts call for law reform (407 words)
An almost doubling in the number of work-related deaths has prompted the Scottish TUC (STUC) and the Scottish Hazards safety charity to call for a ... Subscribers only
HSE under pressure, union says (301 words)
The number of mandatory HSE health and safety executive investigations not carried out because of resourcing issues increased nearly two hundredfold ... Subscribers only
Features
What can we do about workloads? (3,436 words)
It’s hard not to notice that workload pressures have helped drive the anger and desperation we are seeing among many groups of workers, as they see ... Subscribers only
The Royal Mail collective pension plan: a pension for the future? (2,287 words)
The Royal Mail collective pension plan, which will be the first of its kind in the UK, will now go ahead after being given final authorisation by The ... Subscribers only