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Workplace Report September 2023
PAY AND PRICES BARGAINING More university strikes likely Partnership agreement signed Best Payline deals top 14% Aviation workers win above-inflation deal EQUALITY Make flexible working a legal right, campaigners say LEARNING AND TRAINING Employers miss out on talent RECRUITMENT AND ORGANISATION Success after just three months EUROPE Unions have only limited involvement in green transition LAW AT WORK Employment law — the latest cases HEALTH AND SAFETY First guidance for NHS staff affected by suicide VOLUNTARY AND HOUSING SECTOR WORKERS PUSH BACK ON PAY Key workers, many of them working for charities and housing associations, have been challenging their employers on pay over the summer INFLATION: WHY EXCESS PROFITS AND HIGH INTEREST RATES ARE TO BLAME Profiteering and flawed policies are driving inflation, not wage claims. We examine the reasons for persistent inflation in the UK and why raising interest rates is likely to be doing more harm than good PAY AT THE MAX At a time when everyone is feeling the cost of living squeeze, and employers are struggling to recruit and retain, how is that playing out for workers at the ‘maximum’ of their pay scales?
Pay and prices
The median pay rise achieved in unionised workplaces in the three months to July was 8% according to LRD Payline. This figure was the same for ...
Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (33 words)
... Open access
XpertHR (21 words)
Median increases for three months to end of May 2023 ... Open access
Labour Research Department’s Payline database (270 words)
Percentage increases on lowest basic rates (by agreements covered) ...
Subscribers only
Average weekly earnings (AWE) (205 words)
(r) revised, (p) provisional ... Open access
Prices (65 words)
... Open access
2023 Forecasts (33 words)
Source: HM Treasury, Forecasts for the UK economy, August 2023. 1Fourth quarter 2Calendar year
... Open access
Bargaining news
Government attacks right to strike (883 words)
When public sector workers across a number of services started a series of strikes in 2021 in response to a decade of worsening conditions, the ... Subscribers only
Police staff offered 7% (92 words)
Police staff in most forces in England and Wales are being recommended to accept a pay increase of 7%, says the UNISON public services union. It ... Open access
Civil Aviation ballot ‘first’ (100 words)
Members of the Prospect specialists’ union at the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action, in the ... Open access
Merseyside fire dispute (89 words)
Staff groups in the Merseyside fire and rescue service have endorsed industrial action over multiple issues. FBU fire brigades union members in fire ... Open access
More university strikes likely (424 words)
The UCU universities and colleges union has said strike action at campuses is likely to continue if employer body UCEA refuses to return to ... Subscribers only
Partnership agreement signed (411 words)
Retail workers' union Usdaw launched a new partnership agreement with Sainsbury’s in July, to improve trade union representation for its ... Subscribers only
Best Payline deals top 14% (444 words)
This month’s best deals from LRD’s Payline database show drivers at Stagecoach Yorkshire (Chesterfield Depot) won as much as 14.9%. In the first ... Subscribers only
Scottish doctors settle while others strike (386 words)
Junior doctors in dispute with their employers over pay have voted to accept a record offer from the Scottish government. The deal includes a 12.4% ... Subscribers only
Aviation workers win above-inflation deal (302 words)
Around 24,000 staff employed by British Airways have won a pay increase worth 13.1% over 18 months, as well as a £1,000 one-off payment. ... Subscribers only
Equality news
New guide to tackle race talk fears (156 words)
A new guide from research body Reframing Race aims to make workplace discussions about race and racism more effective in challenging ingrained ... Open access
Overseas nurses suffer workplace abuse (97 words)
Overseas nurses are facing racist abuse and discrimination at work, according to the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s latest annual report. ... Open access
Make flexible working a legal right, campaigners say (214 words)
Unions and equal rights campaigners have called on the government to make flexible working a legal right from day one to help defeat discrimination ... Open access
BAME mothers face penalty (166 words)
Black and ethnic minority mothers are facing an additional “pay gap penalty” and career barriers compared to White working mothers according to ... Open access
Government condemned over pay gap backdown (236 words)
The TUC has condemned the government’s Department for Business and Trade for rejecting calls to make ethnicity pay gap reporting mandatory, ... Open access
Learning and training news
Employers miss out on talent (402 words)
Employers are missing out on the “hidden talent pool" among their own workforce by failing to provide skills programmes or workplace adjustments ... Subscribers only
Just transition course (142 words)
A free Wales TUC course to help union reps and officers develop negotiation strategies on net-zero planning and “just transition” is being run ... Open access
Recruitment and organisation news
Success after just three months (508 words)
A three-month recruitment and organising drive at one of the largest UK distribution centres has resulted in a new union recognition agreement ... Subscribers only
European news
Spanish settlements higher than inflation (118 words)
A combination of lower levels of inflation and higher settlements has meant that recently negotiated pay increases in Spain are now running above ... Open access
More agreements now cover the self-employed (90 words)
A new report on collective bargaining from the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment has found that more collective agreements now cover ... Open access
Poland plans two minimum rate rises (68 words)
The Polish government, which faces elections next month, has announced that it plans to put up the national minimum wage twice in 2024. It will ... Open access
Unions have only limited involvement in green transition (456 words)
The EU’s target of a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, on the way to climate neutrality by 2050, will inevitably produce major ... Subscribers only
Lufthansa pilots sign long term deal (294 words)
After more than a year of negotiations, the German pilots’ union, Vereinigung Cockpit, has signed a deal with the German airline Lufthansa which ... Subscribers only
Employment law - Case reports
Repeal of ban on strike breaking was unlawful (1,247 words)
In 1976 regulations made it unlawful for an employment agency knowingly to supply workers to an employer to do the work of those who were taking part ... Subscribers only
Acting on tainted information was not discrimination (1,018 words)
Mrs Ferridge-Gunn started working for Alcedo Orange Ltd (AO) on 27 January 2020. On 14 February she met with her manager, Ms Caunt, and the managing ... Subscribers only
No harassment without knowledge (693 words)
Mr Greasley-Adams began employment with Royal Mail in 2008. He has Asperger’s Syndrome and it was accepted that he is disabled within the meaning ... Subscribers only
Dismissal for activity while sick was discrimination (697 words)
Mr Jones was employed by Pilkington UK Ltd for 36 years until he was dismissed in October 2019 for gross misconduct. He had a medical condition ... Subscribers only
Change of contract was dismissal (946 words)
In 2010, Miss Jackson began work for University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM) and since 2013 she had worked as a senior haematology ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
First guidance for NHS staff affected by suicide (440 words)
The UNISON public services union has contributed to the first guidance to support NHS workers affected by a colleague’s death by suicide. The ... Subscribers only
Union complains about 'inappropriate' practice (261 words)
The FBU fire brigades’ union has written to the HMICFRS police and fire and rescue inspectorate about reports of “extremely inappropriate, ... Subscribers only
Health and safety problems show why bus workers are on strike (177 words)
A Unite survey of nearly 200 striking First Manchester bus drivers found that, while company profits soared to £227 million in 2022, drivers are ... Open access
Solidarity campaign for sacked safety rep (129 words)
The EIS Scottish teachers’ union branch at Edinburgh College has taken four days of strike action in support of branch official and safety rep ... Open access
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
ORR calls for action on toilets, fatigue and climate change (257 words)
The ORR rail regulator has labelled health provision for workers “unacceptable” in its annual health and safety report. It highlights a failure ... Subscribers only
TfL and operator fined £14 million for fatal crash (428 words)
Transport for London (TfL) and Tram Operations Limited (TOL) have been handed down fines totalling £14 million following the fatal tram crash near ... Subscribers only
Union backs MPs' monitoring recommendations (292 words)
The Prospect specialists’ union has backed recommendations on the use of monitoring technology in the workplace contained in a parliamentary report ... Subscribers only
Features
Voluntary and housing sector workers push back on pay (1,148 words)
Epic strike action, vocal protests and clever campaigning kept the St Mungo’s homelessness charity under pressure over the summer months. ... Subscribers only
Inflation: why excess profits and high interest rates are to blame (2,435 words)
The problem of sky-high prices and exorbitant living costs for workers is showing no sign of abating anytime soon. Inflation may have dropped again, ... Subscribers only
Pay at the 'max' (2,264 words)
When pay is being reviewed or negotiated, the focus – understandably – will often be on the lowest paid. But, as the current wave of disputes ... Subscribers only