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Workplace Report July 2024
PAY AND PRICES
BARGAINING Crisis deepends over future of TATA steelworkers Shift premia and benefits Local government pay takes shape Co-operative pay increase agreed
EQUALITY Campaigners hail Labour's plans to tackle sexual harassment One in ten LBQ+ feel unsafe at work
LEARNING AND TRAINING Union Learning Fund should be restored and improved
RECRUITMENT AND ORGANISATION Pushing for union recognition at an Amazon warehouse
EUROPE Breakthrough in retail pay in Germany
LAW AT WORK Employment law — the latest cases
HEALTH AND SAFETY Safety reps target building safety Climate change resources for safety reps HSE prosecutions results in £1.2 million fine and suspended prison sentence
pay negotiations in health and education With the pay-setting process failing education and health workers, Workplace Report looks at union reaction and the chances of fresh rounds of industrial action this year
indirect discrimination: ending the confusion There were important recent changes to the Equality Act 2010 in relation to indirect discrimination. We examine these changes, clarifying the concept and how it currently works.
Pay and prices
Pay deals steady as inflation falls again (135 words)
The median pay rise achieved on all on pay rates in the three months to May was 5% according to LRD Payline. Still above inflation, which means some ...
Open access
Full-time weekly average earnings (33 words)
... Open access
Brightmine (formerly XpertHR) (20 words)
Median increases for three months to end of May 2024 ... 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
2024 Forecasts (35 words)
Source: HM Treasury, Forecasts for the UK economy, May 2024. Fourth quarter ... Open access
Bargaining news
Labour's plans for trade unions (885 words)
Labour’s New Deal for working people – now titled Labour’s Plan to Make Work Pay – is increasingly coming under attack as the country heads ... Subscribers only
Working to rule (154 words)
Last month saw steelworkers take industrial action for the first time in 40 years. Around 1,500 Tata steelworkers based in Port Talbot and Newport ... Open access
Workers walk out (152 words)
Nearly 150 workers employed by Labour-run Greenwich council walked off the job in June after their employer announced a plan that would see them lose ... Open access
Trouble at ASDA (354 words)
More than 500 ASDA workers in Bournemouth turned out in mass to demonstrate against the actions of TDR Capital, the private equity owners of retail ... Subscribers only
Airport workers win deal (385 words)
Around 250 ground service crew including dispatchers, allocators, airside agents and controllers at Edinburgh airport have won a deal from their ... Subscribers only
Supervisors win, lecturers strike (392 words)
In a win for casualised university staff, college ‘supervisors’ at Cambridge University have won a pay rise worth an average 15%. Pay rates for ... Subscribers only
Health staff take action (362 words)
Healthcare assistants in dispute with Teesside NHS trusts, postponed their strike action last month as their employer agreed to enter further pay ... Subscribers only
Guards on strike (117 words)
Hundreds of security guards employed by G4S on a central government contract took strike action last month over pay. ... Open access
Nature on strike (182 words)
Last month saw the first strikes by journalists working on the Nature Portfolio of journals run by the Springer Nature publishing company. The ... Open access
Equality news
Little progress on racial inclusion (145 words)
There has been limited progress on reaching race-related diversity, equity and inclusion targets in the workplace over the fours years since George ... Open access
Disabled women doubt diversity efforts (105 words)
Disabled women workers are among those of “intersecting multiple identities” who most doubt the success of workplace diversity, equity and ... Open access
Campaigners call for public duty on equality (209 words)
A coalition of trade unions and equality bodies is calling for an update to the Equality Act. ... Open access
Older workers 'let down' (187 words)
Older workers are being let down by age discrimination, according to the Centre for Ageing Better which has launched a campaign to raise the ... Open access
Pay parity out of reach (223 words)
The gender pay gap will take 45 years to close at the current rate of progress, a report by PwC has found after scrutiny of company reports submitted ... Open access
Learning and training news
Poorest areas hit by disproportionate funding cuts (412 words)
Data continues to emerge that shows the poorest areas of the country suffer the harshest funding cuts. Whether its skills training or childcare, cuts ... Subscribers only
Recruitment and organisation news
Investors add pressure (368 words)
Fifty institutional investors have signed a letter expressing concerns over Amazon’s alleged response to trade union membership at its Coventry ... Subscribers only
Membership up (125 words)
New statistics from the ONS show trade union membership grew by 90,000 in 2023. Commenting, TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said “this increase in ... Open access
European news
Dutch metalworkers get 9% over 19 months (92 words)
Unions and employers have reached agreement on above inflation pay increases in the metalworking and electrical industries. The staged agreement runs ... Open access
Swedish real wages finally increasing (101 words)
After two and a half years when real wages were either falling or stagnant, pay increases in Sweden were higher than inflation in March 2024. Figures ... Open access
Polish sick pay changes (81 words)
The Polish government is working on plans to shift the cost of sick pay from employers to the state. Currently employers must pay sick pay for the ... Open access
Construction deal, despite failure of mediation (380 words)
IG BAU, the union representing around 930,000 employees in the construction industry has reached agreement on a new three-year pay deal. It provides ... Subscribers only
Court rules on payment (357 words)
The Spanish high court, the Audencia Nacional, one of whose roles is to decide on national-level collective bargaining issues, has ruled that, ... Subscribers only
Employment law - Case reports
Considering demeanour can be discriminatory (603 words)
Ms Bodis started working for Lindfield Christian Care Home (LCCH) in 2008. She was disabled by anxiety and depression. ... Subscribers only
Volunteer was a worker (473 words)
From 1985 to 2020, Mr Groom was a volunteer Coastal Rescue Officer (CRO) for the Coastguard Rescue Service, part of the Maritime and Coastguard ... Subscribers only
Employers and independent medical advice (584 words)
CAE Crewing Services supply cabin crew to airlines. Cabin crew are required to have a Fit to Fly Certificate (FTFC), which is issued by an Aviation ... Subscribers only
Refusal of promotion was not discriminatory (595 words)
Mr Pipe was a lecturer at Coventry University. He was disabled with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He applied unsuccessfully for ... Subscribers only
Tribunal could ignore GP’s evidence (538 words)
Ms Young was dismissed from her job as a communications officer with the Metropolitan Police in November 2019 because of unacceptable attendance. She ... Subscribers only
Employer did not have knowledge of autism (639 words)
Between 2017 and 2019, Mr Godfrey applied unsuccessfully for a number of jobs with Natwest Market plc (Natwest). He had previously worked for them ... Subscribers only
Warning justified for 'antisemitic' comments (617 words)
Mr Ali is a registered pharmacist who led an annual rally in London to support the Palestinian cause. In 2017 he addressed the rally four days after ... Subscribers only
Health & safety news
TUC Safety Reps event marks 50th anniversary (412 words)
Hundreds of union safety reps gathered at the TUC Safety Reps Connect event to mark the 50th anniversary of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 ... Subscribers only
Union calls for new stress law to address long hours (300 words)
A new survey of almost 2,000 not-for-profit and charity workers by the Unite general union has found almost seven in ten (69%) are suffering from ... Subscribers only
Sexual harassment survey (287 words)
A new survey by the Bectu creative industry workers’ union has found more than nine in ten (92%) of the workforce, which includes film and TV, ... Subscribers only
Health & safety - HSE Monitor
Convene Tube safety forum, says union (265 words)
The RMT transport union has written to London Mayor Sadiq Khan demanding the immediate convening of the London Underground (LU) Safety Forum ... Subscribers only
HSE highlights £1 million plus fines (422 words)
Openreach Limited was handed down a £1.34 million fine in June after an engineer died while attempting to repair a telephone line. Alun Owen, a CWU ... Subscribers only
Union welcomes HSE cancer prevention inspection plans (265 words)
The FBU fire brigades’ union has welcomed HSE health and safety executive plans to begin inspecting fire and rescue services for measures to ... Subscribers only
Features
Latest offer won’t solve the crisis in council pay (3,257 words)
With councils collectively facing a funding shortfall of £4-6bn this year (according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies), services being cut and ... Subscribers only
Strengthening collective bargaining in the EU (1,661 words)
Collective bargaining, where workers, through their unions, can negotiate the terms and conditions under which they are employed, is crucial in ... Subscribers only