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Labour Research October 2024
New government — new dawn for unions? For the first time in 14 years, the UK has a Labour government. Will the new administration deliver for workers and their unions?
Stemming the rise of the far right The far right is attempting to build in communities that have been at the sharp end of austerity. Union mobilisation is critical to stopping this.
How can working grandparents be supported? Working grandparents and other kinship carers often provide crucial childcare support for families. But are their own needs attended to?
News
Failure over public services (214 words)
The Scottish government has failed to take decisive steps to see real investment in public services, while breaking its commitment to provide ...
Open access
Ready meals workers take action over threats of fire and rehire (328 words)
More than 550 members of the Unite general union at the Oscar Mayer ready meals manufacturer were set to strike from 12 September to 10 October over ...
Subscribers only
Councils at risk of collapse (289 words)
The failure to rectify a growing shortfall between the cash councils need and what they actually have to spend risks “the widespread collapse of ... Subscribers only
TUC finds large scale support for Labour’s new Fair Work Agency (296 words)
The TUC has launched a five-point plan for enforcing workers’ rights (see page 25). This follows new analysis showing that more than a million ... Subscribers only
Whistleblowers face backlash (219 words)
A new survey of whistleblowing by doctors in Scotland has found that some of those speaking up have been bullied, blacklisted, marginalised or had ... Open access
Starmer receives mixed response (229 words)
There was a mixed if not negative reaction from unions to prime minister Keir Starmer’s speech to TUC Congress. ... Open access
Inflation statistics (70 words)
The latest inflation statistics had not been released as this issue of Labour Research went to press. The rate in the Key Indicators heading below ... Open access
Labour market indicators (221 words)
Youth unemployment hit 13.3% in May-July 2024 for 18- to 24-year-olds, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). ... Open access
Key economic indicators
Key economic indicators (429 words)
Inflation +3.6% (rate in July), Average earnings +5.6% ... Subscribers only
Union news
Unions on track to support workers on HS2 project (373 words)
After a five-year campaign, the Unite and GMB general unions have achieved agreement with employers that allows their officials on site on the Euston ... Subscribers only
Delegates pledge to hold Labour to account over New Deal promises (221 words)
Ahead of September’s Labour Party conference, the trade union movement has made it clear that it will hold the Labour government to account to ... Open access
NUJ election (83 words)
The next general secretary of the NUJ journalists’ union will again be female, as two women are currently battling it out to take on the role which ... Open access
UNISON political fund (68 words)
Members of public services union UNISON in England, Scotland and Wales have voted overwhelmingly to retain the union’s political fund, which ... Open access
Drivers join GFTU (86 words)
A small but growing private hire drivers’ union from outside the TUC has joined the General Federation of Trade Unions. ... Open access
European news
Spanish unions push for 37.5-hour week (128 words)
The leaders of Spain’s two largest union confederations, Unai Sordo for CCOO and Pepe Álvarez for the UGT, have promised that they will increase ... Open access
Retirement age back on the agenda (122 words)
The CGT, the second-largest union confederation in France has called for “a powerful day of strikes and demonstrations” on Tuesday 1 October to ... Open access
Unions and works council reject Volkswagen closures (382 words)
Germany’s biggest union, IG Metall, has rejected the plant closures and job losses which car-maker Volkswagen (VW) is proposing as a solution to ... Subscribers only
Finnish government presses on with local bargaining (235 words)
The Finnish government, which earlier this year introduced substantial curbs on the right to strike despite bitter union opposition (see Labour ... Open access
Features
Will Labour turn the tide? (2,358 words)
The new Labour government was elected on a promise to make work pay through its New Deal for Working People which, it says, will boost wages, make ... Subscribers only
Stopping the rise of the far right (2,177 words)
On 4 July, the Conservative party that had been in office since 2010 was swept from power by what seemed an unstoppable Labour juggernaut. But when ... Subscribers only
Supporting working grandparents (1,990 words)
Grandparents’ Day, on 6 October, is dedicated to acknowledging and celebrating the important contribution made by grandparents to their families. ... Subscribers only
Law Matters
Holiday savings scheme breached NMW rules (349 words)
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) found that an employer’s holiday savings scheme breached the National Minimum Wage (NMW) rules. ... Subscribers only
Gender critical beliefs case (315 words)
A barrister has lost her appeal against the Stonewall LBGTQ+ campaigning organisation in a case where section 111 of the Equality Act 2010 was ... Subscribers only
Allocation of Tips Act and Code (117 words)
As reported in July’s Labour Research, the Employment (Allocation of Tips) Act 2023 and Code of Practice come into force on 1 October 2024. ... Open access
Employment Tribunal panels (132 words)
The senior president of the Employment Tribunals has issued a Practice Direction setting out changes to the composition of Employment Tribunals. ... Open access
Law Queries
Q&A (808 words)
Tribunal deadlines: employer response ... Subscribers only
Law Back-up
The pitfalls of the law on discrimination (895 words)
Section 39 of the Equality Act 2010 (EA 10) says “an employer (A) must not discriminate against an employee of A’s”. Section 83(2) EA 10 says ... Subscribers only
Health & Safety Matters
Stronger health and safety laws and workers’ rights needed (240 words)
Safety regulators have been so stripped back that workers are now more likely to win the lottery than have a safety inspection at their workplace, ... Open access
Inspection changes welcomed by unions (219 words)
Education unions have welcomed the government’s announcement that it will scrap “reductive single headline” inspection grades of schools by the ... Open access
Grenfell Tower disaster saw profit over safety (257 words)
Responding to the long-awaited final report of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, FBU firefighters’ union general secretary Matt Wrack called for justice ... Subscribers only
Chemical jobs at risk, green think tank warns (304 words)
A new Green Alliance environmental think tank assessment of UK government support for the chemical industry to transition away from fossil fuels has ... Subscribers only
Campaign group demands ban on urban pesticides (277 words)
The Pesticide Collaboration organisation used the focus on the Paris Olympics and Paralympics to call on the UK government to follow France’s lead ... Subscribers only
Call for action over extreme weather (246 words)
The National Fire Chiefs’ Council has called for action to tackle wildfires, flooding and inland water safety. It has asked the government to ... Open access
Equality news
Harassment toolkit (116 words)
The EHRC equality watchdog and the Independent Society of Musicians (ISM), the professional body for musicians, have published a toolkit to support ... Open access
Worker protections (118 words)
TUC research reveals that worker protections in the UK are significantly weaker than in other developed countries in almost every area — and the ... Open access
Ministry’s response ‘too limited’ over harassment (283 words)
A joint statement expressing frustration with the slow pace of progress of the MoD Ministry of Defence’s Reaffirming our standardsprogramme has ... Subscribers only
LGBT+ workers experience bullying and discrimination (305 words)
A new TUC report reveals over half of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans plus (LGBT+) people were bullied or harassed at work in the last five years. ... Subscribers only
Workplace Back-up
Labour’s enforcement body: can it deliver? (878 words)
Joining or forming a union is the time-honoured response to exploitation at work, but a raft of employment laws provides essential rights — on ... Subscribers only