![[Basket]](images/basket.png){kind=small}
Your order![[cover image]](images/issue/LR202502.jpg)
Labour Research February 2025
Will football club owners be shown the red card? The Football Governance Bill aims to police the integrity and financial standing of club owners. Labour Research reports
Tax reform — does it go far enough? Unions and tax justice campaigners have responded to tax reforms announced by the Westminster and Scottish governments
Assisted dying: 'a number of issues need addressing' Health unions want to see certain protections built into assisted dying legislation, and disability organisations have raised their own concerns
News
Alarm over job losses (241 words)
The UCU university and college union is balloting members at the University of East Anglia for strike action after management refused to rule out ...
Open access
Workers continue to strike for fair pay across the economy (362 words)
Non-academised sixth form college teachers were set to continue striking into February, announcing they would walk out for three more days in a pay ...
Subscribers only
'Corridor care' has devastating impact on safety of patients (281 words)
An RCN nurses’ union-led coalition of 15 healthcare and patient organisations is demanding urgent government action to tackle “corridor care”. ... Subscribers only
Unions say better protections must be put in place in relation to AI plan (322 words)
Unions are demanding better protections for workers in response to the government’s newly launched AI Opportunities Action Plan. ... Subscribers only
Workers skip meals, TUC finds (205 words)
A new TUC poll shows that around one in six workers have skipped a meal regularly in the past three months to make ends meet. ... Open access
Retail chains undermine rights (221 words)
The TUC and the Usdaw shopworkers’ union have called on the chief executives of retailers Urban Outfitters, Lush, Gymshark and Emma Sleep to stop ... Open access
Inflation dips (75 words)
Inflation dipped slightly in December 2024. Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation was 3.5% in December 2024, down from 3.6%. The Consumer Prices Index ... Open access
Labour market indicators (211 words)
Growth in regular pay was 5.6% in the three months to November 2024, according to official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ... Open access
Key economic indicators
Key economic indicators (423 words)
Inflation (RPI) +3.5%, Average earnings +5.6% ... Subscribers only
Union news
Lynch to step down from RMT as firefighters elect new leader (346 words)
There are changes at the top of two TUC-affiliated unions with the announcement that Mick Lynch, leader of the RMT transport union, is to retire ... Subscribers only
Pilots win landmark victory (283 words)
The BALPA pilots’ union has secured a landmark victory in the Court of Appeal (CA) which, the union says, “also sets a powerful precedent for the ... Subscribers only
HeartUnions (127 words)
This year’s TUC HeartUnions campaign aims to raise awareness of the TUC’s Unions Make Work Pay campaign. ... Open access
Gaza ceasefire (110 words)
The NUJ journalists’ union last month welcomed the Gaza ceasefire deal, pointing to the “shocking death toll of at least 163 journalists arising ... Open access
European news
Stronger Works Councils (133 words)
A new directive giving greater powers to European Works Councils (EWCs) seems more likely following a vote in the European Parliament in late ... Open access
Pensions debate reopened (81 words)
France’s new prime minister, François Bayrou, has reopened the controversial issue of pensions reform, inviting unions and employers to negotiate ... Open access
Working time hours cut agreed, but legislation remains in doubt (388 words)
The Spanish government has reached an agreement with the unions to cut working time from 40 to 37.5 hours a week. But, with no guaranteed majority ... Subscribers only
Volkswagen compromise saves plants from closure — at a cost (255 words)
The dispute at Volkswagen, which saw 100,000 workers at the German carmaker take strike action as the company threatened to close three plants, has ... Subscribers only
Features
What's the game plan for football? (2,054 words)
English football still tenuously clings to the label of “the people’s game”. But recent decades have seen it transformed into a ruthless ... Subscribers only
Labour's taxation on wealth: is it enough? (2,329 words)
Unions and tax justice campaigners generally welcomed the tax changes chancellor Rachel Reeves announced in her October 2024 Budget as a positive ... Subscribers only
Where do unions stand on assisted dying? (2,086 words)
As the RCN nurses’ union explains, assisted dying is the process of aiding an individual with a terminal illness or incurable condition to end ... Subscribers only
Law Matters
Criticism of employee’s accent was harassment (319 words)
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) agreed an Employment Tribunal (ET) was right to find that an employee who objected to being transferred under ... Subscribers only
Transferring employer was responsible for dismissal (319 words)
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) agreed an Employment Tribunal (ET) was right to find that an employee who objected to being transferred under ... Subscribers only
Employment Tribunal procedure rules (105 words)
The rules governing the procedures in Employment Tribunals have been updated, replacing the old rules. The Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules 2024 ... Open access
Fire and re-hire redundancy consultation (125 words)
When the statutory Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-engagement came into force in July 2024 (see Labour Research, September 2024, page 19) it ... Open access
Law Queries
Q&A (821 words)
Redundancy ... Subscribers only
Law Back-up
Equality act and proving harassment (897 words)
Under section 13 EA10, direct discrimination is less favourable treatment “because of a protected characteristic”. ... Subscribers only
Health & Safety Matters
Unions step up sick pay campaign (162 words)
As the Employment Rights Bill progresses through Parliament, unions campaigning to improve Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) are calling on the public to ... Open access
Deadly year for journalists (92 words)
Last year was one of the deadliest years for journalists, according to the latest International Federation of Journalists’ annual Killed List. ... Open access
Firefighters suffer health disorders (272 words)
More than a quarter of surveyed firefighters who attended the Grenfell Tower fire are now suffering from long-term health disorders, new research has ... Subscribers only
Thousands of public buildings in urgent need of repair (222 words)
A new analysis by The Guardian newspaper has found that thousands of schools, hospitals and courts need urgent repair, with some posing a risk of ... Open access
Unison sets out case for public ownership of water (356 words)
A new UNISON public services union report describes the disastrous consequences of three decades of a privatised water industry in England and shows ... Subscribers only
Activists protest ahead of presidential inauguration (243 words)
Last month, climate activists protested outside the US embassy in London ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president, rejecting his ... Open access
Clean energy plan (134 words)
The government’s clean energy action plan, setting out how it will meet its 2030 goal of 95% clean energy generation, is “clearly a step in the ... Open access
Just transition needs public ownership (115 words)
A new report calls for public control over fossil fuel assets in the North Sea to ensure a timely and just transition. It also explains why the ... Open access
Equality news
Legislative boost for Sikhs and Jews (231 words)
Britain’s first female Sikh MP, Preet Kaur Gill, is promoting a Bill to require public bodies to record Sikhs and Jews as ethnic groups. ... Open access
McDonald’s comes under the spotlight once more (326 words)
More than 700 young workers have instructed law firm, Leigh Day in joint legal action against fast-food chain, McDonald’s. The move follows fresh ... Subscribers only
Discrimination now at three-year high for young women (287 words)
Workplace discrimination has reached a three-year high for young women — with young women from racially minoritised groups particularly affected ... Subscribers only
Workplace Back-up
Bereavement leave for miscarriage is needed (900 words)
The influential Women and Equalities Committee (WEC) has made the case that the right to parental bereavement leave should be extended to all cases ... Subscribers only