News

Pay deals even despite mixed jobs market (302 words)

The overall level of pay settlements held steady at around 3.2% over the 12-month period concluding this summer, according to the Labour Research Department's ...

Teaching unions unite on pay and conditions claim (248 words)

Concerted pressure is being applied to the School Teacher's Review Body (STRB) for a better deal on pay and conditions of employment next year. ...

Newcastle council staff strike over privatisation (166 words)

Five hundred council workers in Newcastle upon Tyne are in dispute with their employer over the threat of privatisation. The council is proposing private ...

Iain Duncan Smith wins funding contest (130 words)

Iain Duncan Smith not only beat Kenneth Clarke to the leadership of the Conservative Party, but also beat him in financial support. His campaign ...

UK trade unionists share American grief (268 words)

The most important event of the British trade union calendar was brought to an abrupt halt last month when the annual Trades Union Congress ...

Union calls for regional government (227 words)

Manufacturing, science and finance union MSF has launched a campaign for the establishment of elected regional assemblies in England, believing that elected regional government ...

Union news

Non-members want group help (221 words)

Workers who are not union members would like to see workplace problems resolved collectively, but not necessarily through unions, according to a TUC report. ...

Financial services (139 words)

Unions are continuing to introduce new services for members, according to a TUC survey. ...

Membership up (322 words)

The 2000-01 annual report of the certification officer confirms the slightly rosier picture of trade union membership over the past two years. ...

Features

Debt deters low income students (1428 words)

Average student debt is expected to run into five figures next summer, leading to serious doubts as to whether the government can realise its ...

Local unions challenge Party funding (2233 words)

Union members' loyalty to Labour is being stretched to breaking point by the Party's obsession with privatisation, reveals a Labour Research survey of union ...

M&S staff keep fingers crossed (1951 words)

Six months after Marks & Spencer's ruthless European closure announcement, most of the employees affected have their fingers crossed that the shops will be ...

Privatisation fattens cats (1626 words)

The government's plan to put more public services in private hands is music to the ears of contracting companies whose directors are already on ...

Events (236 words)

October ...

Austria could see general strike (202 words)

Austria could see a general strike over the right-wing government's exclusion of unions from decisions about the welfare state. ...

German partners to control pensions (251 words)

Agreement on the introduction of the 35-hour week in French hospitals seemed likely as Labour Research went to press. ...

French health workers to get 35-hour week (309 words)

A joint push to get lifelong learning accepted as "a right for all employees" is to be made by union confederations from Germany, the ...

Key economic statistics (612 words)

FULL-TIME AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS ...

Law Matters

Government delays new temporary worker law (237 words)

The government has decided to delay the introduction of a new law, which will give temporary workers the right to be treated no less ...

Judges outlaw strike ballot (127 words)

The Court of Appeal recently published its ruling in a case taken against the rail union RMT by the Midland Mainline train company. The ...

Rights to public holidays (82 words)

Many workers think that they have an automatic right to paid bank and public holidays. However, apart from bank workers themselves, there is no ...

Reversal on tribunal deposit (43 words)

The government has backed away from a battle with the unions over plans to charge people taking tribunal claims. Bill Morris, general secretary of ...

T&G WINS RECOGNITION AND BALPA GETS BALLOT (194 words)

Members of the T&G general union at Hozelock, the garden equipment manufacturers, have become the ninth group of workers to win recognition through the ...

TUC backs company law review (96 words)

The TUC has welcomed recommendations for a review of company law which could lead to companies publishing more details of their planning and its ...

Law Queries

Law Queries (903 words)

* Our employers have changed our travel and subsistence allowances. Is there anything we can do to get the payments reinstated? ...

Law Back-up

Discrimination proof shifts to employers (857 words)

This month regulations come into force implementing a European directive on the burden of proof in sex discrimination cases. The new rules should make ...

Health & Safety Matters

COUNCILS WARNED ON SAFETY (73 words)

The Health and Safety Commission has threatened to conduct an inquiry into any local authority where cuts in resources for health and safety enforcement ...

TUC EXPOSES LATEX RISKS AND EMPLOYERS' ASTHMA FAILINGS (326 words)

New reports from the TUC reveal the allergy-inducing dangers of latex and the failure of many employers to comply with regulations on asthma-causing substances. ...

Congress backs safety motion (92 words)

A motion on safety issues from construction union UCATT was carried unanimously at last month's Trades Union Congress. The resolution called on unions to ...

Deaths-at-work advice service (131 words)

The Work-Related Death Advice Service (WRDAS) has been launched by the Centre for Corporate Accountability. It will provide advice to families or friends bereaved ...

Jobcentre staff strike over safety (184 words)

Over 400 members of the PCS civil service union in offices in London have been on indefinite strike since 4 September, over the removal ...

Health & Safety Back-up

PREVENTING SLIPS, TRIPS AND FALLS AT WORK (741 words)

This month's European Week of Health and Safety (15-22 October) will highlight accident prevention. The TUC is calling on safety reps to push for ...

Equality news

Congress SUPPORTS "historic" rule change (183 words)

Delegates to last month's TUC Congress backed what general secretary John Monks described as "historic" changes to the TUC's rules on equality. ...

Equality website launched (77 words)

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has launched a new website on gender equality in employment, entitled e.qualit@ork. It has information on the law, national ...

HARASSMENT MISERY REVEALED (269 words)

An analysis of employment tribunal cases over the last three years by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has revealed that the vast majority of ...

TUC BACKS CALL FOR COMPULSORY PAY AUDITS (281 words)

The TUC has called on the government to introduce mandatory pay audits to address the persistent gender pay gap. ...

Workplace Back-up

GETTING THE WORK-LIFE BALANCE RIGHT (694 words)

Achieving "work-life balance" is about people having more control over when they work, for how long, and how they strike the right balance with ...

News from LRD

News from LRD (111 words)

LRD guidance on dismissal ...

Dress code survey (85 words)

Do you have to wear a uniform at work? Are there workplace rules about jewellery, hairstyles or even tattoos? If you have anything to ...

Reviews

The captive local state (125 words)

Peter Latham, Socialist Renewal, Russell House, Bulwell Lane, Nottingham NG6 0BT, £2.00 ...

Welfare benefits handbook (126 words)

Edited by Simon Osborne, Child Poverty Action Group, 94 White Lion St, London N1 9PF, 1,322 pages, paperback, £24.00 (£7.00 for individual claimants) ...

Rethinking globalisation (126 words)

Critical issues and policy choices ...

E-views

E-views (271 words)

The internet is a good source of information on health and safety issues. A web page enabling workers to gain rapid access to essential ...