News

Over 750,000 council workers join pay strike (223 words)

Union leaders were delighted at the response to last month's one-day strike over local government pay. ...

TUC campaigns for better rehabilitation services at work (219 words)

Last month the TUC stepped up its campaign for improved rehabilitation for sick and injured workers with the publication of the results of a ...

Strikers shut down Underground (238 words)

Most of the London Underground network was brough to a standstill by industrial action on 18 July. Members of the RMT transport union had ...

London weighting report gets cautious welcome (205 words)

Unions responded positively to some of the conclusions of a new report on London weighting from a panel set up by the Greater London ...

Unions respond to pensions threat (338 words)

Both the ISTC community union and UNISON public service union have had to take industrial action in an attempt to defend their members' pension ...

Job cuts hit coal, tractor and IT industries (228 words)

Coalmining in the UK has suffered a terrible blow with the announcement last month of the closure of the Selby complex in Yorkshire with ...

Union news

Amicus result confirms changed union mood (284 words)

The leftward shift of the union movement was confirmed last month by the victory of Derek Simpson in the Amicus AEEU section leadership election. ...

All change at the top in pilots' union (115 words)

The newly elected general secretary airline pilots' union BALPA stepped down at his first national executive meeting last month. ...

Job cuts lead to membership drop (213 words)

Manufacturing job losses helped put a brake on union membership growth last year. ...

European news

Italian union federations split over national pact (330 words)

After organising a massive joint general strike in April, Italy's three main union confederations have split over a new pact with the employers and ...

German unions are wary of reforms to jobless system (234 words)

Later this month, just a few weeks before the German elections on 22 September, an official commission is expected to publish plans for major ...

Ministerial changes follow Spanish strike (130 words)

The general strike in Spain on 20 June, which was widely supported, has already had a political impact. Less than three weeks after the ...

French minimum wage rises (51 words)

The French national minimum wage went up by 2.4% last month to €6.83 an hour (around £4.35). However, the new centre-right government of Jean-Pierre ...

Unions call for role in restructuring (57 words)

The European Trade Union Confederation has called on the European Commission to delay taking further action on its proposals for dealing with the effects ...

Features

Eight years of fat cat fun (1770 words)

Top company directors have enjoyed yet another year of huge pay rises, which averaged over 16%. Now there are 123 executives in stock exchange ...

Helping staff out of the car (1556 words)

Currently only 3% of people travel to work by bike but experience shows that positive action by local authorities and employers can tempt employees ...

Employers exploit agency work boom (1752 words)

Agency work is soaring, thanks to the huge benefits it affords both agencies and the employers that use them. As ever, it is the ...

Recognising the value of teaching assistants (1409 words)

The government wants to expand the role of teaching assistants to help cut teachers' workload. But it will have to pay them properly first. ...

Court delivers vital union rights ruling (257 words)

Last month the NUJ journalists' and RMT transport unions won a major victory at the European Court of Human Rights after a long legal ...

Threat to justice (103 words)

Public and commercial services union PCS has attacked government plans to save money by downgrading one in three civil courts and limiting public rights ...

Solidarity case (82 words)

The ITF international transport workers' federation is claiming a victory against US company Trico, after the company withdrew a application for an injunction. Trico ...

Employment Act (56 words)

The Employment Act 2002 received Royal Assent on 8 July 2002. The Act will give new rights to working parents, effective from April 2003. ...

Government consults on agency workers' law (245 words)

The government has published a consultation document seeking views on how a proposed new European Union (EU) directive on agency workers should be enforced ...

Law queries (219 words)

Our company has just issued a new self-certification form which applies from day one of sickness. It asks employees to say whether the sickness ...

Law queries (187 words)

We have been told that the new law on temporary workers will not now be in force until 1 October 2002. Surely the government ...

Law queries (186 words)

I have been working for my employer for around two years. I have regularly been working 55 hours a week but have never been ...

Law queries (175 words)

One of my members has been working for a small employer and was recently dismissed. He admits that he did a deal with the ...

European court hands down key union ruling (901 words)

The ruling of the European Court of Human Rights that UK laws are in breach of European law guaranteeing the right to form and ...

Rail unions want return to in-house maintenance (401 words)

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) progress report on its investigation into the Potters Bar crash on 10 May 2002 confirmed that the accident ...

Reducing risk of violence is "good for business" (175 words)

New guidance from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) advises employers that taking simple steps to tackle work-related violence can help reduce risks and ...

Work-related stress (135 words)

A major new awareness intiative on preventing workplace stress has been launched by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Initially aimed at the public ...

Building site safety (114 words)

Bill Callaghan, chair of the Health and Safety Commission (HSC), has outlined the steps being taken to address the current toll of over 100 ...

Occupational health in serious condition (679 words)

Ten years ago, 50% of the workforce had access to an occupational health service. Today just 30% - seven million of Britain's 25 million ...

Report calls for more action on race equality (276 words)

Although "significant" resources are being put into developing and retaining ethnic minority employees, much remains to be done if major employers are to tackle ...

Teachers' union backs ethnic minority project (81 words)

The NUT teachers' union has forged "a ground-breaking partnership" with the National College for School Leadership (NCSL) in Nottingham, to set up the first ...

Lesbian and gay couples want to be "civil partners" (195 words)

The vast majority of lesbian and gay couples would like the chance to register their relationship, according to a survey that included members of ...

Transsexuals win landmark ruling (248 words)

The government will have to change the law to allow transsexuals to be legally recognised as their adopted sex following a landmark ruling in ...

Report challenges views of how we work (679 words)

In Britain's world of work, former Financial Times journalist Robert Taylor argues that in a number of important ways, how we work and the ...

Reviews

The Communist Party of Great Britain since 1920 (176 words)

James Eaden & David Renton, Palgrave, 220 pages, hardback, £45.00 ...

Planning your pension (157 words)

Sue Ward, TUC/Kogan Page, TUC Publications, Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LS, 196 pages, paperback, £8.99 ...

Protecting worker solidarity action - a critique of international law (121 words)

Paul Germanotta, Institute of Employment Rights, 60 pages, A5, paperback, £6.50 ...

E-views

e-views (232 words)

The Certification Officer, the government watchdog for trade unions and employer organisations, has recently launched a website. ...