News

One in three pay deals is long-term (332 words)

Negotiators are signing up for more long-term deals, according a new Bargaining Report survey of pay settlements published by the Labour Research Department. ...

Tube unions call strike as firefighters' ballot begins (349 words)

Last month train drivers' union ASLEF and the RMT transport union both voted for stoppages in support of their pay claim for workers on ...

Firm announces another blow for textile jobs (229 words)

Desmond & Sons, which supplies exclusively to Marks & Spencer, has announced the closure of one of its factories in Northern Ireland with the ...

Union wins back pension rights (219 words)

The ISTC community union announced last month that its series of one-day stoppages against steel group Caparo had successfully won back their pension rights. ...

TUC launches pensions campaign (225 words)

The TUC last month launched a "Pay up for Pensions" campaign aimed at both the government and employers. ...

Report finds over one million workers lose out on holiday entitlement (295 words)

Over one million workers lose out on their holiday entitlement, according to a new TUC report. ...

Delegates back repeal of anti-union laws (103 words)

Congress re-affirmed its opposition to anti-union legislation and called for a raft of changes covering recognition, industrial action and rights to representation in response ...

Union news

Debate hots up over union funding of Labour (355 words)

Trade union funding of the Labour Party will be questioned from both left and right wings of the movement at the Labour Party conference ...

Unions target City workers (203 words)

Workers in the City of London need to get organised - that's the message from a campaign run by unions in the capital. ...

Finance union merger (60 words)

Single-company unions are to become even rarer with news that the CGNU Staff Association is to merge with finance and manufacturing union Amicus. The ...

Community unionism (72 words)

Trade unions have been urged to link up with local communities to combat their long-term decline. A Fabian Society pamphlet, Union futures - building ...

Learning reps (62 words)

The TUC in Wales is taking its training programme for union learning reps online. Participants will be able to access activities via the internet ...

TUC president (20 words)

The TUC's president for the year is Nigel de Gruchy, recently retired general secretary of the NASUWT teachers' union. ...

European news

French halt 35-hours progress (389 words)

The recently elected centre-right government in France is planning legal changes that are likely to block further progress towards a universal 35-hour week. ...

Italy faces second strike over dismissal rights (347 words)

Italy's largest union confederation, CGIL, has announced its plans for an eight-hour general strike on 18 October. This will be the second general strike ...

Dutch unions look for real pay increases (125 words)

The main union confederation in the Netherlands is looking for a real increase in pay for 2003 after a year when pay has done ...

Features

Unions unite in their opposition to PFI (209 words)

John Monks told last month's Trades Union Congress that public services had continued to be "a major, major question for the general council over ...

Sizeable minority rejects war against Iraq (74 words)

Foreign affairs had a higher-than-usual profile at this year's Congress with the debate on military intervention against Iraq going to a card vote. ...

Debate reveals divisions over single currency (310 words)

After a major debate Congress agreed that the TUC would continue to support the UK's early entry into the single European currency - the ...

Union member loyalty to Labour plummets (1749 words)

This year's Labour Party conference comes as local trade union feeling about the party in government reaches a new low, according to a Labour ...

Signalling a bonanza (1339 words)

Tensions over private involvement in public sector projects will be high at the Labour Party conference. But the firms involved in the London Tube ...

Grabbing gold from politics (1364 words)

Over half of Tory MPs bump up their parliamentary income through paid company directorships or consultancies. And some are taking home six-figure pay packets. ...

Europe "must address stress" (1936 words)

The campaign to reduce the toll of work-related stress in the UK has been hit by a number of setbacks in the last couple ...

Tribunal rejects challenge to firm's drugs testing policy (376 words)

An important Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) ruling is likely to make it harder to challenge employers who test employees for drugs and alcohol. ...

Tribunals face more change (251 words)

A government-commissioned task force on employment tribunals has proposed a number of ways of reforming the system. ...

Sunday working victory (87 words)

Shopworkers' union USDAW has won a case for one of its members who took a claim against the supermarket giant Safeway after he was ...

Law queries (157 words)

If workers who were transferred from their original employer to a new employer are then transferred back to the original employer, are they still ...

Law queries (223 words)

We work in the travel industry and get cheap travel facilities that most staff value highly. We are likely to be transferred to another ...

Law queries (152 words)

Am I right in thinking that there is a law which states that if a company operates in more than one European Union country ...

Law queries (117 words)

Do employers have to offer flexible working hours to parents? ...

Law queries (94 words)

Does the new law which gives rights to fixed-term contract workers also apply to agency workers? We have a number of agency staff at ...

Fixed-term employees' rights take effect (709 words)

From the beginning of this month fixed-term employees have new rights to be treated no less favourably than permanent staff. However, these rights appear ...

Hazards conference is "biggest ever" (313 words)

Six hundred delegates from most TUC-affiliated unions attended the biggest ever Hazards conference in Manchester on 6-8 September. The conference was organised by Greater ...

KFC fined over attacks (99 words)

Fast food giant KFC has been found guilty under health and safety legislation after a series of violent and racist attacks on its employees ...

Corporate convictions (139 words)

Convictions are rare for corporate manslaughter despite an increase in prosecutions for work-related deaths in the last four years, according to new research. ...

Action on rubber gloves reduces asthma risk (247 words)

A dramatic reduction in occupational asthma cases caused by latex has been reported in Germany thanks to straightforward prevention measures. ...

Roving advisers could revolutionise safety (865 words)

A scheme piloting worker safety advisers is one of the most significant developments in workplace safety for a long time. Back-up outlines the scheme ...

Congress supports ANTI-BNP coalition (288 words)

Delegates at last month's TUC Congress backed a motion calling for firm action to defeat the British National Party (BNP) in next year's local ...

Report finds few disabled workers get special help (293 words)

Only 41% of working-age disabled people are in work and only 13% of these have special working arrangements because of their disability, says a ...

NHS equal pay victory (87 words)

Women workers have won an important ruling in a long-running equal pay claim against Carlisle Hospitals NHS Trust. A panel of independent experts, appointed ...

Equal pay training (88 words)

The TUC Equal Pay Pilot project has received funding for a further year from the Union Learning Fund. The second year of the project ...

Tackling harassment (64 words)

New guidance on tackling the harassment of NHS staff by patients was launched last month by health minister John Hutton. The guidance, developed in ...

Code clarifies UNION learning reps' rights (733 words)

Union learning reps are getting new rights to time off and a code of practice will provide guidance on the exercise of those rights. ...

Reviews

Employment tribunal procedure - a user's guide to tribunals and appeals (139 words)

Jeremy McMullen, Jennifer Eady and Rebecca Tuck, Legal Action Group, paperback, £30.00 ...

Paying for care handbook (122 words)

Geoff Tait, Pauline Thompson, Helen Winfield and David Simmons, Child Poverty Action Group, 94 White Lion Street, London N1 9PE, 523 pages, paperback, £14.95 ...

Contemporary political concepts - a critical introduction (157 words)

Editors: Georgina Blakeley and Valerie Bryson, Pluto Press, 230 pages, paperback, £3.99 ...

e-views (367 words)

At first glance, the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) site is unprepossessing but in fact it is one of the government's most user-friendly offerings. ...