News

Massive vote for strike action by Scottish nursery nurses (407 words)

Nursery nurses in Scotland have begun a series of strikes over pay with the first beginning on 20 May. ...

Steel group set to cut another 1,150 jobs (251 words)

Anglo-Dutch steel group Corus is to axe 1,150 jobs in the UK and says another 2,200 posts are in jeopardy as part of a ...

Firefighters face imposed pay as prison strike ban is set to be lifted (250 words)

The Fire Service Bill giving the government powers to impose a pay settlement moved a step closer last month when it received its second ...

Shareholders reject drug executive's pay package (369 words)

Trade union-backed shareholder action won an unprecedented victory last month when drugs giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) was forced to re-assess its executive pay policy. ...

"Union-busters" thwart telecoms recognition (349 words)

Staff at mobile phone group T-Mobile voted against union recognition last month following an anti-union campaign assisted by US-based consultants The Burke Group (TBG). ...

Frank Allaun: 1913 - 2002 - A tribute (131 words)

Hyman Davies, Working Class Movement Library, 51 The Crescent, Salford M5 4WX, 37 pages, paperback, £2.50 ...

Union news

Unions face harder recognition drives (459 words)

Evidence is emerging of increasing intimidation of staff by managements during union recognition campaigns. ...

TSSA stays with Labour (45 words)

Members of rail staff union TSSA have rejected a loosening of the union's links with Labour. Plans to disaffiliate from the party were not ...

Teaching merger off (83 words)

The possibility of a merger of teaching unions has all but disappeared after being rejected by members of the second largest, the NASUWT. ...

Northern Ireland union membership (71 words)

Total Northern Ireland (NI) membership of trade unions fell by 2,712 during 2001, to 241,446. This total includes NI membership in unions based in ...

German unions plan protest (85 words)

German unions have called for a campaign of opposition to planned changes to the labour market and social benefits in their government's Agenda 2010 ...

European news

Pensions: More than a million French protest (364 words)

Massive protests over pensions have taken place in France and Austria and unions are threatening action on the same issue in Italy and on ...

Pensions: Italy faces general strike (212 words)

Despite their ongoing differences, Italy's three main union confederations have threatened a general strike unless the government of Silvio Berlusconi changes course on pensions ...

Pensions: 500,000 Austrians take action (176 words)

More than 500,000 people took strike action in Austria last month and 200,000 marched through the streets of Vienna in protest at government plans ...

Features

Fighting to save call-centre jobs (1923 words)

Employers in a growing number of sectors are looking to shift their call-centre operations to lower-cost bases overseas. Unions have been gearing up to ...

Childcare costs still prohibitive (1446 words)

Despite five years of Labour's childcare strategy and financial help from the government, workers are still finding childcare costs so unaffordable that many women ...

Unions face up to BNP (1683 words)

The British National Party met with only limited success at last month's local elections, thanks partly to vigorous campaigning by trades unionists alongside anti-racist ...

Water firms get thirsty (1404 words)

The shortage of clean and safe water supplies is a major problem in poorer countries. But global policies to alleviate it are dominated by ...

Law queries (196 words)

The local authority I work for has a system where whenever it fails to reach agreement with the union on any changes it wants, ...

Law queries (101 words)

What pay are you entitled to if you have an injury at work and as a result are off work? ...

Law queries (187 words)

We're engaged in a pay dispute at the moment. Although our employers are keeping information very close to their chests they have agreed to ...

Law queries (265 words)

Whenever we take our full holidays at our work our pay drops. We get our average earnings for the first four weeks of our ...

Government promises corporate killing law (280 words)

Health and safety campaigners gave a cautious welcome to the government's announcement in May that it will enact a law on corporate killing. ...

Trade unions win £3 billion in injury compensation (217 words)

In the last 10 years unions have won £3 billion in personal injury compensation for their members, according to a new TUC report. ...

CWU reps launch RSI website (85 words)

The CWU has launched a new section of its website, devoted to repetitive strain injury (RSI) among children of school age. The project is ...

Safety reps' charter in education sector (81 words)

Employers and the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) have backed a safety reps' charter for the education sector. Trade unionists on the two HSE ...

Stress off the rails (79 words)

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of safety reps see overwork or stress as the number one workplace hazard on the railways. This is one of the ...

Guides should help reps tackle bullying (746 words)

Bullying and harassment are key concerns for workers. Back-up looks at new guidance for employers and employees produced by the ACAS conciliation and arbitration ...

Law Matters

Minimum wage law change needed for ex-employees (236 words)

A recent Court of Appeal ruling has confirmed that the Inland Revenue does not have the power to compel employers to pay back any ...

Full-time comparison for part-time rights (79 words)

In one of the first cases taken under the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000, the Employment Appeal Tribunal clarified that ...

Union activist wins victimisation case (189 words)

Union members who are disciplined for things that they do in the context of industrial action should be able to claim protection against victimisation, ...

TUC report focuses on unions' tribunal successes (227 words)

The latest TUC survey on employment tribunals shows that unions achieve very high success rates when they pursue cases. ...

Law Back-up

Court cases allow for positive discrimination (681 words)

In the UK the right to take positive steps to address discrimination is limited. Employers can take some measures to encourage applications from under-represented ...

Equality news

Employers carry out more equality audits (113 words)

Increasing numbers of employers are starting to carry out regular audits to ensure equal pay, says a report Gender equality in the workplace by ...

Commission wants swift action on disability law (380 words)

An escape clause in disability legislation, which allows employers to discriminate against people with conditions such as cancer and multiple sclerosis, must be closed ...

Employer given warning on breastfeeding rights (233 words)

The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) has warned that employers who fail to provide facilities for women who are breastfeeding could be breaking the law. ...

Section 28 - end in sight (68 words)

Several unions are urging their members to sign a petition, run by campaign group Stonewall, to help ensure that the controversial Section 28, prohibiting ...

Workplace Back-up

What's behind the sickness statistics? (758 words)

The CBI has just released its annual statistics on sickness absence saying the results raise "serious concerns about the number of staff 'throwing sickies'". ...

Reviews

Mr Lewisham - A life of Les Stannard (112 words)

Helen Tomkins, Lewisham Pensioners' Forum, 120 Rushey Green, London SE6 4HQ, 248 pages, paperback, £3.99 ...

The future of the American labor movement (155 words)

Hoyt Wheeler, Cambridge University Press, 257 pages, paperback, £15.95 ...

The no-nonsense guide to terrorism (126 words)

Jonathan Barker, Verso, 144 pages, paperback, £7.00 ...

E-views

Eviews (213 words)

After a long period with no presence on the world wide web, the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) has recently launched a well designed ...