News

Public services face massive restructuring (339 words)

Major changes in the way the public services operate in the UK are in prospect if the government follows the recommendations set out in ...

Pensions Bill "fails thousands" (639 words)

Unions gave a mixed reaction to the new pensions Bill, published last month, which sets up a fund to protect pension rights where companies ...

Manufacturing figures confirm 2003 as another nightmare year (284 words)

Manufacturing lost 111,000 jobs in 2003, according to the latest government figures. And the hurt has continued since, with recent cuts totalling over 800 ...

Irelands's minimum wage moves ahead of UK's (129 words)

The UK minimum wage rate is falling behind the Irish equivalent, which was raised by 10% last month. The Irish rate for an "experienced ...

Children's work laws (75 words)

The Better Regulation Task Force last month called on the government to simplify the law on child employment. ...

Gangmasters Bill (85 words)

The government has promised to back a Bill which would require the licensing of gangmasters - individuals who organise the supply of labour, primarily ...

Offshoring agreement (65 words)

Finance union Unifi has reached agreement with the bank HSBC on a deal to avoid compulsory redundancies as a result of the bank's decision ...

European news

Italian unions keep up pressure on pensions (200 words)

The Italian government and the three major union confederations were meeting as Labour Research went to press to discuss the government's proposals on pensions. ...

Features

CWU branch follows RMT (255 words)

The 4,000-strong Scotland No 2 branch of the CWU communications union last month voted to affiliate to the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) in support ...

New TSSA leader (47 words)

Gerry Doherty has won the four-cornered fight to become general secretary of the 32,000-strong TSSA rail staff union from this month. He will replace ...

Uniting against fascism (115 words)

Twenty trade union general secretaries have signed up to support the new Unite Against Fascism campaign, which is calling, "as a matter of the ...

GPMU moves towards Amicus (54 words)

Members of the GPMU print and media union have indicated that they would rather merge with manufacturing and professional union Amicus than the T&G ...

Unions welcome fund for "modernisation" (285 words)

Unions have welcomed a government proposal to assist them with "modernisation" through a fund similar to the existing Partnership Fund, although the Conservatives have ...

German pay deal "shows system works" (190 words)

The German union confederation, the DGB, has welcomed a recent agreement for the metalworking industry as a positive example of how the existing system ...

Women's rise in unions patchy (1838 words)

With a couple of notable exceptions, women trade unionists have made only slow progress towards the very senior positions in unions. But there is ...

Whose got rid of the men in suits (1496 words)

Women hold fewer than one in 10 of the senior positions in working life, says the EOC. Labour Research looks at which individuals are ...

What do young people know about unions? (1638 words)

This month's TUC Young Members' Conference may be celebrating its 30th anniversary, but nowadays only 11% of workers under age 24 are union members. ...

How worker safety went off the rails (2004 words)

Privatisation has been a disaster for the railways - both for the passengers who travel by train and those who work in the industry. ...

Unions demand action on asbestos (298 words)

Unions have called for workplaces to be cleared of asbestos after senior doctors warned of a lung cancer epidemic caused by exposure to the ...

Ethnic minority nurses losing out on pay (260 words)

A survey of almost 10,000 nurses by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has found that ethnic minority nurses are losing out on pay ...

Childcare costs rise (131 words)

Childcare costs have increased by more than the rate of inflation in the last year, according to the latest survey from childcare charity Daycare ...

Gay advice service faces closure (140 words)

Lesbian and Gay Employment Rights (LAGER) - which has advised and represented lesbians and gay men facing discrimination at work for 20 years - ...

TUC reminds unions of extra duties to disabled members (268 words)

The TUC is urging unions to prepare for the changes to the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) which will come into effect in October this ...

Law Matters

Disciplinary and grievance code published for consultation (229 words)

The advisory and conciliation service ACAS has published a new draft code of practice on disciplinary and grievance hearings, on which it is seeking ...

Transsexual pensions (111 words)

Transsexuals should get the right to survivors' benefits from their partner's pension following a recent European Court of Justice ruling. ...

Law timetable for 2004 (126 words)

The government has announced its timetable for the implementation of employment legislation this year. ...

Agency teacher wins pension case (262 words)

Workers in the public sector who are employed through employment agencies may have the right to join pension schemes as the result of a ...

Law Queries

Strikes and working time (117 words)

The Working Time Regulations 1998 appear to exclude time when taking industrial action from the calculation of working time. Regulation 2 states that working ...

Reorganisation and TUPE (111 words)

The situation you describe is unlikely to come within the definition of TUPE. ...

Providing employee names (118 words)

It is unlikely that providing a name, without any other personal information about the individual, would come within the definition of the Data Protection ...

Redeployment of disabled workers (181 words)

Employers have a legal obligation to make reasonable adjustments to make it possible for a disabled worker to continue in employment. However, this does ...

Sick pay after an accident at work (158 words)

Should she not have the right to continue to be paid since, if she had not been at work, she would not have had ...

Law Back-up

Plans for dispute resolution published (768 words)

The government has published its response to the consultation on the dispute resolution regulations that will come into force on 1 October 2004. Back-up ...

Health & Safety Matters

Transport workers suffer fatigue (73 words)

Airline pilots and merchant seafarers are suffering from fatigue, according to new research. Researchers at Leicester University found that more than half the pilots ...

RSI Association appeal (86 words)

The RSI Association, which has campaigned for years in support of workers suffering from repetitive strain injuries, faces the prospect of closure due to ...

CWU negotiates on accident book (57 words)

The CWU communication workers' union has negotiated a national agreement with Royal Mail to provide details of incidents to safety representatives. ...

Firefighters' union condemns plans to downgrade services (191 words)

The FBU firefighters' union has condemned plans in the government's Fire and Rescue Services Bill that it warns will downgrade the rescue role of ...

Health & Safety Back-up

Health risks to women still BEING ignored (857 words)

Two recent European reports have provided evidence of the specific health and safety issues faced by women at work. Back-up explains how a gender-sensitive ...

Workplace Back-up

Skills gaps persist as employers fail to train (790 words)

A new Learning and Skills Council survey of 72,000 employers, the largest of its kind, has revealed that one-fifth of job vacancies in England ...

Reviews

The map of my life (175 words)

The story of Emma Humphreys ...

Real world economic outlook (122 words)

Edited by Ann Pettifor, Palgrave, 232 pages, paperback, £16.99 ...

Health and safety (144 words)

Revitalised or reversed? ...

E-views

Web activities of US presidential campaign (360 words)

Surprising though it may seem, trade unionists in the UK may have something to learn from the web activities of the US presidential campaign. ...