News

TUC backs refugee education initiative (233 words)

Last month the Council for Assisting Refugee Academics (CARA) charity launched a new handbook - with support from the TUC - which advises refugees ...

Unions support Unite against Fascism campaign (379 words)

The general election "will be an important landmark in the fight against racism and fascism," the T&G general union's assistant general secretary Barry Camfield ...

Unions back Woodcraft Folk campaign (253 words)

The Woodcraft Folk youth organisation, which fosters equality, friendship, peace and co-operation, is facing a disastrous cut in grant from the Department for Education ...

Unions get government to back down on pensions (294 words)

Local government and civil service unions pulled back from a planned one-day strike over pensions last month. This followed a government decision to withdraw ...

Blair confirms extension of two-tier rules (140 words)

Speaking at last month's Welsh Labour Party conference, prime minister Tony Blair confirmed that regulations to end the two-tier workforce in local government would ...

Agency workers blame BT for pay freeze (257 words)

Telecoms giant BT is being blamed for a four-year pay freeze affecting 160 call centre workers at Alness in the Scottish Highlands. ...

Inflation stays at 3.2% (58 words)

Inflation remained unchanged last month as higher food and transport costs offset slower price increases for household goods such as furniture. The Retail Prices ...

Manufacturing jobs fall again (207 words)

The total number of jobs in manufacturing fell by 92,000 to 3.24 million in the three months to January 2005. This is the lowest ...

Key economic indicators

Key economic indicators (319 words)

Jan 2004 7.2 3.6 8.5 8.0 4.0 3.0 ...

Union news

Allegations fly as union suspends general secretary (456 words)

Britain's fourth largest union, the GMB general union, is in turmoil amidst mutual allegations of improper behaviour by all sides at the most senior ...

Re-elected Prentis welcomes political fund ''yes'' vote (196 words)

Public services union UNISON announced two ballot results last month. ...

TUC highlights rise in women members (129 words)

Women are now just as likely as men to be union members, a TUC report confirmed last month. ...

European news

Massive protests mark one-day strike in France (204 words)

The one-day strike called by French unions for 10 March brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets of France last month. ...

Spanish government launches plan for women (238 words)

The Spanish government last month introduced a series of policies designed to improve the position of women in society. ...

Pay and jobs deal keeps German car plants open (283 words)

Last month, management at the Opel car company and metal working union IG Metall finally reached agreement on the future of the group's three ...

Unions join march for a social Europe (101 words)

Around 75,000 trade unionists joined a march for more and better jobs in Brussels last month, according to the European TUC. ...

Features

Election will bring little change to MPs' ethnic mix (1968 words)

Black and minority ethnic (BME) communities are vastly underrepresented in the House of Commons. And despite a record number of BME candidates, Labour Research ...

Immigration debate overlooks workers' rights (1842 words)

The amount of heat generated by politicians and the media over immigration and asylum has ensured that delegates to this month's TUC Black Workers' ...

Unions want more force in flexible working law (2084 words)

The right to request flexible working arrangements, exactly two years old this month, has brought benefits to some workers. However, unions argue that this ...

Iraqi unions call for practical solidarity (1791 words)

Hadi Saleh paid the ultimate price for trade union activity in Iraq earlier this year. Bound hand and foot with wire, blindfolded and tortured, ...

Law Matters

No right to be accompanied in investigation meetings (430 words)

Employees are not entitled to be accompanied at an investigation meeting, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has said - even if the meeting could ...

Most protected disclosures are made in good faith, says EAT (275 words)

An employee who was sacked after raising concerns about her employer's financial irregularities was unfairly dismissed, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled. ...

Exclusion of evidence was unfair (262 words)

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled that a tribunal acted unfairly by excluding evidence on behalf of an unrepresented claimant. ...

Law Queries

Disciplinary procedures (89 words)

A. Under the new statutory disciplinary procedures introduced last October, each step in the disciplinary process must be taken "without unreasonable delay". This includes ...

Maternity leave (259 words)

A. There are two types of maternity leave - all new mothers have the right to 26 weeks' ordinary maternity leave (OML), and those ...

References (141 words)

A. An employer is not obliged to provide a reference about an employee - but if they do provide one, it must be true, ...

Paternity leave (295 words)

A. Under the statutory paternity arrangements, paternity leave has to be taken in a single block of either one week or two consecutive weeks. ...

Law Back-up

Court confirms shift in burden of proof (946 words)

When the Race Relations Act 1976 was amended in July 2003, the statutory provisions on "burden of proof" were among those to be changed. ...

Health & Safety Matters

Law-breaking bosses are still escaping punishment (292 words)

Few company directors have yet been convicted of health and safety offences, and none has faced a jail sentence or disqualification following those crimes. ...

TUSDAC calls for workplace action on the environment (236 words)

Sustainable development is a core trade union issue just like health and safety, and much can be achieved in the workplace. ...

Workers' Memorial Day is 28 April (98 words)

Unions expect a record number of reps and safety campaigners to get involved in Workers' Memorial Day 2005 on 28 April. ...

Breaks are good for your health (80 words)

Giving workers the choice to take regular breaks and to control the speed of their work is the best way to prevent office strain ...

Work stress can give women diabetes (57 words)

Women who experience stress and have little control over their work could be at greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes. ...

Health & Safety Back-up

How reps can help sickle cell sufferers (887 words)

Sickle cell disorders are a group of genetic diseases that can cause bouts of extreme pain and permanent damage to many different organs, owing ...

Equality news

Advice on HIV for employers (247 words)

A new report has claimed that one in eight employees and over a quarter of managers have experienced discrimination at work over their actual ...

Timetable announced for new single equality body (401 words)

The government has published legislation that will create a single equality and human rights body - the Commission for Equality and Human Rights (CEHR). ...

NHS women get up to £200,000 in biggest-ever equal pay win (166 words)

Public services union UNISON has agreed a massive pay award for 1,500 women working at North Cumbria Acute NHS Trust. ...

Workplace Back-up

Minimum wage fails to close ethnic pay gap (768 words)

Since its introduction six years ago, the National Minimum Wage has boosted the earnings of low-paid workers and been credited with helping to narrow ...

News from LRD

Labour Research Department annual general meeting (66 words)

The 2005 Labour Research Department annual general meeting will be held on Monday 18 April from 2.00pm at the Association of London Government, 59 ...

Safety reps booklet and survey (167 words)

Later this year the Labour Research Department (LRD) will publish a new booklet, Safety reps in action, outlining the crucial role played by safety ...

Reviews

Socialist Register 2005: the empire reloaded (162 words)

Leo Panitch and Colin Leys eds., Merlin Press, 342 pages, paperback £14.95 ...

Work identity at the end of the line? Privatisation and culture change in the UK rail industry (153 words)

Tim Strangleman, Palgrave Macmillan, 204 pages, hardback, £50.00 ...

Unsocial Europe: social protection or flexploitation? (138 words)

Anne Gray, Pluto, 256 pages, paperback £ 15.99 ...

E-views

e-views (351 words)

One of the ironies about the Internet is that we get excited when we can get our computers to do things that were perfectly ...