News

Minority ethnic members vital for unions (232 words)

The future of the UK trade union movement will be shaped by its capacity to recruit more ethnic minority workers. This was TUC general ...

Civil service unions submit first joint national pay claim (281 words)

Civil service unions PCS and Prospect submitted their first joint national pay claim to the government last month. Their aim is to establish minimum ...

Report attacks asylum system (331 words)

The "target culture" in Britain and across the rest of Europe surrounding the deportation of asylum seekers, rests on "an unaccountable system based on ...

Unions braced for full impact of MG Rover crisis (254 words)

MG Rover car company went into administration last month, following the collapse of a partnership deal with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC). This put ...

Rail unions campaign for public ownership (293 words)

In the lead up to the general election all three of the main rail unions have focused their campaigning on a return to public ...

Firefighters face violence and abuse (139 words)

Firefighters across the country are regularly exposed to violence and verbal abuse according to a report published last month by the Fire Brigades Union ...

Earnings outstrip prices (51 words)

Average earnings have outstripped the rise in inflation over the past four years. Average earnings for the whole economy rose by 15.8% over the ...

Labour presides over jobs growth (213 words)

Employment has reached record levels since the last election, according to official figures, and unemployment is down. ...

Key economic indicators

Key economic indicators (316 words)

February 2004 3.7 3.6 3.6 3.8 4.4 3.0 ...

Union news

Firefighters' union orders leadership election inquiries (298 words)

The leadership of the Fire Brigades Union will be decided this month amid complaints of canvassing by candidates - banned under FBU rules - ...

GMB reviews general secretary election process (433 words)

The crisis-hit GMB general union has asked a lawyer to recommend new rules for leadership elections in the wake of the resignation of general ...

Serwotka re-elected (55 words)

Mark Serwotka has been re-elected unopposed as general secretary of the 295,000-strong Public, Commercial & Services Union. He was first elected in December 2000. ...

European news

French union confederation membership falls sharply (104 words)

The CFDT, the largest union confederation in France, lost 6.4% of its membership last year. It had 818,000 members at the end of 2004, ...

Unions welcome prospect of revised services directive (341 words)

The European parliament is currently debating major changes in the controversial services directive, which aims to make it easier to offer services across Europe. ...

Minimum wage debate continues as German government sets up low-pay taskforce (329 words)

The prospect of some sort of minimum wage in Germany has moved closer in recent weeks. This follows the decision by the social democratic/green ...

Features

Choice and jobs challenge for public services (1731 words)

Public services have been one of the main battlegrounds of the current election campaign. While it may be no surprise that the Labour Party ...

Labour hits main childcare targets (2216 words)

When Labour came to power in 1997, the government made an early announcement of its plans to introduce a national childcare strategy. This was ...

Unions maintain call to repeal Tory employment laws (1661 words)

Following its election victory in 1997, Labour introduced its proposals for the reform of employment law in the White Paper Fairness at work. It ...

Safety still needs to be revitalised (1924 words)

In 1997, Labour's then environment minister, Michael Meacher, sent out this warning: "Unscrupulous employers had better sit up and take notice. They must be ...

Unions stump up most of Labour cash (1352 words)

The Labour Party under Tony Blair has tried to reduce the party's reliance on trade union money. It has increasingly been looking to rich ...

Unions must wait for progress on pensions (859 words)

After 18 years of Conservative rule, trade unions had high hopes that Labour would get to grips with pensions policy and deal with the ...

Labour manages to reverse poverty trend (689 words)

Between 1979 and 1997 Conservative governments presided over record growth in child poverty. In 1979 the proportion of children living in poverty was 14%, ...

Education, education, education...again (800 words)

Labour promised to increase spending on education and ensure it took a greater share of national income. This has been done, with spending rising ...

More money, more staff but still all's not well (678 words)

Following its initial commitment in 1997 to stick with Conservative spending plans for its first two years in power, Labour then planned a major ...

Law Matters

Court offers potential new remedy for bullying (473 words)

The Court of Appeal has held that an employer can be legally liable for harassment carried out by its employees. ...

Employment relations provisions (129 words)

Most of the Employment Relations Act 2004's remaining provisions came into effect on 6 April 2005 - including the extension of protection against dismissal ...

Don't delay over constructive dismissal (349 words)

Waiting more than a month before resigning will jeopardise a constructive dismissal claim, a tribunal has said. ...

Law Queries

TUPE (182 words)

Q. Our employer outsourced its IT department three years ago and gave the work to an external company. We want to bring it back ...

Grievance procedures (306 words)

Q. One of our members has been having difficulties with a manager who has been bullying and harassing him. He raised the matter informally ...

Holiday requests (100 words)

Q: I recently put in for two days' holiday, but my manager told me that I could not take them because I had not ...

Removal of allowance (97 words)

Q: Our employer has just announced that from the end of the month we will no longer get our shift allowance. Are they able ...

Health & Safety Matters

Unions seek improvements to corporate killing bill (338 words)

Unions have welcomed the publication of a draft Corporate Manslaughter Bill, and say they will use the debate on it to campaign for further ...

HSC announces second round of Safety adviser awards (220 words)

The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) has announced the successful bids from the second round of the Workers' Safety Adviser (WSA) Challenge Fund. ...

Strike threat pays off (95 words)

The threat of strikes by rail union ASLEF over a failing communications system has secured important safety improvements. ...

Gender safety group is relaunched (69 words)

The TUC has reconvened its Gender Occupational Safety and Health working group. ...

Manslaughter case collapses (73 words)

The corporate manslaughter case against Barrow borough council over an outbreak of legionnaires' disease in 2002 collapsed last month. ...

Equality news

Research exposes extent of deaf discrimination (467 words)

Discrimination against deaf workers includes isolation, bullying and lack of proper communication support, according to a new report from mental health and deafness charity ...

Good preparation is the key to monitoring disability, says TUC (172 words)

The TUC has published new guidance on workplace disability monitoring in the light of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005. ...

Performance-related pay is unfair (132 words)

A system of performance-related pay at the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is discriminatory against black and minority ethnic staff and those at the ...

GMB votes for equal pay deal (107 words)

Members of the GMB general union at the Cumberland Infirmary have voted in favour of an equal pay agreement that will see nurses receive ...

News from LRD

Labour Research Department annual general meeting (316 words)

The 2005 Labour Research Department (LRD) annual general meeting (AGM) took place in London on Monday 18 April. ...

Reviews

Discovering child poverty (156 words)

The creation of a policy agenda from 1800 to the present ...

A more equal society? (148 words)

New Labour, poverty, inequality and exclusion ...

The inclusive society? (149 words)

Social exclusion and new Labour ...

E-views

e-views (348 words)

For the first time in memory - perhaps the first time ever - American unions are discussing their future. And that discussion is taking ...