News

PCS rebuts sickness claims (260 words)

The PCS civil service union has challenged claims from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) that absence rates are higher in the public sector. ...

Unions talk tough on key government proposals (342 words)

The Labour government's legislative programme for the new Parliament has some welcome developments for trade unions. However, it is also clear that they are ...

University staff reject pay offer (259 words)

Higher education staff have rejected a pay offer worth 5% over two years. ...

Bank, BBC and council workers take action in May (319 words)

Pay freezes, job cuts and problems implementing harmonisation were among the issues driving some of the most prominent industrial disputes last month. ...

Rover unions push for extra redundancy pay (179 words)

Unions representing workers made redundant from the MG Rover car group lodged tribunal applications last month aimed at getting extra redundancy pay. ...

Amicus plans bargaining campaign (213 words)

Technical and professional union Amicus has announced that it is launching a campaign to bring back national bargaining in the engineering sector. ...

Inflation is unchanged at 3.2% (53 words)

Inflation remained unchanged in April at 3.2% for the fourth consecutive month. Higher petrol prices and motor insurance premiums offset slower price increases for ...

Further fall in manufacturing jobs (207 words)

The number of manufacturing jobs fell by 82,000 in the first quarter of 2005 compared to the same period last year. Employment in the ...

Key economic indicators

Key economic indicators (309 words)

March 2004 (r) 5.3 3.3 5.2 5.5 4.5 3.0 ...

Union news

Union leaders call for Labour to listen to its supporters (374 words)

Unions have welcomed the Labour's Party's election victory, but with warnings that it must re-energise its traditional supporters. ...

Wrack wins big majority in FBU election (267 words)

Matt Wrack was the surprise victor in last month's Fire Brigades Union leadership ballot. It was one of the few elections in which the ...

Union density (119 words)

The proportion of private sector employees who are union members (union density) fell sharply between 2003 and 2004, from 18.2% to 17.2%. ...

Ron Todd (73 words)

Ron Todd, general secretary of the T&G transport and general union from 1985-1992, sadly died on 30 April. ...

Lecturers' unions' merger progress (42 words)

The planned merger between the AUT and NATFHE lecturers' unions edged closer in April when the AUT annual conference voted to ballot members on ...

European news

UK gets first "European Company" (220 words)

The first "European Company", that is a company established under European rather than national country rules, has been set up in the UK. It ...

Ministers vote on key working time reforms (398 words)

This month should see a further stage in the dispute over the opt-out provisions of the working time directive. The Council of Ministers, which ...

Union researchers question German plans for sectoral pay minimums (228 words)

The WSI, the research arm of German union confederation the DGB, has warned that government plans to set legal minimum pay rates by sector ...

Features

Unions are vital to anti-poverty fight (2364 words)

Hunger, AIDS, war and sickness are the daily reality for much of the world's population. The sheer obscenity of world poverty and inequality is ...

Union workers top Labour MPs' job table (1412 words)

Labour's third consecutive election victory marks a significant change in UK politics. However, the election outcome has produced little change to the white male ...

Are ASBOs working? (1694 words)

There has been a huge increase in the use of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) in recent months. But just as worrying is the increasingly ...

Fire crews face physical attacks (1593 words)

In the middle of last month a gang of up to 20 youths attacked a fire crew in Belfast. Missiles were thrown and one ...

Law Matters

Long-term sick workers lose right to holiday pay (405 words)

Workers on long-term sick leave are not entitled to claim statutory holiday pay, the Court of Appeal has said. ...

Compromise agreements may not prevent claims, says court (275 words)

The Court of Appeal has given employees the right to bring tribunal claims even if they have signed a "compromise agreement" - as long ...

No injury to feelings in equal pay claims (169 words)

There is no entitlement to an award for injury to feelings in a claim for equal pay. ...

Bonuses during maternity leave (96 words)

Employers can reduce the size of a bonus to take account of maternity leave, if the bonus is dependent on the employee attending work. ...

Law Queries

Disciplinary hearings (340 words)

Q: One of our members has been sacked after attending an investigation meeting. The manager prevented his union rep from speaking at the meeting, ...

Medical information (150 words)

Q: Our employer has just told the union that all employees will be asked to visit their occupational health doctor as a matter of ...

Removal of shift allowance (245 words)

Q: One of our members was asked do a different job by management about six years ago. She did not sign anything at the ...

Law Back-up

Agency workers have employment rights (966 words)

The Court of Appeal's decision last year in Dacas v Brook Street Bureau [2004] IRLR 358 was a welcome advance in the rights of ...

Health & Safety Matters

European noise campaign launched (101 words)

Noise-induced hearing loss, long recognised as "the most prevalent, irreversible industrial disease", is also a major cause of work-related ill health, according to the ...

Scottish safety campaign launched (88 words)

A campaign highlighting the union safety effect in Scottish workplaces was launched at the STUC's annual congress in April. ...

Queen's speech pledge on corporate manslaughter (269 words)

Unions have welcomed the government's pledge in the Queen's speech last month to introduce a corporate manslaughter bill that will hold negligent firms to ...

Doctors dispel the myths surrounding a smoking ban (215 words)

Doctors' organisation the BMA has published a report aiming to "clear the air" and puncture the myths around the smoking debate. ...

NHS trust fined over worker's death (150 words)

The first case brought by the Health and Safety Executive against an NHS trust for the death of a worker has ended with a ...

Health & Safety Back-up

Safety is no excuse for discrimination (876 words)

One of the worst features of workplace discrimination against disabled people is the way that some employers use safety measures as a means of ...

Equality news

Equal opportunities remain elusive in universities, claim employees (180 words)

A study has revealed high levels of dissatisfaction about equality issues among university staff. ...

Just 4% of civil servants are disabled (581 words)

Official statistics show that the number of disabled workers in the public sector in Britain rose by a third between 1998 and 2004 - ...

Workplace Back-up

TUC dispels myth of compensation culture (862 words)

In a recent survey by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), two-thirds of employers said that compensation claims "have gone too far". But a ...

News from LRD

LRD researchers abroad (256 words)

In recent months LRD researchers have been invited by trade unions from other European states to speak on developments in the UK. ...

Reviews

Pox Americana (152 words)

John Bellamy Foster and Robert W. McChesney eds., Pluto, 192 pages, paperback, £12.99 ...

REACHing the workplace (183 words)

Tony Musu, European Trade Union Institute for Research, Education and Health and Safety (ETUI-REHS), 36 pages, paperback, 10 Euros ...

Welfare benefits and tax credits handbook 2005-2006 (98 words)

Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), 1582 pages, £33.00 plus £3.99 postage and packing (£8.00 postage free for individual benefit claimants) ...

E-views

e-views (375 words)

Many union reps and negotiators will turn to page six of Labour Research each month to check the latest figures on prices and earnings. ...