Labour Research December 2005

No fairy story - toys from China; "Marriage" for same-sex couples; Rights for agency workers; Growing earnings divide

News

Unions threaten to boycott gangmaster authority (231 words)

The GMB general union has warned that trade unions will give up their places on the new Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) if the government ...

Report reveals capital's migrant "working poor" (256 words)

The overwhelming majority of London's "working poor" are migrants, suggests new research on low paid work in the capital. ...

Cleaners at Parliament keep up pay campaign (159 words)

Cleaners' pay at the Houses of Parliament is among the lowest in western Europe, according to the T&G general union and UNI global union ...

Sefton council dispute ends (208 words)

Talk at the ACAS employment advisory and conciliation service last month saw the settlement of a long-running dispute between the UNISON public services union ...

Lecturers' strike over pay and funding gaps (294 words)

Further education lecturers took national strike action on 16 November in protest at the employers' 2.8% pay offer. They also used the occasion to ...

Former LRD stalwart dies (136 words)

The Labour Research Department is sad to report the death, at 83, of Ken Brett who had been a long-serving member of its executive ...

TUC calls for radical action on pensions (359 words)

With the Pensions Commission's final report due out on 30 November, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said that the TUC would be looking to ...

Inflation falls (74 words)

Inflation has fallen for the first time in over a year. The Consumer Prices Index (CPI), which excludes housing costs and is the government's ...

Jobless figures move both ways (211 words)

A fall in the number of unemployed women meant that under the Labour Force Survey (LFS) count unemployment fell by 1,000 to 1.43 million ...

Key economic indicators

Key economic indicators (324 words)

KEY INDICATORS INFLATION +2.5% AVERAGE EARNINGS +3.7% ...

Union news

Johnson calls for cut in unions' conference vote (488 words)

Unions reacted angrily last month to the suggestion from trade and industry secretary Alan Johnson that their influence on Labour Party policy should be ...

Woman leader for actors' union (86 words)

Members of performers' union Equity have elected Christine Payne as their general secretary - the first time in the union's 75-year history that it ...

TUC appoints head of new union academy (85 words)

The TUC has appointed its head of learning services, Liz Smith, as chief executive of its planned union academy which will bring together all ...

Former building workers' general secretary dies (85 words)

The former leader of construction union UCATT, George Brumwell, sadly died last month, little more than a year since retiring as general secretary. ...

European news

Belgian unions warn of further action on pensions (205 words)

Belgian's three main union confederations organised a 24-hour general strike on 28 October over the government's plans on early-retirement. ...

German coalition programme "could have been worse" (292 words)

The programme, announced last month, is the result of negotiations between the centre-right CDU and social-democratic SPD which make up the coalition government. ...

Italians strike against government plans (214 words)

The three main Italian union confederations organised a general strike on 25 November directed at the government's financial plans for next year. ...

Finnish union wins ferry strike ruling (112 words)

The Court of Appeal in London last month backed the Finnish seafarers' union in a dispute with the Viking Line shipping company. The firm ...

Features

The real story behind fairy-tale toys (2090 words)

Roboraptor, Tumble Time Tigger and the perennial Barbie are currently topping the best-selling toy list. In the UK we spend around £2 billion a ...

Civil partnerships - a step closer to equality (2070 words)

The landmark Civil Partnership Act 2004 (CPA) will see the first lesbian and gay couples register their partnerships later this month, and so benefit ...

An agency worker is not just for Christmas (1875 words)

For some workers, temping is a welcome opportunity to earn money for a short period of time or a chance to gain additional skills. ...

The earnings gap grows ever wider (1325 words)

Overall pay inequality in the UK is not only increasing but has been increasing steadily over more than 20 years. ...

Law Matters

Compensation victory for worker on 132-hour week (433 words)

A live-in hotel worker who worked a 132-hour week for the equivalent of £1.33 an hour has been awarded more than £16,000 in compensation ...

Disability rules are amended (102 words)

Changes to the definition of disability in UK law are to take effect on 5 December, when the first parts of the Disability Discrimination ...

Long-term sick leave and holiday pay (54 words)

The House of Lords is to decide whether workers on long-term sick leave are entitled to holiday pay. ...

Personality issues justify dismissal (370 words)

The Court of Appeal has ruled that an employer can dismiss a fully competent employee if s/he rubs people up the wrong way. ...

Law Queries

Sick pay (127 words)

Q: I had three days off work earlier this month, and my employer has said they don't pay sickness for the first three days. ...

Information and consultation (69 words)

Q: Have the courts heard any claims yet under the information and consultation regulations? ...

Redundancies and temps (273 words)

Q: We are facing redundancies at work, and have been told that a worker on a fixed-term contract who has been there for two ...

Equal pay comparators (277 words)

Q: I am about to issue an equal pay questionnaire but am not sure who to name as my comparator. I have been doing ...

Law Back-up

Pregnant women lack sick pay protection (950 words)

Since 1 October 2005, discrimination on grounds of pregnancy or maternity leave has been specifically outlawed by the Employment Equality (Sex Discrimination) Regulations 2005, ...

Health & Safety Matters

Union anger over smoking climbdown (72 words)

The TUC has reacted angrily to government proposals to exempt some bar workers and workers in private clubs from the proposed workplace smoking ban. ...

Workers in danger of osteoarthritis (80 words)

Cleaners, textile workers and workers in construction and agriculture may be damaging their joints permanently, a French study has revealed. ...

Fair treatment cuts heart disease risk (80 words)

Men who are treated fairly at work have a much lower incidence of coronary heart disease, according to a study of civil servants in ...

Action plans on bird flu ignore high-risk workers (311 words)

Agricultural workers, poultry processing workers and small farmers are on the front line in the battle against bird flu - yet current plans to ...

The NHS is in a mess over stress (261 words)

Stress is rife in the NHS, and employers themselves acknowledge that they are not doing enough to tackle it. ...