Fact Service July 2019

Issue 30 (25/07/2019) - Single labour market enforcement body; Victimisation of union reps at Ruskin College?; New rights for workers in the gig economy???; Over 50s power growth in employment?; Unite launches inquiry into blacklist collusion??; New organising app from PCS?

Issue 29 (18/07/2019) - Retail price inflation cut to 2.9%


; Unemployment falls by a further 51,000


; How industrial change can deliver better jobs
; Welcome boost to average earnings

Issue 28 (11/07/2019) - Economy grows slowly; Courts again deny BT a change to indexation

; Wide pay gaps across various ethnic groups; Just transition to a greener economy; Firms fail to publish parental leave policies

Issue 27 (04/07/2019) - Pay bill for 34 executives comes to £84m; Working in hot weather; Stockpiling distorts UK economic growth data; Gig economy doubles in size in three years; Privatisation of care contract abandoned; Firefighters win in pension dispute

Issue 30

Single labour market enforcement body
 (395 words)

The government has announced proposals for a single labour market enforcement body which will have powers to enforce minimum wage and holiday ...
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Victimisation of union reps at Ruskin College
 (387 words)

Ten trade union leaders have written to Ruskin College in Oxford to raise profound concerns about the way Ruskin College management appears to be ...
Subscribers only

New rights for workers in the gig economy?
 (405 words)

Workers could be given the right to change their contract to more accurately reflect the hours they actually work, under plans aimed at giving gig ...
Subscribers only

Over 50s power growth in employment
 (375 words)

The number of over-50s in the workplace is continuing to rise and accounts for a disproportionate part of the overall increase in UK employment, ...
Subscribers only

Unite launches inquiry into blacklist collusion 
 (427 words)

An inquiry has been launched by the Unite general union into longstanding allegations that union officials colluded with a clandestine blacklisting ...
Subscribers only

New organising app from PCS
 (312 words)

The public and commercial services union PCS is launching a new organising app for its branches, building on the success of the branch app which was ...
Subscribers only

Issue 29

Retail price inflation cut to 2.9%
 (489 words)

Cheaper petrol offset by dearer household goods, such as furniture, helped cut inflation last month, according to official data.
 ...
Subscribers only

Unemployment falls by a further 51,000
 (569 words)

Unemployed dipped below the 1.3 million mark, official figures show.
 ...
Subscribers only

How industrial change can deliver better jobs
 (320 words)

Successful models for industrial transformation at local level are examined in a report from the TUC.
 ...
Subscribers only

Welcome boost to average earnings
 (655 words)

Average weekly earnings posted as second consecutive monthly increase in growth, according to the Office for National Statistics. 
 ...
Subscribers only

Issue 28

Economy grows slowly 
 (199 words)

The economy continues to grow, but at a slower rate, according to new official data.
 ...
Open access

Courts again deny BT a change to indexation
 (275 words)

Telecoms giant BT has lost its most recent attempt to change the indexation arrangements of part of its pension scheme, after the Supreme Court ...
Subscribers only

Wide pay gaps across various ethnic groups
 (752 words)

Workers of Bangladeshi heritage have the lowest median hourly pay of any ethnic group, earning 20.2% less than white British workers, the first ...
Subscribers only

Just transition towards a greener economy
 (457 words)

A roadmap to meeting the needs of working people in the transition to a low-carbon economy has been published by the TUC.
 ...
Subscribers only

Firms fail to publish parental leave policies
 (354 words)

Less than a quarter of the top 100 firms publish their parental leave policies, according to the Mumsnet website.
 ...
Subscribers only

Issue 27

Pay bill for 34 executives comes to £84m
 (713 words)

Summertime and the living is easy. It certainly is for the 34 top executives, whose latest remuneration package is worth over £1 million a year and ...
Subscribers only

Working in hot weather
 (458 words)

Summertime brings with it the possibility of a heatwave and people having to work in sweltering conditions.
 ...
Subscribers only

Stockpiling distorts UK economic growth data
 (188 words)

Official figures show that the economy grew as first thought in the first quarter of 2019.
 ...
Open access

Gig economy doubles in size in three years
 (478 words)

The number of people doing gig economy work has doubled in the last three years, according to new TUC and Foundation for European Foundation ...
Subscribers only

Privatisation of care contract abandoned (207 words)

NHS bosses in the north west have abandoned a plan to hand an urgent care contract to a private company following an outcry.
 ...
Open access

Firefighters win in pension dispute 
 (255 words)

The FBU firefighters’ union has secured a major victory in its long-running dispute with the government over changes made to firefighters’ ...
Subscribers only