Fact Service March 2022

Issue 13 (31/03/2022) - Unions' fightback forces government action on P&O; Avoidable deaths increased to new highs; Investors bring first of its kind living wage resolution; Unions query Covid testing promises; Majority 'want ethical pension funds'; Huge thumbs down for education white paper; Spring statement disappoints unions

Issue 12 (24/03/2022) - Spring statement disappoints unions; Unions united in protests against P&O mass sackings; Inflation hits 30 year high; Pay squeeze 'has cheated workers of £76 a week'; Research reveals vast disparity in supermarket pay; Pilots and firefighters in joint training

Issue 11 (17/03/2022) - Wages still falling behind but jobs growing; Energy bills 'to rise 14 times faster than wages'; Third of workers receive under a week’s notice of shifts, research finds; Living with Covid plan 'ignores H&S regs

Issue 10 (10/03/22) - Unions call for help in face of invasion-linked inflation; Pay rise demo put on hold; 'It’s time to close gender pay and pensions gaps'; Employers 'support extending bereavement leave'; International union support fund for Ukraine; UK ratifies harassment and violence convention

Issue 9 (03/03/22) - ITUC, ETUC and TUC condemn invasion of Ukraine; Seven out of 10 want action on CEO pay, poll finds; TUC: hi-tech surveillance of workers almost out of control; TUC analysis of unpaid work; '400,000 could be pulled into poverty in April; Union predicts chaos over outsourcing; Council workers plan targeted action; Reduction in working week negotiated at nature body

Issue 13

Unions’ fightback forces government action on P&O (445 words)

Union resistance to P&O Ferries’ mass sackings (see last issue) continues to make headlines and push the government into taking some - but not ...
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Avoidable deaths increased to new highs (275 words)

The difference in the rate of avoidable deaths (those treatable or preventable in under 75 year olds) between the most and least deprived areas in ...
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Investors bring first of its kind living wage resolution (349 words)

A major coalition of investors, who between them manage £2.2 trillion, has filed a shareholder resolution at Sainsbury’s PLC, calling for the ...
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Majority ‘want ethical pension funds’ (360 words)

Polling by the High Pay Centre has shown that the majority of people (66%) want their pension fund to reflect their ethical values and beliefs. The ...
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Unions query Covid testing promises (356 words)

Doctors’ union the BMA has expressed concern about assurances from the Department of Health and Social Care that free testing for Covid-19 will ...
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Huge thumbs down for education white paper (470 words)

Teachers’ unions have roundly rejected the white paper on education, Opportunity for All, which the government had promised would ensure that every ...
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Issue 12

Spring statement disappoints unions (256 words)

The chancellor’s spring statement on Wednesday did little for those who hoped a windfall tax would offset rocketing energy and living costs. ...
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Unions united in protests against P&O mass sackings (1,054 words)

The outrage and protests of trade unions have helped spread word of P&O Ferries’ sacking of 800 workers and generated widespread revulsion at ...
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Inflation hits 30 year high (336 words)

The cost of living crisis (see previous issues) grew even worse last month, as inflation reached a 30 year high of 6.2% CPI (consumer prices index), ...
Subscribers only

Pay squeeze ‘has cheated workers of £76 a week’ (210 words)

The average wage would be £76 a week higher if UK growth had kept pace with the OECD average since the financial crisis, the TUC claims. It says ...
Open access

Research reveals vast disparity in supermarket pay (210 words)

Research by the High Pay Centre shows that it would take two day’s work for the average supermarket CEO to earn the annual salary of a shop floor ...
Open access

Pilots and firefighters in joint training (115 words)

Members of BALPA and the Fire Brigades Union have completed what the two unions describe as a first of its kind training collaboration that paves the ...
Open access

Issue 11

Wages still falling behind but jobs growing (843 words)

Wage growth in the UK is continuing to lag behind inflation, Organisation for National Statistics (ONS) figures for November to January show, and all ...
Subscribers only

Changes to the ONS inflation basket (83 words)

Homeworking, the pandemic and healthy eating have been reflected in the items used by the ONS to estimate the cost of living. ...
Open access

Energy bills ‘to rise 14 times faster than wages’ (992 words)

The TUC has forecast that energy bills will increase at least 14 times faster than wages this year, in a week that also saw bleak predictions of ...
Subscribers only

Third of workers receive under a week’s notice of shifts, research finds (314 words)

Almost a third of workers receive less than a week’s notice of their coming shifts, according to the Living Wage Foundation, and that figure rises ...
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Living with Covid plan ‘ignores H&S regs’ (190 words)

In a week in which inflation versus pay and the war in Ukraine made headlines, the TUC warned that the dangers of Covid must not be forgotten. ...
Open access

Issue 10

Unions call for help in face of invasion-linked inflation (481 words)

Unions and the TUC have written to the chancellor asking him to introduce support measures to counter rises in energy costs following Russia’s ...
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Pay rise demo put on hold (100 words)

The TUC has postponed a planned cost of living crisis protest outside the Conservative party spring conference in Blackpool on Saturday 19 March. ...
Open access

‘It’s time to close gender pay and pensions gaps’ (913 words)

International Women’s Day (Tuesday) has been marked with calls for the gender pay and pensions gaps to be closed once and for all. ...
Subscribers only

Employers ‘support extending bereavement leave’ (174 words)

Three quarters (75%) of employers support extending paid bereavement leave to close family members, according to research by HR institute the CIPD. ...
Open access

International union support fund for Ukraine (354 words)

The ETUC (European Trade Union Confederation) reports that Ukrainian trade unions are providing food and shelter to people amid attacks which have ...
Subscribers only

UK ratifies harassment and violence convention (216 words)

This week the UK ratified ILO (International Labour Organization) Convention No 190 on violence and harassment in the workplace, becoming the 11th ...
Open access

Issue 9

ITUC, ETUC and TUC condemn invasion of Ukraine (202 words)

The ITUC global and ETUC European trade union confederations have spoken out jointly to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and demand that all ...
Open access

Seven out of 10 want action on CEO pay, poll finds (293 words)

Opinion polling carried out for the The Equality Trust charity has shown overwhelming support for government action to control executive pay and ...
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TUC: hi-tech surveillance of workers almost out of control (375 words)

Unless regulation is introduced, tech-based surveillance of workers could “spiral out of control”, the TUC has said. ...
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TUC analysis of unpaid work (473 words)

UK employers claimed £27 billion of free labour last year because of workers doing unpaid overtime, the TUC said on 25 February, which it designated ...
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‘400,000 could be pulled into poverty’ in April (184 words)

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation has warned that 400,000 people could be pulled into poverty by real-terms cuts to benefits in April ...
Open access

Union predicts chaos over outsourcing (174 words)

Members of the GMB general union who work for British Airways were abused by travellers after flights were cancelled due to recent IT problems, the ...
Open access

Council workers plan targeted action (185 words)

The Unite general union has said that its local government members will stage targeted industrial action at councils in England, Wales and Northern ...
Open access

Reduction in working week negotiated at nature body (295 words)

The Prospect specialists’ union has negotiated a reduction in the working week for staff at NatureScot, the public body responsible for ...
Subscribers only