Fact Service April 2022

Issue 14 (07/04/2022) - P&O protests continue; Unite challenges Scottish government over pay imposition; Schools unions point to 'worsening' Covid disruption; TUC raises alarm over bill delay; Cost of living crisis is hitting hard; Health and wellbeing 'dropping down agenda'; Union to take case to Supreme Court. Issue 15 (14/04/2022) Wages fall further behind inflation with both employment and unemployment also down; TUC general secretary to step down; Inflation rockets to 7.0%; Luton airport Easter strikes off as Unite secures sick pay victory; Minimal growth in February; Unions suspend equal pay strike in Glasgow after commitment from council. Issue16 (21/04/2022) IMF predicts social unrest in poorer countries and slowing growth for UK; Research examines top pay under Covid; TUC calls for government to take over P&O Ferries; Workplace pension participation reaches 22.6 million; Union urges rail company to remedy uniform mistake; Legal action over lack of Sharia pension option; Unions blast ‘quiet drink’ slur. Issue 17 (28/04/2022) Drifting ship proves union warnings were correct; Nine in 10 already experiencing rising costs; NHS workers with long Covid ‘returning to work too early’; Disability pay gap widens; Most deprived 10% living 9.7 years less; Economy losing 1 million workers through inaction and Covid, new body finds.

Issue 17

Drifting ship proves union warnings were correct (369 words)

Union warnings about the safety of P&O Ferries following the sacking of 800 staff (see previous issues) have been vindicated after the ferry ...
Subscribers only

Nine in 10 already experiencing rising costs (586 words)

Almost 90% of adults questioned by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported their cost of living had risen last month, an increase of 25 ...
Subscribers only

NHS workers with long Covid ‘returning to work too early’ (297 words)

NHS staff experiencing the symptoms of long Covid are returning to work early because they’re afraid of losing their jobs, public services union ...
Subscribers only

Disability pay gap widens (225 words)

The UK’s disability pay gap has widened since 2014, the ONS reports, reaching 13.8% in 2021, up from 2014, when disabled workers earned 11.7% less ...
Open access

Most deprived 10% living 9.7 years less (192 words)

The most deprived 10% of males in England were living 9.7 fewer years than the least deprived 10% between 2018 and 2020. Females lived 7.9 years less. ...
Open access

Economy losing 1 million workers through inaction and Covid, new body finds (580 words)

A new IPPR (Institute for Public Policy Research) report, published to mark the think tank’s launch of a new Commission on Health and Prosperity, ...
Subscribers only

Issue 16

IMF predicts social unrest in poorer countries and slowing growth for UK (524 words)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reined in its global growth forecast for this and next year and warned of social unrest in poorer countries ...
Subscribers only

Research examines top pay under Covid (214 words)

Research by the High Pay Centre think tank, in collaboration with The Open University, University of Nottingham and Western University, has examined ...
Open access

TUC calls for government to take over P&O Ferries (306 words)

The TUC has called on the government to take over P&O Ferries if no other suitable operator can be found to replace the current owners, who ...
Subscribers only

Workplace pension participation reaches 22.6 million (273 words)

UK workplace pension participation has increased slightly according to the Office for National Statistics. ...
Subscribers only

Union urges rail company to remedy uniform mistake (173 words)

Transport union TSSA has written to the managing director of rail operator Avanti West after uniform blouses it planned to bring in turned out not to ...
Open access

Legal action over lack of Sharia pension option (287 words)

Gig workers’ union the App Drivers and Couriers Union (ADCU) reports that it has begun legal action against Uber after the company failed to ...
Subscribers only

Unions blast ‘quiet drink’ slur (420 words)

Unions have called on Conservative MP Michael Fabricant to withdraw his claim – made in an attempt to defend Boris Johnson’s “partygate” ...
Subscribers only

Issue 15

Wages fall further behind inflation with both employment and unemployment also down (808 words)

Wages failed to keep up with inflation in the three months to February, with the public sector particularly badly hit. The latest figures from the ...
Subscribers only

TUC general secretary to step down (222 words)

Frances O’Grady, the general secretary of the TUC, has announced that she will step down at the end of the year. ...
Open access

Inflation rockets to 7.0% (563 words)

Prices, as measured by the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), have increased by 7.0% in the 12 months to March 2022, up from 6.2% in February. This is the ...
Subscribers only

Luton airport Easter strikes off as Unite secures sick pay victory (198 words)

Planned strikes this Easter by Luton Airport baggage handlers and check in staff, employed by GH London Ground Handling Services on the Wizz Air ...
Open access

Minimal growth in February (223 words)

Gross domestic product (GDP), which measures the value of the total output of the UK economy, grew by an anaemic 0.1% in February 2022, down from 0.8% ...
Open access

Unions suspend equal pay strike in Glasgow after commitment from council (356 words)

Unions representing workers in Glasgow City Council have agreed to suspend a strike planned for 20 and 21 April after the council leader wrote to the ...
Subscribers only

Issue 14

P&O protests continue (243 words)

Unions are maintaining the pressure on P&O Ferries and its owner DP World over their mass sacking of 800 workers (see Fact Service issues 12 and 1 ...
Open access

Unite challenges Scottish government over pay imposition (148 words)

The Unite general union has said it is challenging the Scottish government over what it believes is a potentially illegal pay award. ...
Open access

Schools unions point to ‘worsening’ Covid disruption (403 words)

Two unions have written to education secretary Nadhim Zahawi saying the disruption caused by Covid is greater than at any previous point during the ...
Subscribers only

TUC raises alarm over bill delay (256 words)

The TUC has challenged the government over its plans for workers’ rights, after a Financial Times report suggested it was planning to drop the ...
Subscribers only

Cost of living crisis is hitting hard (579 words)

The long-forecast (see previous issues) cost of living crisis caused by rising inflation, increasing National Insurance contributions and rocketing ...
Subscribers only

Health and wellbeing ‘dropping down agenda’ (244 words)

The health and wellbeing of workers is in danger of dropping down the business agenda, human resources institute the CIPD and insurers SimplyHealth ...
Open access

Union to take case to Supreme Court (313 words)

UNISON is taking a case to the Supreme Court because, it says, of the risk that bad employers will feel emboldened to mistreat employees who ...
Subscribers only