Labour Research May 2008

Will China have to address workers' rights?; Incapacity claimants face new work tests; Finance jobs under threat; Contending with job loss

News

Fear over oil refinery strike is seen as “ridiculously alarmist” (445 words)

A strike at the giant Ineos oil refinery in Grangemouth was set to go ahead, as Labour Research went to press — the annoucement ...

BME employment rates improve (253 words)

While the “employment gap” between black and minority ethnic (BME) workers and white workers is steadily improving, BME poverty rates remain twice as high, ...

Councils face senior staff shortage (221 words)

Councils face a looming staffing crisis, according to a research report by think tank the New Local Government Network (NLGN). Leading lights — recruiting ...

Pro-choice campaigners lobby to keep current limit (325 words)

This month pro-choice supporters will hold a major lobby of Parliament as part of a union-backed campaign protesting against proposals to change the current ...

Pensions get better protection (200 words)

The government has stepped in to boost protection for employees whose company pension schemes are involved in a buyout. ...

Missing taxes (74 words)

The TUC has criticised the “huge amounts of unpaid tax by the super-rich” uncovered in a recent report by HM Revenue and Customs. Measuring ...

NHS agreement (98 words)

A new NHS agreement on managing sickness absence and ill health retirement was implemented last month. It is the result of two years’ partnership ...

Shelter strike (76 words)

Members of the Unite general union working for national housing charity Shelter were set to resume industrial action as Labour Research went to press. ...

Unemployment levels drop again (220 words)

Unemployment has fallen on both official counts, according to the Office for National Statistics. Under the Labour Force Survey (LFS) count it fell by ...

Inflation outstrips pay growth (65 words)

The gap between inflation and earnings growth widened at the beginning of the year. Under the Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation was 4.1% in ...

Key economic indicators

Key economic indicators (191 words)

% annual rise in average weekly earnings (1)% rise in LRD pay deals (2)Whole economyManufacturingServicesPrivate sectorPublic sectorFeb 2007 (r) 4.53.64.85.02.73.7March 3.53.53.33.83.13.7April 3.43.23.63.23.23.5May 3.64.43.53.83.03.5June3.23.93.23.23.13.5July 3.84.33.84.22.54.0August ...

Union news

Popular NUT chief Steve Sinnott is widely mourned (377 words)

Last month’s strike over pay by members of the National Union of Teachers took place amid an atmosphere of desperate sadness over the sudden ...

Manager is sacked over tips policy (185 words)

The Unite general union is trying to persuade Gondola Holdings, the parent company of PizzaExpress, to reinstate an employee who was sacked after almost ...

TSSA re-election (139 words)

Members of the transport staff union TSSA have overwhelmingly re-elected Gerry Doherty as their general secretary for another five-year term. He defeated sole opponent ...

Lifetime award (69 words)

A union leader has won an industry award for his work for members. Brian Orrell, general secretary of seafarers’ union Nautilus UK, received the ...

European news

French unions face the end of an era with changes to the balance of power (420 words)

Representatives of the main unions and employers’ organisations have agreed major changes to the decades-old system of representation and negotiating rights in France. The ...

Employers use delaying tactics to stop the works councils directive going through (443 words)

As forecast in last month’s Labour Research, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) has decided not to enter into negotiations with European employers on ...

Features

Pushing for workers’ rights (1566 words)

Last month’s Olympic torch demonstrations over Chinese repression in Tibet brought the whole issue of human rights in China onto the world stage. ...

Testing times lie ahead (1744 words)

If everything goes according to the government’s plan every one of the UK’s 2.64 million Incapacity Benefit (IB) claimants will have undergone a rigorous ...

Trying to outpace the credit crunch (1459 words)

Last month’s quarter-point cut in interest rates by the Bank of England was the third since the global credit crunch hit last summer. Unions ...

Dealing with the aftermath (2341 words)

News reports of the credit crunch have inevitably focused on how it has wreaked havoc for banks, consumers and house prices. But so far ...

Law Matters

Pilots win right to be paid allowances while on leave (299 words)

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ruled that airline pilots are entitled to their usual pay supplements as part of their holiday pay. ...

European law has direct effect in national courts (152 words)

A ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has established that workers can bring claims directly under European law in their own national ...

Second-job sacking was unfair (196 words)

Sacking a nurse for working night shifts in a second job was unfair dismissal, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has confirmed. ...

Intimidation justifies tribunal ban (151 words)

An employment tribunal was right to ban an employer from a case after one of its witnesses intimidated the claimant, the Employment Appeal Tribunal ...

Collective grievance (106 words)

Tribunal claims will be invalid unless the individuals who bring them have been named in a collective grievance, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has ...

Law Queries

Redundancy pay (223 words)

Q: A colleague who went from full-time to part-time work two months ago has now been made redundant. Is her redundancy pay an average ...

Strike pay (202 words)

Q: Following a one-day strike, our employer has deducted a full day’s pay from a member who only works half a day. Can we ...

Request to work part-time (301 words)

Q: A disabled member on maternity leave asked her employer if she could return to work during term-time only. She was categorically told that ...

Law Back-up

Employers are failing the pregnancy test (918 words)

It’s now more than 12 years since the Sex Discrimination Act (SDA) specifically prohibited discrimination against workers on grounds of their pregnancy or maternity ...

Health & Safety Matters

Unions carry on fight for victims of pleural plaques (329 words)

Unions have stepped up their campaign to secure compensation for pleural plaque sufferers, following a government promise of consultation on the issue. ...

Union action secures Tube safety (64 words)

A strike threat has forced London Underground (LU) to scrap a scheme involving the use of agency staff and “mobile station supervisors” for crucial ...

NHS violence is still unacceptably high (78 words)

A new survey carried out by the Healthcare Commission has revealed that 13% of NHS staff were physically attacked at work last year. ...

Roofing boss admits manslaughter (103 words)

Union action has led the owner of a roofing firm to admit manslaughter in the case of Daniel Dennis, a 17-year-old worker who fell ...

Wire safety drive is a success (223 words)

A union-backed campaign to reduce accidents in the wire manufacturing industry has exceeded expectations in its first year. ...

Health & Safety Back-up

NICE gets nasty in NHS ban on vital drugs (746 words)

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a rare lung disorder in which the blood pressure in the pulmonary artery — the main blood vessels carrying deoxygenated ...

Equality news

Workers with depression deserve employer support (325 words)

Workers who suddenly lose their motivation, become unable to cope with their work appear distracted or absent themselves from work may be suffering from ...

Forum aims to end law firms’ homophobia (254 words)

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) workers in the City of London’s law firms have launched a new forum, with the aim of enabling ...

Fawcett slams sexist culture of corporate entertainment (339 words)

Almost two-thirds of women would be uncomfortable working for an organisation which uses strip clubs for hospitality, the Fawcett Society has claimed. ...

Workplace Back-up

Employers won’t take action to raise skills (769 words)

Published at the end of 2006, Lord Sandy Leitch’s report Prosperity for all in the global economy — world class skills was the culmination ...

News from LRD

News from LRD (96 words)

The Labour Research Department Annual General Meeting was held on 21 April and the new Executive Committee took office. ...

Reviews

British trade unions and industrial politics (214 words)

Volume 1: the post-war compromise, 1945-64; Volume 2: the high tide of trade unionism 1964-79 ...

Ten years of New Labour (246 words)

Edited by Matt Beech and Simon Lee, Palgrave MacMillan, 221 pages, paperback, £19.99 ...

E-views

e-views (391 words)

A recent column by web useability expert Jakob Nielsen should be of particular interest to trade unionists. ...