Fact Service April 2023

Issue 17: Amazon workers on brink of recognition victory Government attempt to ban strike to be heard in court today Sickness absence highest since 2004 International politicians oppose anti-strikes bill One in 20 report running out of food Bank economist’s remarks attract backlash Adventure centre strike averted Issue 16: Inflation stays in double figures as food prices soar Real value of pay slips while workforce grows but unemployment creeps up Agreement reached in mail negotiations ‘No protection from AI’, TUC warns One in six young people suffering because of housing

Issue 15: Doctors’ union calls in ACAS as strike bites Two-thirds with long Covid ‘treated unfairly’ IMF: UK to be one of world’s worst-performing economies Top CEOs’ salaries increased by 12% in 2022 Issue 14: Unions reject school pay offer Eight out of 10 employers still paying men more than women Criticism of anti-strike bill’s legality grows UK escaped year-end recession Government to cut social care workforce funding by half Young teachers ‘skipping meals’ Union reacts after lifeboat goes overboard

Issue 17

Amazon workers on brink of recognition victory (243 words)

Workers at online retail giant Amazon’s Coventry depot look set to be the first in the UK to win recognition from the company, after union ...
Open access

Government attempt to ban strike to be heard in court today (416 words)

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has promised to resist an attempt in the High Court today by health secretary Steve Barclay to prohibit the ...
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Sickness absence highest since 2004 (252 words)

The sickness absence rate – the percentage of working hours lost because of sickness or injury – reached its highest level since 2004 last year, ...
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International politicians oppose anti-strikes bill (346 words)

The TUC has assembled 121 politicians from 18 countries to sign a letter decrying the UK government’s proposed Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) ...
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One in 20 report running out of food (375 words)

Around one in 20 adults (5%) questioned reported that they had run out of food and had not been able to afford to buy more in the last two weeks, ...
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Bank economist’s remarks attract backlash (433 words)

The UNISON public services union is among those criticising remarks by the Bank of England’s chief economist Huw Pill that people need to accept ...
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Adventure centre strike averted (143 words)

The Unite general union reports that planned strike action by engineers at Chessington World of Adventures, which would have disrupted the theme park ...
Open access

Issue 16

Inflation stays in double figures as food prices soar (460 words)

Inflation reduced slightly to 10.1% CPI/13.5% RPI in March (down from 10.4%/13.5%), but remains in double figures, against a background of rocketing ...
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Real value of pay slips while workforce grows but unemployment creeps up (716 words)

Wage growth has once again failed to keep pace with inflation according to the latest figures from the ONS, which also show rises in both ...
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Agreement reached in mail negotiations (553 words)

The CWU communications workers’ union has announced that a “negotiators’ agreement” has been reached in its long-running dispute with Royal ...
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‘No protection from AI’, TUC warns (214 words)

The government is failing to protect workers from exploitation by artificial intelligence (AI), the TUC has warned. ...
Open access

One in six young people suffering because of housing (325 words)

An estimated one in six young people (2.6 million in total) aged 18-34 live in housing so poor it is affecting their health, the Resolution ...
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Issue 15

Doctors’ union calls in ACAS as strike bites (1,363 words)

Doctors’ union the BMA has called in the ACAS arbitration and conciliation service in pursuit of a better offer from health secretary Steve Barclay ...
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Two-thirds with long Covid ‘treated unfairly’ (366 words)

Two out of three people with long Covid have been treated unfairly at work and one in seven have lost their jobs, according to research by the TUC ...
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IMF: UK to be one of world’s worst-performing economies (369 words)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that the UK will be one of the worst-performing major economies in the world this year – and ...
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Top CEOs’ salaries increased by 12% in 2022 (160 words)

The median pay package for FTSE 100 company chief executives is likely to have increased by 12% last year – from £3.72 million in 2021 to £4.15 ...
Open access

Issue 14

Unions reject school pay offer (629 words)

Industrial action in English schools is back on the agenda after three education unions – the NEU, ASCL and NAHT – decisively rejected the offer ...
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Eight out of 10 employers still paying men more than women (333 words)

Around eight in 10 employers are still paying men more than women – more than when mandatory pay gap reporting was introduced six years ago ...
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Criticism of anti-strike bill’s legality grows (102 words)

In yet another blow to the proposed new Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, a collection of legal academics has joined in warning against what the ...
Open access

UK escaped year-end recession (113 words)

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the UK narrowly avoided falling into recession at the end of last year. Instead, ...
Open access

Government to cut social care workforce funding by half (437 words)

The government has “signalled an end to its social care reform package”, after confirming that funding promised in 2021 for the adult social care ...
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Young teachers ‘skipping meals’ (304 words)

Young teachers are skipping meals and using foodbanks, the NEU says. Its State of Education survey of almost 17,891 teacher and support staff members ...
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Union reacts after lifeboat goes overboard (255 words)

Transport union the RMT says it has written to the UK’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) after reports that a lifeboat has fallen off the new ...
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