Fact Service July 2023

ISSUE 30 As ticket office closures consultation is extended, union alleges intimidation; Anti-strikes bill passes, but only after unions defeat government on agency cover; Britain ‘is burning out’ its workers; Unions identify flaw in new seafarers’ charter; Modern slavers ‘exploiting care industry staff shortages’;

ISSUE 29 Cost of living crisis continues to bite; Pay Review Bodies guessing game over; Pension campaign vindicated; Out-of-date mileage allowances costing workers dear; Unions back ‘manifesto for the selfemployed’

ISSUE 28 Record pay rises fail to match inflation; More teachers vote for autumn strike action; New bill targets workplace bullying; UK workers ‘will miss out’ on £3,600; Research ‘exposes pension time bomb’

ISSUE 27 FBU leader calls on all unions to join mass resistance campaign; Report shows 10 years of workers’ rights under attack; On its 75th birthday, NHS is at risk of ‘existential’ crisis; TUC: time to build LGBT+ inclusion at work; Economic reform ‘essential’ to replace stagnation with prosperity;

Issue 30

As ticket office closures consultation is extended, union alleges intimidation (525 words)

The 21-day public consultation period into plans to slash railway ticket offices in England has been extended until 1 September. Transport unions are ...
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Anti-strikes bill passes, but only after unions defeat government on agency cover (592 words)

The hugely-criticised Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act has become law, but just a week before it was passed, the government faced a humiliating ...
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Britain ‘is burning out’ its workers (272 words)

Intense work is creating a “burnt out Britain”, the TUC has said, citing a new survey it commissioned. ...
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Unions identify flaw in new seafarers’ charter (312 words)

Maritime unions Nautilus International and RMT are offering a guarded welcome to a seafarers’ charter and bilateral agreement with France which the ...
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Modern slavers ‘exploiting care industry staff shortages’ (487 words)

The number of modern slavery cases reported within the UK care industry has more than doubled in the past year, a BBC investigation has found. ...
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Issue 29

Cost of living crisis continues to bite (673 words)

Inflation is easing, but the cost of living crisis is far from over. Figures for the year to June released by the Office for National Statistics ...
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Pay Review Bodies guessing game over (714 words)

Reports from the Pay Review Bodies which advise government on pay for 2.5 million public sector workers were published on 13 July. They recommended ...
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Pension campaign vindicated (397 words)

The long-running campaign by members of the University and College Union (UCU) to protect their pension rights in the Universities Superannuation ...
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Out-of-date mileage allowances costing workers dear (399 words)

More than a million public service workers including care staff, district nurses, housing officers, police staff and probation officers are being ...
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Unions back ‘manifesto for the self-employed’ (275 words)

Community and Prospect (including its Bectu section) have collaborated with the Fabian Society to produce a “progressive manifesto for the ...
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Issue 28

Record pay rises fail to match inflation (758 words)

Wages growth hit a record 7.3% in the three months to May, the joint highest level since records began in 2001, the Office for National Statistics ...
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More teachers vote for autumn strike action (681 words)

Members of the NASUWT teachers’ union in state schools across England have voted for industrial action over pay, workload and working time, opening ...
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New bill targets workplace bullying (314 words)

A bill aimed at confronting bullying at work has been presented to parliament by Labour MP Rachael Maskell. ...
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UK workers ‘will miss out’ on £3,600 (259 words)

UK workers suffering a “double whammy” of high inflation and historically poor wage growth are likely to miss out on £3,600 of pay this year as ...
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Research ‘exposes pension time bomb’ (201 words)

A survey of members by Unite has revealed a pension and retirement “time bomb” facing workers, the union says. ...
Open access

Issue 27

FBU leader calls on all unions to join mass resistance campaign (237 words)

The general secretary of the FBU firefighters’ union has written to fellow union leaders calling on them to join a campaign of mass resistance to ...
Open access

Report shows 10 years of workers’ rights under attack (666 words)

The 10th edition of the ITUC’s Global Rights Index shows that the global cost of living crisis has been met with a crackdown on the rights of ...
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On its 75th birthday, NHS is at risk of ‘existential’ crisis (691 words)

As the NHS reaches its 75th birthday this week, the Unite general union has warned that it is facing an “existential” crisis if its staff are not ...
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TUC: time to build LGBT+ inclusion at work (300 words)

LGBT+ workers are lowering their expectations of working life because of discrimination, the TUC says, announcing a new report based on interviews ...
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Economic reform ‘essential’ to replace stagnation with prosperity (326 words)

Stronger economic growth must go hand in hand with reform of the UK economy and benefits system if the rewards are to be widely shared, a Resolution ...
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