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Labour Research August 2021
Will new watchdog protect workers? - Unions say government proposals for a new employment rights watchdog fall far short of what is actually needed; Good work and wages are answer to hospitality crisis - The hospitality industry faces dramatic staff shortages: the solution is a fundamental reform of pay and conditions, say unions; Women’s health and safety in the pandemic - The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on women workers means they have faced particular health and safety issues
News
Schools funding formula shifts money away from deprived areas (325 words)
Education unions are demanding more financial support following research showing that government funding per pupil has remained virtually unchanged ...
Subscribers only
Over one million children of key workers live below the breadline (288 words)
Over a million children of key workers are currently living in poverty according to TUC research. ... Subscribers only
‘Extreme’ asylum measures blasted (215 words)
New government legislation that allows for the criminalisation of seafarers who rescue asylum seekers has sparked outrage in the union movement and ...
Open access
Unions denounce derisory 3% pay offer to health staff (327 words)
Health unions said they would be consulting members over next steps following the government’s announcement of a “grossly inadequate” 3% pay ... Subscribers only
Warning over drivers’ hours (219 words)
The Department for Transport’s decision to relax regulations on the maximum number of hours lorry drivers can work won’t resolve the problem of a ... Open access
Climate education campaign launched (219 words)
The UCU lecturers’ union is calling on UK colleges and universities to do more to cut carbon emissions and embed climate education across the ... Open access
Employment: all is not as it seems (212 words)
The employment rate is up, the unemployment rate is down. Redundancies have fallen and earnings appear to be growing twice as fast as RPI inflation. ... Open access
Inflation jumps (69 words)
Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation, the favoured inflation measure of union negotiators, jumped from 3.3% to 3.9% in June. The Consumer Prices Index ... Open access
Key economic indicators
Inflation jumps (410 words)
Inflation +3.9%, average earnings +8.6% ... Subscribers only
Union news
GMB to consider future links with Labour Party (294 words)
Gary Smith, the recently elected leader of the GMB general union, last month pledged to re-examine the union’s relationship with the Labour Party, ... Subscribers only
Nursing union goes through further period of turbulence (323 words)
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is undergoing another period of upheaval, with both the resignation of its general secretary and the stepping ... Subscribers only
Pharmacists’ union membership grows (68 words)
The PDA pharmacists’ union has announced that its membership has hit a record high, increasing by more than 15% in the past two years. It has grown ... Open access
UNISON agrees organising blueprint (75 words)
A special delegate conference of public services union UNISON has agreed to the “blueprint for helping branches to better organise in the ... Open access
Amazon (94 words)
A poll commissioned by general union Unite has found that a majority of the public consider Amazon workers to be “key workers” and should be able ... Open access
European news
Italy sees tripartite accord over post-Covid return to work (285 words)
The Italian government, unions and employers have reached agreement on how the Italian economy will begin to return to normal after Covid. ... Subscribers only
Polish pay freeze provokes union anger (344 words)
Unions in Poland have strongly opposed government plans to freeze the pay of more than half a million people employed in the public sector. ... Subscribers only
Health and safety strategy (73 words)
The European Commission, the EU’s civil service, has agreed a new strategic framework on health and safety at work for the period 2021-2027. ... Open access
Belgian platform workers (91 words)
The Belgian government plans a consultation examining the situation of workers employed through platforms such as Deliveroo to see whether new ... Open access
Spanish unions fight labour law changes (65 words)
Spain’s two main union confederations, CCOO and UGT, organised a series of demonstrations across the country last month to exert pressure on the ... Open access
Features
Watchdog will fall short (2,560 words)
Unions are unimpressed by government proposals for a new single enforcement body designed to crack down on abuses of workers’ rights. ... Subscribers only
Hospitality workers floored by pandemic (2,222 words)
In a sector notorious for low pay and zero hours contracts, hospitality workers have found themselves in the eye of the storm during the coronavirus ... Subscribers only
Engaging with gender issues (2,347 words)
Women’s experiences of working during the pandemic — whether in the workplace or in the home — have made the union case for a gender-sensitive ... Open access
Law Matters
Case sees award for career-long earnings (451 words)
An award for loss of earnings for an entire career was not perverse in a case where the claimant had suffered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) ... Subscribers only
Whistleblowing complaint upheld by appeal tribunal (204 words)
A clinical care co-ordinator with 38 years’ unblemished service was dismissed because she made protected disclosures. ... Open access
Masks continue to be worn in ETs (112 words)
Following the relaxation of Covid mitigations in England from 19 July 2021, the President of Employment Tribunals in England and Wales has said that ... Open access
Dismissal for indecent images (132 words)
The Scottish Court of Session has overturned a decision by the Employment Appeal Tribunal and confirmed that it was not unfair to dismiss a teacher ... Open access
Law Queries
Job changes and redundancy (493 words)
Q. Several of our members have been told their posts have been assimilated into a new role — but that this is not redundancy so they will not be ... Subscribers only
Incorporated shift pay (279 words)
Q. A few years ago, we agreed to a change to our shift pattern to include some late shifts, and we agreed a late shift allowance which was added to ... Subscribers only
Law Back-up
New right to work checks for European nationals (948 words)
Back-up looks at the new right to work checks that employers must carry out for EU nationals. ... Subscribers only
Health & Safety Matters
Unions slam removal of Covid mitigations (307 words)
Unions have condemned the announcement that the government would press ahead from 19 July with the removal of Covid mitigations. ... Subscribers only
Workers with long Covid (204 words)
Nearly three in 10 workers with long Covid have experienced symptoms lasting longer than a year, according to new research by the TUC. ... Open access
Government unfit to safeguard health (223 words)
The People’s Covid Inquiry has found that from the start of the pandemic, the government has been, and continues to be, unfit for the purpose of ... Open access
Health & Safety Back-up
Some staff and pupils are no safer today (882 words)
A new union report on asbestos in schools shows pupils and staff in some schools are no safer today than they were in the period from the 1960s to ... Subscribers only
Equality news
Racism remains systemic, says damning report (456 words)
Racism remains “systemic” in England — and people from Black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds continue to face inequalities in employment, ... Subscribers only
Impact of inequality hits young people’s prospects (172 words)
While nearly a third (30%) of young people expect to “end up in a dead-end job” and that “people like me don’t succeed”, this rises to 43% ... Open access
Childcare crisis made worse by pandemic (228 words)
The crisis in childcare is being exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent childcare closures, according to an analysis of official ... Open access
Workplace Back-up
Time to improve the UK’s meagre sick pay scheme (1,004 words)
Limited, temporary improvements in statutory minimum sick pay can’t disguise the fact that the UK’s provisions are among the worst in Europe. ... Subscribers only
E-views
e-views (419 words)
Every year I carry out an analysis of all the websites of the TUC-affiliated unions to see how they rank for domain authority. The focus is to see ... Subscribers only