Fact Service July 2021

Issue 30 (29/07/2021) - UK 'will be paying for Covid for decades'; Self-isolation exemption plan 'gambles with lives'; NHS unions condemn 3% rise; Labour promises day one workers' rights; Foundation urges government: #KeepTheLifeline

Issue 29 (22/07/2021) - Medical unions urge public to keep wearing masks; Employment 'continues to recover'; Unions leaders slate government on LGBT+ rights; Union wins post office closure freeze; Unions watching out for Covid compliance

Issue 28 (15/07/2021) - Deaths at work up despite furlough and lockdown; Insecure work 'out of control'; Unions continue fight to keep facemask rules; Inflation approaches three year high; Workers reject four day week with lower pay

Issue 27 (08/07/2021) - Unions blast government over Covid rules relaxation; Union rights worsened worldwide during pandemic; Local government 'has power' to tackle inequality; Public finances facing risky future; Inquiry examines Covid's impact

Issue 26 (01/07/2021) - Committee backs new law on shop assaults; TUC, CBI and EHRC make joint appeal for ethnicity pay reporting; Just 13% of construction workforce are women; Unions petition new health secretary on pay; 'Rethink furlough' calls; NHS unions and employers in flexibility win

Issue 30

UK ‘will be paying for Covid for decades’ (543 words)

The UK will be paying the costs of Covid for the foreseeable future, according to reports from the cross-party Public Accounts Committee (PAC) that ...
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Self-isolation exemption plan ‘gambles with lives’ (383 words)

General union the GMB has condemned government plans to address so-called “pingdemic” disruption and shortages by removing the need to ...
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NHS unions condemn 3% rise (720 words)

Health unions have unanimously spoken out about their disappointment at the 3% NHS pay rise in England announced last week by the government. ...
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Labour promises day one workers’ rights (185 words)

Workers should be given full employment rights from their first day in a job, the Labour party has said, as it announced plans to give all workers ...
Open access

Foundation urges government: #KeepTheLifeline (511 words)

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has become the latest organisation to urge the government to cancel its planned £20 a week cut to Universal ...
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Issue 29

Medical unions urge public to keep wearing masks (725 words)

Health unions have joined organisations, charities and medical professionals in encouraging the public to keep wearing facemasks now that they are no ...
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Employment ‘continues to recover’ (508 words)

The UK’s labour market is continuing to recover, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), with a drop in the quarterly unemployment ...
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Unions leaders slate government on LGBT+ rights (218 words)

Leaders from across the UK trade union movement have signed an open letter to equalities minister Liz Truss criticising the government for scrapping ...
Open access

Union wins post office closure freeze (208 words)

The Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) has announced the winning of “a vital breathing space” in its struggle to save crown post offices, in ...
Open access

Unions watching out for Covid compliance (442 words)

Transport and retail unions have welcomed the retention of some anti-Covid restrictions – even though they may not be legally enforceable. ...
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Issue 28

Deaths at work up despite furlough and lockdown (384 words)

The number of deaths at work in Britain rose to 142 in the year 2020/21, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), 29 more than the ...
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Insecure work ‘out of control’ (334 words)

Insecure work has taken hold across the UK, the TUC says, with one in nine workers now employed that way. Now, four years on from the Taylor Review, ...
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Unions continue fight to keep facemask rules (1,088 words)

Unions have redoubled their chorus of condemnation of the government’s decision to relax anti-Covid restrictions in England (see last issue). ...
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Inflation approaches three year high (98 words)

Inflation rose faster than expected in June, to 2.5% CPI (consumer prices index), its highest figure in nearly three years, up from 2.1% in May, ...
Open access

Workers reject four day week with lower pay (404 words)

Most workers would reject a four day working week if it meant taking a pay cut, research by the Social Market Foundation (SMF) has found. ...
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Issue 27

Unions blast government over Covid rules relaxation (1,229 words)

The union movement is sounding an alarm about the government’s lack of guidance around what comes next once most Covid restrictions in England end ...
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Union rights worsened worldwide during pandemic (342 words)

International trade union confederation the ITUC has released its annual union rights survey, the Global Rights Index. ...
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Local government ‘has power’ to tackle inequality (185 words)

Ahead of the local and mayoral elections, the High Pay Centre is reminding councils and metro mayors that they have a real role to play in ...
Open access

Public finances facing risky future (229 words)

The government faces three “potentially catastrophic” sources of financial risk, the Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) watchdog has said. ...
Open access

Inquiry examines Covid’s impact (165 words)

An inquiry by the Health Foundation charity has identified how inequalities both affected and were revealed by the Covid pandemic, including the fact ...
Open access

Issue 26

Committee backs new law on shop assaults (388 words)

The Home Affairs Select Committee – a cross-party committee of MPs – has recommended that the government should consider a new and standalone law ...
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TUC, CBI and EHRC make joint appeal for ethnicity pay reporting (226 words)

The TUC, employers’ organisation the CBI, and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) have joined together to call on the government to ...
Open access

Just 13% of construction workforce are women (225 words)

A study of Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures by general union the GMB has discovered that just 13% of the UK construction workforce are ...
Open access

Unions petition new health secretary on pay (340 words)

A coalition of 14 health unions representing more than a million NHS staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland has written to the new health ...
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'Rethink furlough' calls (409 words)

The drop in furlough support this week from 80% to 70% of pay, with businesses making up the 10% difference, could “push fragile employers to the ...
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NHS unions and employers in flexibility win (716 words)

Health unions and NHS employers have announced that they have reached an agreement on new flexible working rights intended to offer NHS staff a ...
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