Fact Service May 2022

Issue 21 (26/05/2022) National rail strike moves closer as unions reject minimum services plan; Union membership dips after four years’ growth; Unions press government for emergency budget; UK ‘close to eliminating low pay’. Issue 20 (19/05/2022) Inflation soars to 40 year high; Over half say health damaged by cost of living; Inflation leaves wages behind again; Union continues fight against civil service cuts plan; TUC warns on asbestos danger; Union backs inquiry. Issue 19 (12/05/2022) Anger as government breaks employment bill promise again; NIESR: quarter million face destitution, 1.5 million won’t be able pay bills; ILO: global inflation doubles; Union welcome for McColl’s rescue. Issue 18 (05/05/2022) Report warns against rail cuts amid balloting for ‘biggest ever’ strike; Cost of living protest set for June; Food prices hit nine year high, with worse to come; Off sick rate rises; Union reports high morale after national post office strike; Report: fair financing maximises returns; Workers’ Memorial Day.

Issue 21

National rail strike moves closer as unions reject minimum services plan (420 words)

As the RMT transport union declared an “overwhelming mandate” for a national rail strike, it and other unions delivered stinging responses to ...
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Union membership dips after four years’ growth (733 words)

The proportion of UK employees who were trade union members decreased to 23.1% last year, its lowest level since 1995, according to the Office for ...
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Unions press government for emergency budget (819 words)

The TUC and others are keeping up the pressure on government to act on the cost of living crisis, after energy regulator Ofgem announced the energy ...
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UK ‘close to eliminating low pay’ (391 words)

The proportion of low-paid employees has fallen to a record low and is on track to be “eliminated” by 2024 the Joseph Rowntree Foundation ...
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Issue 20

Inflation soars to 40 year high (793 words)

UK inflation rocketed to a 40 year high of 9% CPI/11.1% RPI in April, up from an already alarming 7% CPI/9% RPI in March, according to figures from ...
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Over half say health damaged by cost of living (491 words)

Over half (55%) of British people feel their health has been made worse by the rising cost of living, according to a poll commissioned by the Royal ...
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Inflation leaves wages behind again (569 words)

Regular pay has been overtaken by inflation again, according to the ONS, with millions of workers facing a fifth month of falling real wages. ...
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Union continues fight against civil service cuts plan (140 words)

Civil servants’ union the PCS reports that it is receiving cross-party support in its fightback against plans announced by the government to cut ...
Open access

TUC warns on asbestos danger (200 words)

The TUC has warned that thousands of local authority buildings in England still contain potentially lethal asbestos. Its call came after research ...
Open access

Union backs inquiry (106 words)

The TSSA and TUC have announced that they are working together on an independent inquiry into allegations of misconduct and sexual harassment made by ...
Open access

Issue 19

Anger as government breaks employment bill promise again (1,250 words)

The government’s failure to once again deliver on its 2019 promise to include an employment bill in Tuesday’s Queen’s Speech has sparked a ...
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NIESR: quarter million face destitution, 1.5 million won’t be able pay bills (585 words)

Emergency government support is urgently needed to prevent a quarter of a million households from sliding into destitution, according to the NIESR ...
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ILO: global inflation doubles (410 words)

The annual rate of inflation worldwide rose to 9.2% CPI in March 2022, up from 7.5% in February, and 6.8% in January, the International Labour ...
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Issue 18

Report warns against rail cuts amid balloting for ‘biggest ever’ strike (436 words)

As the RMT transport union warned of “potentially the biggest rail strike in modern history” the TUC has released a report laying out the ...
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Cost of living protest set for June (150 words)

Unions are getting ready to rally behind the TUC’s call that “We demand better”, which will be voiced at a protest to be held in London on 18 ...
Open access

Food prices hit nine year high, with worse to come (334 words)

Rising fuel costs, the war in Ukraine and lockdown in China are all feeding into some of the highest prices for food and household goods in years, ...
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Off sick rate rises (250 words)

The UK’s sickness absence rate rose to 2.2% in 2021, up from its record low of 1.8% the year before – with, unsurprisingly, Covid-19 accounting ...
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Union reports high morale after national post office strike (187 words)

The CWU communications workers’ union has reported that morale is high and its crown post office members are “determined to get the pay they ...
Open access

Report: fair financing maximises returns (348 words)

International union confederation the ITUC has released a report which it says proves that financing social protection via progressive taxation ...
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Workers’ Memorial Day (456 words)

On Workers’ Memorial Day, 28 April, the TUC and campaign group Covid Bereaved Families for Justice called for the public inquiry into the Covid ...
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