Fact Service October 2022

Issue43: Unions hold out little hope for new PM; Price of basic foods soars; Eight in 10 vote for university strikes; Union moves strike day to assist poppy collection; Annual earnings grew 5% but fell 2.6% in real terms; Union win means payout for thousands; One in five tech workers ‘is monitored’. Issue 42: Inflation’s return to 40-year high raises benefits link question; Hunt’s mini-budget U-turn not nearly enough, unions say; November rail strike dates announced; Shareholder pay-outs outpace pay by factor of three; Crisis response needed, ILO chief tells IMF and World Bank Issue 41: Recession and economic instability fears worsened by unexpected GDP drop; Joblessness at lowest since 1974 but pay still well behind inflation; TUC promises autumn of action; Education unions join in ‘crisis’ warning; Care worker numbers plummet; One in seven workers has a disability. Issue40: Unions rally to defend benefits and push for pay; Resumed figures confirm summer of strikes; Junior doctors to ballot for action; Gender pay gap ‘won’t close for 48 years’; Seafarers’ union calls for P&O Ferries CEO’s head; Union wants gas lights kept; Pension providers offering antiquated and; puzzling service, research finds.

Issue 43

Unions hold out little hope for new PM (563 words)

Unions have reacted to the appointment of Rishi Sunak as prime minister with a mix of scepticism and disbelief that he will improve life for workers. ...
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Price of basic foods soars (348 words)

The prices of food basics such as pasta, tea, cooking oil and chips have risen dramatically, according to new figures from the Office for National ...
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Eight in 10 vote for university strikes (198 words)

A UK-wide university strike has moved nearer after over 70,000 university staff at 150 universities voted “yes” to industrial action in two ...
Open access

Union moves strike day to assist poppy collection (223 words)

The RMT transport union has rescheduled a planned strike from 3 November to 9 November, after learning that the earlier date was the Royal British ...
Open access

Annual earnings grew 5% but fell 2.6% in real terms (496 words)

The latest ONS review of UK employee earnings has found that median weekly pay for full-time employees was £640 in April 2022, a 5% increase over ...
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Union win means payout for thousands (141 words)

Nearly 9,000 firefighters will receive at least £3,750 after the FBU union won its case that government pension changes were unfair and ...
Open access

One in five tech workers ‘is monitored’ (135 words)

One in five tech workers is subject to employee monitoring or information-gathering technologies according to survey of 376 workers by Prospect. ...
Open access

Issue 42

Inflation’s return to 40-year high raises benefits link question (727 words)

Inflation has risen again to the 40-year high of 10.1% CPI (consumer prices index)/12.6% RPI (retail prices index) in the 12 months to September, ...
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Hunt’s mini-budget U-turn not nearly enough, unions say (693 words)

Unions have been quick to point out the limitations of the U-turn by new chancellor Jeremy Hunt, as he abandoned key elements of his predecessor’s ...
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November rail strike dates announced (230 words)

More rail strikes will take place on 3, 5, and 7 November, transport union the RMT has announced, blaming Network Rail for trying to impose drastic ...
Open access

Shareholder pay-outs outpace pay by factor of three (286 words)

Shareholders’ dividends have grown three times faster than pay under the Conservatives, “soaring” £440 billion above inflation, while wages ...
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Crisis response needed, ILO chief tells IMF and World Bank (126 words)

Speaking to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Group, Gilbert F Houngbo, the director-general of international labour organisation ...
Open access

Issue 41

Recession and economic instability fears worsened by unexpected GDP drop (777 words)

The UK’s GDP (gross domestic product) – which had been predicted to stall in August – instead shrank by 0.3%, adding to fears that Britain is ...
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Joblessness at lowest since 1974 but pay still well behind inflation (744 words)

Unemployment in the UK fell to 3.5% in the three months to August (down from 3.8%), its lowest level since February 1974, figures from the ONS show. ...
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TUC promises autumn of action (102 words)

The TUC is inviting trade unionists to join a lobby of Parliament and a rally in London on Wednesday 2 November as part of its We Demand Better ...
Open access

Education organisations join in ‘crisis’ warning (204 words)

Twelve unions and organisations in the education sector have joined to issue an open letter to the government warning of a “looming education ...
Open access

Care worker numbers plummet (213 words)

The number of workers in the adult care sector in England dropped for the first time over the course of a year, while the number of vacant posts ...
Open access

One in seven workers has a disability (180 words)

An increase in the number of working-age people with a disability (up 2.3 million over the past decade) and rising employment rates among disabled ...
Open access

Issue 40

Unions rally to defend benefits and push for pay (988 words)

Unions have reacted with scorn to prime minister Liz Truss’s address to the Conservative Party conference, and moved to highlight and defend the ...
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Resumed figures confirm summer of strikes (134 words)

The number of strikes in the UK dramatically increased in June and July compared to recent years, new figures from the Office for National Statistics ...
Open access

Junior doctors to ballot for action (221 words)

The BMA junior doctors committee has voted to ballot for industrial action, saying the government’s failure to make any effort to restore junior ...
Open access

Gender pay gap ‘won’t close for 48 years’ (228 words)

The Equality Trust has released an analysis of FTSE 100 companies that shows their “depressingly slow” progress on pay equality, and that, at the ...
Open access

Seafarers’ union calls for P&O Ferries CEO’s head (215 words)

Maritime union Nautilus International has pointed to union pressure as the decisive factor that led to P&O Ferries CEO Peter Hebblethwaite ...
Open access

Union wants gas lights kept (89 words)

The GMB general union has called on Westminster Council to preserve 275 nineteenth century gas lamps. They are operated and maintained by the ...
Open access

Pension providers offering antiquated and puzzling service, research finds (363 words)

Poor service and the antiquated systems of major pension providers are leaving pension holders struggling to access their savings, according to the ...
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