Labour Research December 2015

Executive pay - The boom times never seem to stop rolling for top executives

Victimisation of repsLabour Research finds that incidents of trade union reps being sacked or suspended appear to be on the increase

Must the arts bow out? - Growth in the UK’s creative sector is likely to be undermined by ongoing cuts in the publicly-funded arts

Books for Christmas - The Bookmarks socialist bookshop suggests books you may like to give at Christmas

News

Unions pledge to continue fight against anti-union Bill
 (336 words)

Trade unions have vowed to keep fighting the much-maligned Trade Union Bill as it goes through the House of Lords. Last month, MPs voted 305 in ...
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Spending cuts threaten education
 (331 words)

As the government freezes school funding, the NUT teachers’ union reveals the shocking effects budget cuts are having on schools and children’s ...
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Industrial action (241 words)

Junior doctors have moved a step closer to unprecedented strike action. The industrial action ballot result, announced last month by the British ...
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Unions denounce Network Rail privatisation proposals
 (243 words)

Rail unions have condemned proposals that could see Network Rail, the body that runs and maintains Britain’s railway network, fully or partially ...
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Shopworkers face violence
 (292 words)

One in five assaulted shopworkers did not report the incident to their employer, a survey by shopworkers’ union Usdaw has found.
 ...
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Unemployment at seven-year low
 (192 words)

The UK unemployment rate fell to a seven-year low in September, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show. 
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Inflation falls again (74 words)

The annual rate of inflation under the Retail Prices Index (RPI) dipped to 0.7% in October against 0.8% the previous month. 
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Key economic indicators

Key economic indicators (406 words)

Inflation +0.7%; Average earnings +2.0% ...
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Union news

New general secretary for Britain’s third largest union
 (164 words)

Members of the UK’s third largest union, the GMB general union, are to have a new general secretary for the first time in over a decade after ...
Open access

Check-off ban will hit employers
 (412 words)

Public sector employers as well as unions will lose out from the ban on check-off facilities for union subscription payments, according to Dave ...
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PCS political fund
 (95 words)

Members of the PCS civil service union have voted overwhelmingly in favour of retaining their political fund. The union said the 91% vote in favour ...
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Qatar union branch
 (76 words)

The GMB general union has called on construction firms operating in Qatar to recognise the newly-launched Qatari branch of the Philippines Workers ...
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Union aid
 (58 words)

Humanitarian aid activists from the CWU communications union were joined by those from the Unite, UNISON and GMB unions in taking provisions to ...
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European news

Planned reform of French labour code becomes clearer
 (373 words)

French prime minister Manuel Valls has set out his government’s plans to revise the rules governing the country’s employment relations — the ...
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Lithuanian workers’ rights under attack
 (286 words)

The Lithuanian government has said it is willing extend the parliamentary session into next year to ensure that its controversial changes to the ...
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Greek general strike
 (82 words)

Greece’s two main union confederations, GSEE, covering the private sector and state-owned companies, and ADEDY, covering government employees, ...
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Freedom of movement
 (70 words)

Luca Visentini, the new general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), has said that freedom of movement for workers within the ...
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Call for changes
 (69 words)

Jörg Hofmann, the new head of Germany’s largest union, IG Metall, has called for changes in the operation of the German union confederation, the ...
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Features

Monster pay packets keep fat cats purring
 (2,254 words)

Eye-watering remuneration packages remain the order of the day for top executives.
 ...
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Sacked for defending the union
 (2,372 words)

Victimisation of trade union reps seems to be on the up. Labour Research examines a number of recent cases and looks at how legitimate union ...
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Arts upstaged by unparalleled cuts
 (1,794 words)

The state-funded arts face drastic and unprecedented cuts, despite their contribution to growth in the UK’s creative sector. 
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Best book buys for Christmas
 (1,238 words)

Staff at the Bookmarks bookshop make their annual suggestions for books you may like to gift at Christmas to your labour movement friends.
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Law Matters

Tribunal fees review: revisions on the cards
 (299 words)

There have been two significant developments in relation to employment tribunal fees. New evidence has been submitted for the Ministry of Justice’s ...
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Union queries rationale for change on payments
 (281 words)

A Treasury consultation on the simplification of the tax and National Insurance treatment of termination payments “does not give sufficient ...
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Cabbies issue claims over right to minimum wage
 (247 words)

A few weeks ago (as anticipated in Labour Research, September 2015, page 26), four employment tribunal claims were issued in London against the ...
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Law Queries

Time off for religious festivals (277 words)

Q. A member has requested additional time off work to attend a religious festival. Does the employer have to grant this request? ...
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Pay slip information (121 words)

Q. One of our members finds his pay slips confusing. Are there rules on information in pay slips?
 ...
Open access

Employers’ use of CCTV (329 words)

Q. A member’s employer has installed CCTV in the office. This makes our member feel very uncomfortable. Is this allowed? ...
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Law Back-up

Restrictions still likely in spite of concessions
 (829 words)

Earlier this year, the government conducted a consultation on tackling intimidation of non-striking workers, an issue addressed in the proposed Trade ...
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Health & Safety Matters

HSE statistics reveal ‘very worrying trend’
 (245 words)

The latest annual statistics on deaths, injuries and ill-health at work show “a very worrying trend and highlights once again the folly of the ...
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Court summons may boost bhopal victims’ campaign
 (261 words)

Campaigners say that this month could see an important development in the decades’ long struggle for justice for survivors of the world’s worst ...
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Safety in prisons
 (126 words)

The POA prison officers’ union reported in late October that it was seeking urgent meetings with the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) ...
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Fire crews attacked
 (143 words)

The FBU fire brigades’ union has condemned recent attacks on fire crews around Bonfire Night, Halloween and other public festivals and events, ...
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Health & Safety Back-up

Unions urge action on climate change crisis
 (861 words)

This month, an important international conference is taking place as world leaders from nearly 200 countries gather to try to thrash out a global ...
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Equality news

Gender gap for top earners remains high
 (316 words)

The gap in annual salaries between top-earning women and top-earning men has hit 55% reveals an analysis published by the TUC.
 ...
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Major equality review reveals mixed picture
 (325 words)

A major review of equality and human rights protection has found that while life has improved for some over the past five years, for others progress ...
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Age bias is still prevalent, study finds
 (239 words)

Almost nine in 10 employers do not check whether their managers hire workers older than themselves, according to a recent survey. 
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Workplace Back-up

Older women workers face multiple barriers
 (910 words)

Older women are more likely to be in work now than at any time since modern records began, according to new government statistics. But they face ...
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Reviews

Percy Bysshe Shelley (210 words)

Poet and revolutionary ...
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A history of the barricade
 (206 words)

Eric Hazan, Verso, hardback, 128 pages, £9.99
 ...
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E-views

e-views (393 words)

The latest website I’ve been working on has just gone live. The new Fire Brigades Union (FBU) website has been launched after a few months in ...
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News from LRD

2016 annual general meeting (100 words)

The 2016 annual general meeting of the Labour Research Department (LRD) will be held on Monday 16 May, 2016 from 2.00pm at Jerwood Space, Union ...
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