As its many champions constantly tell us, the City provides huge benefits to our economy in the form of contribution to GDP, tax take, balance of payments, employment and usage of financial services by UK households. This is undoubtedly true. But, the Financial Inclusion Centre’s new report for the…Read more…
Public sector workers are asking for a fair pay rise, not a windfall
David Chrimes is a Crown Advocate employed by the Crown Prosecution Service. He writes about why, after a seven-year squeeze, public sector workers deserve a pay rise. For us, this isn’t about pitting public sector against private sector. It’s simply about securing fair pay, which…Read more…
Workers stranded in diplomatic stand-off as Qatar and Saudi Arabia square up
As wealthy Gulf states face off over long simmering diplomatic differences, foreign workers in both countries are at risk of bearing the brunt of the dispute. An ongoing row in the Gulf over Qatar’s alleged links to terrorist groups, with the wealthy nation blockaded by a group of neighbours led by…Read more…
A new Anti-Slavery Charter: how to combat slavery in the 21st Century
Unionised workforces cannot be enslaved. This is because of the simple fact that a unionised workforce is harder to exploit by even the most unscrupulous employers. But that self-evident truth is one that many who profess themselves concerned with the …Read more…
Future economies: what next for globalisation and trade?
Last week I was invited to the British-German Forum – a symposium for young people from both countries – at Wilton Park, an agency of the FCO, to talk with my colleague Jan Stern from the German trade union confederation the DGB, about the issues facing globalisation. Here’s an…Read more…
The ‘not so Great’ Repeal Bill – what’s in it for working people?
Over the last year, the TUC has highlighted just how many of the workplace rights most of us take for granted come from Europe and how these rights could be at risk as we prepare to leave the EU. The government has sought to allay these concerns by pro…Read more…
What the Taylor Review says about learning and skills
Apart from the specialist press, such as the TES, coverage of the proposals in the Taylor Review on learning and skills has been limited. This is not too surprising considering the focus of the review on tackling contentious employment rights issues in…Read more…
Supreme Court battle leads to survivors’ pension equality for same-sex couples
Congratulations to John Walker! For eleven years, he has been fighting his employer and the government, so that his husband can receive his pension when he dies. He had to fight because, until today, the law permitted same sex couples to be discriminated against. Today the Supreme Court upheld…Read more…
The Taylor review: the yay, the meh, and the no way
The Taylor review is finally here, along with a pretty large sense of anti-climax. This isn’t the game changer those in insecure work were looking for. In assessing what it means, we’ve tried to keep in mind the people who told us about their experience of insecure work, of shifts being cancelled…Read more…
The Taylor Review isn’t the ‘game-changer’ that gig economy workers need
I worry that many gig economy employers will be breathing a sigh of relief this morning. The Taylor Review into modern employment practices publishes today. And from what we’ve seen, it’s not the game-changer needed to end insecurity and exploitation at work. We’d welcome any nuggets of good news….Read more…
The Taylor Review: What do we know so far?
There’s been a flurry of pre-briefing over the weekend on the Taylor report. We’ve rounded up what we know so far, and added our thoughts on what that would mean for the 3.2 million people in insecure work. Of course we’ll have to wait till the actual report is published tomorrow to give our…Read more…
The Taylor review: what should it say?
The long-awaited Taylor Review into “modern employment” practices is just days away from publication. It’s been talked up a great deal by ministers and cited numerous times by the Prime Minister, so it’s fair to say that expectations are high. Matthew deserves credit for his willingness to…Read more…
We can afford to give public servants a pay rise. In fact, we can’t afford not to.
Boris Johnson has now u-turned on his own rebellion on public sector pay. On Monday, sources close to the foreign secretary said he supported a better pay deal for public sector workers, and “strongly believes the rises can be done in a responsible way and without causing fiscal…Read more…
Can increased public spending pay for itself?
Since the election, we have seen several proclamations of the ‘end of austerity’. As TUC post election polling (among others) has showed, there is now a clear majority in favour of ‘Maintaining decent public services even if that means my taxes go up’. This is a far cry from some of the rhetoric…Read more…
Out at Work – More than one in three LGBT people have been harassed or bullied at work
Out at work? Those of us who hoped that homophobia at work was a thing of the past will be disappointed to read a new TUC report, ahead of the TUC’s LGBT conference and Pride in London this weekend. Earlier this year the TUC carried out an in-depth piece of research to find out whether…
The…Read more…
All public sector workers deserve a pay rise – including backroom staff
The cabinet may be divided, but public sector workers shouldn’t be. Having learned the hard way that cutting public sector pay is unpopular with voters, Conservative cabinet ministers are finally changing their tune. In the last few days, Boris Johnson, Jeremy Hunt, Michael Gove and Justine…Read more…
It’s not just the public sector that needs a pay rise – we all do.
The government’s unfair public sector pay cap is currently coming under criticism from all sides. Rightly so. Those in the public sector have now faced years of pay freezes and real wage cuts. Vital public sector workers are unfairly receiving less and less money for their hard work. Don’t forget…Read more…
How too much insecurity at work is bad for business
New research from Learning and Work Institute shows that insecure work grew between 2011 and 2016 and may be reducing productivity growth. Insecure work is one of the topics of our time. For some, increased flexibility over work can be a real benefit. …Read more…
The benefits of decent work in global supply chains
The importance of decent work in global supply chains continues to be reiterated by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the UN’s agency on labour standards. At this year’s 106th Session of the International Labour Conference (ILC), discussions took place around the need to “further assess…Read more…
Public servants don’t care about political games – They just need a pay rise
Will she, won’t she? Theresa May’s position on pay for public service workers has been all over the place this week. On Wednesday we had a surprise announcement that the government might be considering an end to its policy of capping public sector pay. But hours later, a spectacular double-u-turn…Read more…