There are 300,000 fewer children living in poverty than there were when I became Prime Minister Last June the Prime Minister claimed success on child poverty, a line that is repeated from time to time by the usual suspects. To any listener who had been…Read more…
Green Economy Council – out in the cold?
The Green Economy Council hasn’t met for two years. According to a committee of MPs, “this speaks volumes” about the government’s approach to sustainable development. The TUC backed the launch of the Green Economy Council in 2011 as a vital and much-needed initiative. But it hasn’t met since…Read more…
A culture of excess – the pay of the people who set FTSE directors’ pay
The TUC has published a new report on the pay of FTSE 100 remuneration committees members, who are responsible for setting company directors’ pay. Looking at total earnings from their different board positions, it finds that on average FTSE remuneration committee members are paid £441,383 per year…Read more…
GDP growth is down in cash terms, showing how disinflation threatens the public finances
In cash terms GDP annual growth slowed to 3.8% in the fourth quarter of 2014, down -0.7 percentage points from 4.5% in quarter three. This follows ongoing reductions in the annual GDP deflator growth, to 1.1% in quarter four from 1.9% in quarter three….Read more…
Earning below the living wage: bad for men – worse for women
We know that women and men don’t get equal wages for equal work. We also know that women are more likely to be trapped in zero-hour contracts. As Fair Pay Fortnight rolls on, we’re reminded once again of just what a raw deal working women get in Britain. Over one in five workers in the…Read more…
Solidarity with Greece
The TUC General Council yesterday agreed a statement of solidarity with the Greek people and their unions in supporting the actions of the Syriza-led government elected last month. Our support for its programme and attempt to escape austerity adds to t…Read more…
Fantastic win for overseas domestic workers
As the coalition government staggers towards its last days, the House of Lords has inflicted one last defeat – by just seven votes, 183-176 – over the rights of overseas domestic workers. The TUC welcomes that move (we called for it this morning) because it restores freedom from slavery for…Read more…
Lords debate Modern Slavery Bill
Whilst we very much welcome the Modern Slavery Bill as an important tool in combating trafficking and forced labour, it could be improved.Read more…
Valuing our care workforce: Fair pay and respect for the job
Two stories this month have told us everything we need to know about the terrible social imbalances in the UK. On the one hand we had the revelation that some of the wealthiest people in our society had been advised by HSBC about how to avoid paying tax. The consequences are a £34 billion tax ‘gap’…Read more…
Achieving fair pay – The importance of ethnicity and geography
New research from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation shows that low pay is a problem across all ethnic groups in the UK, but is much worse for some than for others.Read more…
What has been happening to self-employment lately?
Self-employment has become a popular subject recently, with many commentators having various explanations for the rise in self-employment. In this post I am aiming to clarify what’s been happening to self-employment over the long term, since 2008, over the past year, and the important difference…Read more…
All hail the ‘long-term plan’ (OECD Economic Survey on the UK)
The OECD today accomplished a miracle, hailing the long-term plan, making departures from the plan seem natural, all with the illusion of delivery. “What a difference effective economic policies can make”, Mr Gurria (the secretary-general) gushed at the press conference, making his own…Read more…
minimum wage cheats – why not name all of them?
The government has named a further 70 employees caught underpaying the minimum wage*. This is welcome news, which brings the total named in the past year up to 162. However, they should now go on and name the other 490 employers caught cheating last year. In addition, they should take some of the…Read more…
It’s not just Britain that needs that pay rise
During Fair Pay Fortnight, the TUC has been sending out a clear message about Britain’s shrinking pay packet, but how do things compare with the rest of Europe? Well according to the latest analysis by the Labour Research Department (LRD), the UK is close to the bottom of the pile. LRD’s Workplace…Read more…
Web links for 23rd February 2015
‘In Conversation’ with Frances O’Grady at SPERI Frances O’Grady talks about inequality at Sheffield UNI SPERI. Discussing her time in Davos this year, she makes the case that “you cannot redistribute wealth unless you are prepared to redistribute power”. Whether…Read more…
Fiona Bruce’s abortion amendment: an attack on women’s rights
This evening Parliament will debate an amendment to the Serious Crime Bill which represents a significant and retrograde step in UK legislation on abortion. The amendment concerns abortions on the grounds of foetal sex – a practice which is commonplace in many countries but for which there is no…Read more…
Is a new consensus emerging on how we pay pensions?
It is not often that someone from the TUC is invited to write a foreword for a pamphlet published by the Centre for Policy Studies – a think-tank whose website is headed by an approving quotation from Margaret Thatcher. But then it is something of a surprise – and to their credit…Read more…
Britain’s Living Wage Blackspots
One in five jobs pay less than the living wage. But you won’t find them evenly distributed across the UK. In some constituencies, over half of full-time workers get less than living wages. We’ve mapped almost every constituency in England, Wales, and Scotland below: Source: House of…Read more…
Fair pay starts at home: report reveals widespread low pay in Leicester garment industry
It’s Fairpay Fortnight at the TUC. One of the sectors we know workers particularly face low pay is the garment industry. Usually it is the very low rates of pay workers are given in countries like Cambodia and Bangladesh that we hear about. A new report produced for the Ethical Trading…Read more…
Speak up for Justice – Not the Global Law Summit
The Speak up for Justice campaign calls for an integrated, publicly owned, accessible and accountable justice system that protects our right to justice. We also campaign against cuts to jobs and services and for a properly funded justice system. The ca…Read more…