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…
TUC-DGB statement on PEGIDA-UK March this Saturday
In the light of Saturday’s planned March in Newcastle-on-Tyne by the alleged British branch of the far right, anti-Islamic German organisation PEGIDA, I have agreed the following statement with…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…
Guatemala’s Wages See-Saw: minimum pay rights under threat
As British unions campaign for decent wages during Fair Pay Fortnight, Guatemala faces a threat to one of the few protections it has for workers – the minimum wage. The attack is, bizarrely,…Read more…
Where are our unions in Scottish Labour’s policies?
WITH only 10 weeks until Britain’s general election the main parties are setting out the territory on which the campaign will be fought.
Inevitably, the economy (or more likely it’s fallacious…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…
How unions help their members win better pay
Joining together to win a better deal for members is the cornerstone of a trade union’s work. For Fair Pay Fortnight, we’ve rounded up some recent stories of how unions are making a real…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…