Any hopes of an economic boost were dashed today (November 13) as new figures revealed an unexpected rise in unemployment, while earnings barely rose against a backdrop of languishing productivity….Read more…
Immigration – confusion and inaction from government
The Home Secretary’s announcement yesterday on post-Brexit immigration plans was barely out the door before the government’s all-encompassing confusion over Brexit enveloped it. Amber Rudd’s junior minister, Brandon Lewis, contradicted her spin if not her substance, almost…Read more…
Is there really a public sector pay premium?
Over the weekend Chancellor Philip Hammond was reported as saying that public sector workers are overpaid. On the Andrew Marr show on Sunday he was given multiple opportunities to deny the accusation. But while he did not repeat the tone-deaf claim, ne…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…
Report on pay outlook published as wages squeeze continues to bite
Britain’s getting a pay cut There is a real and present danger that inflation will continue to increase faster than earnings this year. The latest figures show average weekly earnings growing at a modest 2.1%, whilst CPI inflation has increased to 2.9% and RPI to 3.7%. In short, Britain is getting…Read more…
Growth of insecure work has added to labour market disadvantage for Black, Asian and minority ethnic groups
The growth of insecure work has exacerbated the inequalities that Black, Asian and minority (BAME) ethnic workers already face. The experience of insecure work differs between different ethnic groups, but the overall pattern is one in which BAME worker…Read more…
A quarter of a million more in insecure work by end of next Parliament?
New analysis by the TUC shows that if current trends continue, 290,000 more people could be trapped in insecure work by 2022. The figures show that by the start of 2022, 3.5 million people could be in insecure work such as zero-hours contracts, tempora…Read more…
North East is England’s insecure work hot spot
The North East is becoming England’s hot spot for insecure work with two out of three new jobs in the last five years falling into this category. One in nine workers in the region are now in insecure jobs: seasonal, casual, temporary or agency work, including zero-hours contracts and low-paid…Read more…
London calling: the capital dominates jobs growth
Employment is at record levels but despite much talk of economic rebalancing and regional powerhouses, TUC analysis has found that employment growth in London has rocketed ahead of the rest of England since the recession. We also conclude that London has had: the highest growth in employee jobs the…Read more…
Precarious work – the union experience
What is insecure work and has it increased? This blog examines precarious or insecure work, how it manifests itself in the workplace and whether insecure work practices have increased. Insecure work includes: agency work or seasonal, casual, temporary …Read more…
New institutions needed to address concerns about migration
The Government has decided that ‘taking back control’ of the UK’s borders is more important than anything else, more important in particular than working people’s jobs and living standards. Even if immigration numbers don’t actually come down as a result, the…Read more…
Digitisation and the future of work: what it means for unions
Will robots take all the jobs? This dystopian question, prompted by the so-called ‘fourth industrial revolution’ – an umbrella term encompassing Artificial Intelligence, Big Data and the ‘Internet of Things’ – has prompted a lively debate in recent years. Digitisation is seen by some as simply the…Read more…
Workers’ rights beyond Brexit
When the government published a white paper on Brexit priorities, we hoped it would give more certainty to working people on what the future holds. But it poses more questions than it answers. And it fails to give the reassurances workers need for thei…Read more…
Labour market update; why ‘more of the same’ is cause for concern
The next set of labour market data is out next Wednesday. This blog looks at recent trends in the figures to give some pointers as to what we should be looking out for. In summary, our view of the labour market hasn’t changed much; the headline employment figures are strong, but we’re seeing a…Read more…
Insecure work is up by a quarter since 2011. Which sectors are driving this?
The number of people in insecure work, those working without guaranteed hours or baseline employment rights, has rapidly increased by more than 660,000 (27%) over the past five years. The TUC estimates that over 3 million people now work in insecure jo…Read more…
Why unions are key to fighting inequality between generations
Young people are on the sharp end of many worrying labour market trends. Workers in their 20s have taken the biggest hit to wages since the financial crisis. They are most likely to be working on zero-hours contract or in agency or casual work. And they are much less likely to own a home compared…Read more…
#AutumnStatement minimum wage rises leave 21 to 24 year olds £450 a year out of pocket
The government has accepted the Low Pay Commission’s recommendations and will increase all national minimum wage rates from 1st April 2017. The government’s national living wage (introduced in April of this year) will go up by 4.2%, a 30p increase, to £7.50 an hour. That’s good, but there’s a fly…Read more…
#AutumnStatement minimum wage rises leave 21 to 24 year olds £450 a year out of pocket
The government has accepted the Low Pay Commission’s recommendations and will increase all national minimum wage rates from 1st April 2017. The government’s national living wage (introduced in April of this year) will go up by 4.2%, a 30p increase, to £7.50 an hour. That’s good, but there’s a fly…Read more…
Women are being held back by unrewarding, low-paid, part-time work
Despite some progress, women still take the lion’s share of domestic and family responsibilities. Over 40% of women, compared to just 12% of men, work part-time. This is part of the reason that progress on closing the gender pay gap has been so painfully slow. There are far too few opportunities to…Read more…
Public sector cuts are stalling progress on closing the gender pay gap
Now at 9.4%, the gender pay gap has barely budged in recent years. Since 2011 the full-time gap has fallen by just 0.2 percentage points a year. At this rate it will take over 40 years to achieve pay parity between men and women. This means a young wom…Read more…