Carley, Mark
Trade union ‘facility time’ under review
02 May 2012
The UK’s Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 [1]
obliges employers to grant reasonable paid time off work for employees who
are representatives of recognised trade unions. This time is for them to
carry out certain duties, notably collective bargaining, representation of
members, gathering information, and consulting on collective redundancies and
business transfers.
[1] http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1992/52/contents
Government amends controversial work experience programme
02 May 2012
In January 2011, as part of a broader ‘welfare to work’ initiative known
as Get Britain Working [1], the UK government launched a work experience
programme aimed at unemployed people aged 16 to 24 who had been receiving
Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) (unemployment benefit) for at least 13 weeks.
[1] http://www.dwp.gov.uk/policy/welfare-reform/get-britain-working/
Rising conflict over private sector pensions
26 February 2012
One of the highest-profile current issues in UK industrial relations is
widespread trade union opposition to government changes to public sector
occupational pension (OP) schemes, including a national one-day strike held
on 30 November 2011 (*UK1112029I* [1]). However, the OP issue is also
increasingly contentious in the private sector, where provision is much less
extensive and generous than in the public sector.
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/industrial-relations-undefined/public-service-workers-strike-over-pension-reforms
Unions highlight unpaid overtime
26 February 2012
In January 2012 the Trades Union Congress (TUC [1]) published an analysis of
data from the Office for National Statistics [2] Labour Force Survey (LFS
[3]), which found that nearly two billion hours of unpaid overtime [4] were
worked during 2011. According to the TUC’s calculations [5], in 2011:
[1] http://www.tuc.org.uk/
[2] http://www.statistics.gov.uk/
[3] http://www.esds.ac.uk/government/lfs
[4] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/overtime
[5] http://www.tuc.org.uk/workplace/tuc-20446-f0.cfm
Union derecognition in the spotlight
21 December 2011
Where UK employers recognise a trade union for collective bargaining
purposes, this is usually based on a voluntary agreement between the parties.
However, since 2000, there has also been a statutory procedure through which
a union can apply to the independent Central Arbitration Committee (CAC [1])
to oblige an employer to recognise it (*UK0007183F* [2]). If the union
demonstrates a certain level of membership and support for recognition (in
some cases through a workforce ballot), the CAC issues a declaration making
recognition compulsory, and this has happened in over 220 cases.
[1] http://www.cac.gov.uk
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-industrial-relations/statutory-trade-union-recognition-procedure-comes-into-force
Discussions about whether workers should help set executive pay
06 November 2011
In recent years, and especially since the financial crisis erupted in 2008,
the remuneration of senior managers in the UK has come under increasing
public and political scrutiny. Critics claim that the pay awarded to many
executives bears little relation to either the performance of the companies
they manage or the development of other employees’ wages.
Increase in demand for collective dispute resolution
06 October 2011
The Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas [1]) is an
independent statutory body that, among other work aimed at improving
employment relations, offers dispute-resolution services in individual
(UK0910039Q [2]) and collective employment disputes (essentially those
between employers and trade unions [3]).
[1] http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1461
[2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/erm/comparative-information/national-contributions/united-kingdom/uk-individual-disputes-at-the-workplace-alternative-disputes-resolution
[3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/trade-unions
Pressure mounts for EU quota of women on company boards
29 September 2011
The European Commission [1]’s database on women and men in decision-making
[2] includes information on the gender composition of the boards of directors
of the EU’s 600 largest publicly quoted companies. In 2010, only 12% of the
members of these boards, and 3% of the boards’ chairs, were women. Around a
third of the companies had no female board members.
[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/industrial-relations-dictionary/european-commission
[2] http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/gender-decision-making/database/index_en.htm
Transport and travel unions discuss merger
29 September 2011
The National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT [1]) has
some 77,000 members, working in the railway sector, the shipping and offshore
industries, and bus and road-freight transport. The Transport Salaried
Staffs’ Association (TSSA [2]) represents around 28,000 administrative,
managerial, professional and technical workers in the railway sector, travel
trade, ports and ferries.
[1] http://www.rmt.org.uk/
[2] http://www.tssa.org.uk/
Takeda Pharmaceutical signs EWC agreement
22 September 2011
Takeda Pharmaceutical [1] is Japan’s largest pharmaceuticals company, and
also has operations elsewhere in Asia, Europe and North America. A little
over half of its total workforce of nearly 20,000 people works outside Japan.
[1] http://www.takeda.com