Gilman, Mark

On 23 January 1998, the High Court in London ruled in nine test cases brought by ex-mineworkers suing British Coal, the former nationalised coal authority, for causing them chronic bronchitis and emphysema. The outcome was eagerly awaited by tens of thousands other potential claimants, and could affect miners who worked in coalmines as long ago as 1947. Over 100 other cases are already awaiting judgment and there are thousands of other claims pending, according to solicitors working on behalf of injured former members of the National Union of Mineworkers. The test cases, taken by ex-miners from the Durham, Yorkshire and South Wales coalfields took 17 months to reach the High Court.

At the end of January 1998, the Low Pay Commission [1] (LPC) completed its oral hearings on the forthcoming National Minimum Wage (NMW) in sessions with the Equal Opportunities Commission, Commission for Racial Equality and UNISON, public sector union which is the UK's largest union. The LPC will now have to consider more than 400 pieces of written evidence, along with the results of hearings with companies, employees, trade unions and other bodies. The LPC's findings are expected to be published later in the spring of 1998, along with a recommendation for a NMW rate (UK9711177F [2]). [1] http://www.dti.gov.uk/lowpay/ [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-social-policies/the-national-minimum-wage-an-update

In December 1997, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) agreed a joint statement identifying the key areas of agreement and disagreement between them on the statutory trade union recognition rules that the Government is committed to introducing (UK9801194F [1]). However, February 1998 saw a full-scale disagreement break out between the social partners over how the Labour Party's pre-election manifesto commitment to legislate on recognition should be interpreted (UK9704125F [2]). The argument centres around the wording in the manifesto, which states that unions should be recognised "where a majority of the relevant workforce vote in a ballot for the union to represent them". [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined/union-recognition-uk-social-partners-reach-partial-agreement [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-labour-market/the-industrial-relations-consequences-of-the-new-labour-government

At the end of December 1997, the Institute of Personnel and Development (IPD) - the professional body for personnel managers - launched its /Management of equality/ awards. These will be awarded annually by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) and the Employers' Forum on Disability (EFD) to students taking IPD qualifications who come up with creative solutions to the problems of equal opportunities.

A survey of 374 organisations by the recruitment company, Reed Personnel, conducted prior to Christmas 1997, showed that the number of companies opening on Christmas Day has grown by a third over the past decade. Traditionally only organisations such as hospitals, the emergency services, hotels, telephone operator services and the media worked on Christmas Day, but this has now extended to the service sector in general and even to some manufacturing establishments. The service sector showed the largest increase in the proportion of establishments opening, up from 6% to 8% over the decade, while manufacturing rose from zero to 1%.

At the beginning of January 1998, Jaguar, part of the US-based Ford motor manufacturing group, announced that it is to produce a new smaller luxury sports car to compete with the BMW 3 series and the Mercedes class 3. Jaguar's chair and chief executive, Nick Scheele said that :"our preference, naturally was to build the car in the UK and I regret that we are not able to produce an affordable investment proposition to make the new car at our plants in the West Midlands but I am pleased that we will be going to Halewood."

The introduction of a statutory National Minimum Wage (NMW) was one of the commitments of the Labour Government that came to power in May 1997 (UK9704125F [1]), and the National Minimum Wage Bill was published on 27 November and received its first reading in Parliament. Margaret Beckett, the President of the Board of Trade, who is responsible for the bill, said that it would set the framework within which the Government would introduce the NMW, once it had carefully considered the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission [2] (LPC). The bill, she stated, will enable the Government to introduce a NMW which is as simple and universal as possible (UK9711177F [3]). [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-labour-market/the-industrial-relations-consequences-of-the-new-labour-government [2] http://www.dti.gov.uk/lowpay/ [3] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-social-policies/the-national-minimum-wage-an-update

Further problems have been looming in the UK's troubled and much-diminished mining industry for some time now, and came to a head at the beginning of December 1997 when the industry's largest producer, RJB, issued calls to the Government to step in to save the industry, with eight pits and some 5,000 jobs said to be at risk. The crisis was triggered primarily by the fact that RJB had failed to secure enough contracts with power generators, which argue that the company's coal is too expensive.

Over the five years to 1997, growth and productivity levels in the UK have shown above average figures for the EU. In 1997, GDP continued to grow at between 3% and 3.5%. Average earnings growth fluctuated within the range of 4.25% to 4.75%, with average pay awards remaining at around 3% for most of 1997, but moving towards the 4% mark in the last quarter.

Toyota, the Japan-based motor manufacturer, has a UK plant at Burnaston in Derbyshire, which is said to have the third-highest productivity levels of any car plant in Europe. It was widely expected that the company would continue its investment in the UK by building a new plant aimed at production for the small-car market in that country. However, on 10 December 1997, the announcement was made that the GBP 400 million assembly plant, which is likely to create over 2,000 jobs, will be built in Valenciennes, northern France.