Category Archives: Employment Rights

Beecroft: Tory benefactor and “misery” maker

Revealing the real motivations behind Beecroft’s proposed reforms of UK employment law, Tony Burke, assistant general secretary at Unite the Union, sets the record straight following TM’s June leader.  The June issue of The Manufacturer carried extensive reporting on the proposals to change employment … Continue reading

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Steelworkers Reach Tentative Agreement With Rio Tinto in Alma, QC

The United Steelworkers negotiated a tentative agreement Sunday with Rio Tinto Alcan management in Alma, Quebec, Canada, where aluminum smelter workers have been locked out for six months. The 780 locked-out workers, members of Steelworkers Local 9490, will review the … Continue reading

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Barber v Beecroft – the video

TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber takes on the Beecroft report author himself in this filmed debate at the Telegraph. Do managers in the UK really need more powers to sack their staff? Have a watch, and head over to the … Continue reading

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Austerity Across Europe

In Europe there are a dwindling group of countries whose economies are still growing; Germany the ‘strongest’ has growth of just 0.5%. More countries are in recession – Britain, Italy, Spain, Ireland, Portugal and Greece. The rest are stagnant. Across … Continue reading

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Cancel The Greek Debt

By Michael Burke The Greek general election on June 17th presented a clear political choice on whether to continue with the ‘austerity’ measures imposed by the Troika of the ECB, EU and IMF which have caused a disastrous economic slump. … Continue reading

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The Crisis and National Labour Law Reforms: A Mapping Exercise

This Working Paper by Isabelle Schömann (ETUI) and  Stefan Clauwaert (ETUI) is highly recommended as it maps the crisis and national labour law reforms in various European countries either triggered by the crisis or introduced using the crisis – falsely – … Continue reading

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Employers attack workers’ rights at ILO

Trade unions expressed outrage at the actions of the employers’ group at the International Labour Organisation Conference for blocking any debate and discussion on some of the worst cases of worker rights violations at the meeting in Geneva on 4th … Continue reading

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Teamsters Settle Sotheby’s NYC Lock Out

News comes through that the long running dispute between the Teamsters union in the USA and the auction house Sotheby’s in New York has been settled. The campaign run by the Teamsters, was supported by Unite and the TUC. Teamsters officials … Continue reading

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And the Government wants to make easier for bosses to sack workers….

After publishing the Beecroft Report and arguing that employers need to be able to easily dismiss workers here is a salutory lesson on why workers need more, not less protection.  Unite members were employed at a small specialist printers GC … Continue reading

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Manufacturing figures damning indictment of government economic policy

Yesterday’s manufacturing figures from Markit/CIPS make shocking reading and are a damning indictment of the government’s economic policy and the total lack of any strategy to grow the economy and create jobs. The automotive sector being the only glimmer of … Continue reading

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