Govt will try to change ‘burdensome’ law so agency staff can cover for striking workers June 23, 2022 The government will try to change the law to allow agency staff to cover for striking workers. Grant Shapps and Kwasi Kwarteng, the transport and business secretaries, made the announcement on Thursday as the UK is crippled by a second day of industrial action. Under current trade union laws, firms cannot supply temporary workers to [...]
Who could take over from the CBI? April 24, 2023 Britain’s biggest business organisation, the CBI, has been engulfed by a toxic scandal which threatens to see it collapse. Allegations of rape, sexual attacks and harassment have seen the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) brand damaged “beyond repair”, according to one business leader. A flood of firms announced they were quitting the lobbying group, which [...]
Kemi Badenoch urged to ‘walk away’ from Gulf trade deal over human rights concerns May 22, 2023 Kemi Badenoch has been urged to “walk away” from “worrying” trade negotiations with Gulf states due to concerns about human and labour rights abuses. The UK has “absolutely no reason” to discuss trade with states where “human, women’s and LGBT rights and workers’ rights abuses are so widespread”, union boss Paul Nowak said. Amnesty International [...]
Why Labour was always going to have to compromise on workers’ rights May 15, 2024 News that Labour is redrafting some of its pledges to transform workers’ rights is a sign the party is preparing to take the duty of governing seriously, Jessica Frank-Keyes writes
Railway industry sets up contingency plans ahead of potential RMT strike May 16, 2022 The UK railway industry has set several contingency plans ahead of a potential strike by the union RMT, which could involve up to 40,000 workers. Network Rail said it had measures in place to “better understand the disruption it may cause to passengers and freight services.” The government-owned railway operator said it was working with [...]
City’s influence over Westminster: £17.5m spent political parties and MPs since 2020 June 7, 2022 The influence of the City over Westminster has come into sharp focus this week, after a report £17.5m was spend by big banks on MPs and political parties since 2020. Almost 50 MPs received an average of £49,000 from the City – despite 26 of them registering not a single hour of work in return. [...]
As winter tightens its grip, businesses can’t afford to ignore the disability pay gap a second longer December 22, 2022 If a job description had mentioned that you would have had to work the final 54 days of this year unpaid, you would have likely turned it down. But this is the reality that people with disabilities in the UK have been facing in 2022. The disability pay gap works out to the equivalent of [...]
Unions warn rail cuts could increase the risk of crashes May 4, 2022 Reported railway cuts could increase the risk of serious crashes, according to trade unions. A report published today by the Trade Unions Congress (TUC) accused Network Rail of planning to cut around 2,5000 maintenance jobs as part of a £100m annual spending reduction, leading to the loss of 2,500 jobs. According to the TUC, cutting [...]
Adding agency workers into the strikes row will nurture a prolonged political headache June 30, 2022 Last week, Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary, defended plans to allow businesses to use agency staff to plug gaps caused by striking workers. For the unions, this is tantamount to cutting them off at the knees. Britain’s workforce has changed fundamentally since the law in question was introduced, in 2003. Agency workers are now part [...]
Sadiq Khan says masks on TfL network no longer compulsory following scrapping of restrictions February 21, 2022 London mayor Sadiq Khan has said masks will no longer be compulsory to wear across the whole Transport for London (TfL) network following today’s announcement that all Covid restrictions will be scrapped. “Following the government dropping all legal Covid restrictions, and in light of falling infection levels in London, it is expected that wearing a [...]