Wednesday 10 June 2015

A one-day conference

Diskus Room, Unite the Union, London

This event will be the first IER conference to take place after the general election, providing an excellent opportunity to assess the government’s programme of work. How will worker’s rights fair under a new regime? Which labour law topics will trade unionists need to be aware of in order to best protect their members at work?

19 March 2015

By Len McCluskey

18 March 2015

By Sabina Dewan and Gregory Randolph

As George Osborne delivers his last budget under this Coalition Government, we wonder if he has paid any attention to a recent report published by the International Monetary Fund on how to build a better future. We guess not. Why? Because the report reiterates what we have been saying for some time – that rising inequality is in part due to a decline in unionisation. According to the IMF report, even if governments and the private sector manage to create jobs and boost GDP, it will not result in greater equality unless unions have a key role in helping boost wages. The following report by the above authors sets out the case. Carolyn Jones

Steve Tombs

David Whyte

6 March 2015

By Professor Steve Tombs, Open University and Professor David Whyte, Liverpool University

Steve Tombs and David Whyte analyse Richard Baker MSP’s new draft Bill for the Scottish parliament and consider whether it could be a model for reform across the UK.

The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act (“CMCHA”), rolled out across the UK seven years ago to radically improve accountability for corporate killing, has so far failed dismally to improve accountability for deaths at work.

5 March 2015

By Thorsten Schulten, collective bargaining expert at the Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI).

Real pay and collective bargaining coverage are falling dramatically and industry-level agreements are being destroyed. These are the results of the policies of the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund in Europe’s crisis countries.

3 March 2015

By Keith Ewing, President, Institute of Employment Rights

Many readers will recall the great controversy that was provoked by the clumsily entitled Transparency of Lobbying, Non-Party Campaigning etc Act 2013 at the time it was passed. It is clear its purpose was to clear the pitch for the Tories, to allow them to dominate the election with their city-fuelled war chest.