Thanks to attendees of the Employment Law Update 2013

Many thanks to everybody who attended our packed-out Employment Law Update 2013 on Wednesday. We have received very positive feedback from the event and are proud that we have been able to maintain the standards of previous installments of our most popular series of conferences.

You can download all documentation - including slides and papers - from the event by clicking here

Those in the North West who missed out on the event still have an opportunity to attend the next Employment Law Update in Liverpool, which will be held on 06 November 2013. Click here to book your place.

New on the Coalition Timeline

Click here to see the Coalition Timeline

Trade union rights

• Tories call firefighters 'reckless' and 'selfish' (11/10/2013)
• Govt attempts to push Lobbying Bill through at breakneck speed (09/10/2013)

Equality

• Tory admits sexist leaning in Party (10/10/2013)

Immigration and Migrant Workers

Theresa May this week announced an Immigration Bill intended to make it more difficult for illegal immigrants to access public services. The Tories have been accused of appealing to less tolerant sections of society with their ineffective "Go Home" vans, and this Bill is likely to stir-up similar emotion.

Despite the government's negative pronouncements on immigration over the years, research shows that many of those who oppose the movement of workers into the UK have been misled. For instance, it is not true that immigrants are a drain on the UK's resources; nor that migrant workers are a significant cause of unemployment among British nationals. It is not even true to say that the UK is irreversibly segregated along race lines - a popular myth - but it is true that they are segregated by economic inequality.

The real problem with immigration is the way in which migrants are treated once they get to this country, with unfair employment laws hitting them much harder - and in different ways - to the rest of society.

We are excited to host the forthcoming conference Labour Migration in Hard Times, at which the UK's leading experts on Migrant workplace rights will speak. Book your place now by clicking here

Trade union rights

Controversial Lobbying Bill passed by Commons

The widely controversial Lobbying Bill has been passed by the House of Commons and has had its first reading in the House of Lords.

Govt attempts to push Lobbying Bill through at breakneck speed

Members of the opposition have spoken out in Parliament after the government continued in its attempt to push the widely controversial Lobbying Bill through at such a pace that thorough scrutiny is impossible.

Blacklisting

IER welcomes proposed compensation scheme for blacklisted workers; but this is not even the beginning of the end

The Institute of Employment Rights (IER) welcomes the news that eight major construction firms involved in the blacklisting scandal have admitted wrong and proposed a joint compensation scheme for those who lost their livelihoods through the abhorrent practice. But President of the IER Professor Keith Ewing has warned that this does not mark the end of the blacklisting scandal.

Workplace rights

What the experts say: An Employment Law Update

By Roger Jeary

Roger Jeary, a delegate at the Institute of Employment Rights' Employment Law Update conference, describes the views and lessons of the UK's leading lawyers and trade union officials speaking at the event.

Sponsor our news briefs

Help support our charity and the work we do, as well as advertising your services or products to 5,600 trade unionists, solicitors, academics and others interested in trade union and employment rights. Contact sarah@ier.org.uk for more details.

IER Manifesto for Collective Bargaining

ASLEF becomes tenth union to back IER Manifesto for Collective Bargaining

Railway union ASLEF has announced its official support for the Institute of Employment Rights' (IER's) latest package of policy proposals Reconstruction after Crisis: a manifesto for collective bargaining. This makes the organisation the tenth union to give the manifesto their backing, including Unite, Unison, GMB, NUT, PCS, CWU, UCU, RMT and ATL.

Read the ten-point manifesto

By the book

VIDEOS: Watch the experts

PODCASTS: Listen to the experts

New publications

Reconstruction after the crisis: a manifesto for collective bargaining

By Professor Keith Ewing and John Hendy QC

This publication presents an evidence-based policy proposal for the state encouragement of collective bargaining, and particularly sectoral bargaining, as a tried-and-tested means of reducing income inequality and stimulating the sustainable recovery of a strong and resilient economy.

Labour Law Highlights 1013

By Rebecca Tuck, Betsan Criddle & Stuart Brittenden

SPECIAL OFFER – 4 for the price of 1! Buy Labour Law Highlights 2013 and get Labour Law Highlights 2012, 2011, and 2010 for free! Already got past copies of Labour Law Highlights? You can still buy this year’s copy on its own for the usual price of £8.