Forthcoming Events
Employment law after the election: what do we want?, The Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool
Wednesday 25th March 2014
Following the tremendous success of the IER’s What We Want conference in London on 11 February, a similar, half-day event will take place in Liverpool to allow more people to engage in the debate. The conference will be a key event in the run-up to the general election, asking how the lives and living standards of Britain’s population can be improved under a new government.
It has been said that the next general election will be won or lost on the issue of employment rights. Little wonder. Whether it’s the growth in zero hour contracts, the attacks on pension provision, the destruction of collective bargaining, the limitation on trade union action to defend workers, the exploitation of agency workers, the restrictions on access to justice or the ease with which employers can impose mass redundancies – workers and their families can see the injustices in the system and want change.
What laws do you want after the election? Let us know on #ierwhatwewant.
Can unions stay within the law any longer?
Bill Wedderburn Lecture addressed by Len McCluskey, 19 March 2015
This meeting will be held at The Royal College of Surgeons, 35-43 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3PE at 6.30pm. The attendance fee will be waived for Trade Union members. More information and online booking is available here.
News
Work experience off limits for many young workers
Young people are facing a postcode lottery in gaining work experience – with some parts of the UK twice as likely to offer work experience as others. A survey of 18,000 businesses revealed one in five say nothing will persuade them to offer work experience, yet two in three say experience is vital in hiring new staff. And the opportunities that do exist are increasingly open only to a privileged few; underlying the issue is the fact that “work experience” is often a byword for unpaid labour.
Read More…
Report on whistleblowing in the NHS published
The findings of a review into NHS whistleblowing have been published. The review, led by Sir Robert Francis QC, the lawyer who led the inquiry into the care scandal at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, “was set up in response to continuing disquiet about the way NHS organisations deal with concerns raised by NHS staff and the treatment of some of those who have spoken up”.
Read More…
Miliband pledges to double length of paternity leave
Under the plans, fathers would be offered four weeks off work at £260 per week. An entitlement to two weeks paternity leave has been in place since 2003, but Labour says that only about 55% of new fathers take the full two weeks due to the financial pressures they are under. Three in four fathers who are on low incomes do not currently take up their full entitlement.
Read More…
David Cameron calls for workers to get a pay rise
Echoing the language of the TUC, David Cameron urged business leaders to “give Britain a pay rise” on Tuesday (10 February). After a four year assault on employment rights and trade union freedoms in which he has introduced a litany of policies designed to degrade pay and conditions, and to make it harder for workers to access justice, the hypocrisy of Cameron’s comments is jarring. As he knows, politely asking corporations to raise wages will have absolutely no effect.
Read the response…
Stop TTIP
Thanks to a brilliant campaign, opposition to TTIP it is gaining momentum. European Parliament will vote on a resolution on TTIP in May, however ISDS has been separated out for an earlier debate and resolution. Between 9-12 March, there may be the adoption of a European Parliament resolution on ISDS. Please email your MEPs and tell them you do not want ISDS in any agreement.You can find your set of MEPs and their email addresses at: http://www.europarl.org.uk/en/your_meps.html#shadowbox/1/
A template email for your adaption is available here
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IER Manifesto for Collective Bargaining
New on the Coalition Timeline
Pay and Benefits
- Football displays modern day pay inequality at its worst (10/02/2014)
Health and safety
- Construction deaths rise after safety inspections are cut (13/02/2015)
Other
- Postcode lottery for work experience (12/09/2013)
- Tube drivers vote to strike over sacked colleague(10/02/2015)
New – Election 2015: What’s at stake for work, pay and trade unions?
Contributors: Professor Tonia Novitz, University of Bristol Law School; Professor Ozlem Onaran, University of Greenwich; Dr Lydia Hayes, Cardiff University; Carolyn Jones, Institute of Employment Rights; and James Lazou, Unite the Union.
This guide outlines the scale of the fall in living standards since 2008, the explosion of low-wage, insecure work and how working people and their unions have seen their rights attacked. By explaining the link between strong trade unions, widespread collective bargaining and lower inequality the pamphlet suggests short and long term policy interventions that would improve the living standards of working people and begin to steer the economy in a more equitable direction with collective bargaining at its core.
You can read and download the election guide here.
Publications
By David Renton and Anna Macey
This publication offers a chilling reminder of the extent to which access to justice is being systematically shut down by the Coalition government.
By Dr Lydia Hayes and Professor Tonia Novitz
What is the point of trade unions? What do they deliver? Are trade unions relevant in 21st century modern society? These and many other questions are answered by the authors of this timely and well presented report. Order your copy here
By Zoe Adams and Simon Deakin
ZHCs are highly profitable for employers, but lead to insecurity of income and low pay for workers. The authors point to rigidities in employment law and the operation of the tax-benefit system as being responsible for the rise in zero hours contracting. Order your copy here
Edited by Bernard Ryan
A collection of papers by the UK’s leading experts on labour migration on the exploitation of migrant workers and the need for labour law reform.
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