Latest Blogs
Anti-Social Europe: USDAW v Wilson in the ECJ
By Michael Ford QC
4,400 workers who lost their jobs when Woolworths and Ethel Austin collapsed have lost their compensation claim. The ECJ has ruled that the employees who worked at stores employing less than 20 staff do not qualify for compensation, because under UK law, workers in smaller stores are excluded from an obligation to consult over redundancies. The ECJ held that “establishment” in collective redundancy legislation, refers to an individual workplace, not to the employer as a whole. In this blog, Michael Ford QC analyses the claim and the ECJ’s decision.
Read the blog here…
Collective Bargaining in Ireland: lessons for Westminster?
Michael Doherty, Professor of Law and Head of the Department of Law at Maynooth University, Ireland
The voluntarist system of employment relations that exists in Ireland is, of course, derived from that of the UK. Despite the common origins, however, a number of subtle differences have emerged, and persisted, over the years in relation to collective bargaining in the two countries. First, the statutory recognition procedure under the Employment Relations Act 1999 has no equivalent in Ireland. While the Irish Constitution protects the right of freedom of association, trade unions in Ireland enjoy no rights to be recognised for bargaining purposes by an employer. Employees are free to join a trade union, but they cannot insist their employer negotiate with that union regarding their pay and conditions.
Read the blog here…
News
EAT: Facility time counts as working time
An Employment Appeal Tribunal has held that meetings for health and safety and trade union representatives qualify as working time with regards to the Working Time Regulations 1998. The Edwards v Encirc Ltd dispute arose because Edwards only had 6 hours break in between his meeting and the start of his night shift. Regulation 10(1) of the Working Time Regulations 1998 stipulated that 11 hours rest be given in between periods of work. The case therefore rested on whether Edward’s trade union duties qualified as working time.
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Psychologists Against Austerity Campaign
Psychologists Against Austerity is highlighting the effects of austerity on the nation’s mental health. Members of the campaign have stated that ‘as applied psychologists it is (their) public and professional duty to be speaking out against the further implementation of austerity policies. […] Austerity policies have damaging psychological costs, both increasing mental distress in the present and storing problems for the future. This can be demonstrated with robust and well-established psychological research’. The PAA ‘aims to mobilise psychologists and psychological knowledge to make a case against further austerity policies’ and have identified five ‘Austerity Ailments’ (specific psychological pathways between austerity policies and increased mental distress.)
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Leaked: Welfare cuts to come
The Guardian has revealed a list of potential cuts drafted by the Department for Work and Pensions. The Conservatives have pledged £12bn in cuts after the election – without specifying how they would be made. A document drawn up by officials at the DWP, seen by The Guardian, contains a list of areas likely to be slashed. The list contains ruthless changes to all corners of welfare; stricter ‘fit-for-work’ tests, increasing the bedroom tax, forcing single parents back to work, and the abolition of statutory maternity pay.
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Collective Bargaining Video – Why we need it
 
What is collective bargaining? Why do we need it? What will be the consequences of its restoration? Keith Ewing and John Hendy explain all…
Watch the collective bargaining video here
IER Manifesto for Collective Bargaining
Events
Workplace Issues: Taking up the issues with the new government
Wednesday 10 June 2015
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?
Human Rights: Possibilities and Problems for Labour Law
Wednesday 1 July 2015
Diskus Room, Unite the Union, London
At the Tory party conference in 2014, Cameron announced that he was ready to remove the UK from the European Convention on Human Rights. In April 2015 that threat was included in the Conservative Party election manifesto, reflecting Tory plans to replace the Human Rights Act 1998 with a British Bill of Rights. So what would withdrawal from the ECHR mean for employment rights and worker protections? This conference aims to shed light on the issues by focusing on the kind of workplace abuses that the Convention aims to protect us against.
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
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