The TUC General Secretary, Brendan Barber, today (Wednesday) informed the TUC Executive Committee of his decision to retire from the TUC around the end of the year. This will enable the election of his successor to take place at the 2012 Congress in September and for an appropriate hand over period.
Responding to the latest unemployment figures published today (Wednesday) by the Office for National Statistics, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
Commenting on the latest inflation figures published today (Tuesday) which show that consumer price index (CPI) annual inflation rose to 3.5 per cent and retail price index (RPI) annual inflation fell to 3.6 per cent in March, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
The manufacturing and construction sectors have suffered the biggest loss of jobs since the eve of the recession, while finance and business services is the only sector with a bigger workforce today, according to a TUC analysis published today (Tuesday) ahead of a busy week of economic indicators.
Commenting on government figures published today (Monday) showing the numbers of super-rich individuals in the UK that pay less than the 20 per cent basic rate of income tax, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
This week Midlands TUC will launch a campaign against four local MPs' support for the ‘Pasty Tax' announced by Chancellor George Osbourne in his recent Budget. This tax will introduce VAT on previously untaxed hot take away food.
Families will have gained up to £381 by April 2013 as a result of the personal allowance threshold rising faster than inflation – but could have lost more than £4,000 from changes to working tax credits over the same period – the TUC says today (Wednesday) as it launches its new tax credit calculator for 2012.
The TUC, railway unions and transport campaigners have launched a campaign to fight job cuts, service reductions, ticket office closures and fare hikes in the rail industry.
At a meeting with MPs at the House of Commons on Tuesday 20 March, union leaders and representatives from the Campaign for Better Transport raised their concerns about the government's proposals for the future of rail as outlined in the Rail Command Paper. They were joined by Shadow Transport Minister Maria Eagle.
Around 2.7 million workers across the UK could face an increased risk of losing their jobs when the government increases the qualifying period for protection from unfair dismissal from one year to two years on Good Friday (6 April).
The TUC is concerned that this change in the law will also increase job insecurity, discriminate against younger workers, part-time women workers and employees from black and ethnic (BME) communities, and encourage more of a ‘hire and fire' culture in the UK.
With exactly two months to go until the Diamond Jubilee weekend (taking place from Saturday 2 June until Tuesday 5 June) the TUC is today (Monday) calling on employers to ensure that workers do not miss out on the unique four-day celebrations.