As workers struggle back into work following the recent snowstorms, the TUC today (Tuesday) issues new advice about when it is reasonable to stay at home and how employers should treat time lost through bad weather.
Following today's announcement of the shortlist to run the newly invigorated Tyne and Wear Metro system trade unions, MPs and Council Leaders all signalled their support for this vital public service.
Commenting on the dispute centring on the Lindsey Oil Refinery in North Lincolnshire, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
“With big job losses announced every day, workers are fearful for their jobs. Refinery workers are understandably and rightly angry at employers who have not given British based workers the opportunity to apply for new jobs. The employer will be in breach of the law if they restrict any future vacancies to workers of a particular nationality or location.
The TUC today (Friday) welcomed the increase in the amount of an employees' weekly earnings which counts towards statutory redundancy pay from £330 to £350, which takes effect this Sunday (1 February).
Responding to comments made today (Thursday) by the Prime Minister at the New Local Government Network annual conference that the Government intends to allow local authorities to build more council houses, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
The TUC is today (Thursday) calling on the Government to make the banks in which it has shares or who are receiving assistance from the Bank of England fully reveal their tax haven activities.
Nearly a decade after the national minimum wage (NMW) was introduced on 1 April 1999, the TUC has calculated that at least 1.5 million workers are still being cheated out of the NMW by dishonest employers.
Responding to Lord Mandelson's statement TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said:
'There is much to welcome in Lord Mandelson's announcement today. He has accepted the case for support and has rightly put emphasis on training and securing a low-carbon future for the automotive sector. This is exactly the kind of sensible government intervention in industrial policy that the TUC has long advocated. But employees in the sector will be worried that not enough is being done to keep them in work during the recession ready for the recovery. This should not be the last word.'
The TUC is calling for an end to discrimination and prejudice against lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people (LGBT) at the Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) national commemoration event in Coventry today (Sunday).
The Midlands TUC has welcomed a government initiative to raise awareness of the National Minimum Wage in Birmingham. The visit will take place on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th January when a team of National Minimum Wage Ambassadors will set out their stall in Edgbaston Street, between the Bull Ring and the Rag Market.