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Network Journal 2003 Issue 3 |
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Book reviews
Campaigns
Companies
Employment
Equality
Get Involved
Health and Safety
International
Pay
People and Events
Politics
Recruitment and Organising
Rights at work
Work and Life
Book reviews
Essential advice for union reps from the LRD
The Labour Research Department has updated several of its publications, covering subjects such as Tax Credits, Working Parents Rights, Time-off for Union Reps, Employment and Health and Safety Law. Full details are given below.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Campaigns
Companies
Big three face disappointment as Safeway bidders await decision
Speculation is rife that the big three Tesco, Asda/Wal-Mart and Sainsbury will miss out on their bid to take over the Safeway supermarket chain.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Business following cheaper route
British business should stop whingeing about ‘red tape’, raise investment, and stop competing on the basis of driving down prices and costs, says the TUC.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Companies – news in brief
Sainsbury loses position as Britain’s second biggest supermarket retailer, proposed merger between Littlewoods Home Shopping and GUS under fire and shopworkers at Debenhams stores left stunned. Full details below.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Convenient expansion for Co-op Group
The UK's leading convenience store business, the Co-op Group, has enhanced its position with the acquisition of the Balfour chain of 76 convenience stores and 35 newsagents.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Corporate raider Regan cleared
Andrew Regan, the asset stripper who tried to buy the Co-operative business in 1997, was cleared of charges of theft at a London court on August 6 – after his third jury trial.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Thousands of new jobs at Tesco as part of convenience stores refit
Britain’s largest retailer Tesco has announced plans to create 3,500 new jobs, but also said it would transfer 350 jobs to a new business support centre in India.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Employment
Employment – news in brief
Young workers could benefit from the National Minimum Wage; workers have greater protection against low pay thanks to new powers given to Inland Revenue; more people working into their 50s and beyond retirement age according to the latest Government figures; Sainsbury trialling new self scan checkouts; unemployment in UK falls to lowest level in two years; summer heatwave sees significant drop in sales; restaurant chain Pizza Hut bans smoking in all outlets. Further details below.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Government inquiry will look at jobs exodus to Far East
The export of call centre jobs to India and China will form part of a Government inquiry into the role played by the Information Technology revolution in the UK.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Equality
Get Involved
Check out the new online service
Union reps can now network online thanks to the launch of a new TUC web service www.UNIONREPS.org.uk. The site will help reps from different workplaces and different unions to network online.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Make sure you get your vote for leader’s election
Members are being urged to notify the union if they have recently changed their address, or name, to ensure they receive their ballot papers for the forthcoming election of a new General Secretary.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Organising Academy – news in brief
Full programme of training courses for 2004 to be available by November; Usdaw awarded more than £800,000 after successful bid for Government funding; New learning opportunities for adults as a result of new Skills Strategy White Paper. Further details below.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Our web site will keep you in touch
Hundreds of workers are joining Usdaw via the union’s vastly improved web site which features a whole range of new resources and interactive features, putting it way ahead of other sites.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Health and Safety
Caring for cleaners
The HSE has published new guidance on manual handling and musculoskeletal hazards for cleaners. Cleaners are particularly vulnerable because their work is labour intensive. The plain speaking guide gives real case studies where problems have been solved, sometimes by the simplest methods.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Enforcement authorities in crisis
The Health & Safety Commission (HSC) has published the annual national statistics on local authority enforcement which show that there has been a continued decline in the number of full-time equivalent staff taking part, and a further 10 per cent drop in the number of inspections.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Expert advice for food industry workers
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has published a Food Industry Information sheet on the safe use of roll-cages and wheeled racks.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Focus on migraine – more than just a headache
A new survey by the Migraine Action Association (MAA) found that 70 per cent of sufferers said that children and adults alike are left feeling frustrated, upset and annoyed.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Health and safety – news in brief
Smoking should be banned in public places, says UK’s chief medical officer; safety group wants companies to do more to combat risk of ‘morning after driving’ among their workforce; new figures reveal 226 people were killed at work last year; new web site to help protect new and expectant mothers’ launched by Health and Safety Executive; latest HSE statistics on affects of work on health; European week for safety and health at work starts on 13 October; up to 13.4 million days a year lost due to stress at work. Further details below.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
If it’s not too cold it’s too hot – keep cool at work!
Usdaw believes that temperatures above 25°C are unreasonably warm, and in the latest period of exceptionally hot UK weather, employers should take steps to reduce the temperature or to make work more comfortable.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
More info on safety web site
The HSE has been overhauling its web site to make it more informative. A number of new pages have been added on particular issues and on industrial sectors.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
New fines will outlaw dangerous chattering drivers
From 1 December 2003, it will be an offence to use a mobile phone without a hands-free kit while driving. A £30 fine (increased up to £1,000 if it goes to court) is what it will cost you if you’re caught hanging on the telephone.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Recipe for good health on offer
The HSE has published a new guidance document on health and safety in bakeries, covering all the main hazards in the industry.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Stressed out workers face high risk of heart attack
Workers exposed to stress for at least half their working lives are 25 per cent more likely to die from a heart attack, and have 50 per cent higher odds of suffering a fatal stroke, says the TUC.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
International
Pay
Wage round settlements for 2003/2004
Thousands of Usdaw members have been exercising their democratic rights during the summer as part of the annual wage round with workers voting through pay increases ranging from 2.5 per cent to an inflation busting 6 per cent.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
People and Events
Politics
Recruitment and Organising
Rights at work
Advice on e-mail and internet privacy now available
The TUC has launched an online guide to monitoring and surveillance at work on its working life web site www.workSMART.org.uk.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
How information and consultation will work
UK workers have moved a step closer to securing important new rights as part of the European Information and Consultation Directive. The EU-inspired directive will give employees the right to be told what’s going on in their company on major workplace issues and decisions. There is still some way to go, but already the TUC and CBI have agreed a framework, which could see a big change in the company/union relationship.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
UK workers face relegation in holiday league table
British workers are bottom of the league when it comes to paid holidays, a new survey of the European Union countries has shown.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Work and Life
Are you a pension fund trustee?
Is there an Usdaw member who is a trustee of your pension scheme
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Big companies feel the heat as deficits double
Britain’s top 100 companies have a pensions shortfall of £55 billion - twice the equivalent amount of 12 months ago, says a new report.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Complaints swamp pensions watchdog
Thousands of people have complained to the Government’s watchdog on pensions, a new report has shown.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Nightworkers need round-the-clock childcare
Helping parents who work outside the ‘normal’ hours of 9 to 5 to balance their work and family life requires new policies and services, rather than simply persuading existing childcare providers to work longer hours themselves, says a new report.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Pensions – news in brief
Ex-engineering workers who lost pension to pursue claim against Government; Government announces plans to introduce safety net insurance fund for company final salary pension schemes which go bust; availability of final salary schemes open to new members falls to 40 per cent in last 12 months; Woolworths announces plans to maintain final salary scheme, but increases retirement age for new recruits; Usdaw General Secretary Sir Bill Connor appointed to sit on Government’s pensions taskforce to look at crisis in the sector. Further details below.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
Regulator lifts ban on exit option
A ban on transfers from final salary work pension schemes has been lifted by the pensions regulator.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
TUC - news in brief
History of British trade union movement since the early nineteenth century now available online; unions should act now to recruit migrant workers; TUC speaks out in defence of A level students. Full details below.
10 September 2003 [Full Story]
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