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Risksissue no 127 - 11 October 2003 |
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Editor: Rory O'Neill of Hazards magazine. Comments to Owen Tudor CONTENTS
Risks is the TUC’s weekly online bulletin for safety reps and others, read each week by over 8,000 subscribers and 1,500 on the TUC website. To receive this bulletin every week, click here. Past issues are available. This edition contains Useful links TUC courses for safety reps Disclaimer and Privacy statement. ACTION - European health and safety weekNew TUC 'escape route' and asbestos inspection dayThe TUC has launched a suite of new materials on it special European health and safety week webpages. As its contribution to the week which starts on Monday (13 October), the TUC is encouraging safety reps to press employers to use a new TUC 'escape route' from the risks posed by dangerous substances. 'Escape' stands for 'eliminate, substitute, control and prevent exposure', based on the EU-inspired ‘hierarchy of control’. The TUC is also asking safety reps to join in a National Inspection Day on Wednesday, 15 October, to check that employers are ready for the forthcoming duty to manage asbestos in buildings (which will be in force next year). The TUC and HSE have jointly drafted a five-question checklist for safety reps which is on the TUC website. 'Both the ‘escape route’ and the asbestos checklist will be effective long after their launch in European safety week,' said TUC’s Owen Tudor.
Union resources for EuroweekUnions Amicus, GMB, UNISON and Usdaw are among those who have issued special resources for European Health and Safety Week. Amicus says its Euroweek campaign focuses on asbestos disease and the new legislation requiring employers to keep registers of employees exposed to asbestos. Campaign materials are being sent to shop stewards nationwide.GMB’s latest Health and safety matters briefing gives safety reps ideas for activities during the week. A special UNISON webpage includes details of national inspection day, new guidance on hazardous substances and asthma, posters, pointers for branches and member and safety rep recruitment material. Usdaw members who work in the chemical industry are generally well-protected because the hazards of the substances they work with are well-known, says the union. It adds, though, that its members in retail, food manufacturing and funeral services can also be exposed to dangerous substances - and because the risks are less obvious, they may not be so well-controlled.
Unions act in health and safety week, 13-19 OctoberThe TUC has published an eight page list of union events, activities and initiatives for European Week 2003. The theme for the week is ‘dangerous substances’ (EU Agency press release). Key hazards dealt with will include asbestos, asthmagens and solvents. The HSE’s Euroweek action pack can be ordered online at HSE’s Euroweek website or by calling 0800 085 0050, and the European Agency website has resources and background information too. Future years’ themes have also now been decided. FEATURE ON SAFETY ENFORCEMENTUnion fights HSE plan to axe safety inspectors
Public safety enforcement is a postcode lotteryThe safety of the public and employees is being put at risk, because cowboy employers feel at liberty to flout health and safety laws across the UK. A new report from public sector union UNISON concludes that postcodes and not risks determine the level of health and safety enforcement undertaken by local authorities. Safety lottery: How the level of safety enforcement of health and safety depends on where you live looked at the local authority enforced sector, which includes offices, retail and wholesale shops, warehouses, fuel and storage depots, residential care homes and premises involved in catering, leisure, cultural or consumer and other services. UNISON says it shows appalling levels of inconsistency, with the best authorities inspecting every single one of their premises at least once a year, to the worst with no inspections. Hugh Robertson, UNISON's head of health and safety, said: 'It is a total disgrace that the government is allowing the health and safety of both workers and the public to be put at risk, by allowing local authorities to get away with doing nothing to enforce the law.' He added that cowboy employers 'simply have no real incentive to comply with regulations because there is no chance that they will get caught, investigated or prosecuted… We want to see the worst take lessons from the best and raise standards across the UK. This means that councils must look carefully at financial, organisational and recruitment problems across this vital sector.'
UNION NEWSHow to opt back in to a 48 hour working week
TGWU campaign for a safer oil industryThe Transport and General Workers’ Union, the union representing over two-thirds of the UK's 3,000 oil tanker drivers, is calling for a new industry-wide forum to deliver greater safety, security and improved working conditions for the oil industry. The move comes amid drivers' growing fears that a profit first culture has taken root leading to high labour turnover, poor safety procedures and the erosion of pensions and pay agreements. TGWU says its campaign document, The model for a modern oil industry, spells out why an industry responsible for the delivery of such vital and hazardous materials cannot continue to put the pursuit of profit before safety and stability and must work with the government and unions to avert further problems. TGWU general secretary Bill Morris commented: 'Our members are now enduring an intolerable working environment. Lives are being put at risk and cost-cutting is causing instability in an essential industry. This untenable situation must be brought to an end.' Tube strike ballot over sacked union repTube workers are to be balloted on industrial action over the sacking of a union activist who was on sick leave. The Rail Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) member was a driver the London Underground driver on the Hammersmith and City line. RMT general secretary Bob Crow accused the company of 'scraping the barrel' to find an excuse to sack the activist. 'The company has wasted public money snooping to catch the driver coming out of his squash club while off sick with an ankle injury. Yet the driver concerned has produced evidence that both his GP and sports injury therapist advised him that an increasing amount of exercise would speed his recovery and therefore his return to work.' He added: 'We have no alternative but to ballot members with a strong recommendation that they vote yes.' High crime figures are 'tip of the iceberg'Retail union Usdaw has repeated its call for greater respect for shopworkers, following the publication of figures showing staff continue to face high levels of abuse and violence. Latest retail crime figures from the Scottish Retail Consortium show that in 2002, for every 1,000 employees in the sector in Scotland there were 24 recorded incidents of verbal abuse, physical violence and threats of violence. Usdaw says while this figure is disturbing, the statistics are likely to be the tip of the iceberg - with many shopworkers choosing not to report incidents they now consider commonplace. Usdaw general secretary Sir Bill Connor, speaking at the launch of the 2nd Scottish Retail Crime Survey, said: 'It is a sad fact of life that violence and abuse is becoming an everyday part of working life for too many retail workers. Our members tell us of shocking incidents - being threatened with knives, punched, kicked and shouted at on a regular basis.' The issue of violence and abuse towards shopworkers is an important campaigning subject for Usdaw, which has around 250,000 members in the retail sector. Over the last year, Usdaw members, staff and supporters in Scotland have collected a 20,000 signature petition calling for shopworkers to have the right to be safe at work, free from fear of violence and abuse, and treated by customers with the respect they deserve.
OTHER NEWSTUC welcomes child employment law reviewThe TUC has welcomed a Better Regulation Task Force review of the law on the employment of children and young people. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: The TUC has long campaigned for the laws that cover young people at work to be simplified. We are very heartened by the news that the Task Force is to take a detailed look at the issue. Teenagers need as much protection from exploitation at work as their parents, but because there are over 200 different laws, directives and local by-laws covering their employment, parents and teachers are often confused as to what the law actually allows young people to do.' He added: 'The law needs to be changed to stop unscrupulous employers exploiting young people, putting their safety and welfare at risk.' Last year the TUC and the NSPCC produced Too much too young, a report that said that there were 172 local by-laws governing the employment of young people, 15 European and international directives and conventions, and 16 domestic Acts of Parliament and statutory instruments (Risks 79). The report said that this mass of legislation was not only confusing, but difficult to access, leading parents to believe their children were better protected than they were.
Six months, one site, two death finesA company has faced its second five figure fine in six months following a death on a London construction site. Earls Court Ltd was fined £80,000 and £12,173.95 costs and Unusual Rigging Ltd was fined £20,000 and £12,173.95 costs at the Old Bailey following a Health and Safety Executive (HSE) prosecution into the death of 26-year-old David Mott at the Earls Court exhibition centre. The most recent prosecution followed an HSE investigation into the incident in which Mr Mott fell 35 metres to his death on 23 June 2000. Six months prior to the death of Mr Mott, another worker had been killed in a similar incident, for which Earls Court Ltd was fined £70,000. Mr Mott fell through fragile, false ceiling tiles while dismantling mobile platforms as part of a refurbishment project. HSE inspector Peter Lennon said: 'This was a foreseeable and avoidable incident; the dangers were well known to both companies. Simple, practicable steps could have been taken to prevent anyone falling through the tiles but these were ignored. Both companies fell seriously short of the standards required to protect those who were working in the roof void, with fatal consequences.' He added: 'This case was particularly serious as there had been a similar fatal incident at the Exhibition Centre only six months prior to Mr Mott’s death.' Safety watchdog attacks falling site standardsOver a third of construction sites are well below standard, the HSE has warned. The findings come from a September HSE inspection blitz of 1,429 sites around the country, where 332 prohibition and 82 improvement notices were served. Thirteen potential prosecutions are also being considered. HSE’s construction chief inspector Kevin Myers condemned the industry for its failure to raise the standards of work at height. Mr Myers said: 'Since the beginning of April this year 17 construction workers have died due to falling from height and it remains the single biggest killer in this industry. Given that most falls from height accidents are preventable, there is no excuse for not ensuring that all work being carried out at height is done safely.' He added: 'What inspectors found during the second blitz of the ‘Don’t fall for it’ campaign suggests that a large section of the industry is not improving itself, as it claims. Many in the industry are deliberately cutting corners, paying lip service to safety and risking the lives of their workers.' HSE says in 2002/03, 33 construction workers died and many thousands more suffered a serious injury as a result of a fall from height in the workplace. New HSE health service premises planA new 'concordat' between Britain’s safety watchdog and English health service property managers has been agreed. The HSE and NHS Estates have signed the concordat, setting out plans to work together to improve the health and safety of patients, visitors and staff in England. HSE says it sets out specific areas of work, targeting those areas that cause the most accidents or cases of ill health within healthcare, including maintenance and construction safety; slips, trips and falls; manual handling; and violence. It adds: 'In particular the Concordat will contribute to the ‘reducing burdens on the NHS’ agenda outlined in the recent Cabinet Office report ‘Making a difference - Reducing the burden in healthcare inspection and monitoring.’' HSE director general Timothy Walker, said: 'The Concordat will ensure that those with responsibilities to manage estate-related risks within public healthcare in England are given sources of practical and effective guidance needed to help them deliver their part in the reduction of accidents within healthcare.'
INTERNATIONALAustralia: Jail back on the menu for bad bossesDeadly Australian employers could soon face jail time as industrial manslaughter proposals resurface with strong political and union support. Negligent bosses face up to 25 years jail if their workers are killed under industrial manslaughter laws before the ACT (Australian Capital Territory) Legislative Assembly, one of Australia’s regional governments. 'We plan to have this legislation passed by November,' says ACT industrial relations minister Katy Gallagher. 'We take this very seriously.' The move, which provides for fines of up to Aus$5million (£2m) for companies, will see industrial manslaughter placed in the Crimes Act, making it a criminal offence. Company directors or boards could be jailed if an employee was killed at work or if the employer was found to have been negligent in contributing to their death. 'We're sending a clear message to employers,' says Gallagher. 'Where there is gross negligence they deserve to be charged.' The legislation is a groundbreaking move after similar legislation was rejected in Victoria, New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland and comes as part of a reform package to ACT occupational health and safety laws. Moves are underway to resurrect the industrial manslaughter proposals in both NSW and Victoria. A NSW union-backed resolution was passed at the state’s ruling Australian Labor Party conference requiring industrial manslaughter to be made a criminal offence in which company directors could be found personally responsible.
Australia: Bullying at work on the riseOne in seven workers in the Australian state of Victoria was bullied in the past six months and almost a quarter were aware of a colleague being bullied, according to an official survey. The news comes as unions in Australia launched initiatives to tackle violence and bullying aimed at women and young workers. The survey of 1,000 workers by official safety body WorkSafe also found more than two-thirds of people who had been bullied were victims of managers' and supervisors' actions. Workplace minister Rob Hulls said bullying 'is never acceptable' and called on more employers to develop workplace bullying policies, with the survey also showing just 55 per cent of Victorian companies had such a policy. He added that workplace bullying claims in the state totalled Aus$57 million (£23.7m) in 2001-02, up from Aus$51 million (£21.2) in 2000-01. In 2001-02, 1,148 claims were reported, compared with 1,107 in the previous year, with complaints ranging from verbal harassment to physical assault. The women’s committee of Victoria’s union body VTHC has launched a survey investigating violence against women in the workplace, after a preliminary investigation identified violence, harassment and bullying as the outstanding problems confronting women at work. In South Australia, the United Trades and Labor Council has launched a free young workers’ legal service after a survey found school kids on work placements were being sexually harassed, abused and ridiculed.
Europe: Small needn’t mean dangerousSmall and medium-sized firms (SMEs) pose the biggest work safety challenge for the European Union (EU), according to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work. It says the risk of fatal accidents in workplaces with fewer than 50 employees is around double that for larger companies. Yet SMEs account for 99 per cent of all businesses in the EU and employ about two thirds of the entire working population. The Bilbao-based agency examined 18 successful occupational safety and health assistance services to SMEs, ranging from industry-wide projects to highly focused initiatives in 14 member states and concluded poor safety standards are not inevitable. Agency director Hans-Horst Konkolewsky commented: 'Our survey of assistance schemes in the member states shows that it might be difficult to reach SMEs and to make them act - however, it’s not impossible if the success criteria identified are taken into account.' He added: 'We hope that the results of our report and the case studies presented will lead to similar initiatives across Europe so that the safety and health conditions of about 75 million workers in the EU employed in SMEs will be improved.'
Global: ILO seeks safer shipbreakingExisting international and national regulations do not provide specific protection for workers in shipbreaking, one of the world's most hazardous occupations. 'Although working conditions vary from country to country, workers in shipbreaking are exposed to extremely hazardous working conditions with high accident rates leading to injuries and fatalities,' said Dr Jukka Takala, director of ILO’s SafeWork programme. 'Inadequate safety controls, badly monitored operations, exposure to highly toxic substances, a high risk of explosions and a lack of adequate training exacerbate the situation.' An ILO convened conference in Bangkok this week will revise and adopt guidelines for responsible ship dismantling and the provision of support for improved safety and health in shipbreaking, ILO adds. There must be sound national frameworks for responsible ship dismantling, ILO says. 'Our long-term objective is to improve the health and safety conditions for workers in shipbreaking operations by transforming it from the informal sector into a sustainable industry in the formal sector, thus contributing to poverty alleviation,' says Takala. Global: World’s drivers act to keep death off roadsOver a quarter of a million road transport workers in 65 countries will use a day of action on Monday 13 October to warn policymakers and all road users that 'fatigue kills.' Organised by international trade union body the ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation), the day of action is now in its seventh year, and has been instrumental in achieving changes in laws and regulations around the world that limit the length of time workers can be expected to stay at the wheel. Mac Urata, secretary of the ITF’s inland transport section, commented: 'These days of mass global action by committed trade unionists have led to major changes for the better. But there are still victories to be won: Conditions in some countries are not just dangerously, but scandalously bad, and in others good legislation is undermined by hazardous opt-outs and exemptions. There is still a need for decision makers to understand that drivers made to work to the point of exhaustion create a danger to passengers and other road users. For as long as that is true we will be organising protests.' During the day participating unions choose the form of activity most appropriate to their national situation. Examples include traveling exhibitions using wrecked vehicles backed up by educational materials, cross border actions, rallies, leafleting of other drivers, stoppages and surveys. New Zealand: Airline drugs tests unlawful, say unionsA legal challenge to Air New Zealand's plans to drugs test its workers (Risks 115) has reached the courts. Six unions, led by the EPMU, say the airline has no legal right to test its 10,000 employees for traces of drugs or alcohol. In opening the case for the unions, John Haigh, QC, said that Air New Zealand's proposed drug and alcohol policy was unlawful and unreasonable, and breached the provisions of collective employment agreements. Mr Haigh told chief judge Tom Goddard and Judges Barrie Travis and Graeme Colgan that the unions wanted permanent injunctions preventing Air New Zealand from implementing the policy, and a precedent-setting declaration that the proposed policy was unlawful and unreasonable. Mr Haigh said 'it is the plantiffs' argument that the means do not justify the end, and that the instrusive and invasive drug testing programme (in particular) without any significantly measurable benefits, cannot outweigh the fact that drug testing is highly intrusive of some of our most fundamental rights - the right to privacy, and the right to refuse medical treatment.' He added that drugs testing would not significantly reduce the risk of drug or alcohol abuse in the workplace, quoting the Canadian Privacy Commissioner who warned against 'quick-fix' solutions, adding: 'Are the really tough issues - workplace stress, ignorance, inadequate employee counselling and the continuing failure to treat substance abuse as a health problem rather than a social deviance - so threatening that we must pursue a course which undermines many of our hard-fought fundamental liberties?' South Africa/US: Anti-apartheid lawyer in work health campaignThe lawyer who sued some of the world's biggest corporations over apartheid has launched a fresh case, demanding damages on occupational health grounds. New York-based Ed Fagan has threatened lawsuits against 13 companies with involvement in South Africa, accusing them of routinely exposing staff to unsafe working conditions. The companies include South African mining giants Anglo American and DeBeers, as well as multinationals such as ExxonMobil, Dow Chemical and DaimlerChrysler. These firms were on the receiving end of a previous lawsuit, still ongoing, which demanded billions of dollars of compensation for those harmed by South Africa's apartheid regime. If the South African government agrees to side with his complaint, Fagan says, he will drop the lawsuits and begin negotiating with the companies. The government has yet to respond.
Thailand: Fatal accident jail sentences too lenientThe bereaved relatives of 36 people who died in an explosion at a Thai canning plant have called on justice minister Pongthep Thepkanchana to monitor their appeal against the 'too mild' sentences handed down to the factory's management team. A court found last week that moments prior to the blast, a foreman at the factory had poured sulphur into a mixture containing potassium chlorate without awaiting an instruction from his superiors. The foreman was among those killed in the explosion. The three defendants - Hong Kong Kaset Pattana Co, factory manager Therdphan Chantharojsiri and department manager Pathan Trichat - were cleared of negligence, with the blast blamed on employee error. Therdphan was sentenced to four months in jail, and received a 100,000 baht fine (£1,532) for violations of factory and labour laws. Pathan's initial sentence of six months in jail and a fine of 120,000 baht (£1,840) for the unauthorised movement of chemicals was commuted to a four-month term and 90,000 baht (£1,380) fine, as he was deemed to have supplied useful testimony. Ratchanee Niljan said yesterday she and other bereaved relatives felt they had not received justice and would appeal against the sentences. 'Penalties given to the factory management were too mild,' she said. 'They should be prosecuted under criminal law for causing others to die.' USA: Employers play a deadly gameWishing workplace injuries away is becoming the cut price alternative to genuine safety practice. Canadian hospital workers get entered in a prize raffle if they keep on turning in, in sickness or in health (Risks 125). Now the Los Angeles Times has got in on the act with its own game of 'safety bingo'. US website Confined Space reports that from 1 October employees in the pressroom, mailroom, machine shop and other parts of the workplace will be rewarded to the tune of $50.00 a month (£30), if employees from their team do not take time off with on the job injuries. However, 'an on the job accident which results in lost time or restricted duty to a team member will result in ineligibility for the next month's game for the entire team.' Management add: 'If the entire Operations Department goes for three consecutive months without a lost time or restricted duty injury, the prize per bingo following the three-month period will be $75 (£45) and six months will up the prize money to $100 (£60) per bingo.' Confined Space editor, Jordan Barab, says 'incentive games like safety bingo can do more harm than just discouraging reporting. Minor injuries - the type that are most likely not to be reported - should be seen as warning signals of much more serious injuries: In a Massachusetts workplace last year, a worker was caught in an unguarded machine and crushed to death. Minor injuries that had occurred on that machine weren't being reported because the plant utilised both a safety bingo game that rewarded workers for not reporting injuries and a post-injury drug testing policy that mandated drug testing for all workers who reported injuries.'
USA: Immigrant workers speak up for safetyThe 1.4 million member United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), 'is mobilising to protect the rights of immigrant workers who now comprise the majority of the workforce in much of America's meat and food processing industry.' The move comes as part of an historic bus trip - the Immigrant Worker Freedom Ride - that has crossed the US advocating greater protection for immigrant. 'Employers ruthlessly exploit immigrant workers, who often have no understanding of workplace rights and who live in constant fear of deportation,' commented UFCW international president Doug Dority. 'To protect American workplace standards, we must legalise and organise immigrant workers to stop the widespread abuse of worker rights.' As part of the campaign Jose Sauceda, a Mexican immigrant, testified before a US government panel on labour protection. He told the elected officials about his experiences slaughtering hogs at the Smithfield Packing plant in Tar Heel, North Carolina. Sauceda said: 'My supervisor was making us work faster and faster, get out the product. I was rushing and I reached for a loin and I got my hand caught in the saw. The doctors did surgery and they put pins in my finger and today, this finger is not straight and I have a hard time with this hand.' Sauceda concluded: 'The work that we do here in the US is really hard and the companies take advantage of us as immigrants who don't speak English and who don't know our rights. They intimidate us to keep us in line and fire us when they want to.' RESOURCESViolence and stress at work guideA new International Labour Organisation (ILO) publication, Preventing and responding to violence at work, approaches the issue on two fronts. ILO says: 'First, it demonstrates how workplace violence can be prevented by examining ways in which organisations and groups are handling the problem. It reviews an array of existing guidelines and policies developed by governments, trade unions, special study groups, workplace violence experts, employers' groups and specific industries, and generates a useful survey of best practice strategies. Second, the guide outlines in detail a reliable and effective methodology for developing workplace violence prevention and response programmes.'
EVENTS AND COURSESTUC courses for safety repsCOURSES FOR SEPTEMBER TO DECEMBER 2003Midlands, North, North West, Scotland, South East, South West, Wales, Yorkshire and Humberside COURSES FOR JANUARY TO MARCH 2004Corporate safety crimes conference, Glasgow, 23 OctoberMinisters from the Scottish Executive and Westminster, Crown Office officials, trade unions, employer organisations, the Health and Safety Executive, lawyers, academics and bereaved families will be among the speakers at a Centre for Corporate Accountability 'Safety and corporate criminal accountability' conference in Glasgow on Thursday, 23 October 2003. CCA says it is Scotland’s first major conference on the issue.
HSE stress conference, London, 30 OctoberHSE will be launching its new guide to organisational interventions for work-related stress at a London conference on 30 October. It says the conference will also be an opportunity to reflect on the pilot of HSE's draft management standards for work-related stress.
Construction Safety Campaign AGM, Liverpool, 8 NovemberThe Construction Safety Campaign’s 2003 AGM and national meeting is to be held in Liverpool on 8 November. Key issues are corporate killing, asbestos risks, employee consultation and roving reps. Further details from CSC, PO Box 23844, London, SE15 3WR, email or phone 07747 795954. IIAC public meeting, Glasgow, 18 March 2004The Industrial Injuries Advisory Council (IIAC), the body that advises the government on which accidents and diseases should qualify for industrial injuries payouts, is giving members of the public a chance to find out about its work. A day of presentations and structured workshops at the 18 March 2004 meeting in Glasgow will: Describe the process of 'prescribing' occupational diseases - picking the ones that get added to the list; seek opinions about new issues of concern in occupational health; and will provide an opportunity to contribute ideas on IIAC’s future work programme. IIAC says individual cases or claims cannot be discussed at the meeting, however.
USEFUL LINKSVisit the TUC http://www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/ website pages on health and safety. See what’s on offer from TUC Publications and What’s On in health and safety.Subscribe to Hazards magazine, supported by the TUC as a key source of information for union safety reps.What’s new in the HSC/E and the European Agency.HSE Books, PO Box 1999, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 2WA. Tel: 01787 881165; fax: 01787 313995. |
The union representing HSE inspectors, is increasing pressure for a properly funded workplace safety inspection regime. Prospect says its action has been prompted by HSE moves to implement a swingeing cost-cutting plan that includes a reduction in the number of investigations into major injuries and in the time spent on the cases that are investigated (
Most UK workers are protected from working more than 48 hours a week on average unless they voluntarily sign an opt-out from working time rules. But as one in four people are forced to sign the opt-out, the TUC is issuing Time's up for long hours, a how to guide to opting back in to a 48 hour working week. The guide, part of TUC’s 'It’s about time' campaign for an end to the opt-out and Britain’s long hours culture, contains an easy to understand explanation of working time rights and a model letter individuals can give to employers informing them that they no longer want to work more than 48 hours a week. TUC says a simple letter is that is needed to opt back in and it is illegal for an employer to take action against or sack an employee because they have made this choice. The guide advises employees what to do if they are having problems exercising their working time rights. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber, TUC general secretary, said: 'The UK's long hours culture is a threat to the health and safety of employees and a threat to the health and growth of the UK economy. Employees are tired and stressed. Business is unproductive.' He added: 'The European Commission should end the opt-out to the EU Working Time Directive when they review it later this year. Unions always feared that employers would abuse the opt-out and this is exactly what has happened.'Newsletter (6,100 words) issued 12 Oct 2003
