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Welcome

Welcome to In ToUCh e-bulletin from the TUC, the bite-size round up of our news and views.

This issue features details of a long-awaited deal on agency workers, the latest on the 'speak up for public services' campaign and the TUC response to the draft Queen's Speech.

Let us know what you think about the issues reported here by emailing editor@tuc.org.uk.

Copies of In ToUCh are archived at www.tuc.org.uk/intouch

TUC News

Agency workers deal

After years of sustained trade union campaigning, the TUC last month agreed a joint statement on agency workers with the Government and CBI.

The TUC said the statement 'represents a breakthrough after six years of deadlock and paves the way for a European Directive to deliver equal treatment rights for agency workers after a 12-week qualifying period'.

A special meeting of the General Council on 22 May formally ratified the agreement, which came about after protracted discussions, including a meeting between senior trade unionists and the Prime Minister.

More on the agreement @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/em_research/tuc-14811-f0.cfm

Vulnerable workers report given to PM

The Commission on Vulnerable Employment presented its final report to the Prime Minister on 4 June.

Chaired by TUC general secretary Brendan Barber, the commission included leading employers and civil society representatives alongside senior trade unionists. Its report highlighted the gross exploitation and abuse faced by an estimated 2 million workers in the UK today.

More on this story @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/em_research/tuc-14872-f0.cfm

Speaking up for public services

Public sector union members gathered in London on 9 June to protest at the Government's pay policy that will leave them facing cuts in their standard of living for the rest of this decade.

Workers from across the public services lobbied their MPs and took part in a rally organised as part of the TUC's 'Speak up for public services' campaign.

Almost 80 per cent of Britons agree that public sector pay should keep up with the cost of living, according to a new YouGov poll commissioned by the TUC and published on the day of the London rally.

Further details @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/publicsector/tuc-14905-f0.cfm

Public services rethink urged

The 'Speak up for public services' event took place shortly before the official launch of a TUC Touchstone publication urging a fresh approach to public services.

Rethinking public service reform - the public value alternative argues that successive attempts to introduce market mechanisms into public services by Labour and Conservative governments have not delivered better value and have often exacerbated existing problems.

Find out more @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/publicsector/tuc-14924-f0.cfm

New policy agenda welcomed

Aspects of the Government's draft legislative programme received a positive response from the TUC last month.

Plans to put more money into social housing, extend the right to request flexible working and introduce a new Equality Bill were all welcomed, while the TUC agreed with ministers that tighter regulation of the banking sector was 'essential'.

However, the Government's policy blueprint was not all good news, the TUC warned. Plans to reduce the number of civil servants came in for strong criticism, while attempts to limit the amount of regulation government departments could introduce were 'similarly arbitrary'.

Read the full response @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/law/tuc-14776-f0.cfm

http://www.tuc.org.uk/work_life/tuc-14780-f0.cfm

http://www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-14779-f0.cfm

http://www.tuc.org.uk/equality/tuc-14775-f0.cfm

Right to train welcomed

Plans to introduce a new right to request time off training were applauded by the TUC when they were announced last month.

If employers respond to this new right as positively as the right to request flexible working - which has seen nine out of ten requests granted - workers stand to gain important skills while the productivity of business could receive a significant boost, the TUC said.

More on this @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/learning/tuc-14773-f0.cfm

Tax justice

The Chancellor's announcement on compensation for those who lost out as a result of the 10 pence tax rate abolition was applauded by the TUC last month.

By making straightforward changes to tax allowances, the Government's solution had 'the merit of simplicity', while limiting the gains to standard rate taxpayers 'sent a powerful signal that fairness is back on the agenda'.

A seminar on Tax Justice has been organised by the TUC, with support from a group of think tanks and campaigning organisations, and will take place on 2 July.

More on tax @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-14764-f0.cfm

http://www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-14885-f0.cfm

Stand up for taxpayers, Chancellor told

The Government should resist business calls for tax cuts, the TUC said last month as the Chancellor addressed the annual CBI dinner.

The TUC suggested that further tax cuts for big business would only mean that smaller companies and ordinary taxpayers would have to foot an even bigger share of the national tax bill. The government should instead take the lead through the EU and other international bodies to 'end this corrosive race to the bottom on tax'.

Further details @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-14820-f0.cfm

Time to 'reconfigure DNA of New Labour'

A historic fourth term for Labour can still be achieved but only if ministers start conveying a much clearer sense of what a Labour government stands for, Brendan Barber argued last month in a wide-ranging lecture.

Delivered to the Labour fringe group Progress, the lecture welcomed the agency workers deal, draft Queen's speech and tax compensation package but suggested that Labour 'had not been clear about what it wants to be - and where it now wants to go'.

While there should be 'no retreat to the failures of the 1970s or 1980s', the Government needed 'to find the courage once again to make the case for the most enduring Labour values - equality, fairness and social justice'.

More on the lecture @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/the_tuc/tuc-14834-f0.cfm

Some good news from EU

Decisions made this month by the EU Social Affairs Council on the Agency Workers Directive and changes to the Working Time Directive were described by the TUC as 'good news for people at work in the UK'.

Following the deal agreed in the UK, the EU agreement on agency work was heralded as a 'major step forward' and represented a 'real breakthrough' after years of deadlock in Europe.

And while the TUC was disappointed that the UK opt-out from the 48-hour week continues, there has been 'real progress' on other working time issues. The need for action was underlined by the latest TUC analysis of official figures, showing that 3.3 million people now work in excess of 48 hours a week, an increase of 180,000.

Further details @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/law/tuc-14925-f0.cfm

http://www.tuc.org.uk/work_life/tuc-14887-f0.cfm

Zimbabwe union leader in London

Lovemore Matombo, President of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, is in London this week for meetings with unions and ministers as the situation in his home country becomes increasingly tense.

Lovemore was among the trade unionists arrested last month following speeches made at May Day events. The TUC urged foreign secretary David Miliband and international development secretary Douglas Alexander to do 'everything possible' to secure the release of Lovemore and his colleague Wellington Chibebe, ZCTU general secretary.

More on the situation in Zimbabwe @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/international/tuc-14762-f0.cfm

Activist academy to be launched

A new initiative aimed at boosting union activists' work on organising and recruitment is to be launched at Congress 2008.

Initially based in three pilot TUC regions (Yorkshire & Humber, Midlands and Southern & Eastern) the Activist Academy will then be rolled out nationally in early 2009.

Details @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/organisation/index.cfm?mins=585&minors=584

Economic news

Figures released on 11 June showing unemployment had increased 'will inevitably cause concern', the TUC said in response, though it added that the UK labour market was still comparatively healthy.

Meanwhile, the Bank of England's decision to hold interest rates at 5 per cent in June was described as 'very disappointing'.

Details @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-14941-f0.cfm

http://www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-14882-f0.cfm

Child poverty demonstration

Unions are being urged to support the End Child Poverty Campaign's national demonstration - titled Keep the Promise - being held in London on 4 October.

Figures released earlier in June showing that child poverty had increased were described as 'disappointing' by the TUC, with the government needing to do more to meet its target of halving child poverty by 2010.

More on child poverty @

http://www.cpag.org.uk/

http://www.endchildpoverty.org.uk/

http://www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-14916-f0.cfm

Mental health support

New guidance to help employers and unions support people with mental health problems was published by the TUC in May.

Prepared in advance of the TUC's annual disability conference, the guidance outlines simple steps that can be taken to identify mental health problems at an early stage and help reduce the number of days lost to sick leave. At any given time one in six workers will experience depression, anxiety or stress-related problems.

Summary details @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/equality/tuc-14781-f0.cfm

Download the full report @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/extras/mentalhealth.pdf

Balanced migration

A government publication showing that migrant workers bring real benefits to the UK, but that public services needed help to adjust, was welcomed in June by the TUC.

The study also recognised that migrant workers needed protection from exploitation, but the TUC said that more had to be done to enforce the employment rights of migrant workers.

Further information @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/newsroom/tuc-14931-f0.cfm

End migrant registration scheme

Meanwhile, the TUC last month joined forces with the Association of Labour Providers, the National Farmers Union and the Federation of Poles in Great Britain to call for the Workers Registration Scheme (WRS) to be abolished.

Introduced in May 2004, the WRS aimed to prevent 'benefit tourism' and measure the number of workers migrating from the new EU member states in Eastern Europe.

But the new coalition claims that the scheme has 'outlived its usefulness' and produces inadequate statistics, at great cost to migrant workers and inconvenience to both them and their employers.

Further details @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/international/tuc-14814-f0.cfm

Hate crime challenge

Brendan Barber used his speech to the TUC disability conference to challenge organisations of all types to do more to tackle the terrible scourge of hate crimes against disabled people.

Describing the series of brutal murders of disabled people as 'a scandal that shames modern Britain', he said more needed to be done to fill in the gaps in the legislation outlawing incitement to hatred.

More on this @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/equality/tuc-14809-f0.cfm

Joint diversity guide launched

Firms that take steps to improve diversity in the workplace generate real business gains, a joint report from the CBI and the TUC published at the beginning of June shows.

It says companies who look beyond the 'usual suspects' and employ people on the basis of their abilities and potential - regardless of sex, race, age, disability, sexual orientation or religion - can benefit in many ways.

Find out more @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/equality/tuc-14865-f0.cfm

Flexible working needed in downturn

The current economic downturn should act as a catalyst for more flexible working, rather than an excuse to retreat from innovative working practices, the TUC suggested last month.

Speaking at the annual Work Wise UK summit, Brendan Barber argued that while impressive progress had been made in the past few years in the availability of flexible working, there were 'worrying signs' that long hours are enjoying a cultural renaissance, along with unpaid overtime and wasteful commuting practices.

More information on this @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/work_life/tuc-14812-f0.cfm

Enrol now

News that the Pensions Bill (2007) will be amended to allow automatic enrolment into Workplace Personal Pensions was greeted enthusiastically by the TUC in May.

But while the TUC said the move represented 'another building block in the new pensions settlement', it said it was important to get the qualifying conditions for commercial products that allow auto-enrolment right.

More on this @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/pensions/tuc-14796-f0.cfm

Stressed out

Guidelines on reducing workplace stress published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, Health & Safety Executive and Investors in People at the beginning of June were 'interesting and useful' but underlined the need for radical action, the TUC said in response.

Read the full response @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/h_and_s/tuc-14868-f0.cfm

Minister meets vulnerable workers

Minister for employment relations Pat McFadden met local workers at the TUC's Vulnerable Workers Project (VWP) last month.

Based in Whitechapel, the VWP is a £400,000 scheme, funded by the Department for Business and delivered by the TUC, which aims to improve the plight of vulnerable workers in London by helping them and their employers better understand their rights under the law.

Further information @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/newsroom/tuc-14804-f0.cfm

Iran's gay murder victims remembered

A wreath was laid outside the Iranian Embassy in London on International Day Against Homophobia by representatives of the TUC and CWU to commemorate the LGBT people killed by the regime in Teheran.

There are 77 countries in the world today where it is a criminal offence to be gay. In seven countries, including Iran, women, men and children are punished for their sexuality with death sentences.

Full story @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/equality/tuc-14759-f0.cfm

Super lorries banned

The Government's decision not to allow 60-tonne super-lorries onto Britain's roads was welcomed by the TUC earlier this month. The move would have added to carbon emissions, shifted goods away from rail freight, and increased road safety risks.

TUC response @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/economy/tuc-14870-f0.cfm

Tom Burlison

Former TUC Northern Regional chairman Tom Burlison died last month at the age of 71.

He started work as a panel beater and welder before becoming a professional footballer. He joined the General and Municipal Workers Union whilst working as a craftsman and became a full time official with the union, rising to be regional secretary in 1978. He became Deputy General Secretary of the GMB in 1991 and served as Labour Party treasurer from 1992-1996. He was created a life peer in 1997.

Read tribute to Tom @

http://www.gmb.org.uk/Templates/PressItems.asp?NodeID=97065

Events

16 June Climate change conference

27 June Trustee network conference

2 July Tax justice seminar

3-4 July LGBT conference

13 July RISE festival

16-20 July Tolpuddle Green Camp

19-20 July Tolpuddle Festival

8-11 Sept TUC Congress

4 October Child poverty demonstration

More info on TUC events @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/events/index.cfm

New this month

Talent not Tokenism - joint publication on the benefits of workforce diversity produced with the Equality and Human Rights Commission and CBI - from Publications.

Treading water - eighth survey of equality in trade unions - from SERTUC.

Rethinking Public Service Reform: the public value alternative - second Touchstone pamphlet - from Publications, cover price £10.

Details of TUC publications @

http://www.tuc.org.uk/publications/index.cfm

Links

Visit the website of the Working Class Movement Library @ www.wcml.org.uk

Please email editor@tuc.org.uk if you wish to suggest a new link for the TUC website.

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