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Trade unions
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01/07/2013
Call to boost wage share in economy
Policy-makers should aim to raise the share of wages in the economy as a key part of efforts to escape from the global economic recession, says a new pamphlet from the Trades Union Congress. It says there is growing evidence that increased wage inequality helped to cause the global crash in the first place, as well as hindering recovery subsequently. It provides estimates of the impact of a range of ‘pre-distribution’ type measures from raising the wage floor to reducing unemployment.
Category: Reports -
26/06/2012
Austerity hitting public service workers
Public service workers face pay freezes and redundancy threats caused by austerity measures, according to a new report. The result is worsening personal finances, rising debt and cuts in spending on essential items.
Researchers from the Working Lives Research Institute carried out a survey of over 1,000 UNISON members, combining it with a number of face-to-face interviews. UNISON represents over 1.3 million members working in the public services or for linked private contractors.
Category: Reports -
15/06/2012
‘Hidden’ workers trapped in low-paid, insecure jobs
‘Hidden’ workers employed by public service contractors are often trapped in low-paid, insecure jobs where being badly treated is a normal part of working life, according to a trade union report.
The report summarises a two-year project to help the workers involved.
Key findings As many as 1 in 4 people working in public services (around 1.2 million in total) are now employed by private contractors. Many are migrant workers. Outsourced workers often face poor working conditions and have only limited knowledge of their employment rights. Vulnerability and insecurity make workers scared to challenge abuse of their employment rights. Trade unions have a clear role in countering unrestrained managerial power and restoring the dignity of vulnerable workers.Source: The Hidden Workforce, UNISON
Link: Report
Category: Reports -
21/05/2012
In-work poverty and workplace democracy – inquiry launched
A think-tank inquiry has been launched into alternative solutions to reduce in-work poverty.
The Smith Institute inquiry builds on an earlier project, which concluded that the most progress in tackling in-work poverty was made in the period of post-war consensus (1945–1979). This period combined:
Category: News stories -
04/05/2012
Call for revived national insurance system
A trade union pamphlet has called for the restoration of a genuine national insurance system. It says successive governments have been guilty of undermining the system by cutting insurance benefits – and at the same time using contributions as a form of tax.
The authors argue that the national insurance system no longer enjoys popular support. Rather than the ‘something for nothing’ system attacked by populist politicians, there is instead a ‘nothing for something’ system, from which few people benefit but which costs a great deal through increasingly higher national insurance contributions. The pamphlet puts forward a plan to revive the system and restore its credibility:
Category: Reports -
01/01/2012
Intervention in labour markets needed to reduce poverty
The delivery of New Labour’s anti-poverty goals was hampered by an unwillingness to countenance a wider range of labour market interventions to reduce employers’ reliance on low pay, according to a report by the Smith Institute, From the Poor Law to Welfare to Work: What Have We Learned from a Century of Anti-poverty Policies? The authors, led by David Coats, examined a wide range of studies to determine the long-term effectiveness of strategies, both in the UK and internationally, to reduce poverty and inequality. The cornerstone of the report’s analysis is the contention that while redistribution of income through welfare is essential, it can be only one part of the solution to combating poverty:
The evidence from more than a century of reform is that lasting reductions in poverty and inequality also demand pre-distribution policies, notably in the labour market (through work and pay).
Category: Reports
