Celebrations soured by bleak prospects for youngsters missing out on uni

Frances O'Grady

Commenting on today's (Thursday) A-level results, TUC Deputy General Secretary Frances O' Grady said:

"Today many thousands will be rightly rewarded for their hard work with excellent A-level results and a fantastic chance to go to university.

"But because of the rush to avoid next year's fees hike, and the government's refusal to fund extra university places, record numbers of students will lose out on higher education altogether.

"While the growing number of apprenticeships is welcome, too few are going to young people. And with one in five young people currently out of work, the prospects for too many youngsters leaving school are bleak.
"Young people are being badly let down by this government - a failure that carries a devastating social and economic impact. Ministers need to step up and prioritise providing more jobs and training for young people."

Government urgently needs to address labour market deterioration, says TUC

Commenting on the latest unemployment figures published today (Wednesday) by the Office for National Statistics, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "Today's rise in unemployment points to a worrying deterioration in the UK labour market. And with our so-called 'recovery' stagnating, all the indicators point to further rises in joblessness.
"The number of vacancies is now down to levels last seen in 2009, while female unemployment is at a 23-year high. As public sector job losses mount, employment prospects for many women are looking bleak.
"It is also worrying to see the unwelcome return of rising youth unemployment, with more than one in five young people currently out of work.
"Government complacency over growth is now coming back to haunt the UK and the Chancellor's plans for job creation are woefully inadequate. Even if successful, the new enterprise zones will create fewer jobs in the next four years than have been lost in the last three months.

"The Chancellor urgently needs to put forward a plan B before our economy heads back towards recession and even more people lose their jobs."

New microsite will help vulnerable workers secure a fair deal at work



Frances O'Grady,TUC Deputy General Secretary

The TUC is launching a new microsite today (Friday) to help people find out more about their basic rights at work.

Basic Rights @ Work will introduce vulnerable workers - people who have little knowledge of their employment rights, who find it hard to access advice and who do not have the ability to protect themselves against abuses of their rights - to information about employment rights in the UK and how to enforce these rights through statutory enforcement bodies.
The site, put together by the TUC's Union Modernisation Fund (UMF), has details of the employment rights that apply to different categories of workers, information about basic rights - from the National Minimum Wage, to working time and annual leave entitlements - and advice on how to enforce your rights at work.
The microsite contains five videos created by the TUC and enforcement bodies which explain how the different agencies operate. They reveal the role and purpose of the Pay and Work Rights helpline, the HM Revenue and Customs National Minimum Wage enforcement team, the Gangmasters Licensing Authority, the Employment Agencies Standard Inspectorate and the Health and Safety Executive.

The short videos are designed to inform workers and their union reps about the basic workplace rights that are enforced by each agency and the powers the enforcement officers have to carry out their investigations. The videos also outline the sanctions that can be imposed on employers.

TUC Deputy General Secretary Frances O'Grady said: "Thousands of people around the UK are exploited at work every day because the law is not strong enough to prevent mistreatment and rogue bosses use gaps in employment protection to treat their staff badly.

"Vulnerable workers - especially in low-paid sectors, such as care, cleaning, hospitality, security and construction - can find themselves working excessively long hours, sometimes with no contract of employment. Their work can be insecure and they are regularly paid below the minimum wage.
"Unions have a proven track record in stopping unscrupulous employers from exploiting vulnerable workers. This website will be a vital tool to help workers and their union reps secure a fair deal at work."

For information

- Basic Rights @ Work is available at www.tuc.org.uk/workplace/tuc-19833-f0.cfm

- The UMF aims to: provide tailored support to unions seeking to improve engagement with vulnerable workers via training and better information-sharing; develop new skills in promoting and protecting the rights of vulnerable workers and integrating their needs into negotiations with employers; develop new resources for unions (specifically regarding informal, agency, younger and casual workers); encourage closer working between unions and enforcement agencies; and pilot new ways of supporting unions in the regions. For more information please visit: www.tuc.org.uk/union/tuc-17545-f0.cfm

516 charities and community groups facing cuts across the Midlands

Over 500 charities across the Midlands are facing budget cuts as local authorities reduce their funding – or in some cases completely withdraw it – according to new research published today (Tuesday) by the union backed anti-cuts campaign website False Economy. The research, based on Freedom of Information responses from local councils across the region, shows that one year on from the launch of the Big Society, many charities and voluntary groups are facing deep funding cuts.
Birmingham City Council has cut funding to 191 charities – the largest number in the country.
All charities or voluntary groups receiving a funding cut of at least five per cent are listed in the research, although most of the cuts are far deeper than this and many groups have had their funding cancelled completely.
The list of charities facing funding cuts in the Midlands includes:

• 100 children’s and young people-related charities


• 47 elderly-related charities


• 40 arts charities


• 37 disability charities


• 33 adult care charities


TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “These deep cuts to voluntary groups across the Midlands show that government claims that charities can replace direct services currently provided by central or local government are false. It sounds great, but in practice, the Big Society is looking more and more like a big con.”
False Economy’s campaign director Clifford Singer said: “These cuts go deep into the voluntary and community sectors. These are not just ‘nice to have’ groups but organisations providing vital services for older people trying to maintain independent lives, vulnerable children and abused women. And with so many of the cuts simply resulting in further pressure on the NHS or other statutory services, they are truly a false economy.
“Ministers talk up localism and say services will be better shaped locally, but the huge front-loaded cuts to councils mean that local decision-making simply gives councils the choice of which vulnerable people they should make suffer for an economic crisis they did nothing to cause.”
The details of each individual cut are posted on the False Economy website – www.falseeconomy.org.uk – a resource hub for the UK anti-cuts movement.
False Economy allows people to upload their own stories and find out about cuts in their local area, tell other people how they’ve been affected by cuts and learn more information about anti-cuts campaigns in their area. False Economy is backed by a wide range of online campaigns and campaigners, and largely funded by unions.