TUC Young Workers Weekend

 

 

As part of the November 2014 TUC Young Workers Month, the TUC will be running its first ever Young Trade Union Leaders Weekend at Ruskin College, Oxford from November 28th to 30th 2014.

 

The programme is aimed at young activists already in leadership positions at branch, sector, regional or national level within their unions. The aim of the programme is to develop awareness and understanding of the challenges faced by the trade union movement and the skills required to build strong and effective unions

 

The programme will cover the following key areas;

• The key challenges faced by unions
• Strategies and skills for union revitalisation
• Effective campaigning

 

The programme will be run by senior TUC staff and will include contributions from senior officers from unions, partner organisations and academics.

 

The cost of the programme is £180 per person which covers two nights accommodation and meals at Ruskin College. All materials etc. are provided free of charge. This does not include the cost of travel to and from Ruskin College.

 

Participants will be expected to arrive at Ruskin College in time for the formal opening of the programme at 6.30pn on Friday November 28th and stay until the close of the programme at approximately 3.00pm on Sunday November 30th, 2014.

 

Nomination for the programme are sought either directly from unions or individuals who meet the criteria above and are able to demonstrate that they have the support of their union at either a national or regional level. Nominees/applicants must qualify as young members under the rules of their union. In cases where the nominees/applicants union does not have a rule defining a young member, then they should be aged 27 and under on November 28th, 2014.

 

Applications/ nominations should be made using the application form below and should reach the TUC by September 20th, 2014.

 

Applicant/nominees will be informed if they have been successful in securing a place on the programme shortly after this date.

 

Places on the programme are limited to 15 participants and priority will be given to activists in leadership positions who have had limited training and other development opportunities. 

 

 

For further information contact Carl Roper, TUC National Organiser -

croper@tuc.org.uk or Lauren Usher, TUC Policy and Campaigns Support Officer - lusher@tuc.org.uk

Carl and Lauren can also be contacted on 020 7467 1290

Where and When?

Fri 28 Nov 2014 - 18:00 to Sun 30 Nov 2014 - 15:00

Venue and town/city: Ruskin College, Oxford

Costs: £180.00

Economic Update

 
What can the UK learn from China?

A new TUC report The Way of the Dragon: What can the UK learn from the rise of China & East Asia? was recently launched at an event chaired by Linda Yueh, the BBC's Chief Business correspondent. You can now see key points and footage from the event in this storify.

Is our labour market on the up?

Anjum Klair looks at the latest Labour Market Statistics. The unemployment rate is now 6.8% and the level has fallen again to 2.2 million, its lowest since January 2009. Employment levels have also increased and the employment rate is recovering, reaching 73% which is close to pre-recession levels.

But despite this welcome news concerns about under-employment and the rise in self-employment remain. With real pay at best stagnating and still decreasing for many, a full labour market recovery remains a long way off.

The UK coal industry needs a rescue plan

Philip Pearson sets out the alternative to the government's plan for "managed closure" of two of the UK's last coal mines, which will leave only one deep coal mine open. The TUC and NUM are making the economic case for the government to seek EU state aid, which has been provided in other countries as a model to support the coal industry. Early closure of the UK's mines would be bad news for the workforce, local communities and the wider economy as well as making the UK more dependent on imported coal. 

What is happening to social mobility in the UK?

The TUC recently launched a new Touchstone Extra Dismantling the Barriers to Social Mobility by Declan Gaffney and Ben Baumberg. The launch event was chaired by Phil Collins from The Times and Alan Milburn, Chair of the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission was the keynote speaker. Panellists included Kay Carberry, TUC Assistant General Secretary, Baroness Claire Tyler, Liberal Democrat peer and Vice-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Social Mobility and Stephen Timms MP, Shadow Employment Minister. Ben and Declan set out key findings from the report and you can follow the event's discussions in this storify.

TUC welcomes Buckle Review call for higher minimum wages

Responding to the publication today (Monday) of the Labour Party-commissioned low pay review by Alan Buckle, TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“The minimum wage grew from a union campaign to a landmark achievement of the last Labour government. Now after years of real wage cuts, we need to see far greater ambition to achieve fair pay.

“Unions have long argued that many employers can easily pay more than the legal minimum. This report sets out how government can act to help deliver higher wages in those sectors that can afford to. It’s also right that government uses the £138bn it spends in the private sector to boost take-up of the living wage.

“Alan Buckle’s report shows that fair pay goes hand in hand with running a successful economy. Labour should make this battle against low pay a top priority.”

Support for Land Registry strike

PCS Land Registry Members will be on strike on 14 and 15 May against possible privatisation, compulsory redundancies and office closures. This strike is part of the PCS wider campaign to expose the Land Registry Board and Government's plans to sell off Land Registry and significantly reduce staff. We have the support of MPs across all parties and Industry Professionals.

 

There are 4 locations in the West Midlands:

- Telford

- Coventry

- Leicester

- Nottingham.

 

Pickets will be out in force during the morning of both days. Please feel free to attend.

Messages of support can be sent to solidarity@pcs.org.uk

TUC survey - pregnancy discrimination

The TUC is undertaking some work on the experiences of women who are discriminated against during pregnancy on while on maternity leave.

We are keen to hear from women who have experienced pregnancy discrimination themselves but we are also keen to hear from union officers, reps, and helpline staff who handle these cases and who may be able to give some insight into the types of cases they deal with, whether the cases are resolved or whether they go to tribunal, whether there has been an increase in these types of cases etc. We would also be interested to hear about any sectors or industries where pregnancy discrimination appears to be a particular problem.

The TUC has put together a very short (5 questions) survey to help us to gather information on pregnancy discrimination.

The deadline is Friday 16th May.

 The survey can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PregnancyDiscrimination.

 

TUC survey on job insecurity

Many people now have jobs that offer little or no security.
This may because you rely on an agency to provide you with work – and there’s no
guarantee that they can find you work.

You may have a job where you have no guarantee of how many hours work you will
have from one week to the next.

Or you may simply be on a short-term contract that may or may not be renewed.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) wants to hear from people who have jobs with
these kinds of problems. This is to help us campaign for a better deal for people at
work.

So if you have such a job please fill in the online survey which can be found at
http://www.tuc.org.uk/jobinsecurity. If you know someone who is in an insecure
job please tell them about this survey.

We think the questionnaire will take people about 15 minutes. All the answers you
provide will remain completely confidential and anonymous.

The survey is being run in association with the Scottish Trades Union Congress
(STUC).
The survey will go live on 2 May 2014 and will close on 20 June 2014.
Go to the survey at:
http://www.tuc.org.uk/jobinsecurity