Responding to the latest unemployment figures announced today (Wednesday), TUC Regional Secretary Roger McKenzie said:
“This is another set of dreadful figures, and we fear worse is still to come. The number of unemployed people in the West Midlands is up by 20% betweenOctober and December, with the jobless total in the region now at 204,000, up from 170,000.”
“The Government must act as boldly on unemployment as they are on the banking sector. In these tough times, people need to know the Government is on their side.
“Benefits and redundancy pay need to be raised to cushion the financial blow to the newly unemployed. The Government needs urgently to introduce a short time working subsidy to help companies avoid redundancies in the first place.”
Midlands TUC Media This blog contains material from the Midlands TUC. Our media releases will appear on this site as well as linking to the Midlands TUC website which hosts our enewsletters and much more.
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Thursday, 5 February 2009
Midlands TUC on February interest rates decision
Commenting on the Bank of England’s decision today (Thursday) to cut interest rates to one per cent, Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Roger McKenzie said:
“This was the correct decision and the one the markets expected. The priority now must be to get the high street banks to pass on this cut without delay to businesses and homeowners. Failure to do so will end up prolonging the economic downturn.”
“This was the correct decision and the one the markets expected. The priority now must be to get the high street banks to pass on this cut without delay to businesses and homeowners. Failure to do so will end up prolonging the economic downturn.”
Friday, 30 January 2009
TUC calls for at least £500 a week statutory redundancy pay
The TUC today (Friday) welcomed the increase in the amount of an employees’ weekly earnings which counts towards statutory redundancy pay from £330 to £350, which takes effect this Sunday (1 February).
Although the £20 increase will be welcome to the thousands of people who find themselves joining the dole queue each week, the £350 is still far lower in real terms than the original value of statutory redundancy pay when it was introduced in 1965. The TUC would like to see the weekly limit increase to at least £500 to provide a financial cushion for the newly unemployed.
Official statistics show that 46.2 per cent of UK employees earn more than £350 a week, so a significant amount of the workforce will still be losing out with a statutory limit of £350 for redundancy pay.
To ensure that workers are properly compensated when they lose their jobs, the TUC believes the Chancellor should increase the weekly limit on statutory redundancy pay to at least £500, to help restore the real value of the limit.
The current weekly rate severely limits the amount of redundancy pay available as the calculation, which is based on pay and length of service, ignores any weekly pay above £350.
To further assist those who have been made redundant, the TUC believes the amount that people receive in redundancy pay before they have to pay tax – frozen at £30,000 since 1989 – should now be increased to £50,000. This would have been the current level had the tax threshold increased in line with inflation.
Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Roger McKenzie said: “With unemployment soon due to exceed two million, more than 1,500 people a week are losing their jobs. Many will be facing redundancy and unemployment for the first time in their lives.
“There can be no assumption that the people who are losing their jobs will find it easy to get new ones, and they will need all the help they can get with redundancy pay, retraining and personal advice.
“They will also need resources to pay their housing and food bills.
“Many decent employers, especially those that recognise unions, already offer their staff more generous redundancy payments than the statutory limit. The statutory limit should be raised to reflect more closely the real cost to the individual of losing their job.
“Ministers must increase minimum redundancy pay to at least £500 a week and let people take up to £50,000 of their redundancy pay tax free.”
The TUC recently launched a package of support for workers who have been made redundant, or are at risk of redundancy or of losing their homes due to the economic downturn.
The package includes two new free booklets – Coping with the Economic Downturn and Facing Redundancy – as well as updated information about redundancies, how to use JobCentre Plus, how to look for a new job, and what training and benefits individuals are entitled to on www.worksmart.org.uk, the TUC’s website for people at work. The website not only has downloads of both leaflets, but also contains questions and answers on all aspects of redundancy.
Although the £20 increase will be welcome to the thousands of people who find themselves joining the dole queue each week, the £350 is still far lower in real terms than the original value of statutory redundancy pay when it was introduced in 1965. The TUC would like to see the weekly limit increase to at least £500 to provide a financial cushion for the newly unemployed.
Official statistics show that 46.2 per cent of UK employees earn more than £350 a week, so a significant amount of the workforce will still be losing out with a statutory limit of £350 for redundancy pay.
To ensure that workers are properly compensated when they lose their jobs, the TUC believes the Chancellor should increase the weekly limit on statutory redundancy pay to at least £500, to help restore the real value of the limit.
The current weekly rate severely limits the amount of redundancy pay available as the calculation, which is based on pay and length of service, ignores any weekly pay above £350.
To further assist those who have been made redundant, the TUC believes the amount that people receive in redundancy pay before they have to pay tax – frozen at £30,000 since 1989 – should now be increased to £50,000. This would have been the current level had the tax threshold increased in line with inflation.
Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Roger McKenzie said: “With unemployment soon due to exceed two million, more than 1,500 people a week are losing their jobs. Many will be facing redundancy and unemployment for the first time in their lives.
“There can be no assumption that the people who are losing their jobs will find it easy to get new ones, and they will need all the help they can get with redundancy pay, retraining and personal advice.
“They will also need resources to pay their housing and food bills.
“Many decent employers, especially those that recognise unions, already offer their staff more generous redundancy payments than the statutory limit. The statutory limit should be raised to reflect more closely the real cost to the individual of losing their job.
“Ministers must increase minimum redundancy pay to at least £500 a week and let people take up to £50,000 of their redundancy pay tax free.”
The TUC recently launched a package of support for workers who have been made redundant, or are at risk of redundancy or of losing their homes due to the economic downturn.
The package includes two new free booklets – Coping with the Economic Downturn and Facing Redundancy – as well as updated information about redundancies, how to use JobCentre Plus, how to look for a new job, and what training and benefits individuals are entitled to on www.worksmart.org.uk, the TUC’s website for people at work. The website not only has downloads of both leaflets, but also contains questions and answers on all aspects of redundancy.
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Midlands TUC welcomes auto-industry support, but package cannot be "last word"
Responding to Lord Mandelson's statement Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Roger McKenzie said:
"There is much to welcome in Lord Mandelson's announcement today. He has accepted the case for support and has rightly put emphasis on training and securing a low-carbon future for the automotive sector. This is exactly the kind of sensible government intervention in industrial policy that the TUC has long advocated. But employees in the sector will be worried that not enough is being done to keep them in work during the recession ready for the recovery. This should not be the last word."
"There is much to welcome in Lord Mandelson's announcement today. He has accepted the case for support and has rightly put emphasis on training and securing a low-carbon future for the automotive sector. This is exactly the kind of sensible government intervention in industrial policy that the TUC has long advocated. But employees in the sector will be worried that not enough is being done to keep them in work during the recession ready for the recovery. This should not be the last word."
Sunday, 25 January 2009
TUC calls for end to discrimination and hatred on Holocaust Memorial Day
The TUC is calling for an end to discrimination and prejudice against lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people (LGBT) at the Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) national commemoration event in Coventry today (Sunday).
HMD itself is on Tuesday (27 January), on the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, where 1.6 million men, women and children were killed in the Nazi holocaust.
HMD aims to prevent the holocaust being forgotten or repeated, and serves to remind people of the crimes and racism of both the holocaust and of more recent genocides across the world.
Alongside the six million Jewish victims of Nazi persecution, hundreds of thousands of others were targeted by Hitler’s regime – including union members and LGBT people.
The TUC LGBT committee is attending the event in Coventry, and is urging LGBT people to support HMD events taking place around the country on Tuesday.
Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Roger McKenzie said: “Unions have always stood up to the kind of discrimination, prejudice and hatred that led to the Nazi holocaust.
“LGBT people were among the millions of victims of Hitler’s brutal regime, and today LGBT communities are a vital part of the resistance to modern versions of this hatred. I am proud that LGBT union members are taking part in the event.”
The event will see local people stand side by side with national leaders and survivors of genocide and conflict as well as international survivors of Nazi persecution, and will include survivor testimonies, poetry, drama and time for reflection.
HMD itself is on Tuesday (27 January), on the anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, where 1.6 million men, women and children were killed in the Nazi holocaust.
HMD aims to prevent the holocaust being forgotten or repeated, and serves to remind people of the crimes and racism of both the holocaust and of more recent genocides across the world.
Alongside the six million Jewish victims of Nazi persecution, hundreds of thousands of others were targeted by Hitler’s regime – including union members and LGBT people.
The TUC LGBT committee is attending the event in Coventry, and is urging LGBT people to support HMD events taking place around the country on Tuesday.
Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Roger McKenzie said: “Unions have always stood up to the kind of discrimination, prejudice and hatred that led to the Nazi holocaust.
“LGBT people were among the millions of victims of Hitler’s brutal regime, and today LGBT communities are a vital part of the resistance to modern versions of this hatred. I am proud that LGBT union members are taking part in the event.”
The event will see local people stand side by side with national leaders and survivors of genocide and conflict as well as international survivors of Nazi persecution, and will include survivor testimonies, poetry, drama and time for reflection.
Saturday, 24 January 2009
Midlands TUC welcomes government drive on minimum wage in Birmingham
The Midlands TUC has welcomed a government initiative to raise awareness of the National Minimum Wage in Birmingham. The visit will take place on Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd January when a team of National Minimum Wage Ambassadors will set out their stall in Edgbaston Street, between the Bull Ring and the Rag Market.
Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Roger McKenzie said: “We are glad to see that the Government is taking a proactive stance on the minimum wage and is bringing the message home in Birmingham. Trade unions are absolutely determined to ensure that all workers can get their rights and that is particularly so at a time when many workers are feeling vulnerable at work. There must be no hiding place for rogue employers who cheat their workers and we are pleased that new penalties are to be introduced for employers who flout the law”.
Royal Assent for the Employment Act has paved the way for new penalties to come into force in April, as part of government’s crackdown on those who try to exploit workers. The changes introduce unlimited fines for non-compliance for the most serious cases, removing the maximum limit of £5,000.
The roadshow will have facilities to report cases of abuse, while fully trained staff will be on the spot to give expert face-to-face advice. Visitors to the events will also hear local people tell their stories of underpayment and the help they received tackling wage abuse.
More than one million people across the UK benefit from annual rises in the National Minimum Wage. On October 1st, rates rose to £5.73 for workers aged 22 and over; £4.77 for 18-21 year olds and £3.53 for those aged 16 and 17.
Anyone worried they may not be getting the National Minimum Wage can call the NMW helpline on 0845 6000 678. Support is offered in more than 100 languages and callers can remain anonymous if they wish.
Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Roger McKenzie said: “We are glad to see that the Government is taking a proactive stance on the minimum wage and is bringing the message home in Birmingham. Trade unions are absolutely determined to ensure that all workers can get their rights and that is particularly so at a time when many workers are feeling vulnerable at work. There must be no hiding place for rogue employers who cheat their workers and we are pleased that new penalties are to be introduced for employers who flout the law”.
Royal Assent for the Employment Act has paved the way for new penalties to come into force in April, as part of government’s crackdown on those who try to exploit workers. The changes introduce unlimited fines for non-compliance for the most serious cases, removing the maximum limit of £5,000.
The roadshow will have facilities to report cases of abuse, while fully trained staff will be on the spot to give expert face-to-face advice. Visitors to the events will also hear local people tell their stories of underpayment and the help they received tackling wage abuse.
More than one million people across the UK benefit from annual rises in the National Minimum Wage. On October 1st, rates rose to £5.73 for workers aged 22 and over; £4.77 for 18-21 year olds and £3.53 for those aged 16 and 17.
Anyone worried they may not be getting the National Minimum Wage can call the NMW helpline on 0845 6000 678. Support is offered in more than 100 languages and callers can remain anonymous if they wish.
Thursday, 22 January 2009
Midlands TUC welcomes government drive on minimum wage in Nottingham
The Midlands TUC has welcomed a government initiative to raise awareness of the National Minimum Wage in Nottingham. The visit will take place on Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd January when a team of National Minimum Wage Ambassadors will set out their stall in the Old Market Square.
Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Roger McKenzie said: “We are glad to see that the Government is taking a proactive stance on the minimum wage and is bringing the message home in Nottingham. Trade unions are absolutely determined to ensure that all workers can get their rights and that is particularly so at a time when many workers are feeling vulnerable at work. There must be no hiding place for rogue employers who cheat their workers and we are pleased that new penalties are to be introduced for employers who flout the law”.
Royal Assent for the Employment Act has paved the way for new penalties to come into force in April, as part of government’s crackdown on those who try to exploit workers. The changes introduce unlimited fines for non-compliance for the most serious cases, removing the maximum limit of £5,000.
The roadshow will have facilities to report cases of abuse, while fully trained staff will be on the spot to give expert face-to-face advice. Visitors to the events will also hear local people tell their stories of underpayment and the help they received tackling wage abuse.
More than one million people across the UK benefit from annual rises in the National Minimum Wage. On October 1st, rates rose to £5.73 for workers aged 22 and over; £4.77 for 18-21 year olds and £3.53 for those aged 16 and 17.
Anyone worried they may not be getting the National Minimum Wage can call the NMW helpline on 0845 6000 678. Support is offered in more than 100 languages and callers can remain anonymous if they wish.
Midlands TUC Regional Secretary Roger McKenzie said: “We are glad to see that the Government is taking a proactive stance on the minimum wage and is bringing the message home in Nottingham. Trade unions are absolutely determined to ensure that all workers can get their rights and that is particularly so at a time when many workers are feeling vulnerable at work. There must be no hiding place for rogue employers who cheat their workers and we are pleased that new penalties are to be introduced for employers who flout the law”.
Royal Assent for the Employment Act has paved the way for new penalties to come into force in April, as part of government’s crackdown on those who try to exploit workers. The changes introduce unlimited fines for non-compliance for the most serious cases, removing the maximum limit of £5,000.
The roadshow will have facilities to report cases of abuse, while fully trained staff will be on the spot to give expert face-to-face advice. Visitors to the events will also hear local people tell their stories of underpayment and the help they received tackling wage abuse.
More than one million people across the UK benefit from annual rises in the National Minimum Wage. On October 1st, rates rose to £5.73 for workers aged 22 and over; £4.77 for 18-21 year olds and £3.53 for those aged 16 and 17.
Anyone worried they may not be getting the National Minimum Wage can call the NMW helpline on 0845 6000 678. Support is offered in more than 100 languages and callers can remain anonymous if they wish.
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