Reviewing the Statutory Union Recognition (ERA 1999)

In 2000 the UK government introduced, under the Employment Relations Act of 1999, a new statutory union recognition procedure, while in 2003 it published a consultation document on its Review of the Act. The document concluded that th eunion procedure was broadly working and confirmed that the government would not be changing the procedure's basic features, but outlined some changes that it was proposing and issues on which it sought opinions. This paper assesses, on the basis of the authors' research, whether the procedure is indeed achieving the government's consultative document. The latter was submitted as the authors' response to the review. The authors concur with the document¿s overall judgement that in the first three years of its operation, the procedure is working effectively. It is providing a right to union recognition where the majority of workers want it, encouraging the voluntary resolution of recognition disputes and being used as a last resort, whilst no judicial reviews have, as yet, undermined its operation as happened with the last statutory procedure in the 1990s. Nonetheless there are problems particularly relating to the ability of employers to influence both how the CAC uses its discretion and workers exercise their rights with respect to union recognition, whilst the applications are in the procedure and during recognition ballots. On the basis of this, the author¿s response to the consultative document gauges that many of its arguments for making only limited changes in the procedure¿s fundamentals are sound, as are those where change is envisaged. However, in certain areas more consideration should be given to change, and particularly of ways of limiting the actions of employers that the document concedes might be deemed ¿unfair labour practices¿.trade unions, collective bargaining

Studies of nickel (II) diphosphine complexes directed towards carbon monoxide/ethene catalysis

The thesis is concerned with the synthesis, characterisation and reactivity of a variety of nickel(II) diphosphine complexes considered possible catalyst precursors for the copolymerisation of CO and ethene. [Ni(diphos)(o-tolyl)(py)]Y (1), [Ni(diphos)(_2)](Y)(_2) (2), and [Ni(diphos)(S)(_2)](Y)(_2) (3) {Y = OTs, OTf} are found to be catalyst precursors for the CO/ethene reaction (115 C, 1200psi, 1:1 CO: ethene) with high selectivity to polyketone formation, the activity depending on the phosphine ligand employed. However, the activity is low and attributed in part to the formation of the [Ni(diphos)(CO)(_2)] (4) complexes which are stable under the reaction conditions. The diphosphine hgand employed, particularly the nature of the backbone, is found to influence the synthesis and reaction chemistry of the complexes (1), (2) and (3).A series of complexes of the type [Ni(R(_2)P(CH(_2))(_a)PR(_2))(o-tolyl)Br] (5) {n = 2; R = Ph, Cy, 'Bu) have been synthesised and the complex [Ni(dppe)(o-tolyl)Cl] has been characterised by X-ray crystaliography. The influence of the chelating diphosphine on the structural characteristics and NMR parameters of these compounds has been investigated. When n > 2 the complexes of the type [Ni(diphos)(o-tolyl)X] were not isolated. The reaction of type (5) complexes with TIY (Y = OTs, BF(_4)) in pyridine led to the formation of complexes of the type [Ni(diphos)(o-tolyl)(py)]Y (1).A series of complexes of the type [Ni(diphos)Cl(_2)] (6) {diphos = dope, dBpe, dcpn} have been synthesised and characterised by X-ray crystallography. The influence of the chelating phosphine ligand on structural characteristics of these compounds has been investigated. Complexes of the type (2) and (3) can be synthesised from type (6) complexes. Detailed studies on the behaviour of a series of complexes of the type [Ni(diphos)(_2)](Y)(_2) (2) and [Ni(diphos)(Y)(_2)] (3) {Y = OTs and OTf), and the equilibrium between them in solution have been undertaken. The complex [Ni(dppe)(-2)](OTs)(_2) has been characterised by X-ray crystallography

‘We planned a dispute by Blackberry’: The implications of the Trade Union Bill for Union use of social media as suggested by the BA-BASSA dispute of 2009–11

The Trade Union Bill 2015–16 was expected to receive royal assent by May 2016. The Bill enshrines the Conservative Government’s plans to reform trade unions and ‘to protect essential public services against strikes’. Following the Government’s climb-down on changes to union checkoff arrangements and to the operation of union political funds and facility time, central features are the proposed changes to thresholds for industrial action in strike ballots, to the notice period for strike action and to the time limit in which industrial action can be taken. In parallel with the introduction of the Bill, the Government published an eight-week public consultation which asked whether statutory measures should be taken to tackle the intimidation of non-striking workers during industrial disputes. In the Consultation, the Government stated its intention to reform and modernise the rules relating to picketing, including the possible extension of the Code on picketing to protests linked to industrial action which may encompass the use of social media. The Consultation found little support for Government proposals and in particular the suggestion that unions give two weeks’ notice of plans for picketing and protests, including the intended use of social media and this proposal was subsequently dropped. However, the government has stated that it will update the Code of Practice on Picketing to include guidance on the use of social media. This paper draws on our research on the 2009–11 British Airways strikes to consider the Government’s aspiration to widen the definition of industrial action to include protests away from the workplace, particularly organised by, or involving, social media. It will reveal how social media was used by BASSA (British Airways Stewards and Stewardesses Association) during the industrial action at British Airways (BA), when it became an additional site of conflict between the union and employer. In the light of these developments, the paper will also consider the potential consequences of the inclusion of measures on unions’ use of social media in the Code of Practice

The electronic monitoring of care work—The redefinition of paid working time

This chapter explores the electronic monitoring (EM) of homecare in the context of the local authority commissioning process as defined by public sector budget cuts. It focusses upon the perceived function of the technology from the perspective of the supplier and commissioners and the experience of monitoring from the perspective of care providers and homecare workers themselves. This account embeds EM in the employment relationship. It considers the way that EM facilitates the commissioning of homecare work on the basis of ‘contact time’ only, reconfiguring paid and unpaid working time and redefining homecare workers’ labour in both quantitative and qualitative terms

Negociación colectiva: Construyendo la solidaridad mediante la lucha contra las desigualdades y la discriminación (Collective bargaining: Building solidarity through the fight against inequalities and discrimination)

Equality bargaining in essence is turning the resource of collective bargaining to the objectives of equality and diversity in work and employment. This article traces the progress of equality bargaining, with a focus on the UK. It explores the decline of the coverage and scope of collective bargaining and increase in pay gaps on the vertical plane alongside extant social divisions and inequalities. It looks at legal solutions including statutory mechanisms to achieve collective bargaining and a National Minimum Wage. It notes that in the UK women are more likely to be covered by collective bargaining and despite a hostile economic climate, characterised by the fragmentation of bargaining through privatisation, that a union pay premium has survived and is larger for women. It discusses the limitations of both a National Minimum Wage and voluntary Living Wage for equality and concludes by supporting calls for the rebuilding of sectoral collective bargaining, but emphasises that this needs to be inclusive and expansive

The changing face of employment relations: equality and diversity

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore what has happened to the notion and reality of equal pay over the past 50 years, a period in which women have become the majority of trade union members in the UK. It does so in the context of record employment levels based upon women’s increased labour market participation albeit reflecting their continued over-representation in part-time employment, locating the narrowed but persistent overall gender pay gap in the broader picture of pay inequality in the UK. Design/methodology/approach – The paper considers voluntary and legal responses to inequality and the move away from voluntary solutions in the changed environment for unions. Following others it discusses the potential for collective bargaining to be harnessed to equality in work, a potential only partially realised by unions in a period in which their capacity to sustain collective bargaining was weakened. It looks at the introduction of a statutory route to collective bargaining in 2000, the National Minimum Wage from 1999 and at the Equality Act 2010 as legislative solutions to inequality and in terms of radical and liberal models of equality. Findings – The paper suggests that fuller employment based upon women’s increased labour market activity have not delivered an upward pressure on wages and has underpinned rather than closed pay gaps and social divisions. Legal measures have been limited in the extent to which they have secured equal pay and wider social equality, whilst state support for collective solutions to equality has waned. Its replacement by a statutory minimum wage initially closed pay gaps, but appears to have run out of steam as employers accommodate minimum hourly rates through the reorganisation of working time. Social implications – The paper suggests that statutory minima or even voluntary campaigns to lift hourly wage rates may cut across and even supersede wider existing collective bargaining agreements and as such they can reinforce the attack on collective bargaining structures, supporting arguments that this can reduce representation over pay, but also over a range of other issues at work (Ewing and Hendy, 2013), including equality. Originality/value – There are then limitations on a liberal model which is confined to promoting equality at an organisational level in a public sector subject to wider market forces. The fragmentation of bargaining and representation that has resulted will continue if the proposed dismantling of public services goes ahead and its impact upon equality is already suggested in the widening of the gender pay gap in the public sector in 2015

Better Jobs – the added value from trade unions – case studies of the impact of Collective Bargaining: Research for the TUC

The research is based upon ten in-depth case studies where collective bargaining has delivered concrete outcomes for workers, particularly in terms of job quality, working hours and work-life balance. In all cases they highlight the positive outcomes of collective bargaining in workplaces with high union membership and active workplace reps

Bio-accumulation and non-target effects of GM derived Bt endotoxin in the soil

Plants may be genetically modified to express an entomopathogenic protein from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis (Berliner) (Bt plants). Bt plants are known to affect some above-ground invertebrates, with significant effects on species closely related to target invertebrates and on their natural enemies. Bt proteins may enter the soil through root exudates and decomposition of plant material. This study aimed to analyse the effects of Bt broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica Plenk) on six soil-dwelling invertebrates. No significant differences were detected in nematode (Panagrellus redivivus L.) populations living in compost in which Bt and non-5/ broccoli had grown. The other species were introduced to combinations of Bt and non-5/ leaves, and compost in which Bt and non-5/ plants had grown. No differences were detected in Collembola (Folsomia candida Willem) populations, but significantly more young woodlice (Porcellio scaber Latrielle) survived, and weighed more, in the Bt than the non-5/ treatments. Slugs (Deroceras reticulatum Muller) weighed more in the presence of Bt proteins. A higher percentage of earthworm (Lumbricus terrestris L.) cocoons hatched in Bt than non-5/ treatments. In contrast, at a third trophic level, fewer predatory beetles (Nebria brevicollis Fabricius) survived when feeding on slugs that had fed on Bt leaves than on those fed on non-5/ leaves. Leaves from Bt plants affected more parameters than compost in which Bt plants had grown. Attempts were made to use molecular techniques to analyse the effects of Bt broccoli on soil micro-organisms. Individual Bt broccoli plants expressed different concentrations of Bt protein. The Bt plant's control of three Lepidoptera species was tested and only one species was susceptible. These results show that non-target invertebrates, including pest species, can be affected by Bt broccoli, sometimes beneficially, and underlines the need for prior testing of GM crops on a range of non-target species.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Non-Standard Contracts and the National Living Wage: A Report for the Low Pay Commission

This research explores the relationship between contractual arrangements and the payment of the National Living Wage (NLW). Its focus is non-standard employment arrangements; specifically zero hours contracts (ZHCs), Minimum Hours contracts (MHCs), agency work (effectively zero hours in this research) and dependent self-employment. In this report the term ‘dependent self-employed’ (DS-E) is used to refer to workers who are to all intents and purposes employees, but who are defined as self-employed, for example to achieve a more favourable tax and national insurance regime; the so-called ‘bogus self-employed’ (BS-E). Overall, these contractual forms may mean that workers receive variable pay from week to week and that once hours worked and related costs are taken into account, they may be paid below the NLW, and/or dependent upon in-work benefits to supplement pay. Using qualitative data collection the research contributes a set of worker case studies - 36 in total - drawn from six low paying industry sectors where the types of contracts under investigation are known to be in use. The approach allows detailed scrutiny of hours and their relationship with earnings and consideration of whether the NLW is achieved, taking into account fluctuations and paid and unpaid components of working time. The case studies explore elements of unpaid working time, highlighted in homecare (travel and waiting time), but increasingly in other sectors1. They capture the organisation of working time, the notion of unsocial hours and, concretely, the payment of premia. The case studies identify changes in contractual arrangements and pay and grading structures (compression or removal of differentials) in the light of the NLW, along with perceptions of employer behaviour in relation to its introduction. The report identifies factors driving contractual arrangements and the extent to which these represent individual preference or are involuntary, including where workers are deemed ‘self-employed’ and particularly in the context of recent Employment Tribunal cases. The impacts of contractual forms on work and the work-effort bargain are explored. Finally the research illustrates how workers survive in the context of wider household and familial relationships, including interaction with the tax and benefits systems. In focusing upon the ways that workers are formally or informally removed from employment protection, including the NLW, the report addresses a number of issues that the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices2 proposes might, in the future, fall within the remit of the Low Pay Commission (LPC)