Editors Blog

Public sector HR must brace itself for storm ahead

After escaping virtually unscathed by the worst of the recession so far, HR teams in the public sector must now brace themselves for a storm heading their way.Official labour market figures show that public sector employment actually increased by 250,000,...

Posted by Mike Berry on June 19, 2009 10:20 AM

Would equal pay audits work?

Posted by Louisa Peacock on March 18, 2009 8:06 AM

Noise grows over Lindsey oil workers strike

The current wildcat strikes hitting nuclear and power plants across the UK, in support of workers at Lindsey oil refinery in Lincolnshire, have given the unions something new to focus their anger on. Instead of being up in arms about...

Posted by Mike Berry on February 2, 2009 11:50 AM

Trade unions | Super-union dis-United?

The merger of Amicus and the Transport & General Workers' Union last year to form super-union Unite was hailed as a historic day for the labour movement. But if recent newspaper reports are to be believed, then the dream might...

Posted by Mike Berry on October 15, 2008 3:08 PM

Bank Holidays | Calls for more go simply unanswered

Surprise, surprise, unions have yet again urged the government to introduce another bank holiday - in late October as always - to bring the UK more into line with European countries. A 'new' report by the TUC out today (more likely a re-hash from reports...

Posted by Louisa Peacock on August 22, 2008 12:36 PM

Equal pay | Clarity needed as the elephants stampede

The equal pay saga dominating the local government landscape continues to rumble on its destructive course. Equal pay is now not so much the elephant in the room but a stampeding herd of angry pachyderms. Last week the Court of...

Posted by Mike Berry on August 1, 2008 8:12 AM

Unions | New rights for workers mean more HR headaches

Speculation is rife among the national press this morning on how much ground Gordon Brown conceded to the trade unions at Labour's National Policy Forum in Warwick over the weekend. With no official announcements from either the government or unions,...

Posted by Mike Berry on July 28, 2008 11:09 AM

Unions | Preparing for war in Warwick

Trade unions have upped the ante ahead of their meeting with Labour Party chiefs at Warwick University this coming weekend. The policy forum/beano is where unions traditionally outline their demands to the government for new workers' rights. Top of the list? Sack business...

Posted by Mike Berry on July 24, 2008 9:20 AM

Pay awards | Strikes, wages and inflation

For those of you slightly bemused by the relationship between wages and the effect it has on inflation, my colleague Sheila Atwood on XpertHR's Employment Intelligence blog gives a good explanation. Chancellor Alistair Darling reiterated his call for pay restraint...

Posted by Mike Berry on July 18, 2008 9:41 AM

Local government strike | Minority vote highlights need for radical reform

The fact that up to 600,000 public sector workers are to strike next month highlights just why so-called union mandates to strike are generally nonsense, and why the rules for voting in the UK are in need of radical reform. ...

Posted by Tony Pettengell on June 25, 2008 9:23 AM

Equal pay | More councils will be getting Cross...

Local government HR directors working in London could be forgiven for quaking in their shoes with the news that controversial no-win no-fee lawyer Stefan Cross is heading southwards. The MJ reports that the Newcastle-based solicitor has started advertising in the...

Posted by Mike Berry on May 15, 2008 8:00 AM

London Mayor | RMT starts Boris bashing (already)

New London Mayor Boris Johnson has been in the job for less than a week and he already seems to be on a collision course with Tube unions. Part of his election manifesto was to try to broker a no-strike...

Posted by Mike Berry on May 9, 2008 8:31 AM

Conservatives | Unions blue with rage

George Osbourne's remarks that a Conservative government would look to curb union power and change employment laws has provoked a storm of criticism. Osbourne said the public sector unions had grown too powerful and led to widespread industrial unrest across...

Posted by Mike Berry on April 30, 2008 8:20 AM

Unions | Do blacklists really exist?

Picked up on an interesting blog posting about whether employment blacklists that target trade unionists and other workplace 'agitators' exist. The Socialist Worker has previously reported that big firms in the construction industry drew up lists of so-called troublemakers to...

Posted by Mike Berry on April 15, 2008 11:42 AM

Agency workers | Old enemies die hard

I forgot exactly how much the two sides hate each other. They're up there with Hamas and the Israeli government, with Fischer and Spassky, with Wile E Coyote and Roadrunner. My predication last month that a new one-off commission comprising...

Posted by Rob Moss on March 6, 2008 4:53 PM

Economy | Testing times require tried and tested HR tactics

In the current media frenzy over the threat of a recession, HR must brace itself for redundancies in the coming months. But are we all over-reacting? Are we convincing ourselves of impending doom so that it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy?...

Posted by Dawn Spalding on January 28, 2008 8:00 AM

Public sector pay | Trouble on the horizon

What are we to make of schools secretary Ed Balls’s announcement that teachers will receive a 2.45% pay rise this year? The award is the first of the government’s hyped three-year pay deals, which we covered on the front page...

Posted by Mike Berry on January 15, 2008 3:35 PM

Personnel Today | Responding to readers' criticism

Personnel Today has received two emails of complaint following our decision to publish an image of actress Billie Piper on the front page of the 9 October issue. (The image on the Daily Mail website is exactly what the magazine...

Posted by Mike Berry on October 15, 2007 8:00 AM

Internet access | Unions need to get their story straight

Did anyone else enjoy the ludicrous union comments last week in the case of council workers sacked for spending too much time surfing online? Nine workers at Neath Port Talbot Council in South Wales left their jobs after it was...

Posted by Mike Berry on September 26, 2007 9:23 AM

Labour Party Conference | Gordon Brown's silence is golden

A trip to the seaside is usually cause for relaxation, but down in Bournemouth this week it has been incredibly difficult to get away from work. As I left my hotel room yesterday morning, the first person I saw was...

Posted by Greg Pitcher on September 25, 2007 3:46 PM