A round-up of HR stories in today’s newspapers
Talks intended to stop another round of Tube strikes by London Underground (LU) staff are due to be held in London, the BBC reports. Earlier in September, workers from the Transport Salaried Staffs Association and Rail Maritime and Transport union went on strike. They are angry over plans to scrap 800 jobs in ticket offices, but LU bosses say that the offices are barely used. Further 24-hour strikes are scheduled for 3 October, 2 November and 28 November. The talks are being organised by Acas, the conciliation service.
Business secretary Vince Cable will today float the idea of giving shareholders more power to curb excessive pay packages for company bosses, according to the Independent. In his speech to the Liberal Democrat conference, he will announce that a review of executive pay and takeovers will be launched next month. It could result in legislation aimed at forcing company boards to behave more responsibly and “advisory votes” by shareholders on remuneration packages to put pressure on firms to show restraint. The business secretary’s consultation exercise will consider whether or not companies should be under a greater obligation to behave responsibly – both on pay and in their actions more widely.
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Two social workers involved in the care of Baby P escaped the sack after a “deeply flawed” disciplinary process, an employment tribunal has heard. An inquiry overseen by then head of Haringey Council’s children’s services, Sharon Shoesmith, found Gillie Christou and Maria Ward should not be sacked, reports the BBC. But the pair claim they were later unfairly dismissed amid public outcry about the death of Peter Connelly.
Further strikes are looming at Richmond College after lecturers said that proposed job cuts would be detrimental to students, according to the Richmond and Twickenham Times. The call for industrial action was made after teachers voted 179 to 1 to express their lack of confidence in the college’s principal David Ansell. They have hit out at suggestions that 50 posts will be scrapped and replaced with lower paid jobs, and plans for up to 15 redundancies as a way for the college to claw back £3 million in savings.
