News Brief 26 / 07 / 13
In the news this week … This week has been a busy one for trade unions , unfortunately due to the potentially negative impacts of two important pieces of news .
First , the government has published its Transparency in Lobbying , Transparency of Lobbying , Non-party Campaigning and Trade Union Administration Bill , which barely touches the rich individual lobbyists and donors suspected of swaying Conservative Party opinion on controversial issues , but hits trade unions hard .
Second , the decision on landmark TUPE case Alemo-Herron vs . Parkwood Leisure was announced yesterday , finding in favour of the employer - a disappointing and unexpected judgement for unions .
Elsewhere , bad news keeps rolling in on the wider economy and the impact of the Coalition ' s policies .
The TUC reported that Britain is currently facing its longest wages squeeze since the 1870s and The Fawcett Society warned of the government ' s assault on equality law in the run-up to the publication of the government ' s muchcriticised Public Sector Equality Duty review .
In a bizarre hope to gain the support of the working classes ,
Conservative MP David Skelton – leader of new Tory group Renewal and former Deputy Director of hardline think-tank Policy Exchange – showed up at the Durham Miners ' Gala at the weekend , and waxed lyrical about the old mining town destroyed under Tory rule .
What have we learned from the Coalition Timeline so far ?
Trade union rights
New Tory group aims at working classes ( 16 / 07 / 13 )
New Bill to hit trade unions hard ( 17 / 07 / 13 )
Click to see the timeline
Increasing vulnerability in the workplace
New Tory group aims at working classes ( 16 / 07 / 13 )