[IER] IER News Brief 22/01/2016

[Sarah Glenister]

IER News Brief 22/01/16	Follow us on Twitter	 
news brief
Friday 22nd January 2016

Welcome to the second edition of our new look News Brief.

This week: The Trade Union Bill, TTIP and the EU.

Don't forget, we are running a unique debate on pros and cons of EU membership in February. Our experts will provide a balanced view of the benefits and risks to inform your vote in the referendum. We currently have a special offer on that event for a limited time only, so book now to reserve your seat. 
 
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 News and comment
		Audience members required for BBC Two programme
BBC Two are looking for 100 people across the pay spectrum who are engaged in issues regarding wages and employment rights to contribute to an audience-led discussion on these issues. To apply as a participant, please email heloise.beaton01 at bbc.co.uk or phone 0303 080 7945 as soon as possible, detailing your opinions and experience. The programme will be filmed in Salford on Saturday 27th February, but to ensure people across the UK can be represented, the BBC will cover reasonable travel expenses.     
		UPDATE: Lords' proposed amendments to Trade Union Bill
The latest raft of amendments to the Trade Union Bill have been published, largely by Liberal Democrat peers Lord Stoneham of Droxford and Baroness Burt of Solihull. They have proposed the following changes to rebalance the Bill to reduce the burden and injustice on trade unions: 
> click here to read full story
		Tories suffer embarrassing defeat over Trade Union Bill
A motion by Baroness Smith of Basildon that Clauses 10 and 11 of the Trade Union Bill – pertaining to restrictions on the funding of the Labour Party – are scrutinised by a Select Committee has been approved by the House of Lords. 
> click here to read full story
		Government backs down on ancillary workers in public services
The government has vowed to remove its broad reference to ancillary workers involved in the provision of public services in the Trade Union Bill but some private sector workers could still be affected. 
> click here to read full story
		Will EU settlement allow transnational corporations to sue UK for policies they don't like? 
MP Roger Godsiff will ask the government if it continues to support TTIP in light of breaking news that the US government is being sued for rejecting a tar sands pipeline. 
> click here to read full story
		COMMENT: The Trade Union Bill is disproportionate, disrespectful and malicious
We publish the inspiring speech of Labour peer Lord Monks from the second reading of the Trade Union Bill in the House of Lords.
> click here to read full story
		COMMENT: Against the Trade Union Reform Bill: Defending Public Services & Public Service Unions
Whyeda Gill-Mclure, Senior Lecturer at Wolverhampton Business School, explores the reasons for the Bill’s attack on public sector unions, the impact of this attack and ways in which it could be resisted.
> click here to read full story
 Briefings and consultation responses
		Hiring agency staff during strike action: reforming regulation
The IER has published its response to the government's consultation on hiring agency staff during strike action in September 2015, stating that the move is unjustified and will intensify conflict. 
> click here to read full story
		Ballot thresholds in important public services
The IER publishes its response to government's plan to introduce a 40% threshold of support for strike ballots across all eligible voters in "important public services" on top of the new 50% threshold for turnout. We note there is no legal precedent for 'important public services'. 
> click here to read full story
		The eclipse of the rule of law: Trade union rights and the EU
In a new briefing from the Institute of Employment Rights, Professor Keith Ewing and John Hendy QC examine how there is a "severe tension at the heart of the neo-liberal project", which leads to international law being eclipsed by corporate interests. 
> click here to read full story
  Publications
		Labour Law Highlights 2015: £8
By Rebecca Tuck, Stuart Brittenden, Betsan Criddle & Claire Bowsher-Murray
This year’s Labour Law Highlights provides a timely summary of the government’s priority labour law policy areas. No surprise then that it starts with an overview and critical analysis of the Trade Union Bill, including its restrictions on the right to strike and proposals to remove long established check-off and facility time arrangements.
> click here to read more and purchase
		Protect the right to strike: kill the bill: £5
By John Hendy QC & Professor Keith Ewing
Two leading experts on trade union rights – Professor Keith Ewing and John Hendy QC – publish a short but comprehensive overview of the Trade Union Bill and its implications.
> click here to read more and purchase
		The Conservative Government’s proposed strike ballot thresholds: The challenge to trade unions: from £6
By Professor Ralph Darlington and Dr John Dobson
According to the authors of this timely report, the government is attempting to rush into law ‘the most sweeping and radical tightening of rules on industrial action since the Thatcher era of the 1980’s’. They warn that such proposals could result in ‘the biggest showdown over industrial relations for a generation’.
> click here to read more and purchase
		The mythology of business: from £6
By David Whyte
The ‘myths’ that this publication takes into consideration are the kind of things that politicians now routinely say without thinking. Yet these 10 myths have very little foundation in reality and are rarely, if ever, accompanied with any concrete evidence to support them.
> click here to read more and purchase
  Events
		LONDON: EU Developments: has social Europe disintegrated? 
09 February 2016 - 09:30 - 15:30
GMB, London
Does the EU protect our rights at work and promote prosperity and jobs? Or is it a ‘bosses club’ that places freedom of capital over workers’ rights? Still undecided on whether to vote yes or no in the referendum? Come along to this conference where we hope to inform your decision.
> click here to read more
		SPRING RALLY: The Trade Union Bill and Beyond - Fighting the Anti-Union Laws
11 February 2016 - 6.30pm
Mander Hall, NUT, London
Supporting the TUC's Heart Unions Week, we will be holding a FREE Spring Rally in conjunction with the Campaign for Trade Union Freedom in London.
> click here to read more
		LIVERPOOL: EU Developments: has social Europe disintegrated?
09 March 2016 - 09:30 - 15:30
Adelphi Hotel, Liverpool
Does the EU protect our rights at work and promote prosperity and jobs? Or is it a ‘bosses club’ that places freedom of capital over workers’ rights? Still undecided on whether to vote yes or no in the referendum? Come along to this conference where we hope to inform your decision.
> click here to read more
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Institute of Employment Rights,
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