[IER] IER News Brief 29/01/2016

[Sarah Glenister]

IER News Brief 29/01/16	Follow us on Twitter	 
news brief
Friday 29th January 2016

This week: Further amendments have been made to The Trade Union Bill, including today's proposal by Tory peer Lord Balfe that unions be permitted to use e-balloting and check-off arrangements. In our comment section, Adrian Williamson QC reveals the striking similarities between the 2015 Bill and one proposed in 1927. Take a look at our latest news and analysis below to stay update on the Bill. 

Meanwhile, we ask if the EU is still our friend after news this week that the government is refusing to make public legal documents regarding TTIP negotiations regarding the health service. Linda Kaucher offers her expert analysis of such deals on our blog. And don't forget to join our debate on 09 February in London or 09 March in Liverpool. Our panel of experts will provide a balanced analysis of the pros and cons of EU membership to inform your vote come the referendum. Click here for more on these events.    

Subscribers receive all of our publications free and discount rates on our conferences. Subscribe now
 News and comment
		Tory peer backs e-balloting and check-off for trade unions
Lord Balfe today proposed amendments to the Trade Union Bill to permit trade unions to use electronic voting systems in strike ballots and to retain the check-off practice in the public sector.  
> click here to read full story
		Welsh Assembly votes against Trade Union Bill proposals
The Welsh Assembly this week voted against giving consent to Westminster to legislate for the 40% support threshold on strike ballots, additional regulation around facility time, and the removal of 'check-off' arrangements in the Welsh public sector. 
> click here to read full story
		TUB UPDATE: Labour peer proposes scale back of punitive certification officer amendments 
Labour's Baroness Donaghy has proposed amendments to the Trade Union Bill to scale back new powers the Tories wish to give the trade union regulator. 
> click here to read full story
		COMMENT: The Trade Union Bill 2015: history repeats itself?
Adrian Williamson QC reveals some striking similarities between the Trade Union Bill and a 1927 Bill, demonstrating how many of the Tory's proposals have failed to garner support in the past. 
> click here to read full story
		COMMENT: The TTIP threat - part of a bigger picture 
Linda Kaucher of the Stop TTIP campaign argues that such international agreements go much further than 'trade' and promote a chilling of regulation and employment protections across the countries that sign up to them. 
> click here to read full story
 SPRING RALLY: The Trade Union Bill and Beyond

  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
To unsubscribe, please contact sarah at ier.org.uk.
Produced by:
Institute of Employment Rights,
4th Floor, Jack Jones House
1 Islington
Liverpool L3 8EG
0151 207 5265
www.ier.org.uk


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/pipermail/ier-elist/attachments/20160129/59404080/attachment-0001.html>