[IER] IER News Brief 26/02/2016

[Sarah Glenister]

IER News Brief 26/02/16	Follow us on Twitter	 
news brief
Friday 26th February 2016

This week, the Trade Union Bill was once more debated in the House of Lords, with strong opposition coming not only from the Labour and Liberal Democrat Parties but also Conservative peers.

Despite the likelihood of defeat in the Lords, the government said it would push ahead with the Bill without making changes to the contentious Clauses discussed this week (including limiting facility time and prohibiting check-off arrangements).

On Monday, the Tories published skeleton regulations for their plans on facility time and check-off, but these were attacked in the Lords as being poorly drafted and unclear, and for not providing adequate clarification as to which public sector bodies would be affected.

Read our reports from the Lords for further detail.

Elsewhere, the Brexit debate rages on, with pressure from both the right and left-wing to leave the EU. The IER will host a debate with an expert panel of speakers on the pros and cons of the trade bloc for trade unions on 09 March in Liverpool. Following the announcement of the referendum for June 23, seats at this event are filling up quickly, so please book now to avoid disappointment.

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 News and comment
		UNISON to appeal its case for judicial review
The Supreme Court has permitted UNISON to appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal, which last year ruled that the public sector union could not put the government's employment tribunal restrictions through judicial review.  
> click here to read full story
		Campaign promotes equal opportunity for people beginning a career in equality and human rights
The Equal Rights Trust has launched its Bob Hepple Memorial Fund to help those at the start of their career in equality and human rights through paid internship and fellowship placements with the Trust.  
> click here to read full story
		Labour, Lib Dems and Tories oppose check-off ban but govt steams ahead
In its fourth day at Committee Stage in the House of Lords, the Trade Union Bill saw enormous opposition to Clause 14 - the prohibition on check-off arrangements in the public sector - being demonstrated from all benches. 
> click here to read full story
		Lords object to govt’s “transparency” argument around political funds and facility time
Peers from across parties objected to the government’s argument that publishing details around unions’ political funds and facility time were principally proposed to encourage “transparency”.
> click here to read full story
		Facility time “delivers clear cost benefits”, study shows 
As the House of Lords return to debate the Trade Union Bill in its third day at Committee stage, including planned restrictions on facility time in the public sector research conducted at the University of Bradford has shown that paid time off for union reps deliver “clear cost benefits” for the public purse. 
> click here to read full story
		COMMENT: Public sector exit payment caps will penalise low earners  
Unison Policy Assistant Michelle Singleton explains how the government's new regulations around public sector exit payments will catch out people on lower wages as well as the higher earners at which it is ostensibly aimed.
> click here to read full story
		COMMENT: Zero Hours – Zero Solutions 
Professor Mark Freedland and Jeremias Prassl, both of Oxford University, highlight the problems with zero-hour contracts and the ineffectiveness of government programmes to regulate them.
> click here to read full story
  Publications
		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
		International Women's Day 2016: Women of Palestine - living through trauma; building resilience
05 March 2016 - 13:00 - 17:00
Cross Street Chapel, Manchester, M2 1NL 
Manchester Palestine Solidarity Campaign invites women and men for Palestinian food, speeches from psychotherapists and activists, plus a film screening, workshops, and panel discussions with Angela Rayner MP.
		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? Is social Europe growing or withering?  Come along to this conference where we hope to inform your decision.
> click here to read more
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