[IER] IER News Brief 11/03/2016

[Sarah Glenister]

IER News Brief 11/03/16	Follow us on Twitter	 
news brief
Friday 11th March 2016

Many thanks to all of our epert who attended our EU debate in Liverpool this week, and of course to our expert panel of speakers. 

We are delighted with the positive feedback we have received for this inspiring and thought-provoking event, after which our delegates had changed their vote on the referendum from mostly "in" to mostly "undecided", and with the Brexit voters outnumbering EU loyalists by the end of the day! 

The EU represents a quandary for trade unions and this currently being demonstrated by differences in opinion in the labour movement. Last week, ASLEF came out in support of Brexit, but this week leaders of the TUC and Unite both said they were in favour of staying (although Unite's official position has not yet been announced). 
 
If you want to refresh your memory of the speakers' arguments, or if you missed the event and want to catch up on the debate, you can download papers and our conference report here. 
  
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 News and comment
		Lords push for e-balloting and check-off in more balanced Trade Union Bill
The latest amendments to the Trade Union Bill attempt to balance the law to be less punitive to the labour movement, and have been made by both Labour and Conservative peers.  
> click here to read full story
		Tories offer weak concessions on Trade Union Bill 
Amendments proposed by Baroness Neville-Rolfe, Parliamentary Under Secretary for Business, to the Trade Union Bill today offer minor concessions on the raft of legislation that is expected to have a devastating effect on both the labour movement and Labour party. 
> click here to read full story
		Number of workers on zero-hour contracts rises above 800,000
The number of workers on a zero-hour contract for their main job has risen above 800,000, accounting for 2.5% of the workforce in 2015 compared with 2.3% in 2014, according to figures released by the Office for National Statistics today. 
> click here to read full story
 Conference report
		EU Developments: has social Europe disintegrated? LIVERPOOL
Just three months before the EU referendum, delegates met in Liverpool to examine the economic and legal questions surrounding the in-out vote at an event that posed the question: is Social Europe disintegrating?
> click here to read the full report and download all papers
  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’ and go on to drill down into one aspect of the government’s proposals – strike ballots.
> 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: Human Rights vs. Bill of Rights: What's in it for workers?
27 April 2016 - 09:30 - 15:30
Unite the Union, London
How far has the Government gone towards its promised British Bill of Rights? More importantly, how would such changes impact on the rights of UK citizens at work, in society and in the economy?
> click here to read more
		LIVERPOOL: Human Rights vs. Bill of Rights: What's in it for workers?
19 May 2016 - 09:30 - 15:30
Unite the Union, Liverpool
How far has the Government gone towards its promised British Bill of Rights? More importantly, how would such changes impact on the rights of UK citizens at work, in society and in the economy?
> click here to read more
		LONDON: Public Sector cuts, Privatisation and Employment Rights
15 June 2016 - 09:30 - 15:30
Unite the Union, London
How far has the Government gone towards its promised British Bill of Rights? More importantly, how would such changes impact on the rights of UK citizens at work, in society and in the economy?
> click here to read more
		LIVERPOOL: Public Sector cuts, Privatisation and Employment Rights
05 July 2016 - 09:30 - 15:30
Unite the Union, Liverpool
How far has the Government gone towards its promised British Bill of Rights? More importantly, how would such changes impact on the rights of UK citizens at work, in society and in the economy?
> click here to read more
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