[IER] Workers feel undervalued by their employers - here's how we fix it

Fri Mar 16 17:13:32 GMT 2018

IER News Brief 16/03/18Follow us on Twitter 
news brief
Friday 16th March 2018
In a new poll of 2,000 full-time employees, the average worker said they felt underpaid by over £5,000 considering the amount of hard work and overtime they put in, and in light of their qualifications and positive feedback for a job well done.

This result will fail to surprise regular readers, following reccent Office for National Statistics data that showed real wages have fallen for ten consecutive months.

The survey also found that a third of workers who had asked for a raise had been turned down. The Institute of Employment Rights recommends that a new framework of labour law is put in place to create incentives for employers to provide decent wages and conditions to their workers.

In our Manifesto for Labour Law - 25 proposals, which have been adopted as a 'blueprint' for future Labour Party reforms - we draw upon international comparisons and modern research showing that encouraging workers to negotiate collectively through trade unions is the best way to raise wages and close the inequality gap (a measure that has spun out of control in the past 35 years, with FTSE CEOs now earning 386 times more than a person on the National Living Wage).

Through sectoral collective bargaining, a process by which trade unions and employers' associations negotiate minimum rates and conditions that apply across entire industries, workers are better able to secure a wage that more accurately reflects the value of the work they do. Meanwhile, private enterprise can no longer compete on a race to the bottom on employment rights, incentivising them to invest instead in research and development and upskilling their existing staff. This has been widely linked to improved economic productivity, and could help the UK to prepare for a projected skills gap that it has been warned could be the next crisis to hit the UK.

Read more about our Manifesto for Labour Law 
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 News and commentSupport the IER in its 30th Anniversary year
This year we are celebrating our forthcoming 30th Anniversar and we're appealing for your support. We hope to raise £30,000 to celebrate our 30 years and with these funds we will modernise our website and communications; promote our ideas through meetings, education packs, videos and animations; and establish a reserve to avoid repeat fundraising.
> click here to read full storyWorkers unfairly dismissed for raising safety concerns at Liverpool prison 
Two workers sacked for raising safety concerns at a Liverpool prison were unfairly dismissed, a tribunal has ruled. 
> click here to read full storyUK workers feel more than £5,000 underpaid, poll finds 
Workers in the UK feel they are being undervalued by their employers, with the average person saying they are underpaid for their skills and hard work by over £5,000 a year. 
> click here to read full story
 Featured publication 
In his thoughtful account of the blacklisting scandal, which incorporates the first-hand experiences of blacklisted workers and their families, Dave Smith of the Blacklist Support Group leads readers through the multitude of obstacles faced by the victims. The book concludes with a call for a public inquiry that forces those involved to publically account for their actions; and a detailed Manifesto Against Blacklisting drafed by Alex Just, one of the barristers who represented the victims in their High Court case.

Click here to read more and purchase your copy, or access your free download if you subscribe  Job vacancies National Assistant
Two days a week, Liverpool or London

The Institute of Employment Rights is looking to appoint a part-time assistant to join our busy team. Tasks will focus on promoting our work, increasing sales and reaching out to new funding opportunities. Knowledge of the trade union movement will be essential. The assistant will work 14 hours, over two days and can be based in Liverpool or London.

Applications must be received by Monday 26 March and interviews will take place on 04 April in Liverpool and 11 April in London.
> Click here for job and person specifications and an application formPHD Studentship: Employment Rights and the Shareholder: Workers Rights vs ‘Owners’ Rights
Three years, full-time, Liverpool or Manchester

The Institute of Employment Rights is collaborating with the Universities of Manchester and Liverpool in a project aimed at understanding how the corporate veil that shields shareholders works to restrict labour rights. The project also seeks to identify progressive reforms.

We are seeking to appoint a PhD student who has a commitment to protecting and enhancing employment rights.
> Click here for job and person specifications and an application form
  PublicationsLabour Law Highlights 2017: £8
Edited by Rebecca Tuck
Catch up with the most important case law developments in 2017 in the latest of our popular Labour Law Highlights series.

In this year’s Labour Law Highlights, a team of barristers from Old Square Chambers returns to assess how each of these events has impacted upon case law in the last 12 months, including clarification from the courts on the requirements of the Trade Union Act in practice, the flurry of tribunal hearings regarding ‘gig’ workers, and further decisions on the rights of workers required to take "sleep-in" shifts. In each case, they provide commentary on the potential wider implications of tribunal decisions.
> click here to read more and purchaseEurope, the EU and Britain: Workers' Rights and Economic Democracy: £8
Notes from a seminar by the Institute of Employment Rights and the Marx Memorial Library
On 01 July 2017, labour movement leaders from across Europe met at the Marx Memorial Library, London, to discuss how a progressive future for workers’ rights can be sought following the UK’s vote to leave the EU. This report documents the meeting, including the transcripts of each presentation, as well as notes on the discussion between panel and delegates on the day.
> click here to read more and purchaseThe Legacy of Thatcherism in European Labour Relations: The Impact of the Politics of Neo-Liberalism and Austerity on Collective Bargaining in a Fragmenting Europe: £8
By Miguel Martinez Lucio, Aristea Koukiadaki and Isabel Tavora
As the UK prepares to leave the European Union, this analysis – the 11th in our Comparative Notes series – shines a light on the deleterious effect of the nation's deregulatory influence on the bloc.
> click here to read more and purchase8 Good Reasons Why Adult Social Care Needs Sectoral Collective Bargaining: £8
By Dr Lydia Hayes
In this booklet, Dr Lydia Hayes sets out the lessons learned from her interdisciplinary research into the social care sector, and builds upon the recommendations made in the Institute of Employment Rights' Manifesto for Labour Law: a comprehensive revision of worker’s rights to propose a sectoral collective bargaining structure for the negotiation of wages and conditions.
> Click here to read more and buy your copyTo unsubscribe, please contact sarah at ier.org.uk. 
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