[IER] Scottish Labour Party adopts IER Charter of Workers' Rights

Thu Apr 18 17:52:52 BST 2019

IER News Brief 18/04/19Follow us on Twitter  
news brief
Thursday 18th April 2019
The Scottish Labour Party has adopted the Institute of Employment Rights' Charter of Workers' Rights, leader Richard Leonard announced this week.

The Charter is an adaptation of the Manifesto for Labour Law - backed by the UK Labour Party - to the unique needs of the Scottish workforce.

Addressing the delegates at the STUC conference, Leonard said Scottish Labour would adopt protections recommended by the IER, including establishing a Ministry of Labour and reinstating sectoral collective bargaining.

Click here to read more and scroll down for further news and events from the IER. 
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 News and commentSupport the IER in its 30th Anniversary year 
This year we are celebrating our forthcoming 30th Anniversary 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 story EU introduces new protections for 'gig' economy workers 
The EU has introduced new rules to offer more protection to workers in the 'gig' economy, including the right to compensation for short-notice cancellation of shifts; a ban on exclusivity clauses; a "day one" right to a description of their duties, standard working day, and pay information; and mandatory training for which workers will be paid at their usual rate. 
> click here to read full story Brits work longest - and less productive - hours in EU 
New research from the TUC has found that British workers put in more hours than anywhere else in the EU, and yet economic productivity is still low. 
> click here to read full story 
 Labour Law Highlights 2019Labour Law Highlights 2019 - from £8 
Edited by Stuart Brittenden and Betsan Criddle 
Subscribers can download their free copy now - click here to subscribe 

In a year that Parliament has been tied up in its efforts to strike a deal on leaving the EU, developments in labour law have fallen largely to the Courts in 2018/19, where rulings have gone some way to clarify existing legislation and to shape an understanding of complex areas of employment law like employment status.

In this popular annual update to case law, the IER’s regular team of barristers at Old Square Chambers guides readers through key decisions in the last year that may prove instructive to trade unions and potential claimants as to the likely approach of Judges to forthcoming cases.

The authors cover a wide range of issues including trade union rights, pay and terms of employment, whistleblowing, TUPE, unfair dismissal, discrimination and the application of equality law. 
> click here to read more and purchase your copy 
 The Welfare State, Work & Wages: Disintegration or renewal?The Welfare State, Work & Wages: Disintegration or renewal? - £10 
By Keith Puttick 
Subscribers can download their free copy now - click here to subscribe 

Up until now, criticism of Universal Credit has largely focused on how long delays and sanctions are forcing recipients into poverty and debt. Less attention has been given to how the Welfare State interacts with the labour market to influence employment patterns. In this book, Keith Puttick examines the work-welfare interface through time, highlighting how changes in attitude and policy around the benefits system has had a deleterious effect on labour standards in the workplace.

While increased pressure on jobseekers to find work – regardless of quality – incentivises the creation of low-hours, low-pay mini-jobs; the proliferation of work that cannot meet the needs of workers generates further reliance on the Welfare State, thus creating a vicious cycle that prevents low-paid workers from progressing.

The author concludes that in order to create an effective Welfare State, we must first overcome the shortcomings of the current system of labour rights. Drawing upon the IER’s influential Manifesto for Labour Law, he recommends the rollout of sectoral collective bargaining and stronger equality laws to encourage the creation of higher-paid, higher-quality work and improve its accessibility to all, thereby providing opportunities for those currently stuck in the benefits trap to become financially secure. 
> click here to read more and purchase your copy    Events London: Case law development - labour law review 
Wednesday 24 April 2019 - 09:30 - 15:00
Unite the Union, London 
At this interactive, hands-on conference, trade union representatives and others interested in defending workers’ rights will learn how recent changes in the law are being interpreted in the courts, as well as given the opportunity to apply what they learn to issues in their own workplace.
Speakers include Betsan Criddle and Bruno Gill 
> click here to read more and book your place 
  PublicationsRolling out the Manifesto for Labour Law: £10 
Edited by John Hendy QC, Prof Keith Ewing and Carolyn Jones 
The IER’s 2016 Manifesto for Labour Law garnered support from major unions across the UK, the Green Party, the Scottish Nationalist Party, and most of all the Labour Party, which adopted many of the IER’s recommendations as a blueprint for future reform. Now we present Rolling Out, a guide to how our recommendations could be practically implemented. 
click here to read more and purchase Blacklisting: the need for a public inquiry (including a Manifesto Against Blacklisting): £8 
By Dave Smith and Alex Just 
In his thoughtful account of the conspiracy, which incorporates the first-hand experiences of blacklisted workers and their families, the author leads readers through the multitude of obstacles faced by the victims. It concludes with a call for a public inquiry that forces those involved to publically account for their actions; and a detailed Manifesto Against Blacklisting 
click here to read more and purchase Europe, 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 purchase The 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 purchase 8 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 purchase 
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