News digest 1 October 2010
Don’t forget to ask where your tips go,
one year down the line it still seems they end up in management’s
pockets. Elsewhere there’s some good news on the equalities front
as the Equalities Act comes into force and there’s an increase in
the minimum wage, but then there’s more cuts announcements, before
the car sector comes into focus with some good news for Vauxhall
workers but also some bad with the possible exit of Lotus, there’s
a couple more board room changes, before what could be major
changes in the classroom for Surrey’s schoolchildren…
It’s still not fair – On the
first anniversary of the law that was supposed to stop employers
taking the tips from hard working waiting staff national officer
Dave Turnbull said: “Unite has found that one year on
from the campaign there are still too many employers who regard
tips as a subsidy for low pay and see tips and service charges left
by customers as a pot of cash to which they are free to help
themselves.” Waiting staff gathered earlier at the
Department for Business to call for the rules to be properly
applied (Morning
Star p1).
Equality Act implemented -
Welcoming the Equality Act 2010, which comes into law today, Unite
assistant general secretary for equalities, Diana Holland, said:
"This is an important milestone, but not the final
word. Discrimination has no place in our workplaces and
communities. We must stand by equality as Con-Dem cuts hit - and
work to make sure the new act comes in, in full.”
However a cautious note was sounded by the Fawcett Society which
said a review by the Con-Dem coalition could make the act
‘toothless’ (Guardian
p5).
Minimum wage up – Rise from
£5.80 to £5.93 an hour from today, and the full rate applies to
employees aged 21 or over , rather than 22 as before. The
government has also introduced a minimum wage for apprentices for
the first time, of £2.50 an hour, for those under 19 years old
(BBC
online).
Labour party conference
closes – With speech from deputy Harriet Harman, media
coverage divides into two again with the Sun (p15) banging on about ‘Red Ed’
or ‘der Rote Ed’ arguing that the nickname has gone global, while
there’s good news in the Guardian (p1) as the Labour lead
over the Tories extends to two points, it’s Labour 37 per cent,
Conservatives 35 per cent and Lib-Dems 18 per cent. The Express (p4) highlights Cameron’s
scaremongering saying Labour plans a £35 billion tax hike, a line
followed by the Daily Mail (p20-21) while elsewhere the
Mirror (p8) says general
secretary Ray Collins may be for the chop, while the Times (p19) tries to create a
row over talks of a peerage for Unite’s Derek Simpson.
BBC stars condemn strikes –
As the Conservative party conference is about to get under way the
Mail (p1) leads with a
letter from BBC heavyweights that staff should not walk out during
the leader’s speech. Neglecting to mention the reasons behind the
strike – major changes to pensions – the timing is attacked without
noting the legal requirements on unions to name dates, NUJ convenor
Ian Pollock also noted that 11 of the signatories are not even NUJ
members (Express, p2,
Guardian p3).
Defence cuts row continues –
As the Tories try to smooth over relations the Mirror (p6) reports that Cameron
savages Fox over his MoD budget warning even as the prime minister
came under fire from the military’s top brass. Business secretary
Vince Cable has also waded in to support the defence secretary
echoing Fox’s fears that there will be a drain of jobs and skills
(FT p2).
Cuts hit most vulnerable –
The FT (p3) has a feature on cuts
that shows the most vulnerable will be hit by the proposals and
even the Sun (p22) focuses
on the reality of cuts on the ground with day two of a series
focusing won what it means for workers in Mansfield, the crosshead
‘oblivion’ sums it up well…
Ireland on the
brink – Or just look across at Ireland, many of the papers
report that more government support is needed for Anglo Irish Bank.
Support also needed for Allied Irish Bank which means the cost of
the bailout could reach euro 50 billion driving Ireland’s debt to
24 per cent of GDP. Ireland’s workers and pensioners face even more
pain with further austerity measures expected in a December budget.
In the Guardian (p6-7)
Unite’s Michael Taft argues the debate has been one sided with no
talk of a stimulus just cuts: “Our position is that
there should be a major investment programme, pouring euros into
the economy to create jobs and restart economic
activity.” Makes sense to me (Express p66, Mail p24).
T-Mobile/Orange jobs go –
Back in Britain merged mobile giant renamed Everything Everywhere
announces it is to cut 1,200 jobs, most people will go just before
Christmas, how nice (Sun p2,
Mirror p56, Mail p86).
Rolls-Royce boss goes – This
time someone leaves a job by choice as John Rose goes after 26
years at the company, 14 as chief executive. Rose helped turn
around the company during his tenure and unlike many City heads he
kept a low profile, although he did raise his concerns about not
enough students entering engineering and the welcomed greater
government intervention in industry. In a very unusual move
business secretary Vince Cable pays tribute to his strategic
thinking and contribution to growing global market share (Guardian, p29, FT p19, Express p67).
Rolls-Royce ghost appears –
Luxury carmaker sets a new sales record thanks to its new
affordable model. Record sales of the ‘Ghost’ – a snip at just
£195,000 – are expected to see the company sell more than 2,000
cars in a year for the first time in its history. A second shift
has been introduced at the factory with 150 workers taken on
(Sun p35).
Ampera for Ellesmere – The
Times (p63) notes that
GM has given its biggest hint yet that the electric car from
Vauxhall will be built at Ellesmere Port.
Jag’s concept car – Jaguar
unveils big cat with tiny carbon footprint as new C-X75 electric
car which uses revolutionary microturbines to power its electric
motor (Times p63).
Toyota bouncing
back – The Telegraph (b3) reports that the
Japanese car company looks to have turned a corner after the
massive recalls.
BMW mass recall – Company
recalling 10,000 cars in the UK, as well as 1,200 Rolls-Royces,
over braking problem, in total some 350,000 luxury cars are to be
recalled world-wide, mainly in the US (BBC Online).
Lotus to quit
UK? – And 1,200 jobs are at risk
as luxury car maker Lotus threatens to quit the UK after the
government refused to loan the company £40 million to develop five
new models, transfer of production to Eastern Europe is being
considered (Sun p6).
Immigration cap may harm car
sector – Carmakers demand that intracompany transfers
should be exempt from the immigration cap (Times p53).
Fuel costs up – Government
increases fuel duty by 1p a litre from today (Telegraph p6).
BP dividend back – Boost for
shareholders as company says it expects to start paying dividends
from next year (Times
p55).
Private equity deals on the
rise – 3i expects deals to roar ahead, although quite a
lot of activity is expected to involve private equity firms selling
to one another (FT p20).
New HP head – Former SAP boss
Leo Apotheker is the surprise choice for head of HP (FT p19)
ROK finance chief cleared –
After investigation into finances finds no wrongdoing, but he quits
anyway (Telegraph
b5).
Surrey
schools switch – And finally a
Tory controlled local authority Surrey is considering converting
all its schools to academies – independent of council control – in
one fell swoop. Gove calls it ambitious, others would say what’s
the point of the council if it outsources everything? (Guardian p10)
Edited by Mik Sabiers
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