Published: 19 December 2022
By Suzanne Evans, Director, Political Insight
The government says it is "resolute" on nurses pay, after unions threatened to escalate strike action if Ministers do not join talks within 48 hours of a second strike planned for tomorrow. Cabinet Minister Oliver Dowden told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: "We will be resolute to this, because it would be irresponsible to allow public sector pay and inflation to get out of control and we owe a wider duty to the public to make sure we keep our public finances under control." Challenged about the government's reluctance to engage on pay, the cabinet minister in charge of contingency planning for strikes, said the government was "always willing talk". "We're trying to be reasonable, we're trying to be proportionate and we're trying to be fair," he said. He added that the government was trying to "take the politics out" of the issue of pay by accepting the NHS pay review body's recommendations. In July, this body recommended a £1,400 rise, with slightly more for experienced nurses - an increase of about 4% on average. However, union leader Pat Cullen, of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) says ministers are using the recommendations as "cover" and her union was "seriously looking at whether we take part anymore". The RCN is calling for a pay rise of 19%.
Some 1,200 members of the military and 1,000 civil servants are to be drafted in to cover for striking ambulance and Border Force staff over Christmas, the BBC reports. 10,000 ambulance staff in England and Wales are expected to strike on 21st and 28th December in a pay dispute. However, the head of the armed forces has warned against viewing troops as "the go-to" option when it comes to covering strike action. Speaking to the Sunday Telegraph, Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, said: "We're not spare capacity. We're busy and we're doing lots of things on behalf of the nation - we've got to focus on our primary role". The Welsh government has said the military will not be asked to drive ambulances in Wales.
British Airways and Virgin Atlantic will limit ticket sales for flights to London's Heathrow Airport during planned strikes by UK Border Force staff over Christmas and New Year, the airlines said on Friday. The strikes, from 23-26th and 28-31st December come at one of the busiest periods for airlines, and the flights affected were already busy, they said. Both BA and Virgin have also given customers the option of shifting their travel to a non-strike day, and flight schedules - as well as restrictions on tickets - are being kept under review.
International rail operator Eurostar will not operate 26th December between Britain and France due to the British national rail strike that day, Boxing Day.
Amazon workers at a warehouse in Coventry have voted to walk out in the new year in a dispute over pay – making history. “They will be the first ever in the UK to take part in a formal strike," GMB Senior Organiser Amanda Gearing said in a statement. The GMB said more than 98% of workers voted in favour of strikes on a turnout of over 63%.
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has agreed a pay deal worth up to 17.6% with workers, to avert strike action, Unite said on Friday. The union said workers at the plant in Goodwood, West Sussex, had voted to accept a one-year deal expected to be worth between 14.8% and 17.6% for worker grades represented by the union. The deal comprised a 10% pay increase and a one-off payment of £2,000 and will apply to 1,200 workers, Unite said. 98% had voted in favour of industrial action if a pay rise in line with the cost of living was not met and, during that campaign, Unite said its membership increased by 70%. The package is one of the highest deals agreed by a workforce in Britain in recent months.
Mortgage lender Halifax says it expects British house prices to fall next year by around 8%.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published statistics on the quality of work across the UK in 2021. 82% of employees said they worked ‘satisfactory hours’ – less than 48 hours a week and that they were not underemployed. This was highest in Northern Ireland (88%). Unpaid overtime was more common than paid overtime (16% and 11%, respectively). Those most likely to work unpaid overtime were employees in London; those in high-paid occupations; and employees aged 35 to 54 years. Those most likely to report good career progression opportunities included men employed in London; men aged 25 to 44 years; employees with an undergraduate degree; and those working in finance and insurance.
Delivery firm Evri must learn lessons from this Christmas to ensure it copes with demand next year, North Durham MP Kevan Jones has said. Earlier the BBC found thousands of parcels being sorted in the car park of a County Durham depot, some dating from just under a month ago, still in cages at depots. Workers said they would not be delivered in time for Christmas. They also claimed Evri was failing to retain couriers amid high pressure and poor working conditions, something the GMB union said it was aware of. Evri said it was aiming to deliver all parcels amid "unprecedented demand" and added safety was a "top priority".
Bus fares are being capped at £2 by 130 operators outside London, funded by The Department for Transport. The £60m scheme is to help passengers with the cost of living crisis. Currently the average single bus fare in England costs £2.80, but can rise to more than £5 in rural areas where services are sparse, the BBC says. Children's tickets are also being frozen at £1 for a single journey. The government initiative hopes to help passengers get to work, school and appointments more cheaply amid 10.1% inflation. Buses minister Richard Holden said: "Brits love buses. They're the most popular form of public transport in England, making up half of all journeys. The scheme will also take two million car journeys off the road and it's fantastic to see so many bus operators signing up."
Spire Healthcare Group has agreed a £12m deal to acquire The Doctors Clinic Group, which provides occupational health services for corporate clients as well as operating 22 private GP clinics. Spire, which has 39 private hospitals, said the deal was part of a wider strategy to expand the healthcare services it offers. The Doctors Clinic has around 700 corporate clients, employs 279 people and is forecast to have revenues of £11m in the current year. It is expected to become profitable in 2024.
Frasers Group has announced the acquisition of JD Sports Fashion's interests in a number of fashion brands for up to £47.5m, Sharecast News reports. They include Base Childrenswear, Choice, Clothingsites (including Brown Bag Clothing), Cricket, Giulio, Kids Cavern, Missy Empire, Nicholas Deakins, Pretty Green, Prevu Studio, Rascal Clothing, Tessuti (including Xile), Scotts, Watch Shop and Topgrade Sportswear (including Get The Label). JD Sports said the divestment of these businesses will allow it to focus more fully on the opportunities across the rest of the group, in particular the international and digital expansion of the core premium sports fashion fascias. As a result of the sale, the retailer will recognise a non-cash exceptional charge in its annual accounts for the period to 28 January 2023 of around £100m. Frasers Group also owns House of Fraser, Sports Direct and Flannels, among others.
Goldman Sachs could cut as many as 4,000 jobs, or roughly 8% of the workforce, as CEO David Solomon battles to contain a slump in profit and revenue. According to Bloomberg, which cited a person familiar with the matter, top managers have been asked to identify potential cost-reduction targets, however no final job cut number has been determined. The bank has already moved to cut its bonus pool for the year, and is even reducing the payouts available to divisions that have seen performance improve, the news agency noted.
Uniper, the German gas trader that owns seven UK power stations, has warned shareholders it faces "possible insolvency" unless they back an additional state bailout worth more than €50bn (£44.6bn). CEO Klaus-Dieter Maubach told investors ahead of a crucial vote on Monday that they risked losing their entire investments in the company if they rejected rescue by German taxpayers. I June, the company secured €8bn from Berlin in return for Finnish owner Fortum's stake, after its future was placed in peril by the loss of Russian gas flows amid the war in Ukraine. The squeeze on deliveries from the likes of Gazprom, once its biggest supplier, had forced Uniper to buy gas elsewhere at much higher prices to meet existing contract, triggering a €40bn net loss for the company, which provides around a third of Germany's gas and is its largest importer. Last month, Uniper said it would need additional state support to survive after the German government withdrew a gas levy that was designed to help the country's gas importers bear additional costs.
A group of media companies, including the New York Times and Dow Jones, have been allowed by the Judge overseeing the FTX bankruptcy to argue in court their request that the collapsed crypto exchange makes public the names of its customers, Reuters reports. The hearing has been set for 11th January.
At least four major suppliers of Hyundai Motor Co and sister Kia Corp have employed child labour at Alabama factories in recent years, a Reuters investigation found. At a plant owned by Hwashin America Corp, a supplier to the two car brands in the south Alabama town of Greenville, a 14-year-old Guatemalan girl worked this May assembling auto body components, according to interviews with her father and law enforcement officials. At plants owned by Korean auto-parts maker Ajin Industrial Co, in the east Alabama town of Cusseta, a former production engineer told Reuters he worked with at least 10 minors. Six other ex-employees of Ajin said they, too, worked alongside multiple underage laborers. In two separate statements sent by the same public relations firm, Hwashin and Ajin said their policies forbid the hiring of any worker not of legally employable age. Using identical language, both companies said they hadn’t, “to the best of our knowledge,” hired underage workers.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk has posted a public poll on the social media network asking whether he should step down from his post, saying he will abide by the results. At the time of writing, voting was 58% “Yes” and 42% “No.” “There has been a flurry of controversial changes at Twitter since Musk bought the site in October,” the BBC says. He has fired about half of its staff; attempted a rollout of Twitter's paid-for verification feature; put that on pause; then relaunched it last week. Musk has also been criticised for his approach to content moderation, with some civil liberties groups accusing him of taking steps that will increase hate speech and misinformation. On Friday, Musk was condemned by the United Nations and European Union over the decision to suspend some journalists whom he said were putting his personal security at risk. The accounts have since been reinstated. The UN tweeted that media freedom is "not a toy", while the EU threatened Twitter with sanctions.
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