Latest news with #unions
Telegraph
a day ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Work from home to blame for ONS's unreliable data
Staff working from home at Britain's official statistics agency is damaging the quality of UK economic data, a scathing independent review has found. Sir Robert Devereux, a former top civil servant who was appointed to assess the state of the crisis-stricken Office for National Statistics (ONS), found the arrangements were jeopardising the ability of ONS to fulfil its core function of collecting and analysing statistics. On Thursday, his report found the staff at the agency were still resisting returning to the office full time. ONS staff can currently spend five days a week working at home. Unions representing some ONS staff have threatened to strike over demands that workers attend the office on at least two days per week. The unions have said there has been no tangible impact on the ONS's outputs because of the work arrangements. But Sir Robert said in his review: 'The return to working in the office, post pandemic, was not handled well and one of the unions is still operating 'action short of a strike'. 'This needs to be resolved quickly: some recognition of the past poor handling is necessary; but so too is a wider recognition of the benefits of teams spending time together in one place.' While the union work from home dispute has continued, vital information on the state of the jobs market and on inflation in the economy has become less reliable, making it harder for the Bank of England to set interest rates. Figures on unemployment and on the number of people who are economically inactive are considered unreliable, as the ONS struggles to convince households to respond to its surveys. Earlier this month officials revealed a mistake in April's consumer price inflation data, caused by an error in information submitted by the Department for Transport, while the producer price index, which covers inflation faced by businesses, has not been published since February. Under Andrew Bailey, the Bank's Governor, policymakers have resorted to using more of their own surveys and private sector data to assess the state of the economy. Sir Robert said that senior bosses at the ONS poured resources into new methods of analysing the economy - without budgeting sufficiently for other tasks. 'Unfortunately, this has had the (unintended) effect of de-prioritising the less exciting, but nonetheless crucial, task of delivering core economic statistics of sufficient quality to guide decision making,' he said. He criticised the 'inadequacies in the way ONS has made decisions, planned and budgeted, and managed risks' and 'a reluctance, at senior levels, to hear and act on difficult news'. The former civil servant also said the agency is a relatively unattractive place for highly qualified statisticians to work. 'The organisation's office locations, mostly outside major cities, and with analyst pay not comparable with other departments, makes it difficult to recruit and retain the necessary skilled staff,' he said. When the ONS moved a large share of its staff from London to Newport after a review in 2004, as many as 90pc of workers left the organisation instead of relocating to Wales. Grant Fitzner, the ONS's acting director general for economic statistics, promised 'a shift in the culture of our organisation, to embrace critical views, encourage greater curiosity, heed early warning signals and be open about the challenges we face'. This will include refocusing resources on economic statistics, he said, including offering more digital surveys and 'putting more resources into knocking on doors to further boost responses'.
The Sun
2 days ago
- Business
- The Sun
Brit tourists face holiday chaos with strikes confirmed for 180,000 hospitality staff throughout July on hotspot islands
STRIKES have been confirmed for 180,000 hospitality staff throughout July on a number of hotspot islands. Hotels, restaurants and night-life venues in the Balearic Islands will be hit by the walkouts, sparking chaos for thousands of British tourists. Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca which are usually bursting with holidaymakers will be affected by the strikes. The alert was raised on June 26 after unions walked out of meeting where issues of pay and working conditions were being discussed. The UGT union rejected the 11 per cent wage increase offer, calling it insufficient. 1
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
French PM Bayrou says he will introduce legislation on pensions following talks
PARIS, June 26 (Reuters) - French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said on Thursday he would submit legislation on pensions in the autumn to take into account agreements made in talks between unions and employers during months of talks. Bayrou is struggling to overcome political divisions as he prepares to present plans next month for 40 billion euros ($46.79 billion) in spending cuts for the 2026 budget, and faces a possible no-confidence vote over pensions. ($1 = 0.8549 euros)
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
In The Age Of ChatGPT, Workers Want A Say On AI In The Workplace
Writers Guild of America Strike (Photo by). On May 2, 2023, six months after the launch of ChatGPT, screenwriters anxious about the use of AI in scriptwriting and development, kicked off what became the Writers Guild of America's second-longest strike, lasting 148 days. Since the emergence of generative AI and throughout the strike action, one question has been on everyone's mind: Is AI coming for our jobs? This piece tackles that very question and explores what happens when AI is brought up at the bargaining table, the concerns unions have, what protections they are asking for and securing, and how management can work with unions as a strategic partner. One thing is, however, crystal clear: as interest in and concerns about AI grow, workers around the world are not waiting for robust regulations to safeguard their interests; instead, they are actively raising the issue at the bargaining table. What are the Concerns About AI in the Workplace? ChatGPT and AI more generally clearly have several beneficial uses, but workers are concerned about their impact. Job displacement is a primary concern, and the WGA strike action, which touched on this, is a prominent example. Another concern unions have raised is that employers are often not transparent with employees about their use of AI. There have been instances where workers only learn about these AI tools at the bargaining table after submitting requests for information. Therefore, workers must pay attention to changes in their workplace to identify how AI use affects them, whether positively or negatively. Surveillance and monitoring have also emerged with the use of AI in algorithmic management. Some companies reportedly use AI to monitor employee communications and sentiment. Along with employees feeling the need to compete and keep pace with AI, this can lead to increased stress that affects workers' mental and physical health. Also, gig workers often report that they don't know how decisions are made or why they are assigned fewer tasks. They are monitored through tracking and delivery times and penalized for rejecting jobs. The ILO's platform economy report highlights this concern and informs ongoing discussions on a standard that will offer protections for platform workers. Algorithm bias and errors also raise concerns. For example, if a company implements an AI-driven performance evaluator to assess its call center agents, but the data on which the evaluator is trained involves call center agents who are predominantly white males, it could negatively score agents with different demographics—women and visible minorities—impacting their ratings, bonuses, and shift assignments. How Unions are Stepping in to Fill Governance Gaps Unions have observed that many workers feel intimidated by the technical nature of AI and are uneasy when discussing their concerns with their employers. Nonetheless, unions are taking matters into their own hands by ensuring that these concerns are addressed at the collective bargaining table. These discussions address a myriad of issues. For example, the Culinary Workers Union in Las Vegas was able to negotiate a severance package requiring employers to pay $2,000 per year if an employee is laid off as a result of AI. Also, following multi-day discussions between the WGA and studio executives, a collective bargaining agreement was reached that, among other things, established guardrails for the use of generative AI, ensuring that writers retain control over their work and decisions regarding AI usage, and that AI supports human writers rather than replacing them. Ziff Davis Creators Guild has also ratified a collective bargaining agreement stating that there will be no layoffs or reductions in base pay due to generative AI. The agreement also provides for the formation of an AI subcommittee to evaluate AI use, and requires reasonable notice to the subcommittee before implementing AI. Most recently, in May 2025, the Communication Workers of America reached a tentative contract agreement for quality assurance testers at the video game studio ZeniMax Media (a Microsoft subsidiary). They have secured protections with ZeniMax committing to using AI solely to support employees and enhance productivity in a way that will not cause harm, as well as the right to appeal AI decisions to humans. 'Video games have been the revenue titan of the entire entertainment industry for years, and the workers who develop these games are too often exploited for their passion and creativity,' Jessee Leese, a QA tester at ZeniMax and member of the ZeniMax Workers United-CWA bargaining committee, said in a CWA press release. 'Organizing unions, bargaining for a contract, and speaking with one collective voice has allowed workers to take back the autonomy we all deserve.' Overall, trade unions involved in bargaining believe that AI significantly impacts the workplace. For them, the aim is not to hinder the use of AI, but to provide a voice for their members who want a seat at the table and an opportunity to work hand-in-hand with employers to ensure that AI use supports rather than harms employees. Research indicates that bargaining over AI is in its early stages but is continuously growing in relevance. UC Berkley is in the process of creating a technology bargaining inventory, 'a structured, searchable resource built to support organizers, negotiators, researchers, and other advocates,' says Lisa Kresge, lead researcher at UC Berkeley's Center for Labor Research and Education. The inventory will include over 500 collective bargaining agreements covering private and public-sector unions across different industries. Speaking on lessons from this research project, Kresge points out one interesting finding: 'Unions are negotiating around specific workplace technologies, rather than negotiating around technology in general.' She explains that historically, contracts included pre-adoption language in the event that an employer adopts technology or if it affects union rights. But that 'what we're seeing a lot more of now, is really very specific provisions around how employers can use specific technologies.' How Forward-Looking Leaders Can Engage Labor Unions as a Strategic Partner Given the increasing use of AI in the workplace and workers' and unions' interest in shaping how AI is used, management needs to consider AI as a collective bargaining issue. Here are five actions management can take to be equipped for this process: As AI tools proliferate and become embedded in business functions, and unions grow more vocal on the topic, companies can no longer afford to implement these tools unilaterally—they must partner with their workforce.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Birmingham bin strike: Unite accused of 'targeting' school linked to councillor
The leader of Birmingham City Council has accused the union representing the city's striking bin workers of "targeting" the school attended by the children of the councillor in charge of leader John Cotton asked for an apology from Unite following the incident - the circumstances of which the union strongly denies. He said it was right that councillors themselves were held to account, but claimed that a school attended by the children of Majid Mahmood had been "targeted" by the said it visited the school to gather signatures of support by parents, but did not know that the councillor's children attended and said it was "simply a coincidence". The BBC had asked Cotton about the disruption of a city council meeting last week, and whether anger over the industrial action had taken its toll on said: "It's quite right that people who are elected are held to account and questioned but what I do think is absolutely out of order has been the targeting of people's families."For instance, I know that my cabinet member responsible for the waste service Majid Mahmood has been in a situation where the school that his kids go to has been targeted. That ain't on and that is not appropriate." Cotton added that he wanted an apology from Unite. "I speak also as a trade union member myself," he added. "I think the vast majority of rank and file trade union members would not consider that kind of behaviour to be appropriate."By all means, challenge us over our decisions and what we do as politicians but leave our families out of it." In a legal letter issued to the BBC, lawyers for Unite said its members had visited four schools in the past week, but they had nothing to do with specific pupils or said any suggestion of targeting families would be "anathema" to its members and that it had attended at the schools to hand out leaflets – which it said was a "legitimate campaigning activity".It added that on the day it went to Mr Mahmood's children's school it had also visited another school, and that "at both locations, the schools and parents of children were very welcoming" and had "engaged positively" with the union members added their client "does not know where anyone's children go to school". 'Friendly and relaxed' The new row comes as Birmingham's all-out bin strike enters its 15th week. It is not the first time the union's activities have been questioned. Delayed bin collections during the initial weeks of the strike were down partly to picket lines blocking trucks from leaving waste workers insisted they were only stopping lorries if they had safety concerns, but policing was for a time increased around depots and more recently an injunction was granted in the High Court to prevent picketers from delaying waste has always insisted that the actions of members on picket lines were lawful and lawyers said their client was involved in "significant campaigning efforts within the community" and this involved visiting schools to meet and have dialogue with local residents. It said these were "friendly and relaxed" events, adding that this week their members reported having obtained 150 signatures from parents in support."If... any councillor has seen staff or members of our client outside their children's school, that is simply a coincidence," a letter sent to the BBC read. "Any more general allegation of 'targeting families' is also untrue." Conciliatory talks between the local authority and Unite, chaired by the arbitration service Acas, have so far failed to reach a solution both sides can agree on. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
