Government labour guidelines need to be tightened
While the strike at the Lindsey refinery has now ended, there are concerns that the UK government is afraid to install legal guidelines regarding future employment of UK workers. However, they have issued informal guidelines which require foreign companies working in the UK to appreciate the need to employ local labour. The new guidelines for those seeking government contracts will also confirm the need for overseas companies to "appreciate their corporate social responsibility" in a bid to defuse the employment crisis in UK.
There are concerns in union circles that the move does not go far enough and legally oblige all companies working on government contracts to employ a significant number of the local workforce. Gordon Brown is now in a very tricky situation because legally he is not allowed to force companies to employ local workers although he is under pressure from his paymasters the unions.
The employment situation in the UK is set to be reflected across Europe as governments are forced to look inwards and install protectionism measures for the local workforces. This is exactly the situation which Gordon Brown has been trying to avoid but one which appears to be inevitable the longer the recession continues.
Share this..
Related stories
Massive mutual merger confirmed for August
The merger between Britannia Building Society and the Co-operative is set to be completed on 1 August after members from both parties voted in favour of the deal. This will see a combined group boasting 9 million customers, 12,000 employees and over £70 billion of assets. The new operation will also have a branch network of over 300 and has the potential to attack and damage more traditional UK b...
Read MoreLondon house prices rebound strongly
Prominent property website Rightmove has today confirmed that London property prices, at least in some areas, have returned to the peaks of 2007 despite the fact that the UK economy is still under pressure. While this is good news in the longer term, many people believe the move has come too soon and could cause confusion and mayhem in the short to medium term.
As more and more prop...
How influential is the City of London within the UK economy?
Each day we hear news regarding lucrative remuneration packages in the financial sector, the power of the stock market and the need to rein in risk-taking in the UK banking sector. But how influential is the City of London financial market against the overall UK economy?
When you consider that back in 1998, when we entered a period of deregulation which created a significant boom in...
UK base rate cut by 0.5%
As expected the MPC has today reduced the UK base rate by 0.5% to a 314 year low of 1.5%. The move was pretty much as expected on the currency markets with speculation about a 0.5% reduction intensifying late last night ahead of the meeting. However, even now that UK rates are lower than they have been in the last 300 years there is intense speculation of further reductions in the short term. But...
Read MoreBoris Johnson urged to use London's growing rubbish pile
A report by the London Assembly has confirmed that London produces around 22,000,000 tonnes of waste each and every year and only 22% of this waste is being recycled. The report suggests that non-recyclable waste could be reused, without emitting gases into the atmosphere, to power 2 million homes in the capital and provide heating for 625,000 houses. When you consider this would effectively be fr...
Read More