Unions claim that the government is trying to mislead the public in order to gain support for its proposed changes to public sector pensions. Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, said that the pension proposals could lead to some public sector staff receiving a higher pension than under the existing scheme. However, Unite’s assistant [...]
Greece’s parliament has today approved the fresh round of austerity measures – designed to save the country from defaulting on its debts. The measures were one of the conditions of the next instalment of its bailout loan. MPs passed the measures by 155 votes to 138. The latest austerity measures will according to Prime Minister [...]
Protesters have gathered on the streets of Athens today as a 48-hour general strike commences, which will see the country come to a virtual standstill. Apart from the metro, no public transport is operating as many people opt to join the fourth general strike called this year by the country’s two largest unions. The general [...]
Once again, fears for Portugal and Spain are raised as borrowing costs surge to high levels as Ireland’s debt crisis looks set to spread. Yields on 10-year Portuguese bonds rose to 6.9% – mimicking what happened in Greece and Ireland – just before they were forced to seek emergency aid. Meanwhile, 10-year Spanish bonds surged [...]
Firefighters will go ahead with industrial action over the crucial bonfire night weekend after talks collapsed between the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) and the London Fire Authority yesterday. The strike, which will take place from 10am on November 5 to 9am on November 7, incorporates Bonfire Night – the fire service’s busiest period. Members embarked [...]
Greece has today forecast that its economy will contract by up to 3% in 2011 – worse than a previous estimate of 2.6%. Greece’s finance minister, George Papaconstantinou, said today: “Growth will contract by 4% this year, and next year by between 2.5% and 3%.” The country has been battling with its spiralling deficit and [...]
The French Government has today warned that strikes against pension cuts are costing the economy between €200 and €400 million per day. Ongoing protests and strikes against the Government’s changes to pensions have resulted in fuel shortages and travel chaos throughout the nation. France’s Finance Minister, Christine Lagarde, said: “Today, we shouldn’t be weighing down [...]
It has emerged this evening that thousands of London firefighters will strike on Bonfire Night in a dispute over new contracts, their union has announced. The strike, which will take place from 10am on November 5 to 9am on November 7, incorporates Bonfire Night – the fire service’s busiest period. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) [...]
A survey conducted by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) has revealed half of public sector workers would consider strike action in the event of pay cuts or changes to their pensions. The CIPD said 49% of workers surveyed agreed with the statement “workers have to do what’s necessary to protect their jobs [...]
The John Lewis Partnership, which is regarded as a barometer of British retailing, today announced that sales growth slowed last week – hit by warmer weather and a strike on the London Underground. The renowned employee-owned department store said sales at its 28 department stores and two “at home” stores grew 7.2% to £59.5 million [...]
Further talks have taken place at conciliation service, ACAS, between British Airways (BA) and the Unite union in the latest bid to avert strikes by the airline’s cabin crew members. Cabin crew have been in a long-running dispute with the airline over cost-cutting measures, which include a pay freeze, a switch to part-time working for [...]
Credit rating agency Moody’s has downgraded Spain’s credit rating today – just a day after unions held a general strike to protest against tough austerity measures. Like many other euro zone nations, Spain has introduced austerity measures, aimed at cutting its budget deficit, which is currently 11% of GDP. Spain aims to reduce the deficit [...]
Bank of England governor Mervyn King will today prepare himself for questions from union leaders over Government spending cuts. Mr King becomes only the second governor in history to address the Trades Union Congress (TUC). Earlier this week, it was revealed that the tough austerity measures introduced by the coalition Government are set to lead [...]
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Union (EU) auditors have today said Greece has made “considerable progress” in dealing with its public deficit. For many months now, Greece has been making big cuts to public spending. However, this has met with strong opposition from unions. Greece’s two main unions have launched several strikes this year [...]
BAA has today reported a further fall in passenger numbers at its six British airports in June, as a result of the British Airways (BA) strikes during the month. BAA, which is majority owned by Spain’s Ferrovial, said passenger traffic fell 1.7% in June year-on-year – due to the ongoing disruption from the strike. So [...]
Telecoms giant BT has avoided strike action after reaching an agreement on pay with the Communication Workers Union (CWU). Workers were threatening strike action after senior executives were awarded huge bonuses which angered staff. However, a new deal, which the union has described as “fantastic” for its members resulted in a 2.3% rise in BT’s [...]
The tough austerity measures implemented by the Greek Government appear to be a success after the country’s Finance Minister, George Papaconstantinou, claimed the deficit has been trimmed by 42% this year and the country had “met its goal“. According to figures from the central bank, the deficit was €11.5 billion in the first half of [...]
Greece’s two main unions have called a fresh general strike for July 8 to protest against tough austerity measures, introduced by the Government to trim the country’s budget deficit. Should the strike go ahead, it will be the country’s 6th since February. However, some of the protests have been violent. Last week’s strike saw seven [...]
Greece continues to rebel against tough austerity measures as the country embarked on its fifth general strike. Ferries, public transport and other state services came to a standstill to protest against Government plans to cut pension benefits and public servants’ pay. More than 15,000 people took to the streets in Athens and the northern city [...]
Fresh strike action is looming at British Airways (BA) after the Unite union has announced plans to ballot its 12,000 cabin crew members next week, unless the long-running dispute is resolved. So far, cabin crews have held 22 days of strikes after being involved in a long-running dispute with the airline over cost-cutting measures, which [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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