It has emerged that big bonuses are to be awarded to Home Office staff despite the new coalition Government’s public spending cuts. Speaking before the Commons home affairs committee, Damien Green, Immigration Minister, said the payments to senior officials would total almost £800,000 this year, compared to last year’s bonuses which totalled £1.4 million. In [...]
The union which represents BT workers has announced a strike ballot has been scrapped due to a legal issue. The vote for strike action came as senior executives were awarded huge bonuses which angered staff. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said it was balloting members in support of a 5% pay rise after what it [...]
Telecoms giant BT could be faced with industrial action after the union which represents BT workers has confirmed that a strike ballot will go ahead. The ballot will open on 18 June with the result is due on 5 July. The vote for strike action, which would be the first in 25 years, comes as [...]
Spanish public sector workers will go on strike today to protest against austerity measures, which include average cuts this year to public workers’ salaries of 5%. As well as a 5% cut for civil servants, there will be severe cuts in public investment and development aid. Today’s strikes, which have been set up by Spain’s [...]
Strikes were launched across Greece again today as workers protest against new austerity measures, which include deeper cuts in pensions and public servants’ pay, as well as a fresh hike in consumer taxes. The new austerity measures are being submitted in a draft bill to the Greek Parliament today, and will be voted on by [...]
Greek unions have today vowed to strike on Wednesday to protest against the Government’s austerity measures. Last week, Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, announced tough austerity measures to tackle the country’s spiralling debt. Measures include a public sector pay freeze, a hike in taxes and an increase to the retirement age. Spyros Papaspyros, president of [...]
Cadbury shareholders have today voted in favour of the £11.5 billion ($18.9 billion) takeover deal from US giant, Kraft Foods. Today’s vote brings an end to Kraft’s five-month battle to take control of the 186-year-old British confectioner. Cadbury said it had received valid acceptances of the offer from shareholders representing 71.7% of the company. Commenting [...]
Workers at British confectioner Cadbury are to stage a protest today in Bournville, Birmingham in a bid to urge shareholders to reject the takeover offer from US food giant, Kraft. Kraft, which is renowned for brands such as Kenco coffee and Oreo biscuits, made an offer of £11.7 billion last week which 186-year-old Cadbury agreed [...]
Minister for Women and Equality, Harriet Harman, is calling for a major shake-up in the retirement law which will see workers no longer forced to retire at 65. Miss Harman believes a radical change in the law is needed in order to smash the notion that people are ‘past it’ once they hit 65. The [...]
The announcement that US car giant General Motors (GM) abandoned plans to sell a majority stake in its European car business Opel, including its UK brand Vauxhall, has led to a protest by thousands of the 25,000 workers at Opel’s four factories. In March, GM announced plans to offload Vauxhall and sister company, Germany-based Opel, [...]
Government figures released today revealed a shock rise in the number of US workers filing new claims for jobless benefits. The Labor Department said initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits rose 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 576,000 in the week ending August 15, up from 561,000 the previous week. Linda Duessel, market strategist at [...]
British Airways (BA), which recently asked 40,000 members of staff to work for nothing in a bid to cut costs, has now had a response from its employees. The airline, which recently admitted it was fighting for survival, said 6,940 members of staff applied for voluntary pay cuts, including 800 workers who have volunteered to [...]
According to Fidelity’s third annual retirement index, British workers are set to retire on less than the minimum wage. A typical worker will see their earnings fall by over 50% on reaching retirement to just £215 per week – less than the income of someone who works 40 hours a week on the minimum wage [...]
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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