Black Country news and blogs Wednesday 13 August 2014
Employment
405 storiesRSS feed for Employment
Blog comment
Birmingham council bosses lack ‘courage’ to manage BME staff 
The Chamberlain Files 19 Mar 13
Some Birmingham City Council officials lack the “courage” to manage ethnic minority employees…
News
Hundreds of Midland firms caught employing illegal immigrants
Birmingham Mail 3 Mar 13
UK Border Agency crackdown results in fines totalling £3million…
News
Remploy staff bid to buy factories
BBC News 26 Feb 13
Remploy workers bid to turn three factories into a social enterprise which they say will save the jobs of more than 200 disabled staff.
Blog feature
The importantance of being useful
Diary of a Gimpy Kid… 4 Feb 13
In my mind, all disabled people want from life, is to feel like they are being useful to others, appreciated for thier efforts and to be feel like they are making a difference, no matter how small the contribution is.
News
Ed Miliband in West Midlands to launch youth jobs campaign
Birmingham Mail 31 Jan 13
Labour leader meets students and apprentices on visit to Birmingham and Black Country…
Blog
Valerie raises underemployment at Treasury Questions
Valerie Vaz MP: PR 29 Jan 13
On Tuesday 29 January 2013 at Treasury Questions, Valerie asked the Chancellor about underemployment within the workforce.
News
Councils’ call to run job centres
BBC News 28 Dec 12
The leaders of the four Black Country councils call on the government to let them take over control of local job centres.
News
Employee ownership: Remploy and beyond
Guardian 18 Dec 12
Employee ownership could save Remploy factory after success of the co-operative model in the UK and beyond Remploy workers living with the threat of redundancy in Birmingham this Christmas could have a more hopeful New Year if plans to turn…
Local news
Will G4S or Capita get a better deal for disabled people than Garretts Green Remploy?
Our Birmingham 11 Dec 12
Reproduced from a co-operators’ website : A DWP spokesman said that money to be reallocated from Remploy would be used more effectively to get disabled people into mainstream jobs – following advice from disability expert Liz Sayce.
Business
Workers’ co-operative plan to save Birmingham Remploy jobs
Birmingham Post 10 Dec 12
A John Lewis-style workers co-operative is being planned for Birminghams Remploy factory giving new hope to dozens of disabled staff.
Business
Two West Midlands Remploy plants saved
Birmingham Post 7 Dec 12
Two Remploy factories for the disabled at Birmingham and Coventry have been granted a reprieve from closure – throwing around 200 workers a vital pre-Christmas lifeline.
Business
Two West Midland Remploy plants saved
Birmingham Post 7 Dec 12
Two Remploy factories for the disabled at Birmingham and Coventry have been granted a reprieve from closure – throwing around 200 workers a vital pre-Christmas lifeline.
News
Hundreds of workers risk job loss
BBC News 6 Dec 12
Hundreds more disabled workers at Remploy factories risk losing their jobs, but sites in Coventry and Birmingham will remain open.
Blog
IPDD: Cameron commandeers paralympics while disabled put on Workfare, Remploy shutting & hate crime on rise
100 miles from the sea 3 Dec 12
Today is International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
Blog
Youth Summit Lineup
Midlands TUC Media 28 Nov 12
We are pleased to announce our Black Country Youth Unemployment Summit being held this Friday Nov 30th in Dudley…
News
Walsall Council in flexi-work clampdown
Express & Star 1 Nov 12
A crackdown on flexible working at Walsall Council has been launched by bosses as they try to claw back savings and keep staff cuts to a minimum.
News
Police pay out £5m in officers’ bonuses
Express & Star 20 Oct 12
Cash-strapped West Midlands Police paid out more than £5 million in bonuses to its officers over the past year, it was revealed today.
Blog
My disdain for job agencies grows daily
The Sturdy Soapbox 18 Oct 12
"Keith doesn't suffer fools gladly"...
I've held them in low regard for over thirty years since I was pissed about in the west country. Had me up and down the M4 chasing jobs I'd no chance of getting.
Business
Working population at record high
Dudley News 17 Oct 12
THE number of people in work has reached a record high, although more are in part-time jobs than ever, official figures have revealed.
Business
WM businesses optimistic about job creation
Duncan Tift BusinessDesk 28 Feb 11
Businesses in the West Midlands are the most optimistic outside London about their job creation prospects, new research shows…
Comment
Walsall’s worst budget in 30 years
Walsall Labour Party 26 Feb 11
Walsall Tories have passed a budget which only promises more pain for residents and communities…
News
Walsall Council workers set to lose bonus of bank holidays
Chris Philpotts Walsall Advertiser 25 Feb 11
Walsall Council is set to wave goodbye to its Bank Holiday Tuesdays, council leader Mike Bird revealed this week…
News
Police fighting plan to make them quit
Express & Star 25 Feb 11
Dozens of West Midlands Police officers have fought a controversial move to make them retire after completing 30 years of service, figures revealed today…
News
More than 430 Walsall Council jobs to go
BBC News 25 Feb 11
More than 430 jobs are to go as Walsall Council aims to save £23.5m over the next year…
Comment
Walsall cuts passed but Tories should take no credit
Pheasey Park Farm Labour 24 Feb 11
For Walsall Tories in general to try and take credit for the council tax freeze is pure political opportunism…
Comment
New Statesman – No work for the lost generation
BrownhillsBob 24 Feb 11
I’ve just spotted this article in the ‘New Satesman’, a lengthy and thoughtful piece about youth unemployment and the state of Brownhills…
News
WM Police Authority freeze council tax despite jobs threat
Mark Cowan Birmingham Mail 18 Feb 11
Police chiefs have spared the coffers of householders by agreeing to freeze its council tax precept despite the swinging budget cuts it is facing…
News
Pay freeze for more than one million local government workers
LocalGov 17 Feb 11
More than one million local government employees will have their pay frozen for a second year running…
Comment
Our region can stay strong
Roger McKenzie 17 Feb 11
I am sure that I have mentioned several times before that I was born and bred in Walsall. This bond with Walsall, the Black Country and the region as a whole is really important to me…
News
Councillors to get veto on town hall salaries over £100k
Guardian 16 Feb 11
Councillors are to be granted powers to block salaries over £100,000 under plans set out by the communities secretary, Eric Pickles, to reduce excessive local authority pay…
News
Council staff on £58,000 to be named in war on waste
Telegraph 7 Feb 11
As many as 15,000 council workers earning more than £58,000 a year are to be named under government plans to force local authorities to cut middle management waste…
News
Walsall Council workers facing compulsory redundancies
Express & Star 27 Jan 11
Compulsory redundancies at Walsall Council are now “inevitable” after only 165 workers applied to voluntarily leave the authority, it was revealed today…
Business
Coalition fails to match spending cuts with growth policies – Lambert
James Reed BusinessDesk 25 Jan 11
The Coalition Government has failed to match its spending cuts with policies that support growth, according to the outgoing director-general of the CBI…
Business
West Midlands suffers UK’s biggest rise in unemployment
Birmingham Post 19 Jan 11
The West Midlands has seen the biggest rise in unemployment in the country, with an increase of 48,000 in the quarter to November, official figures have revealed…
Business
WM firms braced for cuts
Marc Reeves BusinessDesk 13 Jan 11
State of the Region
Businesses in the West Midlands are more worried about the impact on the economy of Government cuts than their counterparts in other regions…
Business
Lack of clarity on LEPs
Tamlyn Jones BusinessDesk 12 Jan 11
State of the Region
Not a single business person in the West Midlands is prepared to claim they fully understand the future role of the new Local Enterprise Partnerships…
Business
Half of firms expecting to recruit in 2011
Duncan Tift BusinessDesk 11 Jan 11
State of the Region
Almost half of businesses in the West Midlands expect to take on new staff during 2011 as the drive to sustain the region’s growth following recession continues…
Business
Austerity measures won’t stop WM growth
Tamlyn Jones BusinessDesk 10 Jan 11
State of the Region
The economic outlook for the West Midlands during 2011 appears rosy with plenty of business confidence that both revenues and staff numbers will grow…
News
Walsall nurse struck off for ‘dragging’ dementia patient
Jonny Greatrex Mercury 9 Jan 11
A nurse accused of dragging a semi-naked patient by his wrist along the floor of a dementia ward has been struck off…
Comment
Social Workers worth their weight in gold but Walsall pay peanuts
Ian Robertson Walsall South Labour 8 Jan 11
The following notice of motion is down for full Council to debate Monday 10th January – to increase the levels of pay of social workers in Walsall to match that of our neighbours in the rest of the West Midlands and Staffordshire as they are currently on 30% less than Staffs County Council and the second lowest in the Black Country…
News
Council leaders defend £150k chiefs in pay cut call
Express & Star 8 Jan 11
Conservative council leaders today rallied round to defend chief executives who earn more than £150,000-a-year – after receiving demands from the government that they take a pay cut…
News
Walsall council offer to end equal pay dispute
Express & Star 31 Dec 10
Thousands of Walsall Council employees locked in an equal pay battle with town hall bosses are to be made offers in a bid to settle the dispute. But officials from the union Unite have advised their members not to agree terms because they say the offer is derisory…
Business
Royal Mail takes on staff in Darlaston to ease bad weather backlog
Express & Star 18 Dec 10
Around 100 extra postal staff in the West Midlands have been taken on to cope with the bad weather…
News
WM Fire Service warns of jobs cuts
Jane Tyler Birmingham Mail 17 Dec 10
West Midlands Fire Service has warned it may have to slash jobs in 2012 as it struggles to balance the books after tougher than expected Government spending cuts…
News
Job losses ‘inevitable’ at Walsall Council
Amy Bowen Walsall Advertiser 16 Dec 10
Bosses at Walsall Council admit job losses are “inevitable” as the authority seeks to trim up to £36m off its budget…
Business
WM unemployment rises 12,000 in three months
Mercury 15 Dec 10
Unemployment in the West Midlands rose by 5.3% to 238,000 in the three months to October, official figures have revealed. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that 12,000 more people were unemployed in the region…
News
WM Police ‘disappointed’ with funding result
Birmingham Mail 14 Dec 10
Police chiefs in the West Midlands have reacted with “disappointment” after discovering they face a nine per cent budget cut in Government funding over the next two years. West Midlands Police has been told it will have its budget slashed by four per cent next year and another five per cent the year after…
Comment
Gizza job
The Plastic Hippo 13 Dec 10
The coming week is likely to be a grim one in the run up to peace on earth and goodwill to all men. Our cabinet on Walsall council are about to unleash a programme of cuts to public services that will make the programme of cuts enforced by our coalition government seem like civic responsibility. Now would be a good time for a skiing trip to Klosters…
Business
Walsall firm may have to look overseas for fill vacancies for apprentices
Brett Gibbons Birmingham Mail 7 Dec 10
Desperate bosses may be forced to look overseas to fill vacancies for apprentices at a booming Walsall engineering firm…
News
£750-a-day Walsall Council HR boss in new cost dispute
Express & Star 25 Nov 10
The £750-a-day temporary human resources boss at Walsall Council is also getting an allowance to stay at a top hotel, it emerged today…