38 h. ago Germany urgently needs to attract migrant workers – it just doesn’t want them to feel welcome | Chris Reiter and Will Wilkes

Friedrich Merz is unwisely trying to revive the discredited postwar ‘guest worker’ programmeFriedrich Merz’s government has sent a clear message to anyone thinking about coming to live in Germany: don’t. Yet its message to those who want to come to Germany to work is: we need you.This might sound like a contradiction, but it is a revival of the thinking that drove the “guest worker” programme of the postwar boom years. Between 1955 and 1973, West Germany sought to rebuild its economy by attracting labour, mainly from Turkey but also from Italy, Portugal and Yugoslavia. Yet it did so without giving much consideration to the human needs of the people coming. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago Watchdog finds ‘rampant abuse’ of remote work among federal employees during Biden administration

Government workers ordered back to offices five days a week on March 3 after Trump signed executive order

Politics

1 week ago No, South Africa’s HIV care is not ‘under control’. To pretend so recalls the dark days of Aids denialism | Yvette Raphael and Sibongile Tshabalala

It is not just Trump’s funding cuts that have led the country to a health crisis. The real collapse comes from a lack of political courage to actNo one should be surprised that the health system in South Africa is straining in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s cruel gutting of HIV funding. What is shocking is the political will to pretend otherwise.As public health workers, researchers, academics, people living with HIV and civil society organisations, we reject the narrative put forward by the government that things are “under control”. Testing has dropped. Frontline workers are being dismissed. Clinics that served our most marginalised communities have closed or are struggling to keep their doors open. And those most affected, such as transgender people, sex workers and drug users, have not been meaningfully included in any transition planning. The National Treasury and the Department of Health are at odds with each other. Officials within the health department are at odds with each...

Politics

1 week ago Employers could be forced to tell workers what their colleagues earn under a new government pay transparency plan

Ministers are consulting on how to end pay discrimination by looking at measures that would make salaries clearer even before the recruitment process has started.

Politics

1 week ago A Congolese customs worker who resisted corruption is the Catholic Church's newest model of holiness

The Vatican is beatifying a Congolese government worker who was killed for resisting corruption, giving young people in a part of the world wracked with violence a new model of holiness

Politics

2 w. ago Council workers to be balloted on new pay offer amid threat of strikes

Unison has recommended local government workers accept the deal, which amounts to a 4% rise this year and 3.5% next year.

Events

2 w. ago Emergency workers to get greater protection from racial abuse in house calls

It is illegal to racially or religiously abuse anyone in public, but this does not extend to within a private home under the Public Order Act.

Events

2 w. ago Welsh council leader 'concerned' about impact immigration plan could have on care

Cllr Huw Thomas said the UK Government's plans to restrict oversees recruitment of care workers is "certainly a matter of concern"

Politics

3 w. ago Trump administration scrambling to rehire workers cut by DOGE to fill critical government roles

Rescinding reduction-in-force notices, asking for volunteers, and offering jobs to fired federal workers are some of the ways departments are trying to bulk up staff.

Politics

3 w. ago Jon Stewart roasts Elon Musk over spectacular fall from grace at the White House

John Stewart roasted Elon Musk as 'one of America's least efficient government workers' in a blistering monologue on Monday as the billionaire's time in the White House came to an end.

Events

3 w. ago Government exploring making farms and supermarkets pay to bring foreign farm workers to the UK

Exclusive: It would cost employers £850-£1,500 to bring each worker to the UK, study into seasonal worker visa finds

Economics

3 w. ago Farms and supermarkets could pay to bring foreign farm workers to UK, government

Exclusive: It would cost employers £850-1,500 to bring each worker to the UK, study into seasonal worker visa finds

Economics

3 w. ago DOGE promised to make government more efficient. Workers say they are wasting more time than ever

Ataffers at 19 agencies revealed how red tape brought in by DOGE has instead resulted in delays for the most basic transactions

Politics

last month Pizza Express, Lidl and Halfords named by Government for minimum wage failures

The government has released a list of over 500 employers that underpaid workers

Politics

last month Will megafunds really put an extra £6,000 in the average pension?

Some experts are sceptical about the touted benefits to workers from the UK government’s proposed shake-upAmid all the jargon of the latest announcement on pensions, one number will have leapt out: the claim that the average worker will gain £6,000 in their retirement fund as a result.The figure comes from the government’s final report of its Pensions Investment Review published on Thursday. It lays out plans to shake up defined contribution pensions, the funds that invest workers’ regular payments in stocks, shares and other assets to grow the money. These provide workers with an income on retirement based on the value of their stake; the size of this income will depend on how much they have paid in and how well the investments have performed. Continue reading...

Economics