Fair Work Convention member Tracy Gilbert is the regional secretary for Usdaw, the UKs largest retail union and chairs the Fair Work Working Group for the Scottish Governments Industrial leadership group. There can be no doubt over the fundamental importance of Scotland’s retail sector. Retail employs an estimated 250,000 workers, around 10% of the workforce, … Read more

Neil McInroy, Community Wealth Building Adviser to the Scottish Government, talks about the Community Wealth Building and why we must build an economy where all Scots have a genuine stake in the wealth we produce. Scotland is a wealthy country, with abundant natural and human resources. However, we must build an economy where all Scots … Read more

Twenty twenty-two has been a challenging year for many workers and employers who are struggling through the demands of the cost of living crisis in the aftermath of Covid-19 and Brexit. In these exceptional times, we believe that adopting a fair work approach is more important than ever. Read Fair Work Convention – Year in … Read more

The Scottish Government has just published its Anti-Racist Employment Strategy. From a Fair Work perspective, this is undoubtedly a critical issue. But it is also a critical time. For as history has evidenced, when economic and social circumstances are the most difficult, there is a growth in equality, and it is the already disadvantaged groups … Read more

Christine McCaig, Living Wage Projects Coordinator – Living Wage Scotland, talks about the Cost of Living Crisis and why secure work is needed more than ever. The phrase ‘out of the frying pan, into the fire’ springs to mind when I think about the impact of the last few years on Scotland’s lowest-paid workers. It … Read more

Existing data for Scotland shows that the gender pay gap is wider for employees in their 40s and 50s, compared with employees in younger age groups. While multiple factors contribute to this gap, what can we learn from women’s experiences of pay and progression at work, and what actions can employers take to improve opportunities … Read more

Marek Zemanik, Senior Public Policy Adviser – CIPD Scotland, talks about their ‘Working Lives Scotland’ report which is a dedicated analysis of job quality and its impact on working lives in Scotland and is written around the five Fair Work dimensions. At the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, it is our purpose … Read more

Kathryn Willens, Head of Partnerships, Scotland at Creative & Cultural Skills (CCSkills), talks about the CCSkills Fair Access Sector Support programme, which aims to help businesses in the cultural sector and creative industries with first steps to integrating the principles of Fair Work and the Fair Work Dimensions into their organisations. At CCSkills, we work … Read more

Roz Foyer, General Secretary of the Scottish TUC and Fair Work Convention member speaks about her reflections on the recently published Construction Industry Report and its recommendations.    Construction is an important sector in any economy and here in Scotland that is certainly the case with the sector providing over 5% of jobs in Scotland … Read more