Federation News Spring 2012: Meeting the Challenges of Age – Out Now

12 June 2012

The latest edition of Federation News – a regular publication from the Institute of Employment Rights and the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) – is now out.

Spring 2012’s edition, Meeting the Challenges of Age, is a collection of essays penned by a diverse range of experts – from academics to youth workers – on issues facing both younger and older workers. It discusses how trade union representatives can support young people struggling to find work, as well as ageing staff struggling to keep up with the demands of their jobs.

Director of the Institute of Employment Rights Carolyn Jones says:

IER are very pleased to have assisted GFTU in the production of this edition of Federation News. Encouraging employers to use the skills and expertise of older workers to assist the development of young workers is crucial in this period of growing youth unemployment. The examples of active ageing agreements discussed in this edition highlight the important role unions play in protecting the interests of all workers, young and old.

General Secretary of the GFTU Doug Nicolls says:

“Rates of unemployment are higher for young people and there are painfully fewer prospects for them than there have been for any previous post war generation. It is as though the future has been stolen. … On the other hand we face the prevailing culture of work till you drop whether you want to or not.”

“We have younger workers needing unions like never before and older workers needing us like never before as pressures at work in later years become tougher … Our renewed task, with some urgency, is to find ways of overcoming the pervasive effects of the neoliberal labour market. This issue of ‘Federation News’ seeks to nudge us in this important direction by getting closer to the real needs of our younger and more elderly members.”

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