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Lesley Mercer

Lesley Mercer

Lesley Mercer is TUC President for the year 2012/2013. She is director of Employment Relations and Union Services (ERUS) which is the trade union arm of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP). She is a member of the TUC’s General Council.

Web: http://www.csp.org.uk
  • International

    Tackling income inequality and restoring growth: how wages can help

    23rd March 2013 — Filed under: International

    Lesley Mercer Lesley Mercer

    TUC President Lesley Mercer – Employment Relations Director at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy – attended a French trade union conference in Toulouse earlier this week. The talk was all about inequality, the damage it does, and what can be done about it.

    The ILO has joined the growing list of global organisations expressing concern about the impact of income inequality.  Two months ago, the head of the IMF described excessive income inequality as “corrosive” to both growth and society.

    I represented the TUC this week at an international conference hosted by the French union confederation CGT to coincide with their 50th congress.  Delegates from a range of countries, as well as representatives from the ILO and OECD, supported the view that income inequality must be given more attention.  A range of possible ways of achieving great equality were discussed at the conference.  None of these could be described as new, but they are still worthy of reiteration.

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  • Equality

    Inequality: a corrosive social pollutant

    17th February 2013 — Filed under: Equality

    Lesley Mercer Lesley Mercer

    Sometimes you just need to hear the simple facts rather than a whole load of theory.  Enter Richard Wilkinson, co-author of “The Spirit Level”. He was speaking at a European  conference in Dublin last week, organised to mark Ireland taking over the presidency of the EU Council of Ministers, at which I represented the TUC.

    Richard’s central premise is that the higher the levels of income inequality within a country, the higher the levels of health and social problems.  The link is clear, and it applies irrespective of the overall wealth of a country.

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  • International

    Europe isn’t an à la carte caféteria

    29th January 2013 — Filed under: International

    Lesley Mercer Lesley Mercer

    European Commissioner Olli Rehn delivered a blunt message at a European TUC conference yesterday, namely that the EU is not some kind of ‘à la carte caféteria’ that the UK government can dip in and out of as it chooses.

    The central debate at this 40th anniversary conference of the ETUC was about how Europe should develop together, not about whether it has a future at all.  That the UK should voluntarily consign its position on Europe to several years of uncertainty was treated with bemusement bordering on incredulity.

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  • International

    The in-out debate mustn’t overshadow the need for social Europe

    27th January 2013 — Filed under: International, Society & Welfare

    Lesley Mercer Lesley Mercer

    This year’s TUC President Lesley Mercer, from the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, looks ahead to the European Trade Union Confederation’s 40th anniversary conference on Monday, where she will be representing British trade unions with General Secretary Frances O’Grady and General Council spokesperson on Europe, Billy Hayes. You can follow the conference on twitter using #ETUC40.

    Trade union confederations gathering in Madrid this weekend will be debating the issues that really matter to ordinary people.  How to deliver sustainable growth and jobs?  How to give citizens, workers and their unions a genuine role in economic and monetary union? How to embed a true social dimension into everything the European Union does?

    The ETUC’s groundbreaking ‘Social Compact for Europe’ spells out what a social dimension means.  Fair wages and progressive taxation, access to equality and social protection, and the opportunity for workers to have a voice at work through union involvement in free collective bargaining and social dialogue.

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