Diary dates from TUC.org.uk

Every year, UK staff give their employers 23billion of free work through late hours and skipped lunchbreaks. Make one day different - Work your proper hours on Friday 25 February and leave work on time to enjoy your evening. More info at www.workyourproperhoursday.com

Saturday 29 January
York TUC Yorkshire and the Humber AGM with guest speaker DTI Employment Relations Minister and Bradford MP, Gerry Sutcliffe (11.45am). The regionís new anti-racism initiative will be also launched at the meeting. York Railway Museum, 9am-3.30pm.

Monday 31 January
London TUC Deputy General Secretary Frances OíGrady speaks at the Fabian Society and New Policy Institute policy conference on íMore and better jobsí. Other speakers include Secretary of State for Trade and Industry Patricia Hewitt MP, Work Foundation Chief Executive Will Hutton and Claude Moraes MEP. Broadway House, Tothill Street, London SW1. Contact: Jamie Hodge 020 7227 4912.

The TUC launches its annual Fund Manager Survey, which asks 50 major investors how they voted on 50 issues at company AGMs last year. The results will be published at a major pension fund trustee conference at the London Stock Exchange, íPensions at the crossroads: Directions for trusteesí, on Friday 17 June.

Tuesday 1 February
Lymm, Cheshire Frances OíGrady speaks at the North West TUC Learning Services conference íApprenticeships for allí, Lymm Services Conference Centre, Cliffe Lane, Lymm, 11am.

Wednesday 2 February
TUC publishes new guidance for unions assessing the advantages and disadvantages of employers introducing monitoring of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.

Thursday 3 February
London Noon: Nelson Mandela addresses a crowd of thousands in Trafalgar Square to put pressure on world leaders to make poverty history by delivering trade justice, more and better aid, and dropping the debt. He will also call on the public to get involved in the íMake Poverty Historyí campaign, a coalition of campaign groups, the TUC and member unions. White bands, the symbol of the campaign, will adorn Trafalgar Square and Nelsonís Column.

Leeds Yorkshire and the Humber TUC Learning Services conference with guest speaker Skills Minister Ivan Lewis MP, Hilton City Hotel, Neville Street, 10am-4pm.

Friday 4 February
London TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber speaks during a session on people and skills chaired by Secretary of State for Education Ruth Kelly MP (2.30pm) as part of the íAdvancing Enterprise 2005í conference, QEII Conference Centre, Westminster.

Monday 7 February
London 9:30am - 4pm: íModern rights for modern workplacesí a TUC conference on necessary improvements to UK employment law including the need for better job security and rights and protections for agency temps. Speakers include Gerry Sutcliffe, DTI Minister for Employment Relations, Frances OíGrady and Tony Woodley, TGWU General Secretary, Congress House.

Tuesday 8 February
TUC publishes its 2005 Budget Submission.

London 11:30 - 2:30pm: Frances OíGrady responds to a presentation on íThe future of trade unionsí by Professor David Metcalf, LSE and Director of the Future of Trade Unions in Modern Britain research programme 2000-05 at a Policy Studies Institute lunchtime seminar, 100 Park Village East. Contact: Abigail Hedderwick 020 7468 0468.

Wednesday 9 February
London 3:30pm: TUC Assistant General Secretary Kay Carberry takes part in a pensions debate at the CIPDís Annual Reward Conference, Olympia. Contact: Robert Blevin 020 8263 3232.

Thursday 10 February
MPC interest rates decision.

Saturday 12 February
Newcastle 6pm: Frances OíGrady speaks at an IPPR North fringe event at the Labour Party Spring Conference on íA progressive future: Achieving social justiceí, the Baltic. Contact: Loraine Sweeney 0191 211 2646.