TUC news diary

Saturday 19 February
Warwick TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber address the Community Union Learning Rep Conference at Warwick University, 12.15pm.

Monday 21 February
In advance of Fridayís íWork your proper hours dayí, the TUC launches a boss-a-gram that employees can use to send anonymously to their managers reminding them that their hard-working staff would like to leave on time. The email will suggest that if bosses truly want to show their staff how much they appreciate them then they should take them all out for lunch or for a drink after work on íWork your proper hours dayí.

Wednesday 23 February
The TUC releases a report, íBelow the minimum: Agency workers and the minimum wageí, which looks at the trend for employment agencies to make unlawful deductions from the temps on their books.

London 10:30am: six commuters will queue at a mock bus stop on Bedford Square (London W1), dressed in pyjamas and slippers for a photo opportunity to promote the TUCís íWork Your Proper Hours Dayí taking place on Friday 25 February. The half a dozen commuters will have íWork Your Proper Hours Dayí and the campaignís smiley clock logo displayed across their six work bags. Apart from being in pyjamas and slippers they will look like an ordinary queue of commuters on their way to work - carrying newspapers, coffee, umbrellas and mobile phones, one wearing a bowler hat. The Temporary bus stop and commuter queue will be set up at 10.30am for no more than 30 minutes at the North East corner of Bedford Square W1, where the square meets Gower Street.

Thursday 24 February
In advance of íWork your proper hours dayí tomorrow, the TUC releases figures showing which groups of workers do the most unpaid overtime.

Cardiff
Brendan Barber will appear on stage at the Wales Millennium Centre auditorium in Cardiff Bay with the Centreís Chief Exec for photo and broadcast opportunities between 2-2:30pm. Mr Barber will be holding a large version of the íWork Your Proper Hours Dayí smiley clock logo. The accompanying news story (embargoed for Friday 25 February) will say take a proper lunch and leave work on time today and with your free time why not catch a bit of culture. The Centre is running free lunchtime concerts on Friday, and in the evening the opera Wozzeck will be performed by the Welsh National Opera. Contact Darren Dupre: 029 2034 7014 or Derek Draper 07887 797158 or Ben Hurley in the TUC press office.

Brendan Barber gives the ICI Annual Lecture 2005 on íGrowing the trade union movement: Strategies for taking trade unionism forwardí, Cardiff Business School, 6.30pm.

Friday 25 February
íWork your proper hours dayí - every year, UK staff give their employers 23billion of free work through late hours and skipped lunch breaks. Today the TUC is calling on employees everywhere to work their proper hours by taking a proper lunch break and leaving work on time. More info at www.workyourproperhoursday.com

London Between 7:30-9am the TUC will stage a mock íWork Your Proper Hours Dayí protest outside Liverpool Street station as a photo and broadcast opportunity. Commuters on their way to work will be greeted by a dozen íprotestersí wearing sandwich boards and waving placards with slogans such as: íTHE END OF THE WEEK IS NIGHí; WHO WANTS TO WORK FOREVER?í; íEAT AT JOEíS! NOT AT YOUR DESKí; íLETíS DO LUNCHí; íTGI FRIDAYí; íYOU DONíT HAVE TO BE MAD TO WORK LATE, BUT IT HELPSí. TUC Deputy General Secretary, Frances OíGrady will be available for broadcast interviews at the protest, which takes place outside the entrance to the mainline station, on Liverpool St itself.

Leicester Teenagers from across the UK take part in a TUC conference íCitizens@Work2005í. Paul Boateng MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury is the main speaker, the Walkers Stadium, Filbert Way, 9.30am - 4.30pm.

Saturday 26 February
Dudley Brendan Barber speaks at the Midlands TUC AGM, Black Country Living Museum, 10.30am-1.30pm.

Monday 26 February
International RSI Awareness Day

Tuesday 1 March
London Brendan Barber takes part in a panel session during the Department for Work and Pensions Employer Task Force on Pensions Conference with Secretary of State Alan Johnson MP and CBI Deputy Director General, John Cridland. 10am-noon, The Brewery, 1 Chiswell Street, EC1.

London Brendan Barber is one of the speakers at the Stonewall 2005 Spring Employment Conference which takes place at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, King Charles Street, SW1. Other speakers include Stonewall Chief Executive Ben Summerskill and Trade and Industry Secretary of State Patricia Hewitt MP.