BRITISH unions are pressing ahead with plans for the biggest strike in a generation despite a new government offer on public sector pensions described as the “chance of a lifetime”.

Directors in the UK's top firms have seen their pay rise by almost 50% in the past year, taking their average earnings to just under £2.7m, a new study revealed today.

Unions angrily attacked the Government today over a report it commissioned which said companies should be able to sack unproductive staff without explanation, warning that the move would “horrify” workers.

A new study has found that an average of 25 jobseekers chasing every vacancy in parts of London.

Inflation in the UK unexpectedly fell last month as retailers cut prices in response to the tightening squeeze on household incomes, figures revealed today.

A strike by up to 750,000 teachers, civil servants and other public sector workers in the UK is set to go ahead after crunch talks with the Government today failed to end a bitter row over pensions and spending cuts.

Business and unions in the UK were divided tonight over the national minimum wage after the British government announced that the adult rate will increase by 15p an hour, benefiting almost a million workers.

Organisers of a huge protest against the UK government’s public spending cuts tonight hailed the demonstration a “fantastic success” after hundreds of thousands of people joined the biggest event of its kind for over 20 years.

BRITISH Chancellor George Osborne has been accused of treating people “like fools” by claiming yesterday’s VAT hike will hit the rich hardest.

Britain's banks will pay an extra £2.5bn (€2.81bn) in tax a year by 2012 under draft legislation published today in a British government move to repair some of the damage caused by their role in the financial crisis.

Staff at US investment bank Goldman Sachs are to share US$3.8bn (€2.75bn) in pay and bonuses put by for the third quarter, the group revealed today.

British Airways’ boss Willie Walsh stood firm today over the airline’s decision to withdraw travel perks from striking cabin crew as the company made final preparations to deal with a fresh walkout.

British Airways flights were returning to normal today following the end of a three day strike by cabin crew which cost the airline around £21m (€23.3m) with further disruption planned.

LEADERS of British Airways cabin crew last night urged the airline’s chiefexecutive to “come out of his bunker” and hold fresh talks as a three-day strike over jobs and cost-cutting came to an end.

The leader of striking British Airways cabin crew made a fresh appeal today for talks to end their dispute, which he said had cost the airline tens of millions of pounds.

Talks to avert a damaging strike by British Airways cabin crew will resume today as time runs out on efforts to break a deadlocked row over cost-cutting.

British business and union leaders today made last-minute presentations to the UK Government ahead of next week’s Budget, with differing views on how to lead the country out of recession.

Union leaders representing British Airways cabin crew have offered a 3.4% pay cut under moves to break a deadlocked row which threatens strikes in the coming weeks, it was revealed today.

The British Government today warned that further rises in unemployment were expected before the summer as figures showed those claiming jobseeker’s allowance soared to the highest level since Labour came to power in 1997.

THE European Union will more than likely reject US President Barack Obama’s plan to limit banks’ size and trading activities in a bid to reduce risk in the sector.

The UK's Chancellor angered unions today by announcing plans to cap public sector pay rises to 1% for two years from 2011.

Speculation was mounting today that the British Chancellor is set to announce a pay cap on public-sector workers under moves to cut public spending.

Talks to try to break the deadlocked postal dispute in the UK are expected to resume today as the Royal Mail faces legal action over the recruitment of 30,000 agency staff during the strike.

Further negotiations will be needed next week to resolve the “high-pressure dispute” between Royal Mail and postal workers, TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said today.

Britain's mail dispute remained deadlocked tonight as a fresh wave of strikes caused more disruption to the post – and there was a further threat of longer walkouts next month.

Unemployment in Britain has fallen for the first time in 18 months, official figures show.

Unions and employers in Britain reacted with "alarm" today after unemployment surged to a 14-year high, prompting fresh calls for the UK government help for the growing army of jobless.

Official figures are expected to show another big increase in the jobless total in the UK today.

Climate change activists, anti-war campaigners, trade unionists, charity workers and students are among tens of thousands of protesters planning to take part in rallies, marches and stunts from today to coincide with the G20 summit in London.

Virtually every British workplace offers some form of flexible working for staff, including reduced hours, part-time arrangements and job-sharing, according to an official report today.

The union which represents postal workers will meet today to discuss wildcat strikes which have added to the disruption caused by last week’s national walkout.

People with arthritis, back pain or other health problems recover more quickly by staying at work, a new report in the UK claimed today.

BEIJING Olympics organisers vowed yesterday to come down hard on any cases of children being used to produce merchandise for the Games, after a report accused factories of “gross exploitation”.

Union leaders in the UK today voiced “serious” concerns over the labour market as new figures showed more people have stopped looking for work, while the number of manufacturing jobs dipped below three million for the first time since modern records began.

The TUC today called for a national debate over pay after publishing new figures showing that executives' earnings were increasing 17 times faster than average wage rises.

FOOTBALL associations behind the teams in the World Cup were urged yesterday to make sure workers who made replica soccer strips were not being exploited.

Union members in Britain are welcoming the resolution in the row between Irish Ferries and its workers.

ANTI-SMOKING campaigners in Britain reacted with fury last night to a U-turn that will let people carry on lighting up in clubs and some pubs.

Firms which try to improve their employees’ work-life balance have been rewarded with lower levels of sickness absence, according to new research in the UK today.

Hopes of averting a strike by 1.5 million council workers and civil servants dramatically rose today after a breakthrough in a bitter dispute with the Government over pensions.

The lives of workers in the UK and members of the public are being put at risk because not enough visits are being made by health and safety inspectors, the British trade union organisation TUC claimed today.

British companies have broken their promise to share the pensions burden with workers, a senior union leader claims today.

The UK should treat China as a trading partner rather than a threat, a British government minister said today at the end of an official visit to the region.

The leader of the TUC in the UK today hit back at claims that trade unions were irrelevant and issued a fresh warning that workers will strike over the pensions crisis.