IER News & blogs

A new provocation paper on musculoskeletal (MSK) health and work, which challenges current government policy thinking, has been launched by the IER. Authors Chris Warhurst, Philip Taylor, Hilda Ragnarsdóttir, Gill Dix and Laura Boothman argue that while policy rightly focuses on getting more people with existing MSK conditions into work, greater attention needs to focus on proactive workplace interventions to prevent people from developing MSK in their work and then having to leave their jobs. The paper formed the basis of Chris's opening talk at Orthopaedic Research UK's Joint Venture conference on 13 October.

On Wednesday 7th October, the TUC hosted the workshop 'Practical Steps for Ending Sexual Harassment in the Workplace' for union reps, facilitated by the Workers Policy Project. Dr Ruth Beresford and co-author Dr Bob Jeffrey (Sheffield Hallam University) presented early findings from their latest research, outlining the barriers to talking about and reporting workplace sexual harassment, the risk factors that increase vulnerability to harassment, and union campaigning and activism to challenge it.

The event was opened by Kate Bell, Assistant General Secretary of the TUC, and closing speeches were delivered by John McDonnell MP and Ian Hodson (President of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union). Further information on the event is available here.

IER's Dr Jamelia Harris shared work from the project "Help or hindrance? Exploring the impact of foreign aid on local skills" at the 23rd Network-Association of European Researchers on Urbanisation in the South (N-AERUS) Conference. The presentation explored the many ways in which foreign aid can impact on skills development in developing countries, analysing direct, indirect and unintentional consequences of the aid-skills nexus.

At the 3rd MethodsNET Conference, Dr Harris presented work from the project "Colonial legacies and the labour market in the English-speaking Caribbean". Focusing on the methodological design of the interdisciplinary project, the paper argues for the practice of mixed methods research to understand questions that span lengthy time periods and for which contextualisation is critical.

Whilst many have been focused on the Westminster budget this week, IER's Dr Jamelia Harris provided expert analysis on Trinidad and Tobago's.

Jamelia was part of a panel of experts which analysed the Trinidad and Tobago national budget immediately after its reading on 12 October. As well as expert opinion on the budget itself, Dr Harris offered analysis on broad-based economic development, the need to boost labour force participation and create meaningful jobs, and transform systems of collective bargaining for public sector workers.

The full recording is available on YouTube.Link opens in a new window