Unions urge firms to let workers watch Ashes

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC) have today (Thursday) urged employers to allow their workers to follow the final cricket match in the Ashes series between England and Australia.

The series reaches its climax at the Oval today with England leading 2-1 and needing only a draw to beat Australia for the first time since the 1986-1987 season.

The TUC urged companies, who in the past had been flexible to allow staff to watch major sporting events, to do so again.

“I hope employers will make arrangements to allow people to follow their sporting heroes over the next few days,” said TUC general secretary Brendan Barber.

The CBI said: “On an occasion as exciting and as big as this week’s Ashes series, many employers are likely to be flexible on allowing staff to keep tabs on the score from the office.”

The CBI is also expecting an increase in the number of days being taken off sick this week after calculating that about 14% of absences are not due to a genuine illness.

Firms are also being warned that their computer networks face overload as staff keep a check on live commentary of the match through the internet.