Scottish Business Briefing - Monday June 6, 2011

WELCOME to scotsman.com's Scottish Business Briefing. Every morning we bring you a comprehensive round-up of all news affecting business in Scotland today.

ECONOMY

Business groups join up to demand overhaul on small firms' financing

Five business organisations have joined forces and will today demand that governments on both sides of the Border improve their funding schemes for small firms (Scotsman).

TUC: Wage stagnation over decades as income gap widens

Many people in middle and low income jobs have barely seen any improvement in their incomes over the past 30 years, a report from the TUC says. Low income workers have seen their pay rise by 27% in real terms over the past 30 years but rises for the top 10% of earners have been four times higher (BBC).

Read all today's economics news from scotsman.com

INDUSTRY

Postal workers' union puts its foot down over job losses

UNION leaders have threatened a national strike among postal workers after reports that the Royal Mail is planning to cut 40,000 jobs, one in four of its workforce in the next five years (Scotsman).

Read all today's industry news from scotsman.com

PENSIONS

Heineken accused of 'raw deal' for S&N pensioners

TENS of thousands of pensioners of brewing giant Scottish & Newcastle have blasted its Dutch owner Heineken for abandoning a decades-long policy of providing inflation-linked pension increases (Scotsman).

Read all today's personal finance news from scotsman.com

TRANSPORT

Action by 'fed up' airport staff could hit Open

Airport security staff are to ballot for industrial action that could hit the Open golf championship next month. Members of the Prospect trade union are in dispute over a pay offer from Airport Management Services, owned by Highlands and Islands Airports (HIA) (Scotsman).

Airlines face profit shock due to rising cost of oil

AIRLINES are bracing themselves for a nosedive in profits as they struggle to offset the rising cost of oil. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), which has more than 200 member airlines, is today expected to cut industry profits forecasts (Scotsman).

Read all today's transport news from scotsman.com