The Irish Times and RTE reported on Friday that cabin crew dropped planned strike action at Stobart Air after the airline agreed to talks with Fórsa. Meanwhile, the Irish Times reports there's a Bellot of industrial action underway that could see a national strike by support staff in hospitals across the country.

Elsewhere, did you know that tipping your waiter was a custom developed in the US to ensure that emancipated slaves were being paid for their labour? It's become a red hot issue for Dublin diners as restaurant owners are carving their own revenue from the tips pool. A good report here by the Irish Times Pricewatch team.

In world news, it's razor thin electoral victory for the Social Democrats in Finland, and the Orange One sinks ever lower with his attacks on US congresswoman Ilhan Omar.

Marjorie Brennan writes about the Limerick Soviet centenary in today's Irish Examiner, events organised by the Limerick Trades Council continue this week. But if you're driving down from Dublin, it looks like that stretch between Naas and Newbridge is going to be a slow zone for a few more months.

This week's blog hosts the latest Fórsa magazine music pages, a celebration of British pop music to banish the Brexit blues. Among the tunes chosen by the editorial team is The Lunatics by The Specials. It was skanking-room-only in Dublin's Olympia Theatre last week as Coventry's finest delivered a memorable three night run. Plenty of trade union friends and colleagues were there over the three nights too. 

Your Zen this morning sees the digest's interior decor fitted out with a few elements to mark the centenary of the Bauhaus, the design school which has had a wide reaching influence on most modern homes. Maybe you don't own a Barcelona chair (they look better in an office lobby anyway) but if you've got a fitted kitchen, Bauhaus has influenced the look and layout of your home too.

The school only lasted from 1919 to 1933 but has a fascinating history. The Bauhaus influence casts a long shadow, particularly over the way we think about urban design, form and function. I think we could still plunder some of those ideas for truly state-of-the-art urban housing and functioning cities. How cool would that be?

And let's not forget the band of the same name, fronted by Pete Murphy and beloved of goths-in-spirit everywhere.

Have a good week.