The NSSN is supporting this Saturday’s NHS Anniversary events, which will see protests and demonstrations organised in many towns and cities for an NHS pay rise, patient safety and an end to privatisation. The day of action has been called by health workers, unions, trades councils and health campaigning organisations such as Keep Our NHS Public, Health Campaigns Together, NHS Workers Say No and NHS Staff Voices.
We support the demand for a pay rise of 15% for health and social care workers. They risked their lives in the pandemic and deserve 15% not the 1% Tory pay insult.
The NSSN gives our full support to health workers taking action, such as those in Whitechapel in East London, Lancashire and Reading and demand that outsourced workers are brought in-house into the health service on NHS contracts.
Get on the streets this Saturday to fight for the NHS.
Support striking Serco workers to strike in bullying and roster clash
Unite to urge Welsh government to implement “significant” pay increase for NHS staff (23 June)
For more information: Nurses and Midwives say NO! to Public Sector pay inequality, Keep Our NHS Public, Health Campaigns Together (read April’s HCT bulletin)
Watch Reel News video – NEU: Solidarity with NHS pay campaign
Gateshead: Sacked electricians reinstated (from NSSN North East supporter)
A victory for rank and file Sparks at the Amazon construction site at Follingsby Park, Gateshead, alongside victories such as the fightback against the use of ESOs (Electrical Service Operatives) at Hinkley Point nuclear power plant, has clearly boosted the idea that if you fight you can win! Around 40 electricians had downed tools and walked off site because of the reckless practice by electrical contractor SIS Systems of using unskilled labourers to do the work of skilled electricians.
Rather than speaking to the workers to ensure the job was safe, the unscrupulous bosses sacked the workers for highlighting safety issues. For the hapless contractors at SIS Systems their profits came before safety. Amazon has bragged that around 1,300 workers will be employed at the Gateshead warehouse. Those workers deserve a safe environment to work in.
The whole matter of who takes responsibility for the sackings, safety, etc, is a tangled web. As someone commented: “The issue is the client has appointed a contractor, who has appointed a sub-contractor, who uses an agency, who has an umbrella company!” Rather than being cowed by the sackings, the rank and file sparks acted courageously, and often with humour.
The police turned up at the protest, clearly to ensure the interests of the bosses were upheld. The protest outside the plant was successively blocking deliveries and challenging those crossing the picket line. The police told them they couldn’t stand in front of the entrance to the site – so they defiantly began to walk back and forth across the entrance. The Sparks expressed gratitude to the NSSN for supporting them throughout their struggle, and were impressed with how we got their protest to a wider audience.
Stop victimisation of union reps
Donate to the reinstatement campaign of Declan Clune RMT bus driver in Southampton (on behalf of Declan Clune and all RMT Southampton District Bus and Coach Branch members). Email message of support: [email protected]
Defend Adrian Mitchell RMT driver on London Underground
Donate to solidarity campaign of Moe Muhsin Manir Unite bus rep Email messages of support to Moe: [email protected]
Woolwich Ferry workers overwhelmingly vote to strike over victimised rep – Workers operating the Woolwich Ferry, now run by Transport for London (TfL), will strike for eight days in May and June over the victimisation of a union rep, Unite the union announced today (Friday 30 April). Unite’s 57 members have voted by an overwhelming 97 per cent for strike action which will take place on 14, 24, 28 May and 1, 4, 7, 11, 21 June. The ferry has been so dogged by poor employment relations in recent years – leading to TfL taking over its operation from the discredited Briggs Marine Contractors Ltd – that the latest episode has been dubbed the ‘Groundhog Day’ dispute read more
St Mungos management escalate dispute by suspending Unite rep
Sign petition: Reinstate Gary Bolister sacked GMB rep at Islington Council
Watch Reel News video: Victimised union reps: Act like it’s you and fight back
Sign petition to support Redbridge NEU Rep Keiran Mahon
Watch Reel News video: Huddersfield teachers strike to defend Louise Lewis
Defend NEU Exec member Tracy McGuire. Stop the victimization of Tracy!
NSSN sends our solidarity and congratulations to Kirstie Paton, her members in John Roan School and the NEU in Greenwich and nationally after successfully defending her job – watch Reel News video: NEU rep Kirstie Paton wins dismissal case: School safety matters..
Victory for NEU at Leaways School in Hackney: Statement posted by NEU Joint General Secretary Kevin Courtney – “Kedleston Group and the National Education Union are pleased to announce that the industrial dispute at Leaways School has been resolved. The school has voluntarily agreed to recognise the NEU and Iain Forsyth, a NEU representative for Leaways School, has been reinstated following due process under the School’s internal procedures.” (See more under NEU in this NSSN bulletin). NSSN sends our congratulations and solidarity to the NEU and Iain his members at Leaways
Fight Tory 1.5% council and school workers pay Insult
Joint statement from GMB, Unite and Unison: “Disappointing” council pay offer ignores huge Covid effort of workforce, say unions (14 May) – Employers should come back with improved offer. Unions representing 750,000 council and school support staff across England, Wales and Northern Ireland today (Friday) criticised the 1.5% pay offer made by the Local Government Association. GMB, Unite and UNISON submitted a joint pay claim to the local government employers in February for a 10% pay rise. This would be payable from 1 April 2021 read more
MPs back call for fair pay for local government workers (28 June)
Support the NSSN
Get your trade union branch or trades council to affiliate to the NSSN – it only costs £50. Already affiliated? Please think about renewing it. Also, many of our supporters pay a few pounds a month. You can set up a similar standing order to ‘National Shop Stewards Network’, HSBC – sort code 40-06-41, account number 90143790. Our address is NSSN, PO Box 54498, London E10 9DE. Feel free to use this affiliation letter
And if you can, come to one of our regional Conferences. If there is not one in your area, get in touch to either assist in organising or have a speaker at one of your meetings or events. Contact Rob or Linda on [email protected]
Watch the NSSN pre-TUC Rally from last September and follow us on twitter via @NSSN_AntiCuts and Facebook
The NSSN is continuing to report on how workers are organising during the coronavirus pandemic
The NSSN is opening up our weekly email bulletin, website and social media platforms of Facebook and twitter to provide a public forum for workers during the Coronavirus/COVID-19 crisis. We want to be a place where we can all share queries and experiences that workers are facing in their workplaces. These include reports of action taken by workers to defend themselves from their employers.
You can read about many of these actions in our weekly bulletin and out social media groups, especially our Facebook group: NSSN – defend workers’ rights under Coronavirus.
You can also send the NSSN your reports and queries via our website, twitter – @NSSN_AntiCuts and email – [email protected]
We welcome the information being sent to union members concerning the spread of coronavirus, including the Accord, Advance, AEP, AFA-CWA, ASLEF, BDA, BECTU Sector of Prospect, BFAWU, BOS-TU, College of Podiatry, Community, CSP, EIS, Equity, FBU, FDA, GMB, HCSA, MU, NAHT, NASUWT, National Society for Education in Art and Design (NSEAD), Nautilus International, NEU, NGSU, NUJ, PFA, Prospect, RCM, SoR, TSSA, TUC, UCU, UNISON, Unite, URTU, USDAW, WGGB and the RCN
But it is absolutely vital that unions retain their ability to organise and act independently in defence of their members and workers generally. This includes the right of unions to take industrial action. We are already aware of workers being forced to take unofficial action on health and safety grounds. We also believe that unions should have oversight of any government bans on protests and picketing. This is the same Tory government that tabled more new anti-union laws in December’s Queens Speech last December and cannot be trusted and is now attacking the right to protest through its Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.
We believe that it is essential that workers are protected during this worrying period and are not impacted, whether in terms of their safety as well as their pay and employment rights. The Tory government have announced measures that include some workers receiving 80% of their wages. This furlough scheme was due to end but has now been extended because of the 2nd lockdown.
However, we believe that no worker should pay the price for any spread of the virus. We say: work or full pay. Any worker who is required not to attend work or is unable to do so because of COVID, childcare or transport closures should receive full pay and not be forced to take annual leave. But unions have to remain vigilant that any government payments actually happen and also covers all workers, including those in precarious employment such as zero-hour contracts and in the gig economy.
We have drafted this model motion which we’ve made into a bulletin that can be downloaded and printed off to be distributed. Feel free to use in your union and trades council, in totality or partially to highlight the issues that need to be addressed.
Keep an eye out for other Facebook and social media groups and pages that are being created. The Coronavirus Support Group for Workers has been set up on Facebook and is a useful forum and you can catch up on disputes at Strike Map UK
Union News
RMT
BREAKING NEWS!! RMT calls for Irish Ferries boycott (29 June) – SEAFARERS Union RMT today called on passengers and freight operators to boycott anti-trade union operator Irish Ferries’ Dover-Calais services. On the day that Irish Ferries began operating passenger and freight ferry services on the Cypriot-registered Isle of Inishmore between Dover and Calais, RMT General Secretary, Mick Lynch, said: “Seafarer fatigue remains a threat to safety standards across the shipping industry, despite the progress made since the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster thirty-four years ago. Part of that progress has been the agreement of safe roster patterns between employers and local trade unions…” read more
ScotRail Sunday action continues (27 June) – As Scotrail strike action continues to be solidly supported today RMT demands urgent summit with the First Minister over long-running battle for pay justice and equality. As strike action by Scotrail conductors and ticket examiners is solidly supported again today, rail union RMT is demanding an urgent summit with the First Minister Nicola Sturgeon after a meeting with the Transport Minister earlier this week failed to make any progress on the issues of pay justice and equality for these key workers read more
Cleaning up the Railways (26 June) – As rail industry announces inquiry into whether to end outsourcing of train and station cleaning new report reveals cleaners don’t have enough staff to do jobs properly and ending outsourcing would improve standards. Almost half the cleaners working on Britain’s rail network believe they don’t have enough staff to do their jobs properly whilst a majority say that their employers put profits before public health and passengers would benefit more if cleaners were employed in-house rather than being outsourced, according to a new report published by RMT today. The report also found that following a survey of train companies outsourcing means rail bosses don’t know, or won’t say, how many cleaners are employed on the railway read more
RMT marks Day of the Seafarer with a call on Ratings to join a union (25 June) – SEAFARER Union RMT marks Day of the Seafarer with a call on Ratings to join a trade union to secure a fair future in the shipping industry read more
RMT exposes scandal at Pentland Ferries (24 June) – Transport Scotland is seeking to charter from anti-trade union operator Pentland Ferries for service on CalMac routes in western Scotland. SCOTTISH Ferries Union RMT today commented on the results of the safety inspection carried out by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, at the RMT’s request, on the catamaran MV Pentalina which Transport Scotland is seeking to charter from anti-trade union operator Pentland Ferries for service on CalMac routes in western Scotland read more
RMT calls on UK to learn lessons of Welsh Government (23 June) – RMT calls on UK to learn lessons of Welsh Government decision to prioritise public transport over new roads. TRANSPORT UNION RMT today welcomed the news that the Welsh Government will be suspending all future road building plans and will instead be prioritising public transport and active travel to meet their statutory target of net zero emissions by 2050. This move is in stark contrast to the Westminster Government which has effectively ringfenced its new roads budget of over £14 billion instead of developing the necessary investment to expand rail and bus services to meet the climate change challenge read more
RMT London Overground Protest to take place on Monday 28 June – RAIL UNION RMT is organising a protest next Monday over a number of issues affecting RMT members on the London Overground. The socially distanced protest will take place on Monday 28th June between 15:30 – 18:00 outside the Arriva Rail London head office, Overground House, 125 Finchley Road, Swiss Cottage, London NW3 6HY read more
SERCO Caledonian Sleeper refuse ACAS talks – RMT strike on SERCO Caledonian Sleeper remains rock solid three days in as company refuse ACAS talks. RAIL UNION RMT said today (18 June) that strike action on SERCO Caledonian sleeper remains rock solid three days in as the company blocks union efforts to get ACAS talks underway to discuss ending the pay freeze they are imposing on employees. The current action will last for eleven days with the company preferring to reimburse fares, cancel services and create disruption for the travelling public rather than agreeing to union calls for ACAS talks with a view to negotiating a settlement. RMT members on Caledonian Sleeper are to take the following strike action by not booking on for any shifts that commence between:-
- 11:59 hours on Tuesday 15th June 2021 to 11:59 hours on Saturday 26th June 2021
Furthermore, with effect from 12:00 hours on Saturday 26th June 2021, until further notice, members are instructed:-
- Not to work any overtime
- Not to work on your rest day read more
Support East Midlands Railway strike – RMT senior conductors are set to strike every Sunday throughout the summer as part of the long running dispute. RMT have confirmed that nearly 200 Train Managers have also now voted overwhelmingly for action in a parallel dispute. That ballot result will now be considered by RMT’s executive. EMR Senior Conductor members are instructed not to book on for any shifts that commence between:
- 0001 Hours and 2359 Hours on Sunday 27th June 2021
- 0001 Hours and 2359 Hours on Sunday 4th July 2021
- 0001 Hours and 2359 Hours on Sunday 11th July 2021
- 0001 Hours and 2359 Hours on Sunday 18th July 2021
- 0001 Hours and 2359 Hours on Sunday 25th July 2021
- 0001 Hours and 2359 Hours on Sunday 1st August 2021
- 0001 Hours and 2359 Hours on Sunday 8th August 2021
- 0001 Hours and 2359 Hours on Sunday 15th August 2021 read more
RMT to ballot over dismissal of train rep with 20 years unblemished service – DISMISSAL, GARY CARNEY, TRAIN OPERATOR – LONDON UNDERGROUND. I am writing to members regarding a travesty of justice that has seen our Brother Gary Carney dismissed by London Underground for allegedly avoiding an unannounced D&A test. Members across the Central Line had earlier been balloted for strike action in defence of Brother Carney. The industrial action that had been planned for Thursday 6th May 2021 was suspended in good faith to allow talks to take place at the highest level between RMT and LUL. Unfortunately, the outcome has been that LUL have upheld the dismissal of Brother Carney read more
RMT to strike for pay justice on Tyne and Wear Metro – RMT to strike for pay justice on Tyne and Wear Metro in co-ordinated joint union action. Britain’s specialist transport union RMT said today that it will be taking co-ordinated strike action with sister union UNITE later this month in a fight for pay justice on the Tyne and Wear Metro. RMT and UNITE members will be taking industrial action against Stadler’s imposed wage freeze and will strike on 28, 29 and 30 June and 1, 2, 3 and 4 July. An overtime ban will also commence on 5 July. Last year the cash-rich Stadler outfit secured a £300 million contract to build 42 new Metro trains, rebuild the Gosforth depot and maintain the Nexus Tyne and Wear train stock for the next 35 years. Despite recording profit growth of 8% in 2020 Stadler are now trying to impose a pay freeze on their loyal and hardworking staff read more
TSSA
Travel Trade Needs Certainty and Support – TSSA (24 June) – Commenting on newly updated government advice on travel, transport and travel union TSSA says the travel trade needs “certainty and support” read more
Joint Statement on meeting with Minister for Transport, Graeme Dey (24 June) – The joint trade unions (ASLEF, RMT, TSSA & Unite) met this morning with the new Scottish Government Minister for Transport, Graeme Dey, to discuss ongoing issues around pay & rest day working arrangements read more
Amey and CEFA June Update (24 June) – Our latest newsletter for members in Amey and CEFA. How to ensure your details are up to date, a new era at Amey Rail and CEFA, Pride month update and International Women in Engineering Day read more
TSSA Backs Travel Day of Action (22 June) – TSSA General Secretary, Manuel Cortes, is calling on the Government to listen to the voices of the travel industry ahead of the Travel Day of Action tomorrow (Wednesday 23rd June). Cortes said Ministers had “treated travel as a Cinderella service” throughout the pandemic, offering no specific support across the industry. The union boss said Ministers would have to account for their actions since March last year, with businesses struggling and many jobs lost read more
Unite
BREAKING NEWS!! ‘Summer stink’ to hit Bexley as Serco refuse workers strike (29 June) – Bexley will be hit with a ‘summer stink’ when Serco refuse and cleansing workers strike over low pay and poor treatment, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Tuesday 29 June). Around 140 Unite members will take part in two weeks of strike action – from 12 July until 25 July – over a ‘pathetic’ 1.5 per cent pay offer, disparities in pay for workers doing the same jobs, the removal of industrial sickness benefits and Serco’s refusal to handover years of back pay owed to nearly 50 staff. Outsourcing giant Serco, which runs the contract on behalf of Bexley Council, has failed for half a decade to include refuse and cleansing staff on a stipulated pay progression scale. The situation has led to instances of refuse truck drivers being on the same pay scale as street sweepers, with some staff being owed thousands in back wages. Unite members are also angry at the company’s 2021 pay offer of 1.5 per cent. Unite members have worked throughout successive national lockdowns to keep the service running, risking their own safety as well as their families read more
BREAKING NEWS!! Reboot furlough urgently to avert autumn jobs crisis as country told to `live with Covid’, says Unite (29 June) – The drop in furlough support from Thursday (1 July) from 80 per cent to 70 per cent – with business making up the 10 per cent shortfall – could well push fragile employers to the wall, the country’s leading union warned today (Tuesday 29 June). With some three million workers still on furlough and the UK encountering its highest Covid infection rates since the peak time of January this year, Unite the union says that the crisis is far from over and is calling on the government to urgently rethink its approach to support for workers. The government plans to reduce furlough support in stages from July before ending it altogether on 30 September read more
Reading hospital security guards renew strikes in July, as Unite calls on NHS bosses to take them back ‘in-house’ (29 June) – NHS bosses should take the security staff at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in Reading back ‘in house’, after the guards announced new strike dates for July against their outsourced employer Kingdom Services Group Ltd. Unite the union said the new strike dates would run from 07.00 Monday 12 July until 24.00 Saturday 31 July, after the 20 security guards voted by 84 per cent for strike action. The guards, who provide security for the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, have been locked in a ‘David and Goliath’ pay and conditions battle with their employer, resulting in a wave of strikes since December last year. Because of the way that Kingdom Services has treated its staff, Unite is urging the trust to take the security guards back ‘in house’ under NHS management when the current three-year contract ends on 31 December this year. As the NHS celebrates its 73rd birthday on Monday (5 July), campaigners wishing to keep it out of the hands of profit-hungry companies, such as Kingdom, will be staging a march and rally in Reading on Saturday (3 July), starting at 12.00 from Royal Berkshire Hospital to Forbury Gardens in the town centre where there will be speeches read more
Support striking Reading hospital security guards – Text solidarity messages via Jessica 07718668497 and donate to strike fund: Acc. No.: 20173991 Sort Code: 60-83-01. Sign petition to Mark Wallace , Kingdom Service Group Managing Director: Pay Royal Berkshire Hospital security staff a wage they can live on
PM has two days to stop cheap import ‘betrayal’ of UK steel industry that workers and their communities will ‘never forgive’ (28 June) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson has two days to enact steel industry safeguards that will prevent a flood of below cost imports wrecking the sector, Unite, the UK’s leading steel and manufacturing union, said today (Monday 28 June 2021). Unite said not to do so will be a ‘betrayal’ of the UK steel industry that steelmaking communities will ‘never forgive’ read more
Unite statement on Sajid Javid’s appointment as health and social care secretary (27 June) – Commenting in response to the appointment of Sajid Javid as new health and social care secretary, Unite national officer for health Jackie Williams said: “It is a concern that the new health and social care secretary Sajid Javid, an ‘austerity’ conservative, has been put in charge of the NHS at this critical time when the in-tray is overflowing and a massive cash injection is needed to put the health service back on an even keel for the next five years read more
MP’s tips bill highlights government inaction (27 June) – Unite the union, which represents thousands of workers in the hospitality industry, has said news that an MP is bringing forward a private members bill on tips, highlights the government’s failure to introduce long promised legislation. Conservative MP Dean Russell, who represents Watford, is set to introduce a private members bill which would help to ensure that staff would receive 100 per cent of all tips they receive. The bill, however, is unlikely to become law. Unite has been campaigning for fair tips legislation since 2009. The Conservative government first promised to introduce such legislation in 2018 and it was included in the 2019 Queen’s Speech but the necessary employment bill has never materialised read more
Unite calls for ‘Cadbury’s law’ to stop jobs being picked at by vulture capital, in response to Morrisons takeover (27 June) – Responding to reports that Morrisons supermarket is to be sold to a private equity buyer, Steve Turner of Unite the union said: “Takeover laws in this country are next to useless. Yet again, another UK household name with a proud history looks set to fall into foreign hands…” read more
Lorry drivers facing Kent misery as parking ban set to continue (27 June) – Lorry drivers are facing many more months of misery as it appears the government is set to extend a ban on lorries parking in Kent. In January, following the end of the UK’s transition period after leaving the European Union, there were severe concerns about Kent being choked with lorries unable to get across the channel. As a consequence Kent county council was given extraordinary powers, for six months, to ban lorries from parking in laybys and on roads read more
Two weeks of talks to resolve Banbury coffee workers ‘fire and rehire’ dispute, Unite announces (25 June) – Unite the union and the management of JDE (Jacobs Douwe Egberts) will be holding two weeks of intensive talks in a bid to resolve the ‘fire and rehire’ dispute at the plant in Banbury, Oxfordshire, the union announced today (Friday 25 June). Unite will now suspend the industrial action that has been running since the beginning of May for the next fortnight, while JDE has agreed to push back the implementation of ‘fire and rehire’ plans affecting 291 employees until 13 September read more
Email messages of support and donate to the hardship fund via [email protected]. Follow #Banbury300 @Banbury3001 on twitter
Call for ‘no job losses’ by Unite as two housing associations start ‘partnership’ talks (25 June) – Unite the union has called for no compulsory job losses as two of the UK’s largest housing associations – One Housing Group (OHG) and The Riverside Group – announced they were in ‘partnership’ talks. Unite, which represents staff across both organisations, warned the respective bosses not to engage in ‘a race to the bottom’ in terms of pay and employment conditions for staff during the two-year merger process read more
Sunrise Medical dispute in Dudley ends as workers accept improved pay deal (25 June) – Members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, employed by electric wheelchair maker Sunrise Medical have accepted an improved pay offer, ending the threat of strike action at the company. Workers at the Brierley Hill factory were due to take strike action earlier this month but following talks at conciliation service Acas, an improved pay offer was agreed. Members of the company this week voted to accept the deal read more
Government must provide immediate support for aviation sector following travel announcement, demands Unite (24 June) – The government’s announcement today (Thursday June 24) on international travel that a small number of additional countries have been added to the UK’s green travel list, must lead to the government providing sector specific support for the aviation industry, or tens of thousands of workers face losing their jobs this autumn, Unite, the UK’s leading aviation union, has warned read more
Jaguar Land Rover inflation beating pay deal welcomed by Unite (24 June) – Unite, the UK’s leading union, has secured an inflation beating two year pay and conditions deal for workers at Jaguar Land Rover. Workers will receive a two per cent pay increase in the first year and in the second year will receive a pay increase in line with the retail price index (RPI) inflation rate plus 0.5 per cent. In addition, if workers approve the deal, which has an anniversary date of 1 September, they will receive an additional £1,000 read more
Construction focus should be on tackling long hours culture (24 June) – Construction union Unite is calling on the industry to tackle the long hours culture which currently afflicts the sector. The union made its call following the recent announcement that a number of major contractors are now embracing flexible working for their directly employed staff. While Unite recognises that flexible working is beneficial for workers who can access the scheme, the union believes that long hours is a much bigger factor in preventing workers from enjoying a decent work life balance read more
Failure to support low paid and vulnerable to isolate “act of gross negligence” (23 June) – The failure to support the low paid and vulnerable to isolate has been an act of gross negligence, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said in response to the TUC’s demand for a living sick pay for all read more
Construction Industry Training Board mired in furlough pay debacle (23 June) – Over 100 employees employed by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) have today (Wednesday 23 June) lodged a collective grievance raised by Unite and GMB against the organisation in respect of unresolved furlough pay issues dating as far back as the spring of 2020 read more
Production at historic Shropshire wheel factory will ‘roll to a halt’ during pay strikes (23 June) – Production at an historic Shropshire wheel factory will ‘roll to a halt’ during strikes over pay and redundancy packages, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Wednesday 23 June). Unite members employed at GKN Wheels and Auto Structures in Telford will strike in July over the company’s refusal to implement a pay rise without workers first accepting detrimental changes to a collective redundancy agreement. The strikes, conducted in conjunction with GMB members at the site, will impact wheel production at the factory, which produces off road wheels for clients such as JCB. Unite members will hold three 24 hour strikes at GKN Wheels and Auto Structures in Telford on 5, 12 and 19 July. The historic factory, which is more than 100 years old and produced Spitfire planes during the Second World War, was bought by private equity firm Aurelius in 2020. Unite regional officer Jason Richards said: “Our members are incensed at being offered a pay rise only on the condition that the collective redundancy agreement is weakened…” read more
Troubled north west ambulance trust ‘drags feet’ over alleged racist comment made towards Unite rep (23 June) – The troubled North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) NHS Trust has been accused of ‘dragging its feet’ in its investigation over an alleged racist comment directed at a leading Unite rep. Unite the union said that the paramedic complained to the trust bosses in January this year about the remarks made towards her – and six months later there still has been no conclusion to the disciplinary process read more
RSA must come clean on IT glitches as records disappear (23 June) – Unite urges learners to check portal to ensure lessons still recorded. Driving Instructors warn system could be vulnerable to hacking. Trade union Unite, which represents Approved Driving Instructors throughout Ireland, today (Wednesday) called on the Road Safety Authority to engage with instructors and explain why records of lessons completed are ‘going missing’, leaving learners unable to book a test and further increasing the massive test backlog. Instructors have also expressed concern that the unexplained errors, which appeared after a new IT system was rolled out in January, may indicate that the system is vulnerable to hacking read more
Lloyds Banking Group announces closure of 44 bank branches (23 June) – Unite, the union representing staff at Lloyds Banking Group, has today (Wednesday 23 June) expressed anger at the decision of the bank to close 44 bank branches in 2021. The bank’s decision to press ahead with this significant bank branch closure programme across England and Wales is a bitter blow for customers, staff and local communities read more
Weetabix strikes suspended to allow for meaningful negotiations (22 June) – Strikes due to begin tomorrow (Wednesday 23 June) at cereal maker Weetabix have been suspended following talks between Unite the union and management at the company. Engineers employed by Weetabix and who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, were preparing to take strike action in a fire and rehire dispute, which would have resulted in the affected workers suffering substantial pay cuts. As a result of talks held today (Tuesday 22 June) Unite agreed to suspend strike action that was scheduled every Wednesday from tomorrow until September. In response Weetabix has agreed not to make any changes to the engineer’s contracts until at least 1 September. The move to deescalate the strike action is designed to allow meaningful negotiations to take place read more
Ealing summer parking ‘free for all’ after new Serco civil enforcement strikes announced (22 June) – Fresh strikes by Serco civil enforcement officers in Ealing over union busting will cause a summer parking ‘free for all’ in the borough, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Tuesday 22 June). An initial 72-hour strike beginning tomorrow (Wednesday 23 June), followed by two weeks of continuous strike action at the end of the month, means there will be no parking enforcement in Ealing between 23 June and 25 June and 30 June and 14 July. Since May 5, more than 40 civil enforcement officers have taken intermittent strike action over Serco’s offer of severance to elected Unite representatives, activists, and lay members. The severance offers were made to undermine trade union organisation and collective consultation read more
Sullom Voe Terminal talks break down as industrial action set to begin (22 June) – Unite Scotland can confirm that talks to prevent industrial action at Sullom Voe Terminal have ended with no movement on the part of Shetland Islands Council (SIC) to resolve the dispute. Around 40 towage workers employed by SIC are set to begin an overtime ban on 5 July which will continue over a seven-week period (see notes to editors). Unite has confirmed that if no progress takes place in the coming weeks, then strike action remains a possibility which would represent a major escalation in the dispute. The overtime ban will ‘hugely disrupt’ the multi-million pound contract to bring oil tankers on to the shore for oil processing and also on production for the Brent and Ninian fields. In April, Unite announced that towage workers on a return of 86.5 per cent voted by 87.1 per cent to take industrial action. The dispute revolves around workers being denied a ‘service award’ after their transfer to SIC in 2006. The towage workers have been told by SIC that they will not receive the long service award if they fulfil 25 years’ service, which is the equivalent of one month’s salary like other council workers. Instead, the workers will continue to receive a flat rate of £250 read more
Support indefinite St Mungo’s strike over bullying at housing charity’s Bristol office – the strike was called after several staff grievances against property services senior management were dismissed read more
Donate to strike hardship fund – Unite LE/1111, sort code 60-83-01, account number 204183
Support striking Unite members in escalating ‘victimisation’ dispute at Woolwich Ferry (16 June) – Unite’s 57 members have been taking strike action since mid-May with more already announced strike days on 18, 21, 22, and 25 June. The nine new 24 hour strikes are scheduled for 2,5,9,12,16,19,23,26 and 30 July read more
Tyne and Wear braced for ‘Metro misery’ during rail maintenance strikes – Tyne and Wear residents are being warned to brace for ‘Metro misery’ during train maintenance strikes that will impact rail travel across the region. Unite, the UK’s leading union, issued the warning after its members employed by Swiss rail giant Stadler voted for strike action in response to the company implementing a pay freeze. Around 30 Unite members, in coordination with RMT members also taking industrial action against Stadler’s wage freeze, will strike on 28, 29 and 30 June and 1, 2, 3 and 4 July. An overtime ban will also commence on 5 July read more
Shame of the NHS bosses who refuse talks to resolve Lancashire biomedical scientists’ pay upgrade dispute – Hardline NHS bosses at a Lancashire NHS trust have, so far, spurned the offer of any talks, including under the auspices of conciliation service Acas, to resolve the biomedical scientists’ upgrading pay row. As a result, Unite the union said that the 21 biomedical scientists at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust will hold a month of strike action from 21 June to 28 July, following on the current strike action that started on 31 May and ends on 21 June. The crux of the dispute is the ‘bad faith’ that the trust management has shown when it reneged on the 2019 pay upgrade deal that it originally agreed to read more
Royal London hospital patients facing ‘food chaos’ as Serco workers to strike in bullying and roster clash – Patients at the Royal London hospital in Whitechapel, East London, are facing the prospect of ‘food chaos’ later this month, after workers employed by troubled outsourcing giant Serco voted for strike action. The workers, who are members of Unite the union, are based in the hospital’s back of house catering department. They play a key role in ensuring that meals are prepared and delivered to patients on the wards. The dispute is a result of bullying from management and the introduction of a disastrous new roster system that has severely impacted the workforce’s personal lives. Unite has been seeking to resolve these matters since July 2020. The workers overwhelmingly voted for strike action in April. Since then Unite has been seeking to avoid industrial action, but negotiations with Serco have stalled and an initial five days of strike beginning on Monday 21 June have been called. Further strike dates are likely if the dispute is not resolved. The bullying by management concerns the aggressive use of sickness absence triggers and the abuse of power in the allocation of shifts and holidays, which has left members at breaking point, during the pandemic read more
Unite considering all legal options against Goodlord following ‘unfair’ dismissal of striking workers – Unite, the UK’s leading union, is considering all legal option against London property services firm Goodlord following its ‘unfair’ dismissal of striking workers on Wednesday evening (19 May)…More than 20 members of Unite, employed in Goodlord’s referencing department, began strike action on 22 February over fire and rehire contract changes that resulted in annual pay falling from £24,000 to £18,000. The original contracts for around half of the striking workers expired during the strike action. As they refused to sign up to the radically diminished terms and conditions Goodlord was offering, the workers were dismissed read more
See Reel News video of Goodlord strike. Messages of support to [email protected]
- Email complaints to [email protected]; tweet complaints to @sogoodlord
- Strike fund donations to Unite LE/7098L London ITC Branch, sort code 60-83-01, account 20303680, reference Goodlord
Engineers at Leicestershire’s Brush Electrical strike over fire and rehire cuts of up to £15,000 – Engineers employed by Brush Electrical Machines, owned by venture capitalists Melrose and based in Ashby de-la Zouch, will stage summer strikes in response to ‘fire and rehire’ pay cuts of up to £15,000, Unite said today (Tuesday 11 May 2021). Unite, the UK’s leading union, said the 30 engineers, who service generators around the world, voted overwhelmingly in favour of striking and will stage industrial action every day from 25 May to 16 August. The proposed contracts include reductions to overtime rates, allowances, holidays and other terms and conditions that would result in a pay cut of between £10,000 and £15,000 a year. The engineers’ jobs have been threatened if they do not sign the new contracts, which will leave them on pay rates ‘well below the industry standard’. The union said the strikes will ‘cause havoc to the firm’s worldwide servicing schedule and serious inconvenience to its international clients’. Parent company Melrose has a reputation for targeting workers and viable operations to boost short-term profits read more
Read document by Unite Community Cumbria branch: ‘Covid and the Tories – a world beating catastrophe’
PCS
Outsourcing of core civil service work in DWP (28 June) – Three year contract extension for telephony in Universal Credit to be awarded to outsourcing giant Serco. DWP plans to extend the outsourced contract for telephony services in Universal Credit (UC) for a further three years. The original argument for the outsourcing of this work was the extra work created by the pandemic, to ensure calls from claimants could be answered, enabling DWP staff to concentrate on case work. PCS opposes the outsourcing of this work and believes that better value and better service for customers would be delivered by our members working in DWP read more
Why we are striking at the DVLA as action continues (25 June) – As our DVLA Covid safety strike remains strong, with action this week and next, members explain why they’ve joined the walkout. PCS members working in the input services group (ISG) and OSG have been out from Tuesday (22) to Thursday (24). The overall impact of the strike by our members, who open and scan all items of post, has been keenly felt by the agency with the current backlog standing at 1.4million pieces of post. Instead of trying to solve the dispute, DVLA senior management instructed a private company to carry out work in order to undermine the strike. DVLA is now using a contractor APS as “contingency” to print 400,000 V11 forms for car tax. Staff have been told to expect to share their desk with one other person during the week because there are too many staff and not enough desks. This means they’ve reduced desks by 300 earlier in the year to meet the 2 metre distancing requirement and now they’re bringing so many staff back that they have to share desks read more
PCS reacts to ‘cowardly’ comments from Grant Shapps on DVLA strike (24 June)
PCS serves notice of industrial action ballot on OCS (25 June) – PCS has today, (25 June), served notice to OCS of the intention to ballot all OCS members working on the HMCTS contract for industrial action with the ballot set to open on 2 July. This action follows a disgraceful move from the outsourcing company to renege on the pay settlement agreement reached during dispute resolution talks that was accepted by the overwhelming majority of members. OCS’ actions are callous and shameful and our members are ready to launch a further campaign in defence of pay read more
PCS back in dispute with OCS over failure to adhere to pay settlement (22 June)
GMB
Sign petition: Reinstate Gary Bolister sacked GMB rep at Islington Council
Hundreds to strike at spitfire manufacturer GKN Sankey over pay dispute (23 June) – Workers with combined 4,000 years of experience to walk out following assault on redundancy payments. More than 200 long-service workers have voted overwhelmingly to strike at GKN Sankey in Telford following a months-long onslaught on redundancy packages and pay. The wheel manufacturing company – which made RAF Spitfires during World War 2 – has repeatedly refused to negotiate with their recognised trade union, GMB. The strike will begin on Monday July 5, with more dates to be announced read more
Dozens to protest at Telford spitfire manufacturer GKN Sankey (28 June) – GMB members will not put up with ruthless attacks on their pay and conditions. Dozens of protestors are set to gather outside GKN Sankey in Telford today after workers voted to strike read more
New green list welcome but aviation ‘desperate’ for sector-specific furlough (25 June) – GMB members in airlines and ground-handling face continuing uncertainty over their jobs and continue to face pay cuts. The aviation industry desperately needs sector specific furlough arrangements despite the changes to the green list countries, GMB says. Arrivals from 16 places, including Spain’s Balearic Islands, will not have to quarantine from 04:00 on Wednesday read more
Just 3% of ‘blue collar’ construction workers are women – GMB study (24 June) – Industry must end disgraceful environment women are subjected to on the shop floor. Just 3% of ‘blue collar’ construction workers are women, a GMB study shows. The union’s analysis of ONS data shows overall women make up a mere 13% of the construction workforce – with just 3.6% in ‘blue collar’ roles read more
GMB Union condemns Brighton & Hove City Council’s re-instatement of parking charges for NHS Heroes (22 June) – Taking away the free parking for NHS staff whilst at work looking after our loved ones, is disgraceful, and the Green Party administration doing so at the behest of a Tory government will not be forgotten, say GMB Union. GMB, the union for all NHS workers, have today strongly criticised Brighton’s minority Green Party-led Council for removing free parking subsidies for hospital staff. Despite still battling the pandemic, the staff face this direct slap in the face as the Council support and implement Tory central government’s removal of their right to park at work for free. The re-introduction of parking charges from 21st June comes about despite the Government’s ‘Roadmap’ out of restrictions having had to be further extended for 4 more weeks read more
Unison
Tower Hamlets Unison: #BuildTheBallot for Further Action • Opens Thursday 24 June – By a thumping majority, our members rejected management’s most recent proposal to end the Trade Dispute on Tower Rewards. Shamefully, those terms were imposed on us last summer at the height of the pandemic, by our Labour council using “Sack and Re-engage” measures that have been widely condemned and that Kier Starmer says he will outlaw read more
Members protest fire and rehire at £73m leisure centre (24 June) – ‘A Labour-controlled council should not engage organisations that use fire and rehire to run its leisure centres,’ says UNISON branch. Around 40 people joined a UNISON protest rally outside the construction site of the new £73million Aquatic Centre in Sandwell, West Midlands, being built for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. The rally on Tuesday was called to highlight the “unnecessary and unjust” fire and rehire of all staff undertaken by Sandwell Leisure Trust, the organisation set to run the Aquatic Centre read more
All eyes on the PM to give health staff a decent pay rise (23 June) – No more delay tactics over deserved wage rise. UNISON health members stand outside Parliament holding up signs that say ‘All eyes on you Boris’ and ‘No place to hide on NHS pay’. Thousands of health workers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be looking to the Prime Minister to announce his decision on the long-awaited NHS pay rise in the coming days, says UNISON today read more
CWU
Fight for fairness goes on as Swiss Post members endure real-term pay cut (28 June) – The CWU has pledged to intensify pressure on Swiss Post Solutions to recognise the contribution made by members in BT mailrooms throughout the pandemic following a pay settlement which sees remuneration levels dip below the Real Living Wage (RLW) for the first time since their outsourcing by BT read more
Vote ‘YES’ for a fair deal on holiday pay in Royal Mail Group (June 25) – Regular non-contractual overtime to be included within annual leave remuneration, if proposed agreement is endorsed in national branch ballot. Voting opens next week on a proposed Royal Mail Group-wide agreement for average pay on annual leave (holiday pay). This has been endorsed by the postal executive and is being recommended for acceptance through a national branch ballot. Branches are being urged to ‘Vote Yes’ in the branch ballot, which will run from next Monday (28th June) until mid-day on Friday 16th July read more
‘Final’ pay offer for Capita Tesco Mobile members out to ballot (June 24) – Protracted and challenging pay talks on behalf of members in the Capita Tesco Mobile Partnership – held against the difficult backdrop of a renegotiation of the contract and a recently announced site closure bombshell – have reached their conclusion. Yesterday (Wednesday) a consultative ballot opened on the company’s final offer, which confirms Capita’s earlier commitment to pay an absolute minimum of the Real Living Wage and delivers consolidated pay rises of at least 1.85% for everyone paid above that level read more
Union saves remote Scottish Highland mail service (June 23) – Residents of one of the UK’s smallest and most remote communities have retained their post office, SPDO and their only shop – thanks to a successful campaign led by the CWU read more
BT strike ballot scheduled for early June if no agreement reached – Andy Kerr gives the company three weeks’ notice to halt its attack on the workforce, or face the prospect of a nationwide strike…The first UK-wide industrial action in BT since 1987 will be on the cards unless company bosses “see sense,” warned CWU deputy general secretary Andy Kerr this morning, as he and CWU president Karen Rose headed into talks requested by the company in response to the groundswell of outrage from angry members across the country. Both Andy and Karen stressed their thanks and praise for the “fantastic support” from the membership for the union’s vigorous ‘Count Me In’ campaign, which has, they insisted, been the key factor in forcing the business to seek negotiations. And, in return for the company agreeing to pause its redundancy programme, the union has agreed to pause triggering the statutory industrial action ballot process. “This is a small victory,” said Andy, in a live broadcast earlier. “We’re around the table now and we will work 24/7 over the next three weeks to make sure we get the right deal for all of you.” But Andy assured the thousands of members watching that, unless sufficient progress is made in these talks, the union will “push the button” on a statutory national industrial action ballot of some 40,000 members working for BT, Openreach and EE at the beginning of June. “We want a negotiated settlement, but if that fails, we will ballot in early June for industrial action,” he vowed read more
NEU
Support these strikes:-
| Action | Date | Contact |
| Oaks Park High / Redbridge
(Victimisation of NEU Rep & Members) |
Tuesday 29 June
Wednesday 30 June Thursday 1 July |
[email protected]
|
| Coventry Schools Foundation / Coventry
(Redundancies)
|
Tuesday 29 June
Wednesday 30 June Thursday 1 July |
[email protected]
|
| Tring Park School for Performing Arts / Herts
(Teacher’s Pension Scheme) |
Wednesday 30 June | [email protected]
|
| Valence Primary /Barking & Dagenham
(Restructure) |
Wednesday 30 June | [email protected]
|
| Lees Brook Community School / City of Derby
(Restructure) |
Thursday 1 July | [email protected]
|
| Merrill Academy / City of Derby
(Restructure) |
Thursday 1 July | [email protected]
|
| Pimlico Academy / Westminster
(Unacceptable Management Style) |
Thursday 1 July | [email protected],.org.uk
|
| Stoke Newington School / Hackney
(Workload) |
Thursday 1 July | [email protected]
|
NASUWT
Hertfordshire teachers take strike action to protect pensions (22 June) – Members of NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts are taking the first of five planned days of strike action tomorrow (Wednesday) over plans by their employer to withdraw from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS). Removing teachers from the TPS would result in a worsening of their pension benefits and have a detrimental impact on their future financial security. The school has failed to provide a satisfactory justification for the plans and has ignored the concerns raised by teachers read more
Bromley teachers take strike action to protect pensions – Members of NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union at Bishop Challoner School in Bromley are taking the first of six planned days of strike action tomorrow (15 June) over plans by their employer to withdraw from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS). The employer is seeking to downgrade the pension benefits of members which would affect their future financial security. The employer has not responded to the approach from the NASUWT to resolve this dispute and has ignored the concerns raised by teachers during the consultation process read more
Strike action at Loughborough school over attacks on pensions – Members of NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union at Loughborough Grammar School have taken the first of six planned days of strike action over moves by their employer to withdraw from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS). Teachers at the school have been threatened with dismissal if they do not accept the proposed withdrawal from the TPS and downgrading of their pension benefits read more
EIS
EIS welcomes ruling in Forth Valley College dispute that will ‘protect role of lecturers’ (24 June) – The EIS has welcomed the ruling by the National Joint Negotiating Committee (NJNC) which has found that posts at Forth Valley College that led to a long-running dispute are, indeed, lecturing posts and therefore subject to lecturers’ terms and conditions. The EIS had been in dispute with management at Forth Valley College over the downgrading of these posts. In a move to resolve the protracted dispute between Forth Valley College and the EIS, which included industrial action short of strike action and strike action, a Joint Referral was made to the NJNC (the collective bargaining machinery of Scottish colleges and staff) for it to determine as to whether the ‘instructor-assessor’ posts at the college were lecturers in line with NJNC agreements, or not. Both the EIS and Forth Valley College agreed that the determination would be binding read more
UCU
Updates on latest UCU disputes
Petition calling for fair funding and online learning
Strong university finances mean staff must be paid fairly (25 June) – There is no excuse not to restore pay to acceptable levels and provide secure pensions for university staff, said UCU. The call came as new analysis by the Office for Students shows that university finances are in good health. The latest recruitment figures also show unprecedented numbers of people applying to university read more
Fury as St Helens College and Knowsley Community College threatens to axe 22 staff (24 June) – UCU has slammed SK College Group – which runs St Helens College and Knowsley Community College – for its plans to axe 22 staff from a pool of 76 teachers it has put at risk of redundancy. The plans are the fourth round of redundancies in just 12 months. The plans would mean almost one in ten (8.8%) teachers across the college would go, including in accounting, science, engineering and sport. They would also see over half the teachers in computing sacked. The college says it is making the cuts to ‘maximise efficiency’ and create 11 ‘progress coaches’ read more
Government to blame for suffering faced by university staff and students (24 June) – HEPI’s 2021 student academic experience survey showed that students have had a challenging year during Covid-19. Responding to the report, UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: ‘Both staff and students have suffered enormously this year. The fault lies squarely with government ministers and university vice-chancellors who pushed ahead with a reckless reopening of campuses for in-person teaching and “blended learning” at the start of the academic year, ignoring warnings from university staff and the government’s own scientific advisors read more
Stop devastating arts cuts, unions tell prime minister (23 June) – The government must immediately halt devastating plans to half grants for university arts subjects in England, said seven trade unions. UCU, Equity UK, BECTU, Writers Guild of Great Britain, Musicians’ Union, Unison and Unite have jointly written to prime minister Boris Johnson to oppose proposed funding cuts to creative and performative arts subjects in the Higher Education Teaching Grant budget for 2021-2022 read more
Education report ‘weaponising educational inequalities’, UCU says (22 June) – UCU has today criticised a report by the Education Select Committee, branding it a ‘weaponising of educational inequalities’ after authors claimed use of the term ‘white privilege’ was a factor in low levels of educational attainment amongst white working-class pupils read more
600 staff at 49 prisons out on strike in Covid safety dispute (22 June) – Around 600 staff at 49 prisons across England are set to strike tomorrow in a long running health and safety dispute with employer Novus. The strike will be the fourth time the 600 staff members, represented by UCU, will have walked out in the past two months. The dispute is over the failure to address health and safety concerns raised by prison educators, a failure to meaningfully engage with UCU on the part of Novus, and repeated attempts by management to intimidate staff who had raised health and safety issues. Novus is the biggest prison education employer in the UK and is owned by parent company LTE Group read more
Three days of strikes begin tomorrow at University of Leicester – Staff at the University of Leicester will down tools tomorrow (8 June) in the first of three continuous days of strike action as they fight against 26 compulsory redundancies. The strikes come after around 70% of staff who voted in an industrial ballot said yes to strike action to stop the sackings. University of Leicester vice-chancellor Nishan Canagarajah has since handed the 26 staff their redundancy notices, and they are set to lose their jobs from Tuesday 3 August. 72 senior Leicester staff and professors have written to University of Leicester’s executive board setting out concerns that some staff have been targeted for redundancy because of the intellectual approaches of their research, which they say is a serious threat to academic freedom. A marking and assessment boycott by university staff has also now entered its second month. The marking boycott and strike action are both taking place during the crucial end of year examination period, meaning disruption for the university will be especially severe. UCU has additionally hit Leicester with the ultimate sanction of a global boycott, meaning the union is asking its members, other trade unions, and the international academic community to boycott the university. This includes not speaking at events, accepting invitations to give lectures, or applying for jobs at Leicester. Since the global boycott began last month at least 19 events have been cancelled, indefinitely postponed or moved elsewhere read more
UCU fighting fund: the link is here and donations to the fund are spent on supporting members involved in important disputes. As always, members are asked to contribute whatever their circumstances allow. A donation in solidarity of any amount will be gratefully received by members taking action.
POA
POA to continue to support members injured on the road – as Government restricts access to justice (28 June) – New rules that came into force on 31st May will remove legal help to road accident victims – but the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) has announced it will be stepping in to continue to support any member with a claim to make sure they continue to get specialist legal help. The changes, part of the Civil Liability Act 2018, will see the small claims limit (below which no legal costs are paid back even if you were not at fault) increase from £1,000 to £5,000. Since the new limit will cover most road accidents, thousands of people injured through no fault of their own will have to fight insurers on their own and in their own time or pay legal fees up front read more
NAPO
Napo working to resolve unification problems (25 June) – Napo activists along with our National Officers and Officials have been inundated this month with members enquiries around the shambles that has emerged on a range of pre-unification issues read more Napo Magazine Reunification Special Out Now
Employers cannot hide behind flawed Government policy on COVID (25 June) – There is no doubt that the SARS-CoV-2 virus which causes COVID-19, has changed the workplace and impacted considerably on working practices across the world. During the pandemic, Napo has sought to work closely with employers to ensure that they take all possible steps to protect the health, safety, and wellbeing of staff read more
Cafcass update (25 June) – You may remember that Napo submitted a question to the Cafcass Open Board meeting that took place on the 28.05.21 about the results from our members’ workloads survey. We have received a formal response from Jacky Tiotto that we wanted to share with you read more
FBU
FBU general secretary Matt Wrack writes to PM over central government threats (22 June) – FBU general secretary Matt Wrack has written to Prime Minister Boris Johnson in opposition to his government’s forthcoming attack on firefighters. In the letter Matt explains that the union is aware “of the likelihood of a White Paper addressing issues within the fire and rescue service”, and that there are concerns around “two specific areas which appear to be under consideration; the role of Police and Crime Commissioners and the issue of collective bargaining within the service”. With regards to PCCs it is thought that takeovers by them of fire services could be mandated, threatening local democracy and the clear distinction between the police and fire services. The union believes that collective bargaining is under threat due to a series of government-led inspection reports which heavily criticised current arrangements. However these criticisms came from a small number of chiefs, and are not reflective of the majority of comments from chief fire officers read more
NUJ
Journalists condemn fire and rehire tactics at Newsquest (28 June) – NUJ members throughout the company are appalled but also bemused as to why Newsquest is choosing to take such an extreme measure. The NUJ Newsquest chapel has agreed the following statement: “This Newsquest group chapel condemns the use of fire and rehire tactics at the Oxford Mail to force through cuts to members’ terms and conditions. Stripping journalists of bank holiday payments in the wake of a year when they have pulled out all the stops to serve their local communities is disgraceful and has piled stress and anxiety onto a newsroom already facing reduced staffing levels and unacceptably long working hours…” read more
Remembering Veronica Guerin (26 June) – NUJ members marked the anniversary of the murder of Sunday Independent journalist and member Veronica Guerin read more
Government urged to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting (25 June) – The NUJ has backed the call from a coalition of unions and industry bodies for the government to set out a clear timetable for companies to be forced to publish this data on their workforce read more
NUJ response to UK government White paper on broadcasting (23 June) – Paul Siegert, NUJ national broadcasting organiser, said: “It’s hard to see any justification for privatising Channel Four other than ideology. Channel 4 has achieved what it was asked to do and has proved a hit with viewers.” Read more
TUC calls for long Covid to be recognised as a disability (22 June) – The condition needs to recognised as an occupational disease, to give workers access to legal protections and compensation read more
Equity
Unions publishing open letter opposing cuts to Higher Education performing arts subjects (23 June) – Seven trade unions – including Equity – have come together to publish an open letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in opposition to proposed funding cuts to creative and performative arts subjects in the Higher Education Teaching Grant budget for 2021–2022. The unions are Equity UK, University and College Union (UCU), BECTU, Writers Guild of Great Britain, Musicians’ Union, Unison and Unite. The cuts have been proposed by the Department for Education’s Office for Students body and Education Secretary Gavin Williamson, and suggest halving the grants going to “high cost” Higher Education arts subjects in England to prioritise funding to “subjects vital to the economy and labour markets” read more
Prospect
Comprehensive support package still needed for aviation, says Prospect (25 June) – While it is welcome that the government has indicated there could be a further relaxation of travelling restrictions later this summer, the aviation sector is still in desperate need of a comprehensive support package says Prospect read more
Agreement on AGR decommissioning provides welcome certainty for Prospect members in the sector (23 June) – The government has agreed arrangements with EDF for the decommissioning of seven Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors (AGR) read more
USDAW
Home Affairs Select Committee call for a new protection of shopworkers law welcomed by Usdaw, now the Government should listen (29 June) – Retail trade union Usdaw has welcomed a report from a cross-party committee of MPs that highlights the need for a new criminal offence to protect shopworkers following a shocking upsurge in violence and abuse. The union is hoping that an amendment to the Government’s flagship crime bill will be debated and voted on next Monday 5 July read more
Striking workers at DHL/M&S Long Eaton ask MPs for support as Usdaw announces a third 24-hour stoppage (22 June) – Retail logistics trade union Usdaw has announced a third 24-hour stoppage at the Long Eaton DHL / Marks and Spencer distribution centre, which will begin at 5.15am on Thursday 1 July. The continuing industrial action affects a Marks & Spencer third-party logistics contract, operated by DHL at Long Eaton in Derbyshire. Usdaw members voted by over 90% in favour of strike action in a dispute over the amount of redundancy pay that long serving staff will receive when the site closes at the end of July. Usdaw members are also calling on local MPs to support the striking workers and are inviting them to join the picket line read more
BCM Fareva staff vote decisively to strike – Usdaw urges the Nottingham based employer to withdraw their ‘fire and rehire’ threat – Usdaw members have voted by over 90% in favour of industrial action at BCM Fareva, the Nottingham based manufacturer of consumer pharma and beauty products for leading brands including Boots. BCM Fareva has proposed slashing members’ terms and conditions, including sick pay and redundancy payment provisions, while pre-emptively threatening to ‘fire and rehire’ staff if agreement cannot be reached on the proposed changes. Usdaw has informed the company of the result and again calls on them to avoid industrial action by removing their threat to ‘fire and rehire’ read more
IWGB
End The Freeze Enfield! Enfield cycling instructors to demonstrate against 12 year pay freeze (29 June) – Cycling instructors in Enfield and their colleagues will demonstrate outside Enfield Civic Centre, Silver Street, on Tuesday 29th June 2021, against a 12 year pay freeze and worsening terms and conditions. The pay freeze is equivalent to a 30% real terms pay cut or £172 per week. Instructors are also subject to unfair cancellation policies, where they can lose all income from booked lessons with 24 hours’ notice. Furthermore, instructors need to carry out more and more unpaid preparation work which is needed to keep adults and children safe. Press and photographers are invited to attend from 19:00-19:20 read more
Other News
Tamil Solidarity trade union newsletter and model motion
Fight blacklisting and victimisation of union reps
#SPYCops Inquiry exposes state surveillance of workers movement
Keep up with developments and read and watch campaigners’ statements on the Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance (COPS) and Undercover Policing Inquiry websites and spycops info Facebook group
Builders Crack: The Movie
In the current situation, this long lost film from the 1990s about rank and file union organising in the construction industry is intended to lift the spirits, but also to spark a debate in our movement. Hope the youngsters in this film put a smile on your face.
Watch – Share – Discuss https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VZ-QMA1FMg
Blacklist Support Group
Book: http://newint.org/books/politics/blacklisted-secret-war/
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNcgrNs6pB8
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/
Blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog
Blacklist Support Group financial appeal: the Blacklist support group is desperately short of funds, to continue the incredible work we need more finance, would you please consider making a donation, raise it at your branches and trade councils. Please make cheques payable to Joint sites committee and send to 70 Darnay Rise Chelmsford Essex CM1 4XA. Please forward onto your contacts many thanks Steve Kelly (JSC Treasurer)
Blacklisted t-shirts available at: https://shop.hopenothate.org.uk/component/hikashop/product/78-blacklisted-t-shirt
International
Iran: The NSSN sends its greetings and solidarity to the oil, and other, workers in Iran currently in involved in struggles and striving to build an independent workers’ movement. We note that these are taking place despite repeated repression of the workers’ struggles and imprisonment of workers and pensioners’ activists and leaders. We demand the release of all imprisoned workers and pensioners activists. We send our greetings and solidarity to the oil workers currently nationally on strike for permanent contracts and an end to temporary, contract and agency employment, a single national wage structure, wage increases in line with inflation, no redundancies, a 20 day working month and better accommodation for workers working away from home. The NSSN believes that the revival of the workers’ movement in Iran and its striving to build independent and democratic workers’ organisations has an international significance that will help inspire similar developments against all the dictatorial and authoritarian regimes in the Middle East. We offer our solidarity in whichever way possible.
NUJ: Democracy crumbles in Hong Kong as Apple Daily shutters HK operations (24 June) read more
Diary
Saturday July 3rd – NHS Anniversary events read more
Sunday September 12th – 1pm NSSN TUC Rally
CONTACT US
PHONE 07952 283 558
EMAIL mailto:[email protected]
TWITTER – https://twitter.com/NSSN_AntiCuts
FACEBOOK NSSN GROUP or STOP The CUTS Likes page
ADDRESS NSSN, PO Box 54498, London E10 9DE
