NSSN 599: Strike wave escalates with massive CWU action

We send our full support and solidarity to the CWU and its members, who are striking in Royal Mail, British Telecom/Openreach and the Post Office. This Wednesday August 31st, workers in Royal Mail and BT will be striking together – bringing out up to 160,000 in the single biggest day of action in the current strike wave. This is a massive step up in the growing tide of workers’ action against the squeeze in living standards as RPI inflation rises to 12.3% and energy prices spiral still further, while the employers and their Tory government maintain their pay restraint.

Railworkers are continuing strikes nationally and in London, while in Scotland action by local government workers is due to spread to 20 councils as the derisory pay offer is rejected. Bus workers are moving into action again, while dockers in Felixstowe have shown their power with their first round of strikes. As we enter the autumn, public sector unions are due to start national strike ballots.

NSSN CWU 599

On picket line after picket line, the idea of workers striking together is winning support. Join the NSSN lobby of TUC Congress on Sunday 11th September in Brighton that is calling for action to be co-ordinated. The TUC has called a lobby of Parliament on Wednesday 19th October, just weeks after the new Tory prime minister takes office. This should be turned into a mass midweek demonstration, that can bring together workers who are currently in dispute with those looking to take action as well as the growing number of people furious about the spiralling energy prices and cost of living crisis.

We support the call of the CWU for Royal Mail and BT to be re-nationalised. Follow the latest news via CWU’s Facebook page, website and Twitter @CWUnews

The action is as follows:-

Friday 26th August – Royal Mail Group and Post Office Crowns, Admin and Supply Chain

Saturday 27th August – Post Office Crowns

Tuesday 30th August – BT Group, Openreach and Post Office Admin and Supply Chain

Wednesday 31st August – Royal Mail Group and BT Group, Openreach

Thursday 8th September – Royal Mail Group

Friday 9th September – Royal Mail Group

Andy Furey to POL members – ‘Your action is making a massive difference’ (30 Aug) – Another weekend of strikes across the Post Office, pay offer increases, ACAS talks are on. “Although the current offer is still not enough, the fact that it’s increased is 100 per cent down to the magnificent unity shown by members,” said CWU assistant secretary Andy Furey this morning. Post Office members took their fourth and fifth strike days over the weekend, with Crown Office, Supply Chain and Admin members walking out on Friday, Crown Office workers stopping again on Saturday, and Supply Chain and Admin grades on the picket lines again early this morning. Andy Furey spoke to us from the Birmingham site just after 6am, saying: “There’s already a few of us here and the mood is one of determination among the members I’ve spoken to so far. I’ve told them all how proud this union is of all of them for their fighting spirit…” read more

Walkout Friday – a ‘monumental’ day for our union’ (26 Aug) – As over 110,000 CWU members take action for fair pay, national officers heap praise on ‘magnificent, determined and disciplined’ strikers. What a day for the CWU – our general secretary Dave Ward and deputy general secretary Terry Pullinger leading from the front as always, Dave visiting east London delivery offices and then spearheading a lively rally at Royal Mail’s giant Mount Pleasant site in central London, while our deputy general secretary postal Terry Pullinger began his day at Blackpool, before heading onto Kirkham and Preston read more

 

TUC rally and lobby of Parliament on Wednesday 19th October against the cost of living crisis   Unison website   NAPO website

 

Fight the Tory pay insult: Come to the NSSN TUC Congress Rally & Lobby #StrikeTogether – 1pm Sunday 11th September Holiday Inn Brighton Seafront Facebook eventspeakers confirmed so far: Sharon Graham Unite General Secretary, Sarah Woolley BFAWU General Secretary, Mick Whelan ASLEF General Secretary, Steve Gillan POA General Secretary, Ian Lawrence NAPO General Secretary, Matt Webb Brighton Trades Union Council, Rob Williams NSSN Chair plus speakers from RMT and CWU disputes and the Coventry bin strike. As usual at NSSN events, there will be an open mic to give a platform to rank and file workers.

The NSSN is again lobbying TUC Congress, And it is especially important this year, given the escalating cost of living crisis. Join the lobby – send the message to the union leaders: co-ordinate the action. There will be a rally in the Holiday Inn Hotel and then a march to lobby TUC Congress delegates at the Brighton Centre.

Please support this model motion and take it to your union branch and trades council and support the NSSN rally and lobby in Brighton:-

“This (union branch/trades council) gives our full support to workers being forced to take strike action against their employers backed by the Tory government. The cost of living crisis, fire and rehire tactics and other attacks by employers in pursuit of maintaining profits at our expense all mean workers are uniting to fight back.

We will continue to give our solidarity, building practical and financial support to all striking workers. The increasing number of disputes shows the immense power of workers. If unions act together, significant victories can be won. We also oppose the Tories’ threats to introduce further anti-union legislation to the raft of undemocratic restrictions already in existence and call on the TUC to co-ordinate opposition.

We call on unions in struggle to urgently come together to discuss and formulate a strategy to co-ordinate industrial action ballots and strikes.

We therefore agree to build the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) rally and lobby of TUC Congress in Brighton on Sunday 11 September behind this call.”

Please let us know if your union branch/trades council supports our rally and we’ll add to our list of supporting union organisations. Let us know if your union/organisation would like a stall in our rally.

If you want to attend the NSSN TUC Rally and need transport and/or you want leaflets and posters to give out, email us via [email protected]. To make a donation to the NSSN and/or get your union branch/trades council to affiliate for an annual fee of £50, either make a cheque out to ‘National Shop Stewards Network’ and post to NSSN, PO Box 54498, London E10 9DE or pay online: HSBC – sort code 40-06-41, account number 90143790.

Watch the video of the NSSN Conference platform speakers here

This is the video that was played before the start of the recent NSSN Conference – showing many of the disputes that we’ve supported over the last year

 

Coventry TUC: Fight the Cost of Living Crisis: march and rally to support strikes to defend pay and conditions – 11am Saturday 24th September, assemble at Coventry train station Facebook event

 

‘The working class is back as a movement’ – Enough is Enough read more on CWU website. People can find out about events and how to join the campaign via the Enough is Enough website

Enough is Enough National Day of Action on energy prices rise on October 1st with protests across the UK

 

People’s Assembly:-

Protest the Tory Party Conference – 2 Oct, 1pm, Victoria Square, Birmingham

National Demonstration – 5 Nov 2022, London, Assemble Embankment, WC2N 6NS

 

Support the rail strikes

Donate to the RMT National Dispute Fund

US SENATOR BERNIE SANDERS TO JOIN RMT LONDON RALLY ON WEDNESDAY 31 AUGUST

Join the rally – save London’s public transport. Event date: Wednesday, 31st of August ’22. Dear colleague, PUBLIC RALLY: SAVE LONDON’S PUBLIC TRANSPORT – Resist the managed decline of services, jobs and conditions, 7pm, Wednesday 31st August, Conway Hall, London, WC1R 4RL. London’s public transport system has been under sustained attack since the Covid pandemic exposed the fallacy of attempting to fund a public service out of fare revenue. The Tory government has exploited the collapse of Transport for London’s finances to launch an assault on the pay, pensions, jobs and working conditions of London’s transport workers and it seems intent on driving the managed decline of our public transport system. We will not let them do this. London Underground workers are fighting back against attempts to make them pay the price of this crisis. London’s bus workers are campaigning against swingeing cuts to services. Other workers are joining the struggle. RMT is hosting a rally of unions involved in this struggle, open to passengers and the public at Conway Hall in central London on 31st August at 7pm. Please bring this rally to the attention of your members, come along yourselves and bring branch banners – Michael Lynch RMT General Secretary

ASLEF joins rally to save London’s Public Transport

TSSA members vote for strike action at West Midlands Trains and TransPennine Express (25 Aug) – Hundreds of TSSA members at TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains have voted overwhelmingly for strike action in results revealed today. The dispute with the train operators is over pay, job security and conditions, with the union also in dispute at Network Rail and other train companies across England. TSSA is not naming dates for any industrial action today but will now consider next steps with workplace reps read more

Construction workers action – action has started at NAECI sites over pay, with thousands taking part. The next planned day is this coming Wednesday. Without resolution, there will be further action every second Wednesday there after

 

NSSN news

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]

 

Union News

RMT

RMT demands meeting over betrayal of P&O seafarers (24 Aug) – SEAFARERS Union RMT has written to the Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps MP to demand a meeting to discuss the government’s failure to take action against P&O Ferries after it broke the law in dismissing nearly 800 seafarers in March and replaced them with agency crew. Despite the illegal sackings the Ministry of Defence has spent £50,000 making over 300 bookings on P&O services which are now crewed with exploited agency crews flown in to work months solid for under £4 per hour. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that the government had completely failed to penalise P&O or any of the other low-cost operators read more

 

Unite

Strike action called at Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council in Northern Ireland after council bosses fail to deliver pay increase (30 Aug) – Unite the union notifies council of continuous strike action starting 6thSeptember 2022. After the breakdown of talks involving all three representative trade unions, Unite, GMB and NIPSA, strike action is now set to proceed at Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council. Unite the union lodged confirmation that its approximately 200 members would commence continuous strike action starting 6th September 2022. Unite has been seeking localized pay agreements with councils, the housing executive, the education authority and other education employers after the union rejected a national pay offer which failed to protect workers from the cost of living crisis. Industrial disputes which had saw extensive strikes at Mid-Ulster District Council and Derry City and Strabane District Council were ended after Unite members voted to accept a pay increase including a two pay point increase and a cash payment. At other councils in Northern Ireland, strike actions are suspended to allow negotiations in order that management make suitable offers. Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council is now set to join Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council where strike action is ongoing and involves all three representative trade unions: Unite, NIPSA and the GMB read more

Baker Hughes strike action amid fire and rehire claims (29 Aug) – Billion dollar US oil and gas giant plans to wipe-off £10,000 from salaries. Unite the union members working for US oil and gas giant, Baker Hughes, are starting strike action today (29 August) in a dispute over fire and rehire tactics. Around 110 workers are taking strike action with Unite accusing the multi-billion pound company of `laying waste to Scottish jobs’. Unite estimates that detrimental contractual changes could wipe-off up to 29 per cent from the annual wages of Baker Hughes workers. The equivalent to a £10,500 drop in annual income. Unite members voted for strike action by 87.3 per cent on an 87.5% per cent turnout to defend their jobs, terms and conditions. The all-out strike action will last until the morning of 14 September with a series of 48-hour stoppages taking place until 16 November read more

Bexley bin strikes off after Unite secures pay rise and defends T&Cs (26 Aug) – Strikes at Bexley council refuse contractor Countrystyle Recycling have been called off after workers voted to accept a pay deal that also protects their terms and conditions. Unite, the UK’s leading union, negotiated an eight per cent pay rise backdated to April as well as a £450 one-off payment for more than 100 workers. The deal also protects a long-standing job and finish clause in the workers’ contracts, which the company was trying to scrap, and ends set debrief times. Measures to improve working practices and industrial relations between the workforce and management are also being introduced read more

Strike notice issued to Northern Ireland Housing Executive after management fail to make any pay offer (26 Aug) – Four week strike will have severe impact on housing services. Strike involving 300 Unite members will start on Monday 5 September. Unite the union has confirmed that it has given the Northern Ireland Housing Executive seven day notice of a strike action over pay. The strike by the union’s approximately 300 members working at the agency is due to commence on September 5th and will remain in place for four weeks. The strike has been called after management failed to make any offer whatsoever to improve pay and meet the pay claim of Unite members. Workers’ demands include a cash payment alongside a consolidated two pay point increase above the [National Joint Council] national pay offer for 2021-22, which is a bare 1.75 percent. Workers at the Housing Executive engaged in two strikes earlier in the year but the latest announcement represents a clear escalation read more

Stansted strikes could bring airport to a halt after ‘pay cut’ offer (26 Aug) – More than 1,000 Stansted workers balloted after 7.5% offer follows huge executive pay rises. The ballot, which includes security officers, cleaners, firefighters, maintenance staff and airport ambassadors, opens today (Friday 26 August) and closes 19 September. An initial pay offer of 7.5 per cent plus a one-off £250 payment from Stansted, which is owned by Manchester Airports Group (MAG), was overwhelmingly rejected by the workers. Unite said this is a pay cut when the real rate of inflation, RPI, is running at 12.3 per cent and is expected to climb even higher. During the pandemic, workers at the airport agreed to a 10 per cent reduction in pay for a year, which was extended at short notice by a further three months. Meanwhile, MAG executive pay for the same period increased by £2.8 million to £12.2 million, an increase of 23 per cent read more

Unite anger over University of Dundee imposing ‘pension poverty’ (26 Aug) – Striking workers fight against £5,700 pension cut. Unite Scotland has today (26 August) angrily reacted to the University of Dundee confirming that it will forge ahead with detrimental pension changes. Over 100 Unite members are on continuous strike action since yesterday (25 August). The workers include technicians, administrators, student support staff and estates staff such as plumbers, joiners and electricians read more

West Midland Metro’s hard line on poverty pay means strike action looming which will disrupt Birmingham and Black Country passengers (26 Aug) – Birmingham and Black Country passengers using the West Midland Metro are braced for severe travel disruption this autumn as workers ballot for industrial action due to poverty pay rates. Over 170 workers at West Midland Metro will begin to be balloted on Friday 2 September, with the ballot closing on Friday 23 September. If the workers vote for strike action then stoppages are likely to begin in October. The West Midland Metro is a light rail network which stretches across Birmingham and into Wolverhampton. Unite, the UK’s leading union, is balloting its members who undertake roles as drivers, customer service representatives, engineers, infrastructure workers and other staff read more

Newham council’s failure to get serious about the cost of living crisis means bins will go unemptied (26 Aug) – Newham council’s failure to get serious about the cost of living crisis means bins will go unemptied. Strike action begins this Saturday. Council offers a “measly” £850 when workers demand £2300 to address pay disparities and the cost of living crisis. Strike action by refuse collection workers in the London Borough of Newham officially begins on Saturday 27 August. 99% of union members voted for action. Talks stalled this week after council bosses failed to improve an offer of just £850 a year for bank holiday working. The workers are currently paid far less than refuse workers in neighboring Hackney and Greenwich. For example an operative in Newham earns £22,850 compared to £24,763 for a worker in Greenwich doing the same work. With inflation running at 12.3% (RPI) and forecast to climb higher, spiralling price rises mean the essential workers face an impending financial emergency. The Borough’s failure to address the pay disparities alongside the cost of living crisis means a week of unemptied bins in Newham. More action will follow unless there is a deal read more

Woolwich Ferry workers take a stand once again against TfL misrule (26 Aug) – Workers begin voting on strike action against failing bosses. TfL refuse to discuss pay as inflation reaches 12.3 per cent. TfL (Transport for London) managers running the Woolwich Ferry service have once again provoked an industrial action ballot which could spell more misery for commuters unless bosses up their game. The employer is refusing to discuss a pay deal for 2022 when inflation is currently running at 12.3 per cent and workers face an oncoming financial catastrophe. To make matter worse, TfL management stand accused of victimising and unfairly suspending workers on the service while failing to involve the workforce in new proposals for the running the service. Unite the union said the troubled ferry operation has been plagued by poor employment relations for years, first with the previous operator Briggs Marine Contractors Ltd and now with TfL which has led to more than 30 days of strike action during 2021. Unite will ballot the 58 ferry workers over the coming weeks read more

Unite announces strike action set to spread across 20 Scottish councils (25 Aug) – Education and waste services in new councils join nationwide dispute. Unite the union has confirmed today (25 August) that it has now served notice of strike action in education and waste services hitting 20 councils across Scotland. On Tuesday, Unite confirmed that its local government committee rejected outright the current 5 per cent pay offer from COSLA. Talks involving the trade unions with the Deputy First Minister in Edinburgh took place last night (Wednesday) and despite being ‘constructive’ there was no breakthrough, and there remains no new offer on the table. Unite can today confirm that its members in waste services currently taking strike action in 14 councils will take another eight days action from 6 to 13 September. A further 5 councils are set to join this second phase of strike action in waste services in the following areas: Aberdeenshire, Dumfries and Galloway, East Dunbartonshire, Fife and North Ayrshire. In another new development Unite’s members in schools and early years services across 7 councils are scheduled to take three days of strike action on 6, 7, 8 and 9 September in the following areas: Angus, Dundee, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, and South Lanarkshire read more

Haldane Fisher workers win 12 percent pay increase from bosses and remove threat of strike action (25 Aug) – Unite the union’s members at leading timber and building merchants vote with 78.4 per cent majority to accept pay deal providing 12 per cent increase over fifteen months. In July Unite members working at Haldane Fisher, Northern Ireland’s leading timber and building merchants, voted with a 98.1 per cent majority to reject a pay offer from management worth an average of 6 per cent. This set the scene for strike action due to commence on 30 September which threatened to shut down the hardware retailer and its twelve stores across Northern Ireland. Ahead of that strike action, bosses returned to the table and made a last ditch pay offer to raise workers’ pay by 12 per cent over a 15 month period to the end of March 2023. This offer represents a significant pay improvement and matches the current retail price index inflation rate. Workers last night voted with a 78.4 per cent majority to accept the offer. Their pay dispute is now concluded with planned strike action no longer in prospect read more

SQA workforce vote for industrial action hitting student appeals (25 Aug) – 86.7% back strike action after ‘derisory’ pay offer. Unite the union has today (25 August) confirmed that its Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) members have voted to take strike action. 86.7 per cent supported strike action on a 78.9 per cent turnout.  95.9 per cent of members also voted to take action short of a strike. Unite represents hundreds of SQA workers across all levels of staff and functions. Unite can confirm the following three days of strike action: 8, 15 and 16 September. An overtime ban and ban on accrual of time off in lieu will also be in effect from 8 September to 30 November read more

Unite secures recognition at Chessington World of Adventures (24 Aug) – Unite, the UK’s leading union, has secured recognition for workers employed at Chessington World of Adventures. The workers are employed by Merlin Attractions Operations. The recognition covers the engineers who are responsible for maintaining the theme park’s rides but it also covers team leaders, apprentices and vehicle technicians. Unite will be solely recognised for collective bargaining on pay, working hours and holiday. Additionally the union will be consulted on other matters read more

Unite turns its fire on Felixstowe Ports’ owner, multi-national giant, CK Hutchison (24 Aug) – Speaking at the picket line today (Wednesday 24 August), on the fourth day of the Felixstowe dock strike, Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, pledged to turn the union’s force on exposing CK Hutchison, the global company based in Hong Kong, which is the ultimate owner of Felixstowe Ports. Sharon Graham said: “Every single client, every investor, every decision maker at CK Hutchison is being looked into.  “I will be inviting the shareholders at CK Hutchison, the clients of CK Hutchison, the decision makers of CK Hutchison to meetings with me, to open the books on what is going on. The company refusal to settle the union claim is about corporate greed.  “The ultimate owner of CK Hutchison is Li-Ka Shing, Hong Kong’s richest businessman and the 32nd richest man in the world. All of the accounts of Li-Ka Shing are being looked into. All the tax havens in the Cayman Islands, are being investigated.” Read more

Metal Improvement Company workers halt strike after securing improved pay deal (24 Aug) – Workers employed by Metal Improvement Company in Broughton North Wales, have agreed a substantially improved pay offer. This follows strike action by the 40 strong workforce which started on the 17 August. The skilled workers who supply manufacturers, including Airbus, will receive a 9 per cent pay increase for 2022 alongside a supplementary bonus of £1,000. Effectively workers will see their pay increase by around 13% this year. In addition they also secured an additional day of annual leave for 2023 read more

Notting Hill Carnival set for bus strike disruption as RATP fails to negotiate in pay dispute (24 Aug) – Visitors to the Notting Hill Carnival this weekend are set to face severe transport disruption due to a bus strike in the local area. Over 1,600 bus drivers based in West and South London are set to walk out for a second time on Sunday 28 August and Monday 29 August. This follows initial strike action on Friday 19 and Saturday 20 August. The workers are employed by a British bus company, London United, which is wholly owned by the French company RATP. RATP is extremely lucrative and had a turnover of £4.8 billion in 2021 recording a profit of £174 million read more

Muller Gloucestershire strikes threaten M&S and Waitrose milk product sales (23 Aug) – HGV drivers and shunters at Stonehouse factory striking over ‘excessive’ rota demands. HGV drivers and shunters at Mullers’ Stonehouse factory in Gloucestershire will strike over imposed rota changes by the company that will negatively impact the workers’ quality of life. The change to a five days on two days off rota system contravenes an agreement with Unite signed by the company earlier this year. Nearly 70 staff, responsible for delivering milk, flavoured milk and potted cream to M&S and Waitrose nationwide, will strike on 25, 26 and 27 August and 1, 2 and 3 September. More strikes will be set if the dispute is not resolved read more

Gloucestershire Muller HGV Drivers and Shunters Striking Over Imposed Roster Changes (report from Chris Moore Gloucestershire Unison LG branch) – HGV drivers and shunters at Mullers’ Stonehouse factory in Gloucestershire are striking over imposed roster changes by the company, breaking agreements with Unite. As Derrick Arlett-Johnson, Senior Unite Steward at Muller Severnside said ‘this dispute is more about work/life balance and the right to have a family life.’ Derrick explained that Muller had breached their national agreement over retaining current roster patterns and no standardisation of rosters. Now they are forcing new rosters on all drivers, including a requirement for increased weekend working. Over a year this amounts to an additional 32 days for some drivers, so these changes have a huge impact especially on parents, grandparents and anyone with family or other commitments. As Derrick said: ‘it’s a long term and loyal workforce who worked their socks off during Covid lockdown and this is the thanks we get.’ The company started to call in drivers for 1:1 meetings, in breach of agreements, in an attempt to impose the changes. Unite objected and stopped this intimidating approach forcing the company to consult in line with agreements. However, Muller openly declared that it intended to change rosters regardless. A strike ballot for nearly 70 staff had a 77% turnout and 84.6% yes vote. The first 3 day consecutive strike action started on August 25th with the next on September 1st, with 24 hour pickets. Unite have declared more strike days will be set if the dispute is not resolved. Stonehouse Muller drivers supply milk products to M&S, Waitrose, Tesco and Sainsburys nationwide. The company that reported profits of £16.5 million in the UK and Ireland last year, tried to intimidate strikers saying they would lose their jobs and that the action was illegal, and the union had not consulted. Staff responded by increasing union membership. Unite has 4 reps spread over the workforce and is well organised with high union membership among the drivers. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The company have deliberately broken an agreement ratified with Unite earlier this year that expressly stated rotas would not change. Unite will defend our members’ jobs, pay and conditions with the full force of the union. Muller signed an agreement – it must stick to it.” Derrick explained that ‘Muller tried but failed to recruit more agency drivers. That said we were extremely disappointed that those agency drivers who regularly work alongside us had chosen to cross the picket line. Muller had also brought in outside hauliers to cover the work. But work going out was very slow and the strike has certainly had an impact.’ Muller’s 8 other UK sites have similar concerns and pressure is likely to build. Whatever happens in Stonehouse will have repercussions nationally.

September Arriva bus strikes to hit Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire (23 Aug) – Around 900 bus workers at German-owned giant to strike over real terms pay cut. Staff at bus company Arriva, which has paid £560 million from its UK operations to owner Deutsche Bahn since 2012, will strike from 0300 hrs on 5 September to 0259 hrs on 7 September. More strikes will be scheduled if the dispute is not resolved. Arriva is offering drivers, admin staff, engineers, cleaners and shunters pay rises of between four per cent and six per cent. With the real rate of inflation, RPI, running at 12.3 per cent, this is a pay cut in real terms. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bahn has paid dividends of £5 billion to the German government over the last decade read more

Strike by DHL Services workers set to commence at Spirit Aerosystems next Monday (10 Aug) – Workers vote with 84 percent majority for strike action, rejecting insulting 4 percent pay offer when inflation is running at almost 12 percent. Industrial action of DHL workers will impact production at all Spirit Aerosystems sites in Northern Ireland. Unite the union which represents workers employed by DHL Services at Spirit Aerosystems has confirmed a first, one-week strike is set to commence on Monday [August 15] at sites across Northern Ireland. Unite members working for DHL Services at Spirit Aerosystems voted with an 84 percent ballot majority for strike action after rejecting an inadequate pay offer from management. The offer provided only a four percent increase to consolidated pay – far below the current rate of inflation (RPI) which has surged to 11.8 percent with the cost of living crisis. DHL workers elsewhere in Northern Ireland have received higher pay offers than those working on the Spirit-Aerosystems contract; recently Unite members at DHL Services in Scotland won a double-digit improved pay offer read more

Coop Funeral Care Workers Serve Notice of Strike Action (8 Aug) – Unite Scotland Press Release: Coop Funeral Care Workers Serve Notice of Strike Action. Refusal to meet with union over wage dispute leads to disruptive strike action. Unite has confirmed that its members employed in the manufacture of coffins for Cooperative Funeral Care have voted for strike action with an initial week of action scheduled for August in a dispute over pay. The site is the Coop’s only coffin production site. Unite members voted for action by 96 per cent on an 86 per cent turnout. The initial strike action is scheduled to take place from Monday 22nd August 2022 and will continue each day up to Monday 29th August 2022 read more

Sainsbury’s facing summer shortages as DHL workers strike over ‘second-class’ treatment – Strike action set to hit all Scotland and Northern Ireland stores. Unite the union has today (Tuesday 2 August) announced a week-long strike action that will hit supplies to Sainsbury’s stores throughout Scotland and Northern Ireland after a poor pay offer was rejected by DHL workers. 96 per cent of DHL workers on a 68 per cent turnout emphatically voted to take strike action following the rejection of DHL’s final offer which represents a real terms pay cut with inflation soaring to hit a forty year high of 11.8 per cent. Unite’s members are fighting for a fair pay deal that values their contribution to DHL and equal treatment by the company. Currently DHL are offering lower wages to workers based in Scotland when compared to other parts of the UK. Unite represents over 300 DHL warehouse workers who are based at the distribution centre in Langlands Park East Kilbride. The distribution centre supplies Sainsbury’s stores throughout Scotland and Northern Ireland. DHL’s German owned parent company – Deutsche Post DHL Group – announced in May 2022 that its revenue improved by 19.8 percent to 22.6 billion Euros. The company boasted of having recorded an ‘excellent opening quarter’ to 2022 with its operating profit increasing to 2.2 billion Euros. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our DHL Sainsbury’s members deserve a fair pay rise and to be treated equally with their fellow workers based throughout the UK. Unite will challenge DHL and its mega-wealthy owners. We don’t do our members being treated as ‘second class’. They have their union’s full support in this fight for better jobs, pay and conditions at DHL Sainsbury’s.” Negotiations have taken place under the auspices of the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas) but Unite has now served notice of the strike action following the failure of DHL to make an improved offer in the talks. Unite’s members are now set to begin the week-long strike action from 06:00 hours on 13 August 2022 and continuing each day up to 20 August 2022 when the action will conclude at 05:59 hours read more

Go North East bus workers forced to strike in battle to prevent Chester-le-Street garage closure – Bus workers employed by Go North East at its Chester-Le-Street garage in Durham, will begin strike action later this month as a direct response to the company’s plan to close the depot. The industrial action will involve 170 members of Unite, the UK’s leading union. The all out continuous strike action will begin on Friday 12 August. The strike action has been called due to the company’s plans to close the Chester-le Street garage next month and permanently move the workers to different depots, some of which are 14 miles away read more

North Sea strike to hit Foinaven vessel – 96% vote for strike action over inferior redundancy package. Unite the union today (25 July) confirmed that its members operating the Foinaven Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) have voted to take strike action. 96 per cent voted for strike action on an 84 per cent turnout. Continuous strike action is now scheduled to take place from 5 August. The dispute centres on offshore members being given a significantly inferior redundancy package compared with Altera’s onshore workforce.  The Foinaven field is situated approximately 120 miles west of the Shetland Isles within the Faroes/Shetland Trough. Production from the field was suspended in 2021 read more

Glasgow Subway workers vote for strike action – First Rangers home game to be hit by walk-out. Unite has confirmed that its Glasgow subway members have voted for strike action with the first Rangers home game (6 August) of the season against Kilmarnock set to be hit by the walk-out. Unite members voted by 99 per cent for strike action on a 83 per cent turnout. The 24-hour strike action is scheduled to take place on the following days: Saturday 6 August, Tuesday 9 August, Saturday 13 August, Saturday 27 August. The dispute centres on the subway system operators Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT) enforcing changes to duty schedules. Unite members are increasingly being called in to work shifts at short notice leading to significant work-life pressures read more

Tipton workers in McLaren, Aston Martin and Bentley supply chain using foodbanks – CabAuto workers building interiors for luxury cars renew strikes. More than 100 West Midlands workers, paid just £9.90 an hour, will stage two weeks of strike action in July over a three per cent pay offer. The fresh industrial action follows on from seven days of strikes in June and at the beginning of this month. This is a significant real terms pay cut when prices are soaring and RPI inflation is running at 11.7 per cent. CabAuto’s owner, the Adler Pelzer Group, made profits of £118 million (€137.6 million) in 2020. Meanwhile, some CabAuto workers are so poorly rewarded that they have been forced to use food banks read more

Eastleigh Ford and Mercedes assembly workers to strike in July and August over ‘insulting’ pay offer – Automotive assembly contractor VFS workers wage deal amounts to a pay cut. Workers employed at the south coast firm VFS Southampton Ltd, who assemble large vehicles for Ford and Mercedes, have announced strike action in a dispute over pay. The workers, who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, voted overwhelmingly for the action in March after VFS imposed a pay award of less than four per cent. At the time the real rate of inflation (RPI) was running at 7.8 per cent but has now reached 11.7 per cent. Industrial action was previously postponed to allow for negotiations. However, an ‘insulting’ revised offer put forward by the company in June was overwhelmingly rejected by the membership. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “VFS has put forward an insulting pay offer that is in fact a real terms pay cut. Unite defends our members’ jobs, pay and conditions and our VFS membership will have the union’s full support during these strikes.” The workers will stage 24 hour strikes on 27 and 29 July and 2, 4, 8, 10 and 12 August. If the dispute is not resolved more strike action will be scheduled. During the strikes, picket lines will be in place at the company’s Chickenhall Lane factory in Eastleigh, Hampshire read more

Workers to strike for a cost of living pay increase at Hampton Conservatories Ltd in Portrush – Three percent increase is a disgraceful 8.7 percent wage cut; initial eight-day strike action to start 16 July. Unite has confirmed that its membership at the small Portrush-based manufacturer and installer of conservatories will commence an initial eight-day strike action starting 16 July 2022 read more

Bosch Rexroth workers to strike in dispute over pay and shift changes – Unite slams global giant’s plans that leave Scottish workers £7000 a year worse off. Unite has today (Monday 4 July) confirmed that members working at Bosch Rexroth Glenrothes, will walk out over a pay proposal that will leave workers £7000 a year worse off. The German-owned global tech and engineering giant has proposed a six per cent pay deal, which Unite says is a significant pay cut given that real inflation currently stands at 11.7 per cent. The employers are also refusing to back-date the pay award to 1 January or to reverse changes to shift patterns and shift allowances, which means the combined impact of the offer is to leave workers around £7,000 per year worse off. Workers at the site have rejected the company’s proposal by 74 per cent. Unite says that the Bosch Rexroth, a subsidiary of Bosch, is in a strong financial position and has no need to attack the workers’ pay and conditions.  In its 2021 annual report, Bosch Rexroth boasted of `reaching a new high on incoming orders’ which have generated sales of £5.4 billion (6.2 billion euros), up by nearly one fifth on the year before. The union’s members, 245 workers, will take continuous strike action from Tuesday 5 July until Tuesday 12 July inclusive. Thereafter they will strike every Monday and Tuesday going forward with an ongoing ban on overtime throughout read more

 

PCS

Important dates for reps to get ballot-ready (29 Aug) – With 4 weeks to go until our national ballot begins we have some really important dates for reps to get ready for the postal vote read more

6 more strike days announced at HGS in Liverpool (24 Aug) – PCS has announced six more strike days at Hinduja Global Solutions in Liverpool. Our members, employed by HGS to run the contact centre and back-office functions of the government’s Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) will take action from September 5 to 10. They were previously on strike from August 15 to 20. Only 2 of the 96 workers are not PCS members, so the service to customers was severely disrupted read more

Sign petition to support striking workers at Hinduja Global Solutions

Notice of strike action served at ISS (22 Aug) – Low-paid cleaners, security guards, receptions workers, post and porterage staff employed by ISS will take strike action in September. ISS members took industrial action last year and as a result health and safety protocols were agreed, s well as improved arrangements for paying staff, but these have not been adhered to by the employer. As a result members were balloted and voted overwhelmingly for further action. Today PCS has served notice that our members employed by ISS on the BEIS contract will take strike action on 5 and 6 September, with a few shift workers continuing into early on 7 September read more

 

GMB

BREAKING NEWS!! Tens of thousands of NHS workers balloted over ‘punishment’ pay offer (30 Aug) – GMB is to ballot tens of thousands of NHS workers over a ‘punishment’ pay offer. Health workers are being offered a meagre flat rate pay increase, amounting to between 1 and 7 per cent, despite inflation running at 12.3 per cent. The ballot opens today [30 August] and closes on 27 September read more

BREAKING NEWS!! ‘Frontline staff need a flat rate offer’: crisis talks loom in Scotland (30 Aug) – Responding today (Tuesday 30 August) to the Scottish Government’s request for a meeting with local government unions this afternoon over the 2022/23 COSLA pay offer, GMB Scotland Senior Organiser for Public Services Keir Greenaway said: “Our members need a flat rate offer because that means more consolidated money goes into the pockets of frontline workers delivering the services our communities depend on. Unions have been clear about this from the submission of our initial pay claim and right through negotiations over the weekend – the prospect of a Heads of Service getting four times more money than a bin collector, school cleaner or home carer is simply not credible…” read more

Scotland braced for further strikes amid crisis talks over council pay offer  (25 Aug) – Thousands more waste and recycling workers are set to start strike action tomorrow, as crisis talks take place this afternoon (Thursday 25 August) between union, government, and council leaders over the Scottish local government pay offer. GMB members in a further sixteen council areas will take an initial four days of action from 00.01 hours Friday 26 August until 23.59 hours Monday 29 August, coinciding with existing action in the City of Edinburgh Council. Four more days of strikes in waste and recycling services also run from Wednesday 7 September to Saturday 10 September, alongside three days of strike action on 6, 7, and 8 September involving GMB schools and early years services members in Glasgow City and East Renfrewshire councils. Representatives of the joint trade unions in local government meet shortly with the Deputy First Minister and COSLA leadership, and will again urge the need for a pay offer to combat the spiralling cost of living crisis read more

DHL drivers for JCB back industrial action (23 Aug) – GMB union members at DHL working on JCB World Logistics have backed industrial action in a dispute over an ‘unacceptable’ pay offer from DHL management. Dozens of GMB members, employed by delivery giant DHL, voted 87 per cent per cent to proceed to a formal strike ballot. Depending on the result of the ballot, walk-outs at DHL could take place later in the Autumn read more

Calderdale council strike looms (23 Aug) – Strike action looms at Calderdale Council after GMB members returned a huge 88 per cent majority in favour of moving to a full industrial action ballot. Workers are angry after the authority refused to shift position on an equal pay review, fire and re-hire and an anti-trade union facilities agreement. GMB members were asked if they would be prepared to move to a strike action ballot if the Labour-run council continued to stick to its position – and last week’s indicative ballot result confirmed that they would read more

Further Budweiser strikes planned after talks collapse (19 Aug) – Further strike action at Budweiser has been scheduled after workers turned down the latest pay offer from the company. A total of 275 GMB members working at BBG’s Samlesbury site, near Preston, will down tools from 22 – 29 August. In total, 93 per cent of GMB members rejected latest offer from Budweiser read more

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead facing bin strike (19 Aug) – GMB, the union for refuse collectors, has announced members working in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) will strike from 31 August. The union members, who work for the council’s waste contractor Serco, will be taking action until their employer offers an improved pay offer. The present rate of pay for refuse loaders is £9.91 per hour and even with the 6 per cent offer which has been rejected by members, still sits below the rates paid by neighbouring authorities. Workers at Biffa and Veolia in the local area are paid closer to £12 per hour, while those employed directly by Slough Borough Council earn £11.24 per hour and enjoy a better package of terms and conditions read more

Further strikes announced by Wandsworth traffic wardens (17 Aug) – GMB, the union for parking attendants, have announced members will take a further four days of strike action as the dispute over pay continues. The members, who are employed by Wandsworth Council’s parking contractor NSL, are seeking an improved pay deal which reflects the extremely high rate of inflation and the attached cost of living crisis. The latest dates which have been announced to the employer are Friday 9, Monday 12, Friday 23 and Monday 26 September. The dispute has been ongoing since June and has already taken in 20 days of strike action so far read more

Solidarity with GMB after yet another arrest on a bin picket line – For the second time in months, GMB Southern Region officers have been arrested on a picket line of their striking refuse members. Previously, arrests were made on the Wealden picket. They appeared at Hastings Magistrates Court on 29th June. The case was adjourned to Brighton Crown Court on November 16th. Then two weeks ago, further arrests were made on the Surrey bin picket line. This is outrageous attacks on the right of trade unions to strike, picket and protest. The NSSN sends our continued solidarity and support read more about Surry strike

Sign petition – To St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Mitie out: Demand fair pay and conditions for staff at St George’s Hospital

 

Unison

AQA strikers take their fight to company HQ (26 Aug) – Company refuses to negotiate with the union over a 3% pay offer. Christina McAnea and AQA strikers outside the company HQ. Striking UNISON members employed by exam board AQA brought their fight to central London today, when a group of them visited the company’s headquarters in Tavistock Square. They were joined by general secretary Christina McAnea, as they handed out leaflets to passers by and explained why they were on strike read more

Exam board staff will strike this week on GCSE results day (23 Aug) – Fourth round of action in pay dispute. Staff at exam board AQA will tomorrow (Wednesday) begin a further set of strikes coinciding with the days when schools and pupils receive GCSE grades, says UNISON. It marks the fourth round of action in a dispute over pay and fire-and-rehire threats to staff, says the union read more

Care staff announce new strike dates over pay, says UNISON (16 Aug) – Workers at St Monica Trust plan 48-hour walkout and two-day strike in August. Care workers, registered nurses and residential home staff employed by Bristol-based St Monica Trust will take further strike action next week, said UNISON. Staff at the Russets and Sherwood care home in Sandford, North Somerset, will walk out for 48 hours from 7am on Tuesday 16 August, while workers at Cote Lane in Bristol will launch a two-day strike from Friday 19 August. The new dates follow five days of action in June and July over fire and rehire threats and cuts to pay read more

There is a strike fund which is being collected for. Many of these workers are low paid and part time. With cost of living ever rising it’s essential that we can ensure no one feels like they can’t stand up with their colleagues and strike for fear of lost pay. The union will be paying strike pay and members can request hardship payments up to their full wages so no one gets left behind.

For donations please send to the following details with the reference “SMT”

Account name: UNISON South West; Account number: 49021079; Sort Code: 60-83-01

OCS LANCASHIRE: PAY UP NOW – Pay our hospital heroes what they are owed for working throughout the pandemic. We are NHS workers in Lancashire and we urgently need your support. As hospital cleaners and catering staff, we are outsourced to OCS and have worked 24/7 throughout the pandemic to keep staff and patients safe. But while OCS boasts it turned over hundreds of millions during the COVID crisis, it continues to pay us less than our NHS colleagues doing exactly the same jobs. Hospital workers employed by OCS are £2000 worse off than our colleagues working for the NHS. We also have inferior working conditions including 7 days less annual leave and lower sick pay. 45 of us submitted a collective grievance about this issue in May 2021, but EIGHT MONTHS on, we have still not been listened to. We have become increasingly frustrated and have now voted 97.8% in favour of taking strike action to resolve this issue…We think that a great way to get the Chief Executive’s attention is to flood his inbox with emails from all of us. Can you take a few minutes to email Bob Taylor? It’s easy, you just need to add your details and press send. https://www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/ocs-pay-up-now. Post messages of support on social media: please tag @NorthWestUNISON. Use hashtags #ONENHS and #PayUpNowOCS read more

 

NIPSA

Members in Health: Announcement from Pay Review Body (24 Aug) – The NIPSA Health and Social Care Central Panel has met and considered the announcement from the Pay Review Body as Endorsed by Government at Westminster which identifies: “The recommendations of the NHS Pay Review Body for Agenda for Change staff is for a £1,400 payment on all pay points, which will be enhanced for the top point of Band 6 and for the pay points in Band 7 to ensure that they receive a 4% payment.” Whilst acknowledging £1,400 is a higher percentage increase on the lowest Bands, it remains significantly lower than the increasing rate of inflation for all Bands. The National Unions asked for an “inflation busting” Pay Rise to address the underlying issues including the Cost of Living Crisis, Recruitment, retention and Low Morale in the NHS along with acknowledging the continued commitment of staff during the Pandemic. This Pay Recommendation yet again is a Pay Cut for members and with forecasts of continued Rising Inflation and Energy Costs the NIPSA Panel of Representatives unanimously rejected this Recommendation while the Health Joint Trade Unions in Northern Ireland released a statement read more

Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council Strike Action: Monday 15 August onwards – Picket information For All Unions for Actions in Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council

  • Armagh Palace Demesne from 6.30am to 2pm
  • Gosford Forest Park from 7.30am to 2pm
  • Banbridge Depot from 6.45am to 9am
  • Banbridge Civic Centre/Leisure Centre from 9am to 2pm
  • Carn Depot from 6.30am to 9am then moving to South Lakes Leisure Centre
  • South Lakes Leisure Centre/Civic Centre from 9am

Members from the above are then asked to assemble at South Lakes Leisure Centre for a joint trade union demonstration – from 3pm to 4pm

Action short of strike from the 16 August 2022 for NIPSA members will take the following form:

  • A total ban on overtime from union members
  • Members working to their job description;
  • Members not covering for absent colleagues for whatever reason;
  • Working to written, agreed protocols where these exist including refuse and leisure;
  • order to clarify (4) in particular we have prepared some examples below read more

 

RCN

Northern Ireland members join rest of the UK in biggest ever nursing strike ballot (25 Aug) – We’re encouraging eligible members to vote in favour of strike action when the ballot opens on 15 September read more

New RCN ballot results give clearest sign yet of strike action by nursing staff across the UK. RCN members in Scotland overwhelmingly reject NHS pay deal with majority backing strike action (12 Aug) – The results of our recent ballot of members working for the NHS in Scotland provide the clearest sign yet that industrial action could take place across the UK later this year. The ballot of nursing staff on Agenda for Change contracts in Scotland saw more than double the number of members turnout to vote than a similar ballot last year. More than 90% rejected the Scottish government’s pay offer, with the majority voting in favour of taking strike action. The turnout far exceeded 50%, which is the minimum turnout needed for strike action to be legal. Members in Scotland will now be asked to vote in a statutory ballot by post, which is required by law for nursing staff to join picket lines. The recent ballot was indicative of members’ feeling towards the pay offer and industrial action, but did not meet the strict criteria required for a strike to be lawful. Members working for the NHS in Scotland will now join those in England and Wales asked to vote in a statutory strike ballot opening on 15 September. We’ll be encouraging members eligible to take part in that ballot to vote in favour of strike action read more

Vote to strike: RCN members urged to support industrial action in strike ballot over NHS pay. Hundreds of thousands of nursing staff in England and Wales will soon have the chance to vote on whether to take historic strike action. RCN members ballot for industrial strike action in England and Wales opens 13 October (9 Aug) – Our postal ballot on industrial action will open on 15 September. We will encourage RCN members working for the NHS in England and Wales, on Agenda for Change contracts, to vote in favour of strike action. Eligible members will receive their ballot in the post and will have four weeks to respond, with the vote closing on 13 October. We need you to urgently check that we have your up-to-date home address, employer details and job title so that every eligible member receives their postal ballot. If enough members vote for industrial action, it will be the first time in RCN history that members in England and Wales go on strike. RCN Council, made up of elected members, has increased our strike fund to £50 million (up from £35 million) to provide some financial support to members who lose earnings during any industrial action. The ballot has been called by members in response to the latest NHS pay award read more

 

NASUWT

Teachers deserve better than latest COSLA pay offer (22 Aug) – Speaking about the latest pay offer of 5% made by COSLA late on Friday night, just 48 hours after an earlier 3.5% offer, Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union said: “The latest correspondence from the employers has entered the territory of farce. Teachers deserve better…” read more

 

EIS

EIS to ballot members on rejection of pay offer and on support for industrial action (25 Aug) – The EIS has today announced its intention to seek authorisation from the National Executive to open a consultative ballot of its members on the latest inadequate pay offer from local authority employers. The EIS Salaries Committee, which met today, is recommending that members vote to reject the current 5% offer. It is intended that the ballot will ask members whether they are prepared to support industrial action, up to and including strike action, in pursuit of an improved pay settlement. The ballot arrangements will be confirmed by the EIS Executive Committee next week read more

More lecturers at Argyll College face compulsory redundancy (25 Aug) – Members of the Argyll College EIS-FELA branch are being told by the management of the college that their courses are ‘no longer financially viable’ due to a fall in student numbers over the past three years making these courses unsustainable. However, the lecturers in the Art and Hospitality departments say their courses have not been effectively marketed for a number of years and that COVID had an impact on the numbers of students that could safely be in practical classes read more

 

UCU

Staff at Falmouth University vote for strike action over two-tier workforce (25 Aug) – Staff at Falmouth University have overwhelmingly voted in favour of strike action in a long running dispute over management’s creation of a two-tier workforce. The ballot result comes after the employer made the unilateral decision to start employing all new academic staff on worse terms and conditions through a subsidiary company. 90% of UCU members who voted said YES to strike action. The overall turnout was 62%, easily clearing the 50% threshold imposed by Tory anti-union legislation. UCU said the result is an emphatic rejection of Falmouth University’s plans read more

Date set for strike ballots at UK universities over pay, conditions & pensions (22 Aug) – Strike ballots will open at UK universities on Tuesday 6 September. UCU will run two ballots: one over pay and working conditions and the second over pension cuts. In total 151 universities will be balloted. The ballots will run until Friday 21 October and are aggregated. This means that for the first time in these disputes, if UCU achieves an overall turnout of 50% or above and a majority YES vote in a ballot, all universities in that ballot will be hit by strike action. This would represent unprecedented action in the sector read more

Strike action announced at colleges across north west England – Four colleges across the north west of England will be hit with more strike action later this year unless employers agree to raise staff pay, the UCU announced today. Staff at Burnley College, The Manchester College, City of Liverpool College, and Oldham College will walk out for two days during college induction weeks on Tuesday 6 and Wednesday 7 September. UCU says college leaders must act now if they want to avoid a repeat of the disruption of strike action in May and June, which impacted thousands students read more

Richmond upon Thames College to face 14 days more strike action over fire & rehire plans – Staff at Richmond upon Thames College are set to down tools for 14 consecutive days over a three-week period in August and September over plans by management to sack every teacher at the college and force them to reapply for their jobs on worse terms and conditions if they want to stay. The announcement comes as staff take a further day of strike action today (Tuesday) aimed at disrupting an open day taking place at the college. Striking staff will be picketing and holding a rally at the Marsh Farm Lane entrance to the college at 4pm today as prospective students and their parents visit the college. The protests will include a mobile billboard outlining the college’s plans to sack over 100 members of teaching staff. Strike action in the summer will hit enrolment, induction and first week of teaching and take place on the following days: Monday 22 August, Tuesday 23 August, Wednesday 24 August, Thursday 25 August, Friday 26 August, Tuesday 30 August, Wednesday 31 August, Thursday 1 September, Friday 2 September, Monday 5 September, Tuesday 6 September, Wednesday 7 September, Thursday 8 September, Friday 9 September. Staff will be picketing the college on every morning of the strike action. The college wants to sack all 127 members of its teaching staff and make them reapply for their jobs on new contracts that would see them lose 10 days’ holiday. Management began the deeply controversial process, widely known as ‘fire and rehire’, without any prior engagement or consultation with staff. The college claims that ‘trust’, ‘integrity’ and ‘excellence’ are the values that ‘underpin everything’ it does read more

UCU fighting fund: the link is here and donations to the fund are spent on supporting members involved in important disputes.

 

FBU

Red plaque unveiled for seven firefighters on Kilbirnie Street fire 50th anniversary (Aug 28) – A red plaque has been unveiled to commemorate seven firefighters who lost their lives in a fire in Glasgow, Scotland, 50 years ago. Andrew Quinn, Alistair Crofts, Iain Bermingham, Allan Finlay, William Hooper, Duncan McMillan, and James Rook were responding to a warehouse fire on Kilbirnie Street when they were killed after a ceiling collapsed while trying to rescue Rook, who was trapped read more

 

POA

NHS Pay Offer – Indicative ballot: Rampton, Ashworth and Broadmoor (23 Aug) – Further to POA Circular 66/2022 the ballot period will run from 1st September to 20th September. The ballot papers and membership lists will be sent in due course to local officials read more

 

BFAWU

Post Conference Foodworker 2022 here

 

NUJ

Reach strike: talks end without settlement (29 Aug) – Following two days of negotiations over the bank holiday weekend, brokered by ACAS the arbitration service, talks between the NUJ and Reach have broken down with no deal. NUJ reps unanimously passed a vote of no confidence in the chief executive, added an extra strike day to their planned industrial action and extended the work to rule, as the talks failed to resolve the dispute. At a packed meeting, reps from across the UK and Ireland this evening spoke of their anger and disappointment that the company has chosen to squander the chance of a settlement to the dispute. As a consequence, the strike will go ahead on Wednesday, with a work to rule kicking in on the return of journalists on Thursday.  NUJ reps also agreed to issue notice of an additional day of strike action, meaning that a three-day strike will now take place from Tuesday 13th September to Thursday 15th September inclusive – the same week that the TUC Congress takes place in Brighton. They also committed to put in place an ongoing work to rule from Friday 16th September read more

Details of Reach picket lines here

Reach hardship fund (22 Aug) – Show support for Reach strikers – donate to the NUJ Hardship Fund. When NUJ members are on strike, all members of the union are encouraged to offer support and show solidarity. As NUJ members across Reach gear up for strike action, we are launching a union-wide appeal raising funds for a special NUJ Hardship fund read more

August date spells strike action across two Scottish newspaper groups (15 Aug) – Journalists working at two companies in Scotland, on titles including The Scotsman, Daily Record and Sunday Mail, will be taking strike action on Friday 26 August. Staff on Reach plc titles – including the Daily Record, Sunday Mail, Perthshire Advertiser, Stirling Observer, Dumfries and Galloway Standard and the Live websites – have voted for strike action and action short of a strike over the company’s failure to improve its pay deal of 3 per cent/£750 minimum increase read more

Scotsman and other Scottish titles vote for industrial action (10 Aug) – NUJ members on National World’s Scottish titles have voted in favour of taking industrial action over compulsory redundancies. Two separate ballots have been held: one for the members at Scotsman Publications; and another for those employed at the company’s Scottish Weeklies. The titles affected include The Scotsman, The Edinburgh Evening News,  Scotland on Sunday, The Falkirk Herald, and Milngavie and Bearsden Herald. Of the 45 members balloted at the former, 29 voted: a turnout of 64.4 per cent. Of those, 27 voted yes to strike action, and 26 voted for action short of a strike. Of the members on the weekly titles, 23 were balloted and 15 voted: a turnout of 65.2 per cent. Ten voted in favour of strike action, and 11 in favour of action short of a strike read more

BBC North West journalists vote for work to rule – NUJ members are making a stand about the damaging impact of job cuts on news outpt in the region. As well as working with a significantly reduced workforce, staff at BBC North West are now expected to take on more and more technical duties previously carried out by skilled technical staff. If allowed to continue, the quality of the regional news programmes will suffer and deteriorate, they say. More than 97 per cent of NUJ members in the chapel voted in favour of industrial action. It follows the BBC’s decision to cut £25m from BBC England’s budget, leading to 450 job cuts cross England. The vast majority of journalists who work for BBC North West are NUJ members read more

 

Barristers take action over pay and conditions and vote for indefinite action

From The Criminal Bar Association website: Ballot Announcement (22 Aug) – Following another extensive period of consultation with ordinary members and leaders of the Criminal Bar, the third ballot which opened on 8th August has now closed. Over the course of these past 14 days 2273 of you cast your vote. The turnout exceeded that on the second ballot in June (2,055) and was significantly higher than that witnessed in the first ballot in March (1,908). Given that many members have been away during this month, the increased level of participation in this latest ballot speaks volumes about the strength of feeling amongst colleagues across all six Circuits. We take great pride in the fact that our members have so consistently demonstrated such a deep commitment to the democratic process. It reflects an unshakeable underlying belief in the power of collective action and a demand to be heard. You were asked to choose one option from a selection of three that reflected the principal views that emerged from the consultation process. The result of the ballot was as follows:

  • Option 1 (Cessation of all action) – 207 votes (9.11%)
  • Option 2A (Continuation of current action) – 258 votes (11.35%)
  • Option 2B (Escalation of action) – 1808 votes (79.54%)

Every vote has been fully validated by the CBA administrator who has again ensured the complete integrity of the entire ballot process. In accordance with the terms of the ballot, it follows that the CBA membership has voted in favour of Option 2B.

This means that the weeks of action, combined with no new instructions (which includes no returns), will come into effect on an indefinite basis from Monday 5th September.

Given that we are currently committed to a programme of weeks of action and no new instructions (which includes no returns), the current programme of action will continue in the interim period.

As such, the next scheduled week of action will commence on Tuesday 30th August. Therefore, the last working day for criminal barristers participating in weeks of action pursuant to the ballot vote will be Friday 26th August read more

 

Police Scotland officers to ‘withdraw goodwill’ in pay row

(From BBC website) Police officers in Scotland will withdraw “all goodwill” after they were offered a “derisory” £565 pay rise, the force’s chief constable has been told. The Scottish Police Federation said members would claim payment for any overtime they were ordered to work read more

 

SIPTU (Ireland)

SIPTU calls on government to take immediate action to honour terms of security ERO (25 Aug) – SIPTU representatives have called on the Government to immediately act to ensure that the terms of an Employment Regulation Order (ERO) for the security industry are honoured following an injunction being secured yesterday (Wednesday, 24th August) by a small group of employers against the measure. This is the second time that the same three employers have secured a High Court injunction which denies low paid security workers a pay increase read more

 

Other news

Book launch: A Very British Conspiracy – the Shrewsbury 24 and the Campaign for Justice

Dear colleague

Your Trades Council has been a supporter of our campaign over many years. I am pleased to inform you that Verso is publishing my book about the Shrewsbury pickets entitled, A Very British Conspiracy: the Shrewsbury 24 and the Campaign for Justice. The book tells the full story of how the state prosecuted these workers and the campaign that was established to overturn this miscarriage of justice.

As the voluntary Researcher for our Campaign my priority was to discover the evidence that would get the pickets’ convictions overturned. But during that 12-year quest I also discovered an enormous amount of information about the building workers strike and the prosecution of the North Wales pickets. The book outlines the government and police documents that revealed the careful planning of the prosecution of the 24 men. It shows how the state used the criminal justice system to secure convictions, revealing how, in the absence of hard evidence, the Police and prosecution went to extraordinary lengths to criminalise trade unionists.

The book will be launched at the TUC Congress in Brighton on Tuesday 13 September, at an event sponsored by the TUC. Amongst the speakers will be Frances O’Grady, Mark Serwotka (PCS), Dave Ward (CWU), Jim Mowatt (Unite) and investigative journalist Laurie Flynn. If you are attending Congress, you are welcome to come along.

The book is available on Verso’s website here (https://www.versobooks.com/books/4057-a-very-british-conspiracy). All proceeds from the book will go to The Casa, the club and meeting place for the labour movement set up by sacked Liverpool dockworkers.

If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

In solidarity

Eileen Turnbull

Secretary and Researcher Shrewsbury 24 Campaign

Tel 07927 937773

Shrewsbury 24 Campaign, PO Box 92 Liverpool L19 3WD

Website:www.shrewsbury24campaign.org.uk (http://www.shrewsbury24campaign.org.uk)

 

 

 

Fight blacklisting and victimisation of union reps

Support GARY CARNEY, TRAIN OPERATOR – LONDON UNDERGROUND

Defend Adrian Mitchell RMT driver on London Underground

Support Tim Breed RMT

Donate to solidarity campaign of Moe Muhsin Manir Unite bus rep   Email messages of support to Moe: [email protected]

Trade union rep victimisation at Woolwich Ferry reaches ‘obscene levels’, says Unite

Unite: Ealing’s Labour council ‘actively helping’ Serco ‘hound’ union rep from civil enforcement job

St Mungos management escalate dispute by suspending Unite repsign petition: End the culture of fear at St Mungo’smodel motion

St Mungo’s: Unite will not tolerate victimisation and bullying

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

Reinstate John Boken Shropshire NEU rep – For more details and send solidarity messages, email [email protected]

Sign petition to support Redbridge NEU Rep Keiran Mahon

Watch Reel News video: Huddersfield teachers strike to defend Louise Lewis

Victimised Tesco warehouse rep Max McGee fighting for reinstatement read more. There is now a GoFundMe to support the campaign (https://www.gofundme.com/f/reinstate-max-usdaw-rep-socialist) and Max can be invited to speak at Usdaw and other union branches plus trades councils ([email protected])

QC appointed to lead the independent Unite inquiry into blacklisting (25 Mar) – Unite is delighted to announce that Nick Randall QC and John Carl Townsend have been appointed to investigate the possible collusion by union officers in blacklisting. Over the past months, evidence gathering by Thompsons solicitors has continued, with many blacklisted construction workers and other witnesses having already been interviewed. The work of the independent investigators is expected to start officially on 11 April read more

#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

 

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 the Queens Speech in December 2019 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 finish but has now been extended because of the 2nd lockdown. But it’s clear that the Tories are looking to end it asap.

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

 

 

Diary

September

4 Burston Strike School Rally Facebook group

11 NSSN TUC Rally 1pm Brighton

 

October 19 TUC Rally & Lobby of Parliament

 

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