This coming Saturday, the strike wave will have its biggest impact so far.
115,000 CWU members in Royal Mail (who are also out the day before) will be joined on the picket lines by over 50,000 rail workers in RMT, Aslef, TSSA and Unite. And 1st October will also see 2,500 Unite dockers in Liverpool and Felixstowe in the midst of their weeks of action. These strikes will be taking place during ten days of action being taken by UCU members in 26 further education colleges, as well as rolling action by Unison members in over 20 universities. Also, the CWU has just announced 19 more strike days in Royal Mail while their 40,000 members in BT-Openreach will be striking for 4 further days during October. Localised disputes have started again, with many winning significant gains for workers. In addition, public sector unions are starting to ballot members nationally on pay.
On Saturday, in many towns and cities there will be strike solidarity rallies and protests against the rise in energy prices and the cost of living crisis. Many of these can be found on the ‘Enough is Enough’ website.
This is the best answer to the so-called mini-budget of Truss’s Tory Government – a massive giveaway to the rich, at the expense of workers and their families. Already, Truss’s chancellor announced the removal of the caps on bankers’ bonuses shows their priority – to protect profits at the expense of workers’ pay.
The TUC’s lobby of parliament on Wednesday 2 November is a vital platform to build coordinated strike action. The TUC and the unions must mobilise to make it a mass mid-week demonstration, that can reach out to all workers fighting the cost-of-living crisis, and working-class people facing huge energy prices. And if Truss moves to implement her threatened new anti-union measures, the TUC and the unions should organise for a 24-hour general strike.
Workers strike back – come to NSSN TUC Congress Action Summit
1pm Sunday 16th October Holiday Inn Brighton Facebook event.
For transport details, email [email protected]. Let us know if your union/organisation would like a stall at our event
It will be a hybrid event – we will post here how those who can’t make it to Brighton can take part online.
The National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) has rearranged its pre-TUC congress event to Sunday 16 October, to set out a fighting programme for the reconvened TUC Congress. The push into autumn makes this even more important. It is now an action summit – to bring together striking union reps and members or those moving into action – to demand that the unions coordinate action so that millions of workers across the private and public sectors, all struggling to keep a roof above their families’ heads, can strike together. Come and take part in the discussion.
TUC rally and lobby of Parliament on Wednesday 2nd November against the cost of living crisis – 11am Palace of Westminster, London SW1A 0AA more details on TUC website
The TUC is organising town hall rallies around the country. Find your local event here
‘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, linking up with the strikes with protests across the UK
Protest the Tory Party Conference – 2 Oct, 1pm, Victoria Square, Birmingham
National Demonstration – 5 Nov 2022, London, Assemble Embankment, WC2N 6NS
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]
The NSSN is developing a campaign pack for social care, which we hope to make available in the not-too-distant future for supporters to use in their localities. As part of this, communications officer Dave Gorton is keen to hear from supporters who:
(1) work in social care (either local authority, private or independently provided)
(2) represent social care workers for a trade union
(3) are in need of social care provision themselves or act as an (unpaid/underpaid) carer for a family member
Dave can be contacted in the first instance via [email protected]
Union News
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RMT
RMT on Labour Party Rail Nationalisation announcement (26 Sept) – Responding to Labour’s commitment to public ownership of the railways, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “We welcome the Labour Party committing itself to public ownership of the railways. Tackling the greed and inefficiency of the private sector in our railways and other public services should be a key priority for the next Labour government…” read more
RMT Victory in campaign for free travel for Tube cleaners (25 Sept) – RMT today welcomed the news that heroic cleaners on London’s Underground network will receive free travel on Transport for London services as of the new financial year. Following a long campaign fought by the union, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has today announced that the cleaners, who are outsourced to US company ABM, will finally get the free travel given to directly employed TfL staff. The Mayor has also asked TfL to look into making sure the cleaners get sick pay and to assess whether they can finally be brought in-house in April 2023 read more
RMT Response to mini-budget (23 Sept) – Responding to the Chancellor’s comments in his mini budget on further restrictions for unions, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “We already have the most severe anti-democratic trade union laws in Western Europe and this latest threat will rightly enrage our members. The government should be working towards a negotiated settlement in the national rail dispute, not seeking to make it even harder to take effective strike action. RMT and other unions will not sit idly by or meekly accept any further obstacles on their members exercising the basic human right to withdraw their labour” read more
RMT to take strike action 10 October on ScotRail (23 Sept) – Railway workers in Scotland will take strike action on Scotrail after the union rejected a real terms pay cut. ScotRail bosses have offered 5% but with inflation running at well over 11%, and a cost-of-living crisis that shows no signs of ending, RMT is demanding the company puts forward a decent proposal. The day long stoppage will take place on 10 October, 2 days after national strike by Network Rail and 15 train operating companies across Britain read more
Cleaners on Avanti West Coast to strike Friday (22 Sept) – RMT members in cleaning grades on Avanti West Coast services will take 24 hours of strike action this Friday in a row over low wages and sick pay. Atalian Servest runs the contract and is refusing the union’s reasonable demands for a decent wage rise and sick pay for hard working cleaners. Currently cleaners on the contract receive as little as £9.90 an hour and no company sick pay. This despite Atalian Servest paid over £15 million in dividends to its French owners in 2020/21 read more
RMT announces new strike date in national rail dispute (22 Sept) – RAIL UNION RMT has announced that railway workers will walkout across the country on October 8 in the ongoing fight over jobs, pay and working conditions. Over 40,000 RMT members from Network Rail and 15 train operating companies will take to picket lines, effectively shutting down the railway network. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that it was encouraging that the new Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP had met with the union read more
Orsted Energy workers to strike for four days (21 Sept) – RMT members at Orsted Energy in Barrow upon Furness and Birkenhead will take two 48 hour stoppages in a row over pay. Strike action will take place on 23-24 September and 30th September and 1st of October. The dispute is over a paltry pay offer of 3.5% from Orsted bosses, amounting to a real terms pay cut with inflation rapidly rising. Orsted have done little to help settle the dispute, by refusing to meet the union to even discuss the matter read more
RMT to strike across the rail network on October 1st (20 Sept) – Railway workers on Network Rail and 14 train operating companies will take strike action on October 1st in a row over job security, pay and working conditions. The 24-hour action which will bring the railway to an effective standstill, comes after the union received no further offers from the rail industry to help come to a negotiated settlement. In separate disputes, Arriva Rail London members, Hull Trains and bus workers at First Group Southwest will also take strike action on October 1st. With workers struggling to cope with the escalating cost of living crisis, October 1st is set to see strikes by a number of unions in various industries read more
ASLEF
New strike dates: 1st and 5th October (20 Sept) – Train drivers will walk out for two further days of strike action – Saturday 1st and Wednesday 5th October – in an ongoing dispute over pay. Drivers previously took strike action on 30th July and 13th August but their employers are still failing to come to the table with any improved offer read more
TSSA
TSSA confirms new strike dates (22 Sept) – Rail union TSSA has today confirmed new dates for industrial action in a continuation of the ongoing dispute over pay, job security and conditions. The action announced today will see thousands of TSSA members in Network Rail and 11 train operating companies take strike action and action short of strike on Saturday 1 October, with individual companies taking strike action on 5, 6 and 8 October. Members involved in the action include staff working in ticket offices, stations, control rooms, and other support roles across Britain read more
Mini budget shows Government not living in real world (22 Sept) – TSSA General Secretary, Manuel Cortes, has slammed the mini budget statement by the Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, in the Commons for its “voodoo economics” and anti-union laws which will “elongate disputes”. The Chancellor announced tax cuts, cuts to corporation tax, a hike in government borrowing and that unions will be required to put pay offers to members during talks read more
Unite
Great Western Railway engineers join rail pay strikes on 1 October (27 Sept) – Rail operator’s owner First Group profits up to £654m but workers offered nothing. Around 350 Great Western Railway (GWR) engineers will strike on 1 October over pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Tuesday 27 September). They will join thousands of rail workers across the country striking on the same day. Despite GWR’s parent company First Group, which is based in Aberdeen, making pre-tax profits of £654 million in 2021/22, the company is refusing to offer the workers a pay rise. It will be the third year in a row their pay has been frozen. Meanwhile the real rate of inflation, RPI, is at 12.3 per cent…The striking workers are based at depots and stations in London, Exeter, Tiverton, Plymouth, Swindon, Swansea, Reading, Penzance, Oxford and Bristol. If the dispute is not resolved then more strikes will be scheduled read more
2,000 workers at eleven Scottish universities balloted for strike action (27 Sept) – Escalation follows ‘unacceptable’ pay offer. Unite the union has confirmed today (27 September) that around 2,000 members at eleven Scottish universities are being balloted for strike action over pay. The university staff involved in the ballots cover Aberdeen, Abertay, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow School of Art, Herriot Watt, Napier, St Andrew’s and Strathclyde universities. It is the first time in Scotland that Unite has balloted simultaneously across this number of universities. The ballot opens from 27 September and closes on 21 October. The staff involved include cleaners, janitors, estates staff, and technicians. The Unite members are part of a UK nationwide pay dispute involving the University and College Employers Association (UCEA). Unite has rejected an offer which is worth as low as 3.1 per cent for some members, despite all university staff having worked on-site throughout the pandemic read more
Arriva London bus strike suspended following new pay offer (26 Sept) – Planned all-out strike action by Arriva bus drivers in North London, due to begin next week, has been suspended after workers received a new pay offer. The 2,000 bus drivers, who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, who are based at eight depots in North London were due to begin continuous strike action on Tuesday 4 October. Following fresh negotiations earlier today, a new offer was tabled. Unite’s members will now be balloted on the offer read more
Felixstowe dock workers return to picket lines (26 Sept) – Workers at the UK’s largest container port at Felixstowe will renew strike action tomorrow (Tuesday 27 September) in an ongoing dispute over pay. Over 1,900 members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, will begin strike action at 07:00 on Tuesday 27 September with the eight day strike ending on 06:59 on Wednesday 5 October. Strike action is resuming after the company refused to return to negotiations following the initial eight days strike action in August. Instead the company imposed a seven per cent increase on the workforce. This amounted to a real terms pay cut with the real inflation rate (RPI) currently standing at 12.3 per cent. The workers rejected the imposed pay offer by 82 per cent on 78 per cent turnout read more
Renationalise energy and no more budgets for the rich (26 Sept) – Unite GS slams power giant at Scottish policy conference. Yesterday, (September 25) Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham told delegates at Unite’s Scottish policy conference, that ScottishPower’s ‘eyewatering’ £7bn in dividends to its Spanish owners, reveals the need to renationalise energy and proves that a budget benefitting the rich will not work. In the last year a Unite investigation has revealed that 13 per of Glaswegians, over 82,000 people – simply can’t pay their household bills this year. And more than 152,000 Glaswegians – nearly a quarter – are living in food poverty read more
Unfettered profiteering sparks Scottish Power protest – Where: Scottish Power HQ, 320 St Vincent Street, Glasgow G2 5AD; When: 12-2pm Friday 30 September read more
Arriva Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire pay deal ends strikes (26 Sept) – Strikes impacting Arriva services in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire have been called off after around 900 workers accepted a ‘vastly improved’ pay offer. The workers have accepted a deal which will see drivers’ pay lifted by 11.1 per cent in Hertfordshire and by 10.4 per cent in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire. Previously Arriva had been offering pay rises of between four and six per cent. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our members secured this vastly improved deal by standing together in their union. Once again, Unite’s total focus on securing better jobs, pay and conditions is delivering for our members.” As well as a percentage pay rise, the deal also includes an agreement that there will be parity on the top rate of pay within two years across the seven depots involved in the dispute. The deals means that strikes at Luton, Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Milton Keynes, Ware, Stevenage and Hemel Hempstead scheduled for 30 September will no longer go ahead…Arriva strikes in Kent, also scheduled for 30 September, are still going ahead read more
London United bus workers secure pay rise victory (23 Sept) – Over 1,600 bus drivers employed by London United in North and West London have secured a major pay victory. The workers took four days of industrial action last month after only being offered a pay increase of 3.6 per cent. Following the industrial action, further talks were held. An increase of 10 per cent was agreed to be paid from 3 September 2022, with back pay of nine per cent from 4 December 2021 to 2 September 2022 also being agreed…Despite the dispute on pay now being resolved, Unite will be mounting a fresh campaign in support of one of their reps who has been victimised and dismissed by the company read more
SQA workforce accept ‘improved’ pay offer (23 Sept) – Deal follows first ever strike action at education body. Unite the union can confirm today (23 September) that its members at the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) have overwhelmingly voted to accept a new pay offer. SQA workers earning up to £30,000 will now receive a fully consolidated £1700 minimum uplift. This represents an increase for workers up to 8.9 per cent depending on job grading. All other salary grades above £30,000 will also receive a fully consolidated uplift up to 5.9%. The deal represents a significant improvement on the initial offer which was worth between 1.7 to 4 per cent depending on job grading. Unite members took strike action for the first time in the SQA’s history on 8 September but the action scheduled for 15 and 16 September was suspended to consider the new offer read more
Unite secures 14.3% pay increase for First Cymru workers (23 Sept) – Unite, the UK’s leading union has secured a pay deal worth 14.3% for its members working for First Cymru in South West Wales. The landmark deal also secures a minimum hourly rate of £12 an hour alongside full back pay. The deal which has been accepted by Unite members means that strike action scheduled for Monday 26th September has now been cancelled read more
UK drinkers face beer drought if GXO delivery workers strike over pay (23 Sept) – 1,000 draymen based at 22 sites balloted over ‘pay cut’ from firm making hundreds of millions. The workers, who are responsible for about 40 per cent of the beer deliveries to UK pubs and venues, are being balloted for strike action until 6 October over a five per cent offer. The offer, which comes with a caveat that sick pay is reduced, is far below the 12.3 RPI rate of inflation, meaning it is a pay cut. In August, GXO reported that its UK operations brought in revenues of £687 million from 1 April to June 20 and boosted its profits forecast read more
The Chancellor’s mini-budget is a colossal warning to workers (23 Sept) – Chancellor’s mini-budget will boost corporate greed and make rampant profiteering the priority while millions struggle to make ends meet. Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham said: “This mini-budget is unashamedly a budget for the rich, big business and the City – highest earners’ tax slashed, corporation tax slashed, investment bankers’ bonuses let rip read more
Unite’s Network Rail workers to join latest strikes (23 Sept) – Unite, the UK’s leading union, has confirmed that its members employed in electric control rooms will join other rail unions in taking strike action next month on Saturday 1 October, Wednesday 5 October and Saturday 8 October. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our members at Network Rail play a crucial and demanding role in maintaining the electrical supply to the rail network. To be faced with a three year pay freeze during the worst cost of living crisis in decades is disgraceful. They will continue to receive Unite’s complete support.” The workers, based at control rooms in Brighton, Paddock Wood, Raynes Park, Romford, Selhurst Park and York, play a vital role in controlling and managing the network’s power supply read more
Bus strikes from Hull Fair to Christmas hit ‘hugely profitable’ Stagecoach (23 Sept) – Stagecoach operating profits reach £72m in 2021/2 but workers offered ‘pay cut’. A huge industrial action mandate will see more than 250 Hull Stagecoach bus drivers, cleaners, engineers and commercial assistants take all out strike action from 7 October until 29 December. Hull Fair runs from 7 October to 15 October. ‘Palpable anger’ at a below inflation pay offer, lack of pay parity compared to other areas and a one per cent increase in wages since 2019, resulted in workers voting by 96 per cent for strike action in a ballot with an 87 per cent turnout. Stagecoach, whose revenues increased by nearly £300 million to £1.2 billion in 2021/22, is offering workers a one year 8.7 per cent increase. With the real rate of inflation, RPI, standing at 12.3 per cent, this is a real terms pay cut read more
Woolwich Ferry workers vote for strike action amid TfL misrule (23 Sept) – 87% vote in favour of strike action. TfL refuse to discuss pay as inflation reaches 12.3 per cent. The actions of TfL (Transport for London) managers running the Woolwich Ferry service will once again lead to industrial action on the Thames. TfL managers are refusing to discuss pay in the midst of a cost of living crisis. 87% of the workers who took part in the ballot voted for strike action. The workers’ representatives will meet next week to discuss strike dates. The workers currently face a toxic combination of an employer refusing to discuss a pay deal for 2022, and management victimising and unfairly suspending workers on the service read more
Unite warns hike in professional regulator costs could drive workers out of the NHS (22 Sept) – Union calls for Health & Care Professions Council to `think again’ on proposed 20% jump in fees. Responding to the Health Care and Professions Council (HCPC) proposal today to raise registration fees from 2023, Unite, which represents over 100,000 health service workers, warned that this could well be the final straw for many professional NHS staff read more
Thales workforce in Northern Ireland vote with 77.5 percent majority for strike action in pursuit of improved pay (21 Sept) – Unite the union urges management to improve pay and avoid prospect of strike action. Trade union, Unite confirmed its members at Thales in Northern Ireland have voted in an industrial ballot with a 77.5 percent majority for strike action in pursuit of improved pay. Following on from the ballot, the union called on management to meet in full its members’ pay claim for the year. The claim, submitted in January, sought an ‘inflation-plus-one-percent’ increase of 8.1 percent based on the retail price index at that point in time. To date, management have offered only a five percent pay increase plus a non-consolidated one-off payment of £500 read more
HSBC headquarters facing security free-for-all as guards strike over ‘pitiful’ pay increase (21 Sept) – Security guards employed at HSBC’s headquarters in Canary Wharf London, will begin strike action next week following a pitiful pay increase. The security guards, who are employed by Bidvest Noonan on an outsourced contract, are paid as little as £12.35 an hour. The dispute is a result of Bidvest Noonan imposing a two per cent pay increase and refusing to enter into any further negotiations. The workers will take an initial three days of strike action beginning on Wednesday 28 September and ending at close of business on Friday 30 September. During the strike, HSBC’s head office will be left without effective security arrangements read more
Transatlantic disruption looms as United Airlines workers begin voting on industrial action (21 Sept) – Transatlantic disruption looms as United Airlines workers begin voting on industrial action. Real terms pay cut and outsourcing threats provoke industrial action ballot. Transatlantic routes face the prospect of disruption in the coming months as workers employed by United Airlines prepare to vote on industrial action. The ballot is open and will run for 3 weeks until 11 October. Despite the airline reporting a quarterly profit of $329 million, workers based at Heathrow are being offered a pay increase worth just 5 per cent plus an additional payment this year, and 4 per cent in 2023. Inflation (RPI) is currently at a 40 year high of 12.3 per cent. The company has also angered the workforce by threatening to tear-up a long standing agreement which bars the use of outsourced labour or third party companies. This is a red line for Unite members. If the airline pressed ahead it would undo years of mutual agreement read more
Fresh Arriva Kent strike announced after Arriva fail to make fresh pay offer (21 Sept) – Passengers in Kent are braced for further disruption next week after bus company Arriva failed to grasp the nettle and make an improved pay offer, in the dispute over pay. Six hundred bus drivers who are employed by Arriva and based in Kent will take strike action on Friday 30 September. The strike action will cause disruption throughout the county read more
Unite leader Sharon Graham to visit Liverpool port picket line tomorrow (20 Sept) – Billionaire owned Liverpool port made £30 million profits in 2021 but refuses cost-of-living pay rise. More than 560 port operatives and maintenance engineers employed by MDHC are taking two weeks of strike action that will end on 3 October over a pay offer equating to approximately 8.3 per cent. With the real rate of inflation, RPI, at 12.3 per cent this is a pay cut. Workers are also striking over MDHC’s failure to honour the 2021 pay agreement. This includes the company not undertaking a promised pay review, which last happened in 1995, and failing to deliver on an agreement to improve shift rotas read more
Quorn Billingham workers strike after pay offer with ‘no meat on bone’ (20 Sept) – Latest Quorn operating profits £236m, CEO paid £1.7m but workers offered 4% plus bonus. More than 60 workers at Quorn’s meat free paste production factory will strike on 30 September and 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 October. More strikes are set to be scheduled if the dispute is not resolved. Workers rejected a four per cent pay offer plus a £1,000 bonus. They voted to strike after the company refused to meet their demands of a nine per cent pay rise, which was the RPI inflation rate in April, when negotiations began read more
M&S and Waitrose milk disruption continues with fresh Muller Gloucestershire strikes (20 Sept) – HGV drivers and shunters at Stonehouse factory striking over ‘excessive’ rota demands. HGV drivers and shunters at Mullers’ Stonehouse factory in Gloucestershire will begin a fresh round of strike action this week over imposed rota changes that are detrimental to their 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 and other dairy products to M&S and Waitrose nationwide, have taken nine days of strike action since 25 August. A further six days of strike action will take place on 22, 23, 24, 29 and 30 September and 1 October. More strikes are set to be scheduled if the dispute is not resolved read more
London’s New Covent Market facing severe disruption as OCS security guards strike over poverty pay (20 Sept) – New Covent Garden Market in Nine Elms London is facing severe disruption later this month as its outsourced security guards, employed by OCS Group UK Ltd, begin strike action over poverty rates of pay. The security guards who work at the market, the hub of London’s fruit vegetable and plant trade, are paid just £9.69 an hour. As well as maintaining security, they are also act as the site’s first aiders and ensure that health and safety rules are applied. OCS has refused to enter into pay negotiations with the workers, who are seeking to be paid at least the London Living Wage, which is currently set at £11.05 an hour. As a consequence, the workers will take an initial three days of strike action beginning on Sunday 25 September and ending at close of business on Tuesday 27 September read more
Newham bin workers announce two more weeks of strike action (14 Sept) – Workers “rubbish” the Mayor’s misleading pay claims. Unite has issued Newham borough council with notice of a further two weeks of strike action starting on Tuesday 20 September, ending Monday 3 October. The 1st phase of action began on Saturday 27 August and ended on Saturday 3 September. The refuse collectors have “rubbished” Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz’s preposterous claims that the workers have been offered a pay deal of up to 17.9 per cent by the council. Unite says the misleading claims posted on the council website do Newham residents and the workers a disservice (see notes to editors). The council’s offer is worth a “measly” £950 – only if workers work every bank holiday week. In reality, Bosses in Newham have offered zero per cent on workers’ basic pay read more
Alexander Dennis workers strike (12 Sept) – Action follows wage offer rejection. Unite the union can confirm that its members based at Alexander Dennis Limited (ADL) will begin strike action tomorrow (13 September) following the rejection of a wage offer. The first round of strike action at the bus manufacturing company based in Camelon and Larbert will finish on 16 September at 23.59 hours. The trade union can further confirm that there will be a second round of strike action starting on 3 October which will continue each day up to 14 October when the action will conclude at 23.59 hours read more
Honeywell workforce set for strike action – Workers reject ‘pitiful’ pay offer at Edinburgh aerospace company. Members of Unite, Scotland’s leading trade union, employed at aerospace company Honeywell, will begin strike action tomorrow (8 September) in a dispute over pay. Around Unite 20 members including production and assembly workers recorded a 78.6 per cent vote in favour of strike action on a 77.8 per cent turnout at Honeywell. The first day of strike action (8 September) will be followed every Thursday for the next twelve weeks (see notes to editor). The company, which specialises in the design and manufacturing of electronic hardware and systems, has proposed a multi-year deal of 2.75 per cent for this year and next year then followed by 0 per cent in 2024. This offer has been resoundingly rejected by the workers read more
Workers at Causeway Coast and Glens council to commence all-out strike action tomorrow after councils vote down pay increase – Offer of two pay points plus a cash lump sum to end dispute was rejected at last night’s council meeting by a single vote in the chamber. Unite the union has confirmed that its members at Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council will commence continuous strike action at the local authority tomorrow (8 Sept). The decision by workers followed last night’s vote at full council at which a proposal to settle the strike by offering two pay point increments and a lump sum to workers – similar to that provided in Derry City & Strabane and in Mid-Ulster District Councils – was voted down by a majority of one councillor. General Secretary of Unite, Sharon Graham, pledged her union’s full support to the striking council workers read more
Striking Tipton CabAuto workers reveal shocking levels of in-work poverty – Workers in McLaren, Aston Martin, JLR and Bentley supply chains ‘terrified of winter bills’. Striking Cab Auto worker – “How can it be that I work for a company that makes millions in profits, yet I have to use a begging bowl at food banks?” More than 100 West Midlands workers, paid just £9.90 an hour, are taking renewed strike action, which began on 23 August and will finish on 16 September, over a three per cent pay offer. The real rate of inflation, RPI, is running at 12.3 per cent and is expected to climb even higher. The workers, who make luxury car interiors but do not receive company sick pay or shift pay, have taken 26 days of strike action since 28 June read more
Real terms pay cut forces strike by Hartlepool chemical workers at Venator – Members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, employed at chemical company Venator Materials Ltd, will begin strike action this week in a dispute over pay. The company, which produces pigments and additives, has only offered the workers a five per cent pay increase – far below the rate of inflation. The 100 plus members of Unite at the company recorded an 81 per cent vote in favour of strike action on an 84 per cent turnout… The workers will take a total of 10 days of strike action (see note to editors for details) this month in the dispute. The first four day strike will begin on Thursday 1 September at 18:59 and will initially involve the night shift read more
Baker Hughes strike action amid fire and rehire claims – 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
Strike notice issued to Northern Ireland Housing Executive after management fail to make any pay offer – 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
Unite anger over University of Dundee imposing ‘pension poverty’ – 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
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
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
CWU
Support the CWU strikes in Royal Mail, BT/Openreach & Post Office – the next Royal Mail strikes are 30th September – 1st October and 19 further days of action have just been announced, BT-Openreach workers will be taking action on October 6, 10, 20 and 24, while CWU members in the Post Office are out today September 28th. There is a Post Office strike protest today at 9am outside Post Office HQ, Finsbury Dials, Finsbury Street, London EC2Y 9AQ
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
Royal Mail – bosses’ shabby treatment provokes another massive strike vote (27 Sept) – Cleaners, maintenance engineers and related admin workers return a 93.5% YES to strike action over pay and change. “Today’s result sends another loud and clear message to the so-called ‘leadership’ of this company that their selfish attitudes will never work,” said acting CWU DGSP Andy Furey after the result of a nationwide poll of members working in Royal Mail’s property and facilities (P&FS) functions was announced today read more
999 strike: Emergency call operators to walk out with their BT/Openreach colleagues (22 Sept) – Company intransigence over pay means that October will see some 40,000 telecoms engineers, call-centre staff and others being joined by critical-service workers. “We intend to serve notice on BT Group today for four days of strike action during October,” CWU deputy general secretary Andy Kerr told this morning’s national meeting of branch delegates in central London. “And we intend to up the ante – so we’ll remove all emergency cover and pull out 999 operators.” With four all-out national strikes having taken place at the end of July and during August in response to the company’s imposition of a flat-rate £1,500 pay deal, there was now a need to increase the impact of the action on the business, he explained. While there had been meetings with BT, the individuals on its negotiating team had refused to move on pay and had declined, in their words, to ‘re-open 2022 pay’ read more
Stubborn Post Office chiefs provoked 28th September strike call (20 Sept) – Refusal to settle pay, refusal to extend ballot mandate and ‘ridiculous’ law left union with no option, explains Andy Furey. The announcement that there will be a nationwide Post Office strike on Wednesday 28th September had not been something the union had wanted to do, Andy told CWU News. “We were in negotiations – held under the auspices of independent arbitration service ACAS – and we felt there was scope for real progress. But sadly, Post Office CEO Nick Read and his team refused to make an increased pay offer…” read more
PCS
PCS launches strike ballot of 150,000 civil servants (26 Sept) – PCS today begins a strike ballot of more than 150,000 civil servants. Our members in 214 government departments are being urged to vote ‘Yes’ for strike action over pay, pensions, jobs and redundancy terms. PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka said: “The government has ignored our demands for a fair pay rise, so we have no choice other than to launch what is the most significant ballot for strike action in our history read more
10 more courts vote to join the strike action in HMCTS (26 Sept) – Legal Advisers and Court associates in 10 more courts have voted to join their colleagues in taking strike action over the Common Platform rollout. The ballot results are as follows: Turnout: 75.44%; Percentage of members voting in favour of strike action: 95.24%; Percentage of members voting in favour of action short of a strike: 100.00%. This ballot represents more PCS members in HMCTS joining the action to oppose the Common Platform rollout. Already, the first ballot mandate has moved the employer and led to the commencement of constructive discussions. This second ballot will further drive the dispute towards a satisfactory conclusion. PCS will be in touch with members on the announcement of strike dates in due course read more
Save North West defence workplaces (23 Sept) – MOD Piccadilly Gate, Walker House, Cheadle Hulme threat of closure means job doubts for PCS members. PCS members in DBS in the North West are invited to join the members’ meeting at noon on Wednesday (28). PCS members in the north west are well aware they face the closure of the defence workplaces at Cheadle Hulme and Walker House and Piccadilly Gate. We have organised members’ meetings, surgeries and surveys to gauge opinion about next steps in our campaign to keep DBS jobs in the local area read more
PCS Common Platform Dispute Update (21 Sept) – HMCTS have agreed to pause the rollout of Common Platform temporarily, to allow negotiations to happen in good faith. PCS met with HMCTS on Thursday 15 September to discuss potential avenues to dispute resolution. This meeting was held as a consequence of PCS has a mandate for strike action for the first group of courts impacted by the implementation of Common Platform. PCS has made clear to the employer the many issues we see with Common Platform, not least the impact it is having on our members’ wellbeing and ultimately, the delivery of justice read more
HGS strike at Disclosure and Barring Service continues (7 Sept) –Members are now into their second week of strike action over pay, terms and conditions. Today is the third out of six days of strike action this week for PCS members employed by Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) at the Disclosure and Barring Service. It is their ninth strike day within the last month. Yesterday’s strike action saw 96 of the 97 PCS members staying off work. It was the best attended and most lively picket line so far with over 25 HGS staff during the morning, with even more expected today. The membership has been growing in recent weeks, as a result of the action. Yesterday the pickets were joined by members of the North West TUC executive committee that was meeting in Liverpool. Reps from the RMT also showed up to lend their support and show solidarity following their own strike action last month read more
Sign petition to support striking workers at Hinduja Global Solutions
PCS Devonport security guards start strike action read more
GMB
All options back on the table as rogue Wiltshire Council bosses break agreement that averted GMB strike action in June (23 Sept) – Members are scandalised that Wiltshire Council’s top bosses have walked back from a deal, says GMB. GMB, the union for Wiltshire Council staff, is calling for members to reject a revised proposal from Wiltshire Council after bosses reneged on the agreement negotiated through the offices of Acas (the governments advisory and conciliation service) in June. The council’s proposed pay cuts to council staff amount to £2,000 for traffic wardens and £7,000 for social workers per year. Ballots are running from now until 13th October among the 300 staff affected by the pay cut read more
Scottish Local Government Vote to Accept Pay Offer (23 Sept) – GMB Scotland members across local government have today (Friday 23 September) voted to accept the improved pay offer which led to the suspension of waste and schools strikes earlier this month read more
NHS, local government and care giants no longer living wage employers (21 Sept) – Today’s real Living Wage Foundation rate increase means the NHS, many local authorities across the UK and almost the entire care sector cannot be called Living Wage Employers. From today, the Foundation Living Wage rates rise to £10.90 an hour across the UK and £11.95 an hour in London. Accredited employers have six months to implement the new rates read more
Amazon workers begin first ever UK strike ballot (15 Sept) – Amazon workers at a Coventry warehouse will become the first in the UK to take part in a formal strike ballot. Hundreds of workers will today begin voting on whether to walk out in anger over the company’s 35 pence per hour pay offer. The ballot closes on 19 October, with any industrial action likely to take place in November. Amazon workers across the UK have staged informal protests in anger at a three per cent pay offer from the company. Last September, Amazon reported paying £492m in tax the previous year – despite UK revenue soaring to £20.6billion in the pandemic read more
Sunderland bus strike begins (13 Sept) – Almost 200 Stagecoach bus drivers in Sunderland have begun voting on strike action. The ballot closes on 26 September and if GMB members vote to walk out the city will ‘grind to a halt’, the union warned. Workers are angry after being offered a massive real terms pay cut of just 4 per cent, with 2 per cent to follow later in the year. Any strike action would take place October read more
Almost 200 workers laid off at Polyflor Ltd, in Manchester after voting to strike (5 Sept) – Almost 200 workers at a floor company have been laid off after voting to strike. Staff at Polyflor Ltd, in Manchester, will down tools tomorrow [7 September]. But ahead of the strike, all workers taking industrial action received a messaged from the company saying ‘process shifts for process workers continue to be suspended…please do not turn up for your shift(s) from 6am on Monday 5th September.’ The company is a leading manufacturer of vinyl floorcoverings. After months of delays and several weeks of negotiations, GMB members have rejected the company’s final pay offer read more follow @GMB_union on Twitter for updates
Walsall Housing Group workers to strike – Workers are Walsall Housing Group are set to strike over a ‘paltry’ pay offer. Almost 200 GMB members will walk out for six days in September; 12, 16, 19, 23, 26 and 30. Staff are angry after being offered just a 3.1 per cent day deal, amounting to massive real terms pay cut with RPI inflation at 12.3 per cent. Meanwhile Walsall Housing Group’s chief executive was handed a 14.7 per cent pay rise read more
Further Budweiser strikes planned after talks collapse – 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
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
University staff to strike over pay as new term begins (20 Sept) – Workers have reached breaking point and have little choice but to strike. Thousands of university staff including administrators, cleaners, library, security and catering employees are to walk out in a wave of strikes that will hit universities from today (Tuesday), says UNISON. Universities will be disrupted across England and Scotland as employees push for a fair pay rise that takes account of soaring cost of living pressures and years of below-inflation awards, says the union. The workers, among the lowest paid in the higher education sector, took the difficult decision to strike after rejecting a 3% pay award from the University and Colleges Employers Association in May, the union says. Staff are asking for a wage increase of 2% above inflation, the lowest measure for which is currently 9.8% read more for details of picket lines
Care staff announce new strike dates over pay, says UNISON – 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
Support the OCS Lancashire strikes: pay up now – Pay our hospital heroes what they are owed for working throughout the pandemic read more
NIPSA
Mini-Budget – The Rich Continue to Benefit (23 Sept) – Carmel Gates NIPSA General Secretary: “As you will be aware today saw the release of what was described as a “mini-budget”. While there is now a new Chancellor of the Exchequer and Prime Minister overseeing such events, the echoes of their predecessors’ preference for avoiding the fullest scrutiny remains. Indeed, the release of such a budget statement in this manner without accompanying Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecasts/analysis of the figures at this time, suggests that the longstanding, limited commitment to accountability is likely to be further diminished by the new leadership at the top of the UK Government…” read more
MEA Council Pay Offer Accepted (22 Sept) – NIPSA members in Mid & East Antrim Council along with members of our sister unions in GMB and Unite have voted to accept the management local pay offer read more
Royal College of Nursing
Billions for bankers, nothing for nursing staff (23 Sept) – RCN condemns Chancellor’s plan as we continue to urge members to vote for strike action read more
RCN announces new industrial action strike ballot dates (15 Sept) – Our ballot of members working for the NHS and HSC will take place between Thursday 6 October and Wednesday 2 November read more
Royal College of Midwives
RCM members in England and Wales to be balloted on industrial action over pay (22 Sept) – RCM members working in the NHS in England and Wales are set to be formally balloted on industrial action over pay. This follows a consultation in which RCM members overwhelmingly rejected their governments’ pay awards of £1400 for most Agenda for Change NHS staff. The amount equates to a 4% increase for those at the top step point of band 6 and those on band 7.Two-thirds of eligible members in England and more than eight out of 10 in Wales took part in the consultation, with three-quarters (75%) saying they wanted to be balloted on industrial action. The RCM’s Board – comprised of, and elected by, members – considered the consultation results and made the decision to prepare to ballot members in both countries. The dates of the ballots will be announced in the coming weeks read more
RCM announces date to ballot members in Scotland on industrial action (7 Sept) – All RCM members working in the NHS in Scotland are set to be balloted on industrial action. A statutory ballot will launch on 29 September and run for four weeks until 27 October This follows an indicative survey of midwives, maternity support workers (MSWs) and maternity care assistants (MCAs) in which almost 90 percent of those who voted rejected the Scottish Government’s 5% pay offer and indicated that they would be willing to take industrial action read more
NEU
Be ballot ready – reject the pay cut read more
Education unions highlight impact of teacher and funding shortages (26 Sept) – Three education unions are joining forces at the Labour and Conservative conferences to highlight concern over the educational impact of teacher and funding shortages. The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), school leaders’ union NAHT and the National Education Union (NEU) are holding fringe events which will discuss teacher pay, school budgets, and the rising cost of living read more
Emergency Mini-Budget (23 Sept) – These measures will not provide the economic growth we need, and it is simply unjustified to claim that real-terms pay cuts for public sector workers are needed to keep inflation down read more
Free school meals open letter launched (22 Sept) – 100+ civil society leaders call for Free School Meals for All children in primary school. As the worst cost of living crisis in a generation takes hold, MPs, mayors, unions, charities, faith leaders and medical bodies urge the Prime Minister to take action to ease the pressure for every family read more
Support these strikes:-
Coulsdon Sixth Form College Croydon – 28-29 Sept [email protected]
Calverton Primary School Newham – 27-29 Sept [email protected]
Deptford Park Primary Lewisham – 27-28 Sept [email protected]
Drapers Pyrgo Priory School Havering – 27-29 Sept [email protected]
Holland Park School Kensington & Chelsea – 28-29 Sept [email protected]
NASUWT
IOM teachers vote to continue action over pay, workload and working practices (23 Sept) – Members of NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union in the Isle of Man have voted overwhelmingly to continue with their campaign of industrial action in a dispute with the DESC over pay, workload and working practices. 82% voted in support of strike action with 92% in support of action short of strike action in a reballot. NASUWT members have been undertaking action short of strike action since late April, withdrawing from a range of activities which do not directly relate to teaching and learning, including attending meetings and providing cover for absent colleagues. This action was escalated earlier this month with members no longer undertaking break duties or any marking, setting and assessment of cover work arising from any planned or unplanned staff absence read more
EIS
Teachers’ pay Offer Formally Rejected and Dispute Declared (22 Sept) – The EIS is moving ahead with its plans to open a statutory strike ballot of its members in pursuit of a fair pay settlement for Scotland’s teachers and associated professionals. This follows today’s meeting of the Extended Joint Chairs of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), where the latest pay offer to teachers was formally rejected by the Teachers’ Side and a dispute has been declared with local authority employers. The decision to move ahead with the statutory ballot – the final step to ensuring that strike action can be taken by Scotland’s teachers – follows the overwhelming result in an EIS consultative ballot last week, where 94% of EIS members voted to reject the current 5% pay offer and 91% voted in favour of a move to strike action towards securing a fair settlement read more
UCU
Unprecedented ‘cost-of-living’ strike hits dozens of colleges (22 Sept) – Around 4,000 staff at 29 colleges will take up to 10 days of strike action starting next week in a dispute over low pay amid the cost-of-living crisis. Staff at 17 colleges across England begin their strike next Monday 26 September with a further 12 colleges striking the week after. The level of industrial action being undertaken is ‘unprecedented’ in England, UCU says. Staff will be picketing outside every college on each morning of strike action. The strikes will take place over four weeks in the first half term of the academic year. The full dates of strike action are:
- Week 1: Monday 26, Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 September (3 days)
- Week 2: Thursday 6 and Friday 7 October (2 days)
- Week 3: Monday 10 and Tuesday 11 October (2 days)
- Week 4: Tuesday 18 Wednesday, 19 and Thursday 20 October (3 days)
Staff at Burnley, Liverpool and Oldham colleges are also striking over pay, but are striking on different dates, which are: Tuesday 4, Wednesday 5 and Thursday 6 October… Staff at nine further colleges also have mandates to strike but are not yet going forward with action. Should these colleges fail to make staff suitable pay offers, industrial action could follow…UCU is also balloting staff at 150 universities including over low pay read more
University strike ballots open today amidst cost-of-living crisis (6 Sept) – Ballots for industrial action opened today at universities across the UK in disputes over pay, working conditions and pension cuts amidst the worst cost of living crisis in living memory, confirmed UCU. In total, over 70,000 staff at 150 universities are being balloted across two separate ballots. 67 institutions are being balloted over pension cuts to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) and 145 are being balloted over pay and working conditions. Both ballots 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 both ballots, all 150 universities will be hit by strike action, which would be unprecedented read more
Richmond upon Thames College issues ‘sign or sack’ ultimatum to over 100 teachers (30 Aug) – Tomorrow all 127 teachers at Richmond upon Thames College will be forced to sign up to a punitive new contract of employment that will see them lose eight days holiday, the University and College Union (UCU) revealed today. Any teacher who refuses to do so will be sacked the following day. The implementation of the punitive contract comes after UCU recently suspended strike action in good faith in an attempt to facilitate a resolution through industrial conciliation service ACAS. The ACAS talks did not lead to a resolution of the dispute leaving staff with the ‘sign or sack’ ultimatum. Staff will strike on Monday 12 September 2022 in protest against the imposition of the new contracts and the dispute remains ongoing. UCU said further action will be called if the dispute remains unresolved read more
UCU fighting fund: the link is here and donations to the fund are spent on supporting members involved in important disputes.
FBU
Fair pay or fire strike – all members meeting on pay (27 Sept) – Amid the pay dispute, Matt Wrack, general secretary will address members online on Thursday 29 September at 6.30pm. RMT assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey is also set to speak on the movement’s struggle for fair pay, terms and conditions. The meeting will discuss the 2% pay offer made by fire service employers and a potential ballot on strike action read more
Firefighters prepare for ballot for strike action over pay (6 Sept) – Firefighters and firefighter control staff are preparing for a ballot for strike action, following consultation in Fire Brigades Union branches and a meeting of the union’s executive council on 2 September. The decision follows firefighters and firefighter control staff receiving a 2% annual pay offer on 27 June, which has not been improved upon since despite union representations to multiple parties. Inflation (CPI) has been measured at 10.1%, meaning that such a pay offer represents a significant real-terms pay cut. The aim is for the ballot to be held in five weeks’ time read more
BFAWU
Organise Now! Launches today! (Sept 26) – Sarah Woolley BFAWU General Secretary: Bakers, Food and Allied Workers, Strike Map and Notes from Below launch new organising project, Organise Now! LAUNCH VIDEO IS HERE. Today (24 September), The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU), Strike Map UK and Notes from Below launch a new union organising project called Organise Now! This project is inspired by the Emergency Workplace Organising Committee (EWOC) launched in the USA a few years ago, which has seen tens of thousands unorganised workers contacting them looking for help in building a union in historically low unionised areas, like Starbucks and Amazon. The Organise Now! website launches with two forms. One form is for workers who want support and the other is for volunteers to sign up. Within 72 hours of filling out the form, workers receive a call back from a volunteer. They are assigned an experienced organiser who will coach them through their organising at work read more
NUJ
Pay survey of NUJ members in Ireland (27 Sept) – NUJ members in Ireland should complete the union’s short pay survey by 28 September. The National Union of Journalists is currently conducting a pay survey of its members in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The survey is completely confidential and should take less than five minutes to complete. It remains open until midnight on Tuesday, September 20th read more
Iran: journalists arrested amid protests (23 Sept) – The National Union of Journalists has joined the International Federation of Journalists in condemning the arrests of six journalists following protests in Iran. Protests are taking place across the country, following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody on 16 September read more
NUJ Reach pay settlement (23 Sept) – NUJ members have voted to accept a revised pay offer from Reach plc. Following a ballot of all NUJ members across Reach, the NUJ group chapel met today and acknowledged the outcome of the ballot result and the decision to accept the company’s revised pay proposal, a process in which over 76 per cent of members cast their vote. The group chapel paid tribute to the collective work and solidarity of members across the group to secure a settlement that delivers significant pay rises to over 700 journalists, many of whom are the lowest paid staff, and improved redundancy terms and conditions for many members in currently in receipt of statutory minimums. Including increases secured in July, it will see pay rise for these workers in deals ranging from 14 to 44 per cent across the specified roles and minimum rates read more
NUJ to ballot members at Al Jazeera (22 Sept) – Members employed by Al Jazeera International Ltd are being balloted on whether they are prepared to take part in strike action and action short of strike. 40 members will receive ballot papers following a decision by the Al Jazeera group chapel to move to an industrial action vote, rejecting the company’s 2022 offer of 4.5% plus an unconsolidated £500 for those earning less than £50,000 read more
Prospect
Civil service unions call for change of administration to herald reset in relations following initial meeting (27 Sept) – Prospect and the FDA have written to Edward Argar MP, the new Minister for the Cabinet Office, following an introductory meeting between the Minister and trade unions last week. In the letter they call on the Minister to engage with unions on the critical issues of pay and the cost-of-living-crisis, proposals to cut the number of civil servants by 20%, and proposed cuts to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme read more
Equity
Equity urges Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to reform Universal Credit (21 Sept) – Ahead of this week’s mini-budget, Equity General Secretary Paul Fleming has written to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Chloe Smith MP to urge her to use her new position to reform Universal Credit. We need an adequate safety net for the self-employed during the cost of living crisis and beyond read more
USDAW
Usdaw joins a TUC co-ordinated legal challenge against the Government’s “strike-breaking” agency worker regulations (20 Sept) – Retail trade union Usdaw is one of eleven trade unions to launch a judicial review of “anti-worker” regulations which “undermine the right to strike”. They are being coordinated by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and represented by Thompsons Solicitors LLP read more
UVW
Judge orders Brighton pub to pay wages to sacked UVW strike leader (26 Sept) – “I’m ecstatic by the decision from the court to grant my interim relief! It’s a huge win for the UVW members of the Saint James Tavern and the labour movement across the hospitality sector” – Jake Marvin, sacked UVW strike leader and former bar manager. A judge ordered pub bosses at Saint James Tavern (SJT) in Brighton to pay wages to a United Voices of the World (UVW) strike leader, who was abruptly sacked allegedly for his union activities. And they will have to pay wages until there is a final hearing on his dismissal, which could be in a year or so. Former bar manager and UVW member Jake Marvin applied to the Employment Tribunal in early July for interim relief following his abrupt sacking just days after the workers’ first picket line on June 25. Interim relief is when a boss is ordered to reinstate or pay a worker where the Employment Tribunal believes they have been sacked for trade union activities. The judgement will remain in force until a final hearing on unfair dismissal and trade union victimisation takes place in a year or so read more
IWGB
Glasgow Foster Carers Protest to Demand Emergency Measures from Council to Tackle Cost of Living Crisis (27 Sept) – Tuesday 27 September: Glasgow foster care workers from the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) will demonstrate in George Square tomorrow at midday, demanding emergency measures from the council to tackle the cost of living crisis. The majority of foster carers across Glasgow are facing a 28% real-terms cut to their child allowance incomes after the Glasgow City Integration Joint Board refused to implement a 10% increase voted through by the council in February’s budget read more
Security Staff at University College London to Strike over Pay as Part of Campaign Against Outsourcing (26 Sept) – Outsourced security staff working at University College London (UCL) from the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) have voted unanimously to take strike action over pay and union recognition. This follows the launch of an ongoing campaign in May by the majority-BAME and migrant outsourced workers demanding to be brought in-house, after years of subcontractor mismanagement. At the height of the cost of living crisis, security staff are demanding £15/hr, equivalent to the wage paid to security over two decades ago before outsourcing was introduced at UCL (and still paid to a small number of staff who have remained employed since that time and whose conditions are protected by TUPE). Outsourced workers are also demanding an end to exploitative outsourcing at the university read more
SIPTU (Ireland)
SIPTU members consider industrial action at Dublin Airport in wages dispute (23 Sept) – SIPTU worker representatives employed by the daa in Dublin Airport have declared no confidence in their management and have begun preparations for balloting union members for industrial action in a dispute over the repeated failure to pay staff wages on time read more
SIPTU members picket and protest locations in five counties over next three days (23 Sept) – Hundreds of SIPTU members in the community and care sector will take strike action over the next three days (Wednesday, 21st to Friday, 22nd September) in more than 20 organisations in counties Cork, Kerry, Galway, Mayo and Donegal read more
Government intent on provoking more strikes in care and community sector (23 Sept) – The Government is intent on provoking more strikes in care and community organisations as it seeks to ignore three days of industrial action in the sector this week as part of the Valuing Care, Valuing Community campaign and with more workers demanding to join the dispute. Hundreds of workers in Western Care in Mayo, Ability West in Galway and selected community employment schemes in Donegal are going on strike today (Thursday, 22nd September). This follows strikes by workers in other Section 39 care and community organisations yesterday and more action scheduled for tomorrow read more
Barristers take indefinite action over pay and conditions
From The Criminal Bar Association website: Indefinite Weeks of Action Arrangements for Week Commencing 5th September 2022
The Government continues to refuse to negotiate with the Criminal Bar Association and, pursuant to the last overwhelming ballot of our membership, indefinite weeks of action will begin from the 5th of September 2022, the day that the new Prime Minister is announced. That action will continue, with no further ballot initiated, unless and until there is a substantial positive movement from Government.
This action is taken as a last resort, driven by our collective resolve to ensure the viability of the junior criminal bar, in order to guarantee the future sustainability of the criminal justice system for all of our communities, across the country. The collapse of the Criminal Justice System, pre-dating, not caused by, our action, can no longer can be disguised. The remedies of immediate, substantial, long-term investment and reform, can no longer be ignored.
Whilst strength and unity are expressed in national zoom meetings and realised across the profession, it is also very important that barristers publicly show their strength and support for each other, and for the junior bar, in order to continue to raise the profile of the crisis, and our action, in the media. The CBA thanks and welcomes the solicitors, HCAs, barristers from other practice areas and law students who have come and stood beside criminal barristers on court steps across the country read more – including details of strike rallies on Tuesday 6th September – this includes the Supreme Court in London at 9am and at court buildings in Cardiff 9am, Manchester 9am, Birmingham 12noon, Bristol 10am and Leeds 9am.
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
Other news
Sign petition: Liz Truss, give a 10% pay rise and equal pay to all care workers and personal assistants from Disability Rights Action [email protected]
International News
Pakistan flooding disaster – Urgent appeal from the Sindh Workers’ Alliance read more and find details on how to donate
Fight blacklisting and victimisation of union reps
QC appointed to lead the independent Unite inquiry into blacklisting – 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
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
October
1 Enough is Enough National Day of Action on energy prices rise with protests across the UK
2 People’s Assembly Protest the Tory Party Conference – 1pm, Victoria Square, Birmingham
19 TUC Rally & Lobby of Parliament
November
5 People’s Assembly National Demonstration – London, Assemble Embankment, WC2N 6NS
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
