Save Steelmaking at Port Talbot – nationalisation not devastation
The NSSN sends our solidarity to steelworkers and their unions as Tata Steel announce their intention to make 75% of the 4,000-strong workforce redundant. This would also result in thousands more losing their jobs at contracting companies, and threaten related jobs such as on the rails and the wider local economy.
As we did in 2016, when the steelworks were under the same threat, we continue to demand the works be nationalised to save jobs and communities. We will support and publicise all demonstrations, protests and industrial action called to save steel jobs and defend communities, in Port Talbot and in other steelmaking areas.
- Unite vows to fight for jobs as Tata warned to wait for Labour’s investment (2 Feb)
- Tata is ‘open to other options’ if funding available, select committee told (31 Jan)
- ‘Steel Not For Sale’ signs erected across Sheffield, Teesside, Port Talbot & Scunthorpe as campaign to save industry intensifies (31 Jan)
- Statement Community and GMB: Tata Steel Port Talbot (19 Jan)
Fight the Tory attack on our #RightToStrike
About 5,000 trade unionists marched in Cheltenham last Saturday in opposition to the new Tory anti-union Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 (MSL), and to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Thatcher’s banning of union rights at GCHQ in the town.
It was just days after the U-turn by the state-owned LNER train operating company that was reported to have signalled its intention to have used the MSL against ASLEF. The union had reacted to this threat by putting in 5 additional strike days. This apparent retreat was a defeat not only for LNER bosses but for Sunak’s Tory Government.
It showed that workers’ action can smash this vicious Tory attack on our right to strike. Come and take part in the NSSN Online Public Meeting tonight – Tuesday 30th January at 6.30pm to discuss how the fight against the MSL must be built.
It is now vital that the statement that was passed at the Special TUC Congress in December – setting out a campaign of defiance and non-compliance – is implemented and built upon:-
- We will develop practical solidarity plans for unions actively engaged in strategies of non-compliance.
- Support any worker subject to a work notice, including with support from across the trade union movement, if their employer disciplines them in any way.
- Ensure that where any affiliate is facing significant risk of sanctions because of this legislation, we convene an emergency meeting of the Executive Committee to consider options for providing practical, industrial, financial and/or political backing to that union.
- Call on all employers and public bodies with oversight to oppose this counterproductive legislation. Employers and public bodies from across the public sector and the country have already signalled their opposition to the Strikes Act. All employers and public bodies must reject it
- Refuse to tell our members to cross a picket line.
- Call an urgent demonstration in the event a work notice is deployed and a union or worker is sanctioned in relation to a work notice.
This is the basis for the fighting strategy that workers and unions need and now needs to be enacted.
TUC: #HeartUnions Week 12-18 February – a week where the trade union movement celebrates unions and the good we do. There will be a whole number of local activities read more
Lobby Woking Borough Council on Thursday 8th February 6pm – Demand local councillors refuse to vote for cuts!
Stop the attack on Gaza
Many NSSN supporters have joined marches and protests against the escalation of violence in the Middle East, particularly the invasion and bombardment of Gaza by the Israeli government
See Stop the War website for info on protests. The next national demo in Central London is Saturday 17th February – assemble at 12noon
#StandWithGaza London Trade Union Rally: Tues 6 Feb – 6.30pm, Mander Hall, Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9BD
#STANDWITHGAZA Workplace day of action – Wednesday 7th February
A number of unions have issued statements on the situation in the Middle East, including: the TUC, FBU, RMT, NEU, Unite, Unison, PCS, ASLEF, TSSA, UCU, EIS, Equity, BMA, NUJ, UVW, GMB, SOR, RCM, RCN, IWGB, Prospect, CSP, INTO (Ireland), SIPTU (Ireland) and Mandate (Ireland)
NSSN news
Date for your diaries!! 2024 NSSN Conference – Saturday 22nd June, 11am-4.30pm, Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, Holborn, London WC1R 4RL
Get your trade union branch or trades council to affiliate to the NSSN – it only costs £50. Already affiliated? Please think about renewing it and/or making an additional donation to help our work. Also, many of our supporters pay a few pounds a month via a standing order.
You can either pay online to ‘National Shop Stewards Network’, HSBC – sort code 40-06-41, account number 90143790.
Or you can pay by cheque to ‘National Shop Stewards Network’ and post to 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 Katrine 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 condemn “cowardly” Carlisle Support Services bosses threats to workers (3 Feb) – Rail union RMT today lambasted bosses at Carlisle Support Services over alleged bullying and intimidating behaviour towards union members. Following the successful industrial action ballot earlier this week, where workers voted overwhelmingly for strike action over pay and holiday allowance, the company has been accused of threatening RMT members. Reports have come in of the company demanding to know the status of their employees union membership and falsely suggesting any strike action by workers at the company would be illegal. Carlisle Support Services has in the past been accused of threatening to deport staff members who were members of RMT read more
London Overground workers to strike over pay (30 Jan) – Staff working on London Overground will take strike action over pay after a below inflation offer. More than 300 workers will take action which includes strikes and action short of strike.
The action will take place at the following times:-
- 00:01 on Monday 19th February 2024 until 23:59 on Tuesday 20th February 2024
- 00:01 on Monday 4th March 2024 until 23:59 on Tuesday 5th March 2024
Among the workers taking action will be security, station, revenue and control staff.
Arriva Rail London (ARL) who has the contract on London Overground have offered a below inflation pay offer and RMT members overwhelmingly voted for action in response read more
Hitachi Rail workers to take five days strike action (26 Jan) – RMT members working across East Coast mainline for Hitachi Rail will begin five days of strike action on Saturday. The stoppage will take place at Craigentinny, Bounds Green & Doncaster maintenance depots across the East Coast mainline and will conclude on Thursday 1st February. More than 400 workers will be taking part in the action on Hitachi Rail which maintains the rolling stock and signalling for LNER. Hitachi Rail have refused to make an acceptable offer despite the company making over £100m in profit last year and paying out a whopping £260,179,000 in dividends. The union has carried out a risk assessment of the safety regime of Hitachi in the event of a strike and have found it is not up to standard and poses risks to the travelling public read more
ASLEF
Train drivers to walk out again as government fails to act (15 Jan) – Train drivers who are members of ASLEF union will take strike action in January and February in a long-running dispute over pay. A series of strikes will take place between Tuesday 30 January and Monday 5 February 2024. Members will walk out at Southeastern, GTR Southern/Gatwick Express, GTR Great Northern Thameslink, SWR Island Line and South Western Railway on Tuesday 30 January; at Northern Trains and Transpennine Trains on Wednesday 31 January; at Greater Anglia, C2C and LNER on Friday 2 February; at West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast and East Midlands Railway on Saturday 3 February, and at Great Western, CrossCountry and Chiltern on Monday 5 February. The drivers will also refuse to work overtime from Monday 29 January until Tuesday 6 February read more
ASLEF picket lines
Unite
Unite secures new pay deal for GXO Iceland workers in Swindon (6 Feb) – Unite, Britain’s leading trade union, has secured a hugely improved pay offer from GXO for its workers after a campaign of industrial action. Workers at cold food storage facilities in Swindon working on behalf of the Iceland supermarket chain have secured both backdated and ongoing pay increases to help address their pay concerns and tackle the cost of living crisis. Employees will receive a 6 per cent pay increase on basic pay, and associated rises in overtime and unsocial pay backdated to 1 March 2023. They are also receiving a further increase of 5.3 per cent on basic pay, overtime and unsocial shift pay backdated to 1 Jan 2024. There are also increases in incentives for working in the freezer section of the warehouse, chiller section and ambient sections. In addition, workers willing to work flexibly at the different storage sites in Swindon, will receive higher pay rates. Unite has also ensured backdated pay will be paid at the earliest opportunity read more
Church of England attempt to cut clergy retirement housing stock slammed (6 Feb) – Church Commissioners created ‘needless’ funding crisis for retirement housing and must step in. Church of England leaders have been criticised by Unite for attempting to cut retirement housing provision for clergy, many of whom spend their working lives living in church-owned properties and cannot afford mortgages. Unite, which represents over 2,000 clergy and lay officers, said the church had created a ‘needless’ funding crisis in its provision of clergy retirement housing stock. Until 2010, retirement housing was paid for through loans to the Church of England’s pension board from the Church Commissioners, the body that administers the church’s national endowment, currently valued at over £10bn. Since then, however, the pension board has been forced to take out loans from commercial lenders to buy housing read more
Unite the union Registered Childminders seek urgent meeting with incoming Northern Ireland Health Minister Robin Swann on crisis in their sector (5 Feb) – Registered childminders seek immediate move to increase ratios to levels already in place in England and Wales. Approximately 300 Registered Childminders have left the sector as a result of almost three years of political inaction. Unite the union Registered Childminders (RCM) branch which represents the majority of those working in the sector, an overwhelmingly female workforce – the majority of whom work from their homes, has written to incoming Health Minister Robin Swann to seek an urgent meeting. The sector has suffered high levels of attrition with approximately 300 registered childminders leaving the occupation due to financial pressures arising from ratios imposed in Northern Ireland that are much lower than those imposed in England or Wales read more
Transport workers in Northern Ireland to delay strikes to give Stormont space for a pay offer (5 Feb) – In absence of improved pay offer, bus and rail workers will take a three-day strike action at the end of the month. Public transport workers in Northern Ireland have deferred strike action to give political leaders at Stormont space to make an improved pay offer. Despite the re-establishment of power-sharing institutions, as yet the public transport unions (Unite, GMB and SIPTU) have received no offer of negotiations from Translink or indeed any offer of a pay increase. Given the potential for incoming Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd to move quickly and offer workers a pay increase, it was unanimously agreed by all three unions to reschedule the date of the next, planned strike action which was provisionally set for February 15 – until the end of the month. In the absence of a realistic offer the next scheduled strike action by bus and rail workers will be for a 72-hour period commencing on a staggered basis after midnight on 27 February and ending after midnight 29 February. Strike action would result in all bus and rail services in Northern Ireland being brought to a standstill read more
Strike action on Translink bus and rail services in Northern Ireland tomorrow in absence of pay offer (31 Jan) – Joint transport union press release: Bus and rail workers to conduct sixth one-day strike action on 1 February. A further three strike dates in February are planned in campaign to secure a cost-of-living pay increase. More than 3,000 workers at Translink are to commence a further 24-hour stoppage tomorrow (Thursday 1 February) in the cost of living pay dispute. Members of the transport unions, Unite, GMB and SIPTU, will begin their sixth one day strike on a staggered basis from midnight. The strike will bring all bus and rail services across Northern Ireland to a standstill. The strikes are a result of Translink failing to make any form of a pay offer to its workers. Funding for public transport services has been constrained with no money for a cost of living pay increase being made available as a result of the punitive budget imposed by secretary of state Chris Heaton-Harris. Despite recent political developments, no improved pay offer has been made to the public transport unions. There is no clarity on the timing of such an offer or even a timeframe for negotiations read more
Unite calls on Government to “stop hiding behind the NHS Pay Review Body” as NHS staffing crisis continues (5 Feb) – Unite, the UK’s leading trade union, today (Friday 2 Feb) announced that it will not be submitting evidence to the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB), the organisation that submits recommendations to government for NHS pay. With the NHS in a recruitment and retention crisis as a result of over a decade of below-inflation pay, health sector workers represented by Unite are demanding immediate and meaningful increases in pay. Unite, which represents healthcare workers in all areas of the NHS, is seeking, unrestricted and meaningful negotiations” directly with government to agree pay increases and to resolve the staffing crisis now engulfing the NHS read more
Hartlepool TMD brake pad strikes off after Unite secures 11% pay deal (5 Feb) – Strike action by more than 180 Hartlepool workers employed at TMD Friction, which supplies car makers with brake products, have ended after Unite secured a two year 11 per cent pay deal. Around 150 workers began industrial action in early January with that number swelling to over 180 by the end of the month. The workers have now voted to accept the deal of 7.5 per cent backdated to June 2023 and 3.5 per cent from June this year read more
Unite demands stronger legal protection for bus drivers in wake of horrific fatality (5 Feb) – Unite the union today (Monday 5 February) demanded stronger legal protection for bus drivers in Scotland following the horrific news that a bus driver died following an alleged assault in Elgin. The driver who has been named as Keith Rollinson, was working at the time of the tragic incident on a Stagecoach bus. Unite extends its deep and sincere condolences to the family of Mr Rollinson who was a member of the union read more
Vodafone €13.3 billion profits underline why blighted Three deal must be blocked – Unite (5 Feb) – Profit-rich Vodafone should be blocked from merging with Three, Unite the Union said today, after the mobile network operator posted guidance to investors that it would make profits of €13.3bn this year. The news came as the firm gave a Q3 update to investors, showing 5.2% growth in the UK and predicting it would pull off its troubled deal with Three by the end of the year read more
Union leader speaks out about “dangerous exploitation of vulnerable workers” on anniversary of Morecambe Bay Cockling Disaster (5 Feb) – On the twentieth anniversary of the Morecambe Bay Cockling Disaster, in which 21 people drowned, Unite, the UK’s leading union, has said that the widescale and often dangerous exploitation of vulnerable workers is still rife. Unite said the Gangmasters Licensing Authority, set up in the wake of the disaster and which became the Gangmaster Licensing and Abuse Authority (GLAA) in 2017, needs urgent reform. The authority has been successively weakened by the government, which has expanded its remit but left it increasingly underfunded. Ministers have also deliberately excluded trade unions from its board after they were previously well represented. Since the Morecambe Bay disaster, insecure employment practices, including employment agency, zero-hour contracts, bogus self-employment, and gig economy work, have become increasingly normalised. This has provided opportunities for exploiters to infiltrate legitimate areas of the economy, particularly in sectors such as agriculture, warehousing, meat processing, construction and garment making read more
Unite vows to fight for jobs as Tata warned to wait for Labour’s investment (2 Feb) – Commenting on the formal HR1 notice of potential redundancies at Port Talbot issued by Tata today (Friday), Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite will leave no stone unturned in backing the fight for jobs at Port Talbot. Tata’s announced plans are short sighted and are not in the best interests of the company, the workforce or Britain. This consultation period must be used to take stock of where we are now…” read more
Tata is ‘open to other options’ if funding available, select committee told (31 Jan) – Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Tata has revealed that further investment and government support could transform its plans for the future of Port Talbot. “Tata’s confirmation that it wants to see the details of the Labour Party’s spending plans on steel and that it will look at other options if there is more capital investment funding available is hugely significant. Labour has already been clear that the funding is there. We now need to make sure that everything possible is being done to keep virgin steel making at Port Talbot while they bring in the planned electric arc furnace…” read more
‘Steel Not For Sale’ signs erected across Sheffield, Teesside, Port Talbot & Scunthorpe as campaign to save industry intensifies (31 Jan)
Sandwell council building worker strikes off after Unite secures pay deal (2 Feb) – Pay strikes by around 100 Sandwell council building workers have been suspended after Unite, the UK’s leading union, secured a pay deal. The carpenters, bricklayers, plasterers. roofers, glaziers, plumbers and painters and decorators were scheduled to begin 14 days strike action over February and March next week. Following negotiations between Unite and Sandwell council’s leader, Kerrie Carmichael, and chief executive, Shokat Lal, an offer was put forward to pay the workers a market supplement of £2,703. The workers subsequently voted in favour of the offer read more
Gloucestershire Lucozade workers to strike over pay (2 Feb) – Over 180 members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, employed by Suntory Beverage & Food in Coleford, Gloucestershire, will begin a week of strike action on Monday 5 February after management failed to address the cost-of-living crisis. Workers received a two year pay deal effective from April 1 2022, with a commitment from the employer to review the second year’s increase, should inflation exceed five per cent between January to June 2023. The inflation rate far exceeded this but the one-billion-pound Suntory Beverage & Food, which produces household name drinks including Lucozade Energy, Lucozade Sport and Ribena, has not met expectations in relation to this commitment read more
Unite leader slams water companies as ‘symbol for the failure of privatisation’ (2 Feb) – Responding to today’s (Friday 2 February) announcement by Water UK that bills are to rise for consumers, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The water companies are a symbol for the failure of privatisation writ large. Workers and their families are being ripped off yet again, to bail out debts created by negligence and greed. Meanwhile, the regulator sits on its hands while sewage is pouring into our waterways. It is very clear to everyone except the politicians that we need an economic clean-up of our water supply as well as an environmental one.” Read more
Ireland public sector pay proposals: Unite representatives defer decision on recommendation pending workplace engagement (2 Feb) – Further meeting scheduled for 16 February. February 2nd: Unite public sector representatives met in Dublin today (Friday) to consider the terms of the proposed Public Service Agreement 2024-2026 read more
Unite announces SQA industrial action lasting months (1 Feb) – Unite the union can confirm today (Thursday 1 February) that around 400 members at the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) will start a period of prolonged industrial action from this month in a dispute over pay. Unite members will initially hold two 24-hour stoppages on 23 and 29 February. The industrial action will also include an overtime ban, a ban on weekend working and a ban on accruing time-off in lieu beginning on 16 February and lasting until 10 May. The pay dispute centres on the SQA’s two-year pay offer for 2023 and 2024. For the majority of Unite’s members, the SQA offer equates to no more than 5.75 per cent in 2023, and 3.15 per cent in 2024. This amounts to a substantial real terms pay cut as the broader inflation (RPI) applicable to the pay award period hit 13.8 per cent in February last year, and regularly reached double digits throughout 2023 read more
Leeds housing charity Gipsil blasted for refusing to recognise Unite for pay negotiations (1 Feb) – Unite to take Gipsil to Central Arbitration Committee over lack of proper union recognition. Unite, the UK’s leading union, has blasted Leeds housing support charity Gipsil over its refusal to grant a proper recognition agreement to its unionised workers. Gipsil bosses have told Unite that they will recognise its members employed by the charity but will not sign an agreement that allows collective bargaining over pay. Unite says such a recognition agreement would not be ‘worth the paper it is written on’ and is taking the dispute to the government’s Central Arbitration Committee (CAC). The CAC oversees the regulation of UK labour law read more
Education authority workers in Northern Ireland begin two days of strikes for pay improvement (31 Jan) – Workers seek implementation of long delayed pay and grading review to tackle staffing crisis. Education workers who are members of Unite will commence a 48 hour strike from midnight [00.01 Thursday 1 February]. The industrial action will involve approximately 800 Unite members and represents an escalation in the industrial dispute. The workforce is seeking implementation of a pay and grading review which the UK-wide National Joint Council instructed to be conducted six years ago read more
DHL workers at East Midlands Airport to strike over poor pay offer (31 Jan) – Members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, employed by DHL Aviation at East Midlands Airport have announced strike action over a low pay offer. The 180 workers who undertake ramp duties, provide aircraft handling and oversee the tower at the airport, are paid as little as £10.96 an hour. Industrial action was called after the workers rejected a pay increase of 9.8 per cent, in effect a real terms pay cut – as the real rate of inflation (RPI) stood at 11.3 per cent in April 2023, when the increase was due. Strike action will begin on Friday 9 February and continue until Monday 19 February. The workers are particularly incensed as the pay offer is less than their counterparts at Bristol and Gatwick airports received- despite DHL Aviation reporting gross profits of £66 million last year read more
Historic vote by Seagate workers secures collective bargaining rights for Unite the union (30 Jan) – Seagate management must now engage with union reps and negotiate voluntary recognition deal. In an historic ballot at Seagate, the Springtown-based manufacturer of external hard drives, workers have voted overwhelmingly for trade union recognition with Unite the union. The vote was taken among the 540 manufacturing specialists at the company and is the result of a multi-year campaign by union activists at the company and Unite’s organising department. The ballot followed a protracted battle with the statutory process taking over a year. In the run up to the ballot, the employer brought in union busters one of whom had previously been engaged by Amazon in union-busting drives in the USA. Despite these frustrations and facing a well-financed anti-union campaign, the workers remained determined and focused on their right to collective bargaining. Following the result, the employer has 30 days to negotiate a voluntary collective bargaining agreement with the union or else have a statutory one imposed by the industrial court read more
Security guards to strike at London’s Guys and St Thomas’ hospital (30 Jan) – Unite the union today (Tuesday) announced that 30 security workers at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital will take part in discontinuous industrial action from 07:00 Thursday 1 February after the NHS Foundation Trust refused to negotiate on several areas. The UK’s leading union said that its members will strike for a week until Thursday 8 February at 06:59 read more
Huge surge in Northern Ireland potholes reflects more than a decade of underinvestment (29 Jan) – Roads Service suffering acute staffing crisis as low-pay undermines recruitment and retention. Unite the UK’s leading union has blamed a huge increase in potholes in Northern Ireland on chronic under investment in the Roads Service. Statistics unveiled today have revealed that potholes reported by members of the public have increased year on year over the last eight years. Rising from 3,206 reported in 2015 to 25,067 in 2023 – an increase of 780 per cent over the period. Unite the union members working in the Roads Service are currently in dispute in pursuit of a pay increase. Roads service workers took a week of strike action over pay last week. Employers’ imposed a pay increase worth between 1.65 and 2.3 per cent in 2022-2023 and are still to commence negotiations for the 2023-2024 financial year read more
Escalation in industrial action at Cambridge University (29 Jan) – Vital workers at Cambridge University are taking to the picket line in an escalation of strike action over the low pay they are receiving and the refusal to offer a fair increase. Despite being one of the world’s most prestigious institutes of learning, the university is trying to force through a real terms pay cut. Workers have only been offered an increase of between a five and six per cent increase. The pay award was due to come into effect in August last year when the real inflation rate (RPI) stood at nine per cent. Unite’s members, some of whom earn under £23,000 are demanding above inflation rises to cope with the cost of living in one of the most expensive parts of the UK outside London. 450 members working in the university library, the department of engineering, estate management, the Fitzwilliam Museum and information services will be taking strike action from Wednesday 31 January until Friday 2 February 2024 read more
Majority of Hitachi workers secure pay deal (29 Jan) – Unite, Britain’s leading trade union, has secured increased pay for workers at Hitachi trains working on Great Western Railways (GWR), resolving an industrial dispute. Some Hitachi engineers, repairs and maintenance crews at LNER remain on strike though as Hitachi has not made the same offer to these workers read more
Supreme Court in Ireland lifts injunction preventing industrial action (28 Jan) – Decision removes obstacle to mechanical workers’ strike action. Unite leader: “We will leave no stone unturned to vindicate the right to take action”. January 28th: The Supreme Court has agreed to lift an interim High Court injunction obtained by HA O’Neil, part of the Jones Engineering Group, last March preventing Unite members continuing industrial action in pursuit of their claim for restoration of travel time. Unite had appealed last year’s High Court decision to the Supreme Court. While the full judgement will not be available for some time, the union said that the decision last Wednesday to lift the injunction is good news not just for Unite members but for the wider trade union movement. Unite also pointed out that the decision removes an obstacle to members in the mechanical sector taking strike action read more
Gillingham workers to picket at PHINIA over removal of paid lunch break (26 Jan) – Unite the union today has announced that 60 Gillingham-based PHINIA employees will take part in discontinuous industrial action from 07:30 on Monday 29 January, as the company plans to remove staff member’s paid lunch break. Unite, the UK’s leading union, will be fully supporting workers throughout industrial action with the first strike beginning on Monday 29 January and running throughout February, with a total of seven days of strikes already announced. PHINIA features on the New York Stock Exchange as PHIN and recently reported a net revenue of approximately $800 million. Now the fuel systems company is seeking to revoke a contractually binding paid lunch break that was secured as part of negotiations 20 years ago…In a deplorable development, PHINIA has threatened to fire and rehire the entire workforce to try to force through its planned change read more
Imerys Cornwall clay mine workers to strike over pay (26 Jan) – Staff angry over bad faith pay deal. More than 400 Imerys staff, predominantly based at clay mines in Cornwall, are to strike over pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Friday). In 2022, Imerys workforce agreed to an initial six per cent pay rise from January 2023. The good faith agreement was on the condition that negotiations with Unite on increasing the 2023 pay award would continue during the spring. This was because the initial rise was a significant real terms wage cut, as RPI inflation at the time stood at 13.4 per cent. Since then, however, the company has refused to put forward an acceptable offer and is insisting workers will only receive backpay from April 2023 rather than January 2023 read more
Mid Ulster District Council Leisure workers to continue all-out strike for improved coaching payments (26 Jan) – Strike by leisure workers continues at both Cookstown and Greenvale Leisure Centres. Approximately 30 members of Unite the union employed at both Cookstown Leisure Centre and Greenvale Leisure Centre are taking strike action in demand of improved payments for coaching duties. The all-out (indefinite) strike commenced on Monday [22 January] and in the absence of movement by council management is set to continue into a second week. The industrial action follows a ballot of the workers which returned an 80 per cent mandate for strike action. The workers are seeking improved payments for coaching duties which are outside their standard contract of employment read more
Indefinite strikes at Hartlepool brake pad maker risks shortages for major car brands (23 Jan) – TMD Friction supplies brake products for Rolls Royce, Ford, Nissan, Toyota, Bentley, McLaren. Pay strikes at the Hartlepool factory of TMD Friction, which supplies car makers with brake discs, pads and other products, have intensified, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Tuesday). Around 150 workers began strike action over pay earlier this month. That number has since increased to over 180 as more workers join the union. The workers have now moved to continuous indefinite strike action, risking brake product shortages for TMD’s partners, which include Rolls Royce, Ford, Nissan, Toyota, Bentley and McLaren. TMD Friction was previously owned by Nisshinbo Holdings Inc until it was sold to German-equity firm AEQUITA, whose automotive divisions account for €2 billion worth of sales. Even though TMD Friction reported loses of £4,000 (four thousand) in 2022, it had a turnover of £74.1 million and gross profits of £9 million read more
Offshore working rota disputes widen to cover chemists, heating and ventilation engineers (23 Jan) – Unite the union confirmed today (Tuesday 23 January) that it is balloting over 50 members in the offshore sector including chemists, heating and ventilation engineers. The union is holding industrial action ballots at IES Callenberg and SGS UK Limited for the failure by both companies to improve the jobs, terms and conditions of the workforce. The IES Callenberg dispute involves over 40 offshore workers who provide heating, ventilation, and air conditioning services on offshore platforms operated by BP, TAQA, CNR, Repsol, Serica and CNOOC. Chemists who provide services to the offshore oil and gas industry employed by SGS UK Limited are also being balloted on industrial action. The dispute exclusively centres on chemists servicing BP’s platforms the Clair, Clair Ridge, ETAP and Glen Lyon. The ballots which are now open both close on 22 February read more
Support the Unite Barts NHS Strike – The next dates are as follows-
- on 29th January to 23.59 on 2nd February 2024 – All members employed by Barts and Synergy on strike
- on 3rd February to 23.59 on 9th February 2024 – All members employed by Barts in Catering, Domestic, Patient Ambassador, Portering, Security, Sewing room and Ward host roles and Synergy members on strike
Pickets will be at The Royal London Hospital, Whipps Cross Hospital and St Barts Hospital from 8am to 10am read more
Kaefer contractors resume strike action at Mossmorran gas plant (22 Jan) – Around 90 Kaefer maintenance and repair contractors based at the Mossmorran Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) plant will resume strike action this week as part of an ongoing payment dispute. A 24 hour stoppage starts tomorrow (Tuesday 23 January) with a further round scheduled to start on Thursday (25 January) morning. There will then be further strikes next week and into February. Strike action took place between 27 November to 4 December last year in relation to the dispute. Picket lines will be held outside the Mossmorran plant from 07:00 on both mornings. The dispute centres on the contractor Kaefer not making a cost of living payment for 2023. Unite says its membership has been left with ‘no choice’ but to resume strike action. The union has taken aim at the operator Shell for the impasse stating it is refusing to support any negotiated deal with Kaefer at the Mossmorran plant read more
Bus controllers strike to bring chaos across London (16 Jan) – Bus company staff in London are to strike this week after rejecting a poor pay offer, Unite confirmed today (16 January 2024). Around 40 staff who work in the control rooms for Abellio buses and who control the bus routes, instruct drivers on traffic jams or accidents and ensure overall safety on the routes are to take six days of action beginning on Friday 19 January. Control room staff, who use high-tech satellite GPS systems to monitor bus routes across London, have been offered just a five per cent pay increase for 2023 by Abellio, a substantial real terms pay cut. They already earn approximately £10,000 per year less than similar staff at other bus companies and have been offered a smaller pay increase than that offered to members doing the same job at competitor companies… Controllers, managers and supervisors based at both Battersea bus garage and Twickenham bus garage are staging walkouts on the following dates: 19 and 26 January and 2, 9, 16 and 23 February… The routes that affected by industrial action are primarily in South and South West London and include: 24, 27, 111, 156, 159, 267, 285, 322, 344, 345, 415 , 490, 969, H20, H25, H26, R68, R70 read more
400 Unite members at bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis start two weeks of strikes (14 Jan) – Around 400 Unite members employed by Alexander Dennis will start a two week strike today (15 January) as part of a bitter pay dispute at the Falkirk based bus manufacturer. The strike action will continue until 29 January when the action will conclude. Unite represents coach builders and spray painters at the Camelon factory. The union’s members previously took two weeks of strike action between 4 to 17 December 2023… In December 2023 Alexander Dennis offered a penny-pinching additional 0.5 per cent on its original four per cent wage offer (4.5 per cent), and four per cent for 2024. The pay offer was emphatically rejected by the workforce read more
Long running Cardiff bin strike to extend into February (12 Jan) – Strike action by Unite members working within Cardiff council’s refuse and recycling department is being extended by a further four weeks. The current strike action which started on 28 December, was due to end on Thursday 25 January will now continue until Thursday 22 February. The fresh strike dates are in response to Cardiff council’s failure to make any progress in relation to Unite’s concerns on a number of local issues. The most prominent of these being the widespread bullying culture within the refuse and recycling department alongside the ingrained use of agency labour. Unite is concerned that Cardiff council are showing no desire to resolve the dispute, indeed the council leadership have disgracefully announced they intend to attack the annual leave accrual of striking workers read more
Drax canteen workers serve up more pay strikes (12 Jan) – Power station’s Baxter Storey food and drink facilities now at risk of ‘health hazard’. Strike action by Drax canteen workers employed by Baxter Storey has intensified, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Friday). The predominantly women workers began strike action in early December over poverty pay and a lack of union recognition. Since then, Baxter Storey has agreed to negotiate a voluntary recognition agreement and enter pay talks. The extremely profitable company’s offer of a one-off payment of £380, however, has been rejected as completely inadequate…The workers began their current round of industrial action on 8 January and will strike until 14 January. A further 14 days of strikes will begin on 22 January, with industrial action intensifying further if the dispute is not resolved read more
Bedford warehouse workers at Movianto head to picket line over trade union recognition (9 Jan) – Workers at Movianto, a specialised medical warehousing company in Bedford, are striking from Monday 8 January after their employer refused to recognise Unite for collective bargaining purposes. Over 85 Unite members have been campaigning for their union to be officially recognised but Movianto has strongly resisted such moves. Workers voted in favour of industrial action by nearly 80 per cent read more
Sanctuary housing workers balloting to strike – Repairs workers in strike ballot. An important group of London based repairs workers at Sanctuary Housing are balloting for strike action. Sanctuary do not recognise trade unions and have refused to negotiate with Unite members on pay over an extended period. In a recent consultative ballot members voted 100% for strike action but management have not taken the opportunity to enter negotiations. The workers want a pay rise of RPI inflation plus 1%, a £15.00 / hour minimum rate of pay and a four-day week. Sanctuary Housing’s surplus is 73% higher than last year with a pretax figure of £101.3 million with a healthy operating margin of 21.1%. There can be no doubts about Sanctuary’s ability to pay up read more
Slough parking strikes suspended following new offer (22 Dec) – Planned strikes involving parking attendants in Slough have been suspended following an improved offer by the employer. Over 30 members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, employed by Saba Parking Services on the outsourced Slough council parking contract were set to walk out from 27 to 30 December in a dispute over low pay. However, following an improved offer by the employer and with further talks scheduled for the new year, the strikes were called off. If the talks fail to resolve the dispute then further industrial action could be announced next year read more
300 craft workers resume strike action in dispute with ‘Scrooge’ West Lothian Council (15 Dec) – Unite demands overdue payments and COSLA pay rise. Unite the union confirmed today (Friday 15 December) around 300 craft members employed by West Lothian Council will take several rounds of strike action in an increasingly bitter dispute over money owed to the workforce. Strike action will take place on 19, 20 and 21 December followed by a further two days of action on 3 and 4 January 2024. The membership supported strike action by 96.3 per cent, and previously took strike action from 17 until 19 October. The dispute centres on the 2007 agreement covering craft workers employed by local authorities and outsourced workplaces who maintain council buildings and housing. The agreement covers a range of trades including joiners, plasterers, bricklayers, labourers, painters, and electricians. West Lothian Council, to date, has refused to apply arrangements that ensure pay progression for craft workers who have undertaken, and continue to undertake, additional tasks which they entitled to under the terms of the agreement. Industrial action will directly impact housing services and council buildings. Council house repairs will be significantly delayed, and empty houses will remain unfit to be let out read more
West London Christmas bus misery as strikes intensify (11 Dec) – RATP-owned London Transit workers anger worsened by ‘insulting’ new offer. Christmas bus strikes in West London will now begin a day earlier following an insulting new offer from RATP-owned London Transit, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Monday). Strikes by the 350 drivers and engineers will now begin on 21 December, as well as on 22 and 23 December, as previously scheduled. Industrial action will intensify if the dispute is not resolved. The workers are striking after they rejected a 6.8 per cent pay offer. This is a significant real terms pay cut as the real rate of inflation, (RPI), stood at 11.4 per cent when the pay increase was supposed to be applied in April. The dispute is also over the company’s attempt to reduce terms and conditions, including removing a longstanding £500 meal relief payment and attacking arrangements for how workers take days off in lieu. The company’s latest offer only included extremely minor changes that did not include an increase in hourly pay. Furthering bad feeling at the company is the fact that it takes workers seven years to reach the full rate of pay, even though at most other bus companies it only takes three years of service read more
Maintenance workers at Crawley Borough Council to strike over pay (7 Dec) – Unite members who maintain and repair social housing for Crawley borough council will begin strike action this month as they step up their battle for better pay and conditions, it was announced today (Thursday 8 December). Twenty plumbers, electricians, gas engineers, painters and other craftworkers who are employed by two subcontractors – Mears and Liberty Gas – are requesting a 10 per cent pay increase on their hourly rates to reflect the rate of inflation over the last year and the ongoing cost of living crisis. Instead Mears has merely offered a lump sum payment that equates to just a five per cent, one-off increase, which is even below the seven per cent National Joint Council (NJC) local council workers offer. Liberty Gas have made no pay offer at all. Liberty Gas also gives fewer holidays to its employees than the other contractors and Unite is calling for harmonisation for all contracted workers. Given the reluctance of the contractors or Crawley Borough Council to improve the offer, workers will head to the picket line on Wednesday 11 December 2023 and 8 January 2024 read more
Iceland warehouse workers to walk out as South West face store shortages (4 Dec) – Warehouse workers in Swindon announce strike dates – threat of empty shelves at supermarket. Warehouse staff in Wiltshire working on behalf of the Iceland supermarket chain have announced dates for strike action, it was revealed today. Unite members employed by the logistics contractor, GXO, work in the cold storage warehouses that supply Iceland supermarkets across the South West of England. The majority earn the minimum wage and have rejected a below-inflation two-year pay deal offered by GXO. Despite further negotiations by Unite, GXO has refused to offer a fair pay rise to workers who endure sub-zero temperatures throughout their shifts. Close to 150 Unite members across two sites in Swindon will now walk out on the following dates: 14 December – 18 December and then 27 December – 30 December. The industrial action will cripple GXO’s ability to transport stock to Iceland supermarkets and could see a shortage on shelves and freezers in the run-up to Christmas read more
Striking Haringey council workers protest at cabinet meeting (4 Dec) – Striking housing repair workers will stage a protest on 5 December during the Haringey council cabinet meeting tomorrow, ahead of renewed industrial action over pay later this month. Haringey council’s leadership is falsely claiming it is not possible to open pay talks as rates are agreed nationally. While the national bargaining agreement for local government sets out minimum standards, local authorities can agree better terms and conditions for workers if they wish. Unite has already agreed deals with a number of local authorities including three other London councils (Newham, Southwark and Tower Hamlets) this year…The workers began striking in November, with the next phase of industrial action beginning on 18 December and ending on 24 December. More strike action will be scheduled if the dispute is not resolved read more
Strikes impacting Christmas Amazon, Cadbury and Direct Wines deliveries to intensify (4 Dec) – DS Smith drivers delivering cardboard packaging striking over pay. Strikes by a fleet of DS Smith LGV drivers delivering packaging cardboard and paper to major retailers, including Amazon, have escalated to cover the entire Christmas period, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today. The strikes will compromise the ability of DS Smith clients, which also include Direct Wines, Cadbury and Haribo, to package items for mail order delivery to customers during the festive season. The drivers, based in Launceston in Cornwall, Sittingbourne in Kent, Avonmouth in Bristol and Tuxford in Nottinghamshire, have rejected a five per cent pay offer. This is a significant real terms pay cut when the real rate of inflation, RPI, stood at 11.3 per cent when the pay rise should have been implemented in May. An initial seven days of strikes took place between 20 and 27 November. The next round of strike action begins on 11 December and lasts until 23 December read more
Warrington council loses High Court case against bin worker strikes (1 Dec) – Unite blasts Labour council for wasting taxpayers’ money as new strike dates confirmed. Warrington council has lost its High Court attempt to block industrial action by its refuse drivers. The council’s case was that the workers’ strike action was unlawful as the dispute was no longer about pay. The council tried to use the extra hurdles placed in the way of legitimate strike action by the Conservative’s Trade Union Act of 2016. The High Court ruling however confirmed that there was an “industrial reality” and the union had not, in seeking to find alternative and innovative ways to settle the dispute, breached the law. This means that the council workers who have been in dispute for many months have the right to continue their struggle to secure a fair pay settlement from their employer read more
CWU
Save Clapham Crown Post Office – March and Rally – Saturday 10th February: This Saturday at 10:30am, a march and rally will be held in the campaign to save Clapham Common Crown Post Office
Young workers lead opposition to ‘Big Brother Bosses’ (1 Feb) – Emergency resolution adopted at yesterday’s CWU Young Workers Conference ‘vehemently’ rejected inward-facing cameras in Openreach vehicles. Although the company has stated that a decision on this has yet to be made, concerns have been growing among the union’s engineering membership that this intrusive measure is under serious consideration by the employer, following recent ambiguous statements by senior Openreach leaders read more
CWU – We’re getting into shape for the struggles ahead (31 Jan) – Hundreds of representatives from all levels of the union gathered in Manchester yesterday to kick off the CWU Restructuring national debate. A tough past few years have seen postal and telecoms members forced into national strike action in defence of their jobs, job security and pay, terms and conditions after having kept these vital public services running all through the pandemic. Now is the time to get our union into shape for the struggles that lie ahead and the period between now and this year’s Annual Conference in April will see reps and members discussing the measures needed to ensure that the CWU remains a standalone trade union with depth and strength in our sectors’ workplaces all across the UK read more
PCS
You can show your support to the strikes by PCS members by:
- Making donations to the PCS Fighting Fund Levy account, sort code: 60-83-01, account no. 20331490
- Sending solidarity messages to [email protected]
Sexual harassment: it’s not ok (5 Feb) – Today marks the beginning of Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week (5 to 11 February) and PCS is upping the challenge to employers and abusers read more
National Museums Liverpool members to strike over pay (2 Feb) – The museum and gallery staff will walk out for eight weeks as their employer refuses to pay them the £1,500 cost-of-living payment. In a ballot that closed this week (31 January) PCS members at National Museums Liverpool voted by 94% to take strike action as part of our national campaign. Their employer has refused to pay the £1500 cost-of-living payment, one of the concessions made by the government as a result of our national campaign. NML is the only employer out of over 200 covered by the civil service pay remit guidance to withhold the £1,500 cost-of-living payment. PCS members working at seven museum and gallery sites across Merseyside will walk out from 17 February to 14 April. The action is likely to affect the Museum of Liverpool, the World Museum, the International Slavery Museum and the Maritime Museum, as well as the Walker Art Gallery, Sudley House and the Lady Lever Art Gallery read more
National Museums Liverpool members vote for strike action (31 Jan) – 94% of members said yes to taking strike action over our national campaign read more
Pensions strikers commended by new general secretary on latest picket line (1 Feb) – Pensions Regulator strikers in Brighton were praised by the TUC general secretary as well as Fran Heathcote on her first day as PCS general secretary. Almost 400 PCS members at The Pensions Regulator (TPR) continue to take strike action as part of a long-running dispute over pay. They have been offered a 3% pay rise while other civil service employers are paying 4.5%. The first day of strike action took place on 5 September and there has been ongoing strike action ever since read more
Booklet on GCHQ union ban available to download (31 Jan) – GCHQ: The Return was commissioned to mark the 40th anniversary of the campaign to overturn the ban on trade unions in GCHQ read more
House of Commons security guards to vote on negotiated offer (29 Jan) – After voting for strike action, talks with management have achieved a successful outcome. Last year over 250 PCS members working as security guards in Westminster voted for strike action over changes to their shift patterns. PCS suspended the strike action to allow for negotiations to take place. A working party of reps and management was established at the end of last year and has worked through the shift rosters in detail. The PCS team has worked hard to achieve changes that would be acceptable to our members, and we have reached a satisfactory conclusion judged against our objectives. Members will now be balloted on the offer and reps are recommending acceptance. The ballot will be online and run from 29 January until 11 February. The branch will be holding drop-in sessions between now and the closing date of the ballot to answer any questions members might have read more
PCS members working for DVSA to take strike action (25 Jan) – The members at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency will strike for four days in February in the dispute over the Agency’s driver services recovery programme. PCS members working for DVSA will walk out on 8, 9, 10 and 11 February in their dispute. The ‘driver services recovery programme’ is a politically driven programme which seeks to recover backlogs to a national average of 7 weeks by 31 March 2024. The programme poses significant safety risks to test candidates and examiners, as well as an erosion of staff’s terms and conditions. It fails to address the root causes of the backlog and requires staff to deliver an additional 150,000 tests on top of their normal workloads. This is despite DVSA’s own admission that even 150,000 additional driving tests will still result in missing the target. Despite PCS’s best efforts, an acceptable agreement has not been reached through dispute resolution negotiation and our reasonable demands have not been met read more
Fujitsu workers on strike over pay (17 Jan) – Over 300 members, who work mainly on HMRC contracts, are walking out today in a dispute over pay. Over 300 PCS members employed by Fujitsu Services UK are on strike today (17) after being offered a pay rise almost ten times less than their Japanese counterparts. The members who are mainly employed on contracts for HMRC are taking strike action after they were offered a pay rise of between 3-4% while Fujitsu workers in Japan were offered up to 29%. Some members with crucial IT roles fixing HMRC computers and protecting critical HMRC high end user systems will be taking additional action from January 18 to February 15. The strike action is likely to disrupt people trying to complete their self-assessment tax returns by the end of the month. The PCS members are not connected with the Horizon scandal, which has seen calls for Fujitsu to lose UK government contracts read more
Prospect
If the government doesn’t sort the pay problem, they will very soon see a mass exodus of skilled staff (6 Feb) – Senior civil servants giving evidence to Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) have admitted that pay is a problem for recruitment and may be storing up huge problems read more
Prospect moves to strike action over pay at AWE (10 Jan) – Prospect members at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) are moving to strike action after two months of action short of a strike have failed to produce any meaningful movement from the company read more
GMB
Northern Ireland transport strikes suspended (5 Feb) – Transport workers in Northern Ireland have suspended strike action. Translink staff are keen to give political leaders at Stormont space to make an improved pay offer. Despite the re-establishment of power-sharing institutions, as yet the public transport unions (GMB, Unite and SIPTU) have received no offer of negotiations from Translink or indeed any offer of a pay increase. Given the potential for incoming Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd to move quickly and offer workers a pay increase, it was unanimously agreed by all three unions to reschedule the date of the next, planned strike action which was provisionally set for February 15 – until the end of the month. In the absence of a realistic offer the next scheduled strike action by bus and rail workers will be for a 72-hour period commencing on a staggered basis after midnight on 27 February and ending after midnight 29 February. Strike action would result in all bus and rail services in Northern Ireland being brought to a standstill read more
John Lewis and Waitrose staff ‘frightened’ over redundancy cuts (5 Feb) – John Lewis Partnership has announced it is slashing redundancy pay in half. The move will affect John Lewis and Waitrose workers, who are worried the move will precede a round of redundancies at the new, lower rate read more
More than 100 Croydon Hospital workers to protest (5 Feb) – More than 100 G4S workers will demonstrate outside Croydon University Hospital. Members of GMB, the union for NHS workers, will be protesting the transfer of their jobs from G4S to ISS, proposed to take place in May. The affected members work predominantly as cleaners and porters at the hospital read more
Two Brighton Asda superstores balloted over staff complaints (1 Feb) – GMB union members following in footsteps of colleagues at Gosport superstore. GMB, the union for Asda, is balloting two Asda superstores in Brighton with staff unhappy with how a litany of complaints have not been dealt with by managers read more
Asda workers balloted over cuts and bullying (26 Jan) – Wisbech Asda workers will vote in a ballot over cuts in hours and management bullying. More than 150 GMB members at ASDA Wisbech asked for the vote to address these issues, along with poor training and support, their equal pay claim dragging on for years, and health, safety and fire safety issues being ignored. The consultative ballot opens today [Friday 26 January] and closes on 9 February. If workers indicate they are ready for industrial action, a full strike ballot will launch shortly after. More than 100 GMB members at Asda’s Gosport superstore voted for industrial action last month – the first ever vote of its kind. The strike was suspended thanks to last ditch talks, which are still on going read more
More than 2,500 Northern Ireland transport workers strike (1 Feb) – More than 2,500 transport workers in Northern Ireland are set to walk out. More than 2,500 transport workers in Northern Ireland are set to walk out today read more
Swindon social workers set dates for strike action (31 Jan) – 19 social work managers in the borough will strike for 2 days a week for 2 months. GMB, the union for Swindon Borough Council, has announced the dates for the industrial action to be taken by social work managers within the borough. A total of 19 union members, employed as Assistant Team Managers and Independent Reviewing Officers (including the LADO child allegation experts) will take two days of strike action per week for two months, starting on Tuesday 27 February. The dispute is over pay, after a pay and grading review, described as ‘botched’ by GMB, has seen their pay and status undermined. The union are predicting that the strike, if allowed to take place, will jeopardise the council’s plan to recover from its Ofsted evaluation of ‘inadequate.’ Read more
Regent’s Park gardeners strike (31 Jan) – Regent’s Park gardeners are on strike over pay today. Workers, employed by private contractor Idverde, will walk on on Thursday 1 February for 24 hours in anger at the fact they received lower pay than gardeners at the other Royal Parks. Staff at Regent’s Park were handed the prestigious BALI (British Association of Landscape Industries) award for their work just last year read more
Wiltshire Social Workers announce 3 months of strike action (29 Jan) – Workers in the out of hours emergency service to strike every weekend until 19 May. Members of GMB, the union for Wiltshire Council, have today informed their employer that they will be taking strike action every weekend for three months. The dispute centres around a proposed pay cut by the council, which would see a contractual out-of-hours bonus removed, costing some staff up to 20 per cent of their annual salary. The strike is an escalation of a dispute by GMB members across the council which has been running for 2 years and has seen 11 days of strikes by traffic wardens read more
Amazon workers vote for six more months of strikes (26 Jan) – Workers at Amazon Coventry have voted to back an extension of industrial action. The news comes as strike action spread to a third Amazon warehouse this week, with workers at Amazon Minworth downing tools and joining strike action. Amazon workers have already taken nearly 30 days of industrial action in their fight for £15 and union rights. Over 1000 Amazon workers are expected to join the upcoming action with strike dates set to be announced in the coming weeks read more
Defence manufacturing giant Rolls-Royce faces strike threat (23 Jan) – Rolls-Royce members working in the submarine sector will begin balloting for industrial action. The vote at the Derby-based company comes as workers rejected the latest offer in an ongoing dispute on pay. Rolls-Royce is a world leader in the field of submarine technology, as well as being the supplier to Britain’s domestic nuclear submarine fleet. In agreement with the company, any industrial action will not jeopardise the UK’s continuous at sea nuclear deterrent, safety of submarines or operational submarines at sea. Workers will begin balloting on Monday 29 January with a result expected after four weeks. GMB is Britain’s largest union in defence and nuclear manufacturing read more
South Tyneside faces third round of bin strikes (9 Jan) – Council needs to deal with bullying and release independent report. South Tyneside refuse workers will begin a third round of industrial action next week. Full strike action will be taken 9-12 January. Workers will put their concerns direct to councillors at the next full council meeting on 24 January read more
Northampton’s ‘jingle-smells’ festive bin strike suspended (20 Dec) – Last minute breakthrough saves Northampton from a stinky Christmas, says GMB. GMB Union has today announced that planned strike action by refuse workers in Northampton has been suspended. Around 80 refuse and street cleaning workers were expected to down tools between Christmas and new year, with an over time ban throughout the Christmas period. The news comes after a refuse workers voted to accept an offer to re-start stalled pay talks with refuse provider Veolia along with a Christmas bonus scheme for workers read more
Coventry care home faces strike disruption as union slams culture of ‘poverty pay’ (20 Dec) – Workers at Coventry’s Victoria Park care home begin strike vote this week, says GMB. GMB union has today announced that workers at Victoria Park care home in Coventry will begin balloting for strike action. The news comes after the union accused HC One of failing to listen to workers’ concerns. Workers are furious after a popular local care home manager was sacked from the home after raising safety concerns about the referral of hospital outpatients to Victoria Park. A recent UK wide survey of workers in HC One Care homes found that staff were feeling the pinch of poor working conditions, with 40% of staff considering leaving because they don’t earn enough to live. Around 20 workers at the home are expected to join the ballot which begins on Thursday 21 December with a result expected after 4 January read more
South Wales faces festive Flogas shortage (20 Dec) – GMB Union members at Flogas at Llandarcy have downed tools for two more weeks of strike action
The move by workers has led to shortages of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Liquid Nitrogen Gas (LNG) shortages during the festive period across South West Wales, GMB has said. This is the second batch of action as nearly 20 workers at gas giant’s depot in South Wales downed tools back in November. After months of negotiation, workers voted to strike with a majority of more than 80 per cent. The following day, Flogas announced redundancies at the site read more
Strike threat hits Birmingham on eve of crunch budget meeting (11 Dec) – Thousands of workers could down tools across the city after council bosses announced further delays to ending the equal pay crisis. GMB Union, Birmingham City Council’s largest staff union, has today announced that thousands of workers across the council will begin a ballot for strike action. The news comes on the eve of crunch budget talks at the authority after council bosses announced a further delay to settling outstanding equal pay claims. GMB has called on council leaders to urgently announce a timetable for settling the authority’s £780 million equal pay liability, only for council representatives to respond that settlement talks would be pushed back. The ballot will begin on Tuesday 12 December and run until mid-January 2024 with more than 3,000 Birmingham City Council workers being asked to have their say on strike action read more
Unison
Donate to support striking workers – As UNISON members continue to take strike action, the union is asking for donations to its strike fund
Higher education conference hears of ‘systemic under funding’ (6 Feb) – Delegates met in Milton Keynes to tackle a wide-ranging agenda read more
Government inaction to blame for ambulance handover delays, says UNISON (1 Feb) – Solving the NHS staffing crisis must be top government priority to improve services. Responding to the publication today (Thursday) of NHS England data on ambulance handover delays, UNISON acting head of health Helga Pile said: “Ambulance handover delays are a critical sign the NHS is struggling to cope with unbearable demand. The pressure is on all year round especially in the winter and government inaction is to blame…” read more
Inflexible bosses keep yoga instructors’ pay down (30 Jan) – Aerobics and Pilates instructors at Colchester City Council are also affected, as the UNISON members vote on strike action read more
Join Barnet UNISON Mental Health social workers #Solidarity Rally: Listen to one of our strikers – Outside Hendon Town Hall Tuesday, 30 Jan 6-7.30pm, nearest tube, Hendon Central, Northern Line, directions turn left out of station it is a 15-minute walk up hill turn right at traffic lights and follow the noise
strike timetable over FIVE months is as follows:-
- 7/8/9/14/15/16 November 2023.
- 4/5/6/7/8/ December 2023.
- 15/16/17/18/19 January 2024.
- 5/6/7/8/9 February 2024.
- 4/5/6/7/8 March 2024 read more
Picket line – 2 Bristol Ave, London NW9 4EW. Send messages of support to [email protected]
Support Brighton & Hove & Barnet UNISON social worker strike
Protest as Hackney Unison chair amongst those handed compulsory redundancies in libraries shake-up – Council staff staged a protest on 17th May after several library staff, including Hackney Unison Branch Chair Brian Debus, have been handed compulsory redundancy notices. Hackney Unison have said it was “registering our disgust that three library workers including Hackney Unison Branch Chair Brian Debus are due to be made compulsorily redundant. This despite there being more than enough posts available in the restructured library service.” Read more on Hackney Citizen website
NIPSA
AFTER JANUARY 18 – WHAT NEXT? (19 Jan) – Dear Colleague, The 18 January generalised strike action by public servants was very successful. NIPSA members in all areas rallied to the call. This gives us a strong basis to pursue our goals. NIPSA represents members in all parts of the public service in Northern Ireland. Currently we are in dispute in the civil service, health service and the Education Authority. We are taking industrial action in all these areas. In the civil service our action is for pay. In health and education our industrial action is for pay, but the ballots also cover staffing and cuts to services. NIPSA has engaged with the Secretary of State, the Head of the Civil Service and other senior civil servants, the Assembly political parties – Sinn Fein, DUP, Alliance Party, UUP, SDLP, TUV and PBP – on all these issues. It is important to note that NIPSA, the wider trade union movement and the public have not yet been provided with a detailed breakdown on the financial package under discussion between the Secretary of State and the political parties read more
Royal College of Nursing
Decisive action required following two year stalemate in health (3 Feb) – The RCN has welcomed the return of the Northern Ireland Assembly and Executive read more
RCN opens donations to strike fund in response to public desire to support striking staff – We’ve launched a donation page for people to financially help nursing staff on strike read more
Royal College of Midwives
Time for a resolution on pay as Executive returns says RCM (30 Jan) – ‘Now is the time for a resolution on pay,’ says The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) in Northern Ireland with the anticipated return of the Executive and an existing commitment from the UK Government on funding for public sector pay. Following a second day of strike action earlier this month by midwives, maternity support workers (MSWs) and hundreds of thousands of other heath and public sector workers, the RCM says pay must now be top of the agenda once the Executive has returned read more
SOR
Scottish NHS pay deal still awaiting government sign-off (5 Feb) – Agenda for Change trade unions and professional bodies reached agreement with government early last year, but delays continue read more
SoR welcomes return of the Stormont assembly and release of funding for radiographers (5 Feb) – The Northern Ireland Assembly has been recalled, bringing relief to radiographers and public sector workers in the region read more
Radiotherapy UK calls on government for improved cancer services (2 Feb) – Therapeutic radiographers attended a ‘Catch Up With Cancer Event’ at Parliament to stand with cancer patients awaiting treatment read more
Radiographers join rally in protest over government’s anti-strike legislation (1 Feb) – SoR members joined other organisations for a rally in Cheltenham to express displeasure with the Minimum Service Act read more
BMA
Donate to support striking junior doctors
SAS doctors vote on pay offer (29 Jan) – After months of negotiation with the Government, SAS doctors in England are voting on whether to accept an offer to improve pay and conditions read more
Pay offer referendum results for consultants in England – Thank you to everyone who voted. The results are in and our members voted by a slim majority, 51%, to reject the offer. The vote demonstrates that consultants still have considerable concerns about the offer. From the feedback members have given us it was clear that they thought it did not go far enough and as a result they did not have confidence that pay would be restored over future years. They were also concerned both about the fairness of the deal and about potential changes to SPAs. The results have been discussed by consultants committee today and we have decided not to call strike action at the current time but instead enter discussions with Government to see whether we can secure improvement to address our members’ concerns. If, however, that is unsuccessful, consultants in England remain in dispute; as members demonstrated in the ballot before Christmas they remain committed to taking further strike action, should the need arise. We want this dispute resolved, but the ball is in the Government’s court to make a renewed offer that not only delivers for consultants, but crucially, for patients too, by retaining the NHS’s most experienced clinicians read more
‘I’m voting “yes” to restore our pay’ in Northern Ireland (18 Jan) – Junior doctor Marcus Hollyer blogs about why he will be voting yes for strike action in Northern Ireland read more
Junior doctors in Wales send ‘powerful message’ at pay restoration rally in Cardiff
Thousands of doctors descend on Welsh Parliament in ‘act of self-respect’ (16 Jan) – Junior doctors in Wales gathered outside the Welsh Parliament to deliver a ‘powerful message’ to the devolved government about the need to restore pay and prevent doctors leaving Wales. Thousands of doctors descended on the Senedd Cymru on the second day of the 72-hour walkout by nearly 4,000 junior doctors in Wales read more
Junior doctors in Wales begin first strike of pay restoration campaign (15 Jan) – Workforce issues mirror those across NHS, but remuneration remains lower in Wales read more
Doctors begin longest single strike in NHS history (3 Jan) – Health secretary urged to make credible offer so juniors can return to work in England. ‘There is no good time to strike,’ says Rob Laurenson, BMA junior doctors committee co-chair, standing with dozens of BMA members at the picket line at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. However, as junior doctors in England begin the longest single strike action in NHS history on 3 January, he insists: ‘Strike action is the only thing that works.’ The Government has taken a stance that strikes must be called off for it to resume negotiations – while the BMA has consistently said it will resume talks at any time. When the Government failed to make a credible offer by the mutually agreed deadline in early December, this round of action – as well as three strike days before Christmas – were called. More than four weeks have passed since that deadline, with the Government refusing to make its ‘final offer’, which health secretary Victoria Atkins has said is still up her sleeve read more
HCSA
HCSA SAS members have voted to REJECT the government offer in the England pay dispute (5 Feb) – It’s time for fresh talks to agree a deal that properly values NHS SAS doctors – and benefits the full SAS workforce read more on Twitter/X @HCSANews
HCSA junior doctors vote yes to renew strike mandate (20 Dec) – HCSA Junior Doctors in England voted by over 96 percent today in favour of continued strike action over pay until at least June. Today’s Yes vote extends the current strike mandate and means HCSA junior doctor members in England will now join walkouts from 06.59am on January 3rd to 06.59am to January 9th. The result, which comes on the first day of winter strike action by doctors in training, is the third time this year HCSA members have backed walkouts over pay. The Yes vote in each case has exceeded 95 percent. Current law requires unions to renew a mandate for industrial action every six months read more
Consultant reform package: ballot of consultants in England – It’s time for HCSA members to have their say on the consultant reform package. The electronic ballot is now open to all HCSA consultant members. It will ask whether you ACCEPT or REJECT the offer. Next steps will be guided by the vote of the membership. If members vote to accept the offer, this effectively closes the pay dispute for HCSA. If members vote to reject, HCSA executive will consider this carefully in light of the live strike mandate read more
NEU
| Please find below details of forthcoming action and please send messages of solidarity to the email addresses below:- St Catherine’s School /Richmond Upon Thames (TPS) 6 February Susan O’ Connor [email protected] King Edward Grammar / Lincolnshire (Conditions of Service) 6, 8 February Ken Rustidge [email protected] Pencoedtre High School/Vale of Glamorgan (Conditions of Service) 8 February Mairead Canavan [email protected] |
NASUWT
Northern Ireland Executive must ensure pay loss is addressed (2 Feb) – Speaking ahead of the restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly at Stormont, the NASUWT welcomes the return of Government and locally accountable decision-making read more
Teachers at Hutchesons’ Grammar in historic union recognition agreement (31 Jan) – A historic union recognition agreement has been signed at Hutchesons’ Grammar School in Glasgow. The agreement to formally recognise trade unions for the purposes of collective bargaining over teachers’ terms and conditions has been agreed between Hutchesons’ Educational Trust, NASUWT, the Educational Institute of Scotland and the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association. It is the first union recognition agreement at an independent school in Scotland. The agreement follows a campaign of strike action by members of the NASUWT last year over attempts to downgrade the pensions of teachers at the school. The action resulted in an agreement over pay and pensions read more
Teachers at Lincolnshire school take action over working hours and workload (31 Jan) – Members of NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union at King Edward VI Grammar School (KEVIGS) in Louth will be taking the first of six planned days of strike action tomorrow (Thursday) over adverse management practices which are having a negative impact on teachers’ workload, working hours and working conditions read more
Teachers at Pencoedtre continue to strike over severe pupil behaviour issues (18 Jan) – Following a day of industrial action last week on Thursday 11th January, teachers at Pencoedtre High School in Barry are on strike again today. Teachers at Pencoedtre have urgent concerns over violent and abusive behaviour from a small number of pupils at the school. Pencoedtre’s senior leadership team have suggested practical solutions to Vale of Glamorgan Council, but the Council still refuse to implement these solutions within a reasonable and safe timeframe read more
Teachers at Nottingham school take strike action over working practices (9 Jan) – Members of NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union at The Bulwell Academy in Nottingham will be taking strike action tomorrow (Wednesday) and Thursday over adverse management practices which are having a negative impact on teachers’ workload and working conditions read more
NAHT
Support staff pay award 2024/35 – The unions are expected to submit their pay claim for 2024/25 at the end of February 2024. NAHT’s view on the local government pay scales: We do not believe that the current local government pay scales offer enough flexibility to recognise the status and seniority of a school business leader (SBL) role, nor do they take account of the growth in the scope and responsibility of SBLs’ roles over recent years read more
EIS
Historic Trade Union Recognition is a First for Scotland’s Independent Schools (2 Feb) – Earlier this week, in a first for Scotland’s independent school sector, a historic recognition agreement was signed between Hutchesons’ Grammar School – an independent school in Glasgow – and teacher trade unions, including the EIS read more
Scotland’s Teachers Submit Pay Claim, Emphasising Need for Pay Restoration (22 Jan) – Following the submission of this year’s pay claim for Scotland’s teachers through the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), the EIS is calling for good faith negotiations from employers and the Scottish Government and the delivery of a fair agreement by the due settlement date of 1st August read more
Scotland’s College Lecturers Deliver Vote for Industrial Action on Pay (17 Jan) – College lecturers across Scotland have delivered a decisive vote in favour of industrial action on pay, as a long-running national dispute continues. The statutory ballot was organised by the EIS, and covers EIS Further Education Lecturers’ Association (EIS-FELA) members in colleges the length and breadth of Scotland. In the ballot, 85% of those voting supported Action Short of Strike (ASOS) in support of the campaign for a fair pay settlement, while 77% supported Strike Action. The ballot comfortably passed the restrictive threshold set by the UK government’s anti-trade union law, meaning that both strike action and ASOS may be implemented when the EIS decides to enact its renewed mandate for industrial action read more
INTO
NITC welcomes the reestablishment of the Stormont Executive (3 Feb) – The Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council welcomes the re-establishment of the Stormont Executive and the Northern Ireland Assembly this afternoon. NITC congratulates Paul Givan on their appointment as Education Minister at this critical time for the future of the children and young people in Northern Ireland read more
INTO welcomes the appointment of new Education Minister (3 Feb) – The Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) welcomes the reestablishment of the Stormont Executive and the Northern Ireland Assembly. In congratulating Mr Givan on taking on the role of Education Minister, Mark McTaggart, INTO Northern Secretary called on him to, as a matter of priority, task the Department of Education Officials to enter negotiations to resolve the on-going pay dispute for teachers and school leaders read more
Return to power-sharing a welcome development (30 Jan) – The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) has today welcomed news reports that the DUP will seek to re-enter power-sharing in Northern Ireland. Recent industrial action which saw an estimated 150,000 public sector workers taking to the streets, as a direct response to the political gridlock at Stormont, has clearly contributed to the return of power-sharing. The visible outpouring of support for striking workers demonstrated that, regardless of political background, most people living in the North had enough of the ongoing political procrastination. As a show of good faith, the Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris should now work to make funds available to bring about a fair pay settlement for public sector workers read more
UCU
New report exposes ‘gig-economy’ reality of prestigious university research departments (31 Jan) – Around two-thirds (66%) of research staff are employed on fixed-term contracts, some less than a year in length. The findings are from a new UCU report. University researchers do important work, such as helping to develop Covid vaccines, enabling UK institutions to tout their credentials as research powerhouses through the Research Excellence Framework, and helping to bring billions of pounds of funding into university coffers. Yet UCU’s “Support for Research Staff” report lays bare the extent of shocking ‘gig-economy’ style employment practices at some of the most prestigious universities in the UK read more
Eight days of strike action begins today at London’s biggest college (16 Jan) – Staff at Capital City College Group (CCCG), London’s largest further education college group, begin eight days of strike action today in a long-running pay dispute. CCCG has campuses across London, including in Westminster, Camden and Enfield. Staff at CCCG have already taken three days of strike action in what began as a national dispute over low pay and poor working conditions. UCU has now settled disputes at 60 colleges with pay awards of up to 10%. The union said CCCG is an isolated employer and must look to other colleges and settle the dispute by making an acceptable offer read more
Strikes on tomorrow and Wednesday at five colleges across the North East (8 Jan) – UCU has confirmed staff at five colleges in Cleveland, Redcar and Stockton-on-Tees will strike tomorrow and Wednesday in a long-running dispute over low pay. The strikes are going ahead at Bede Sixth Form College, NETA Training Group, Stockton Riverside College, The Skills Academy, and Redcar and Cleveland College after employer body the Education Training Collective (ETC) refused to make an improved offer on pay. Staff will be on picket lines on both days of strike action from 7.30am to 9.30am. Tomorrow’s picket line will be at Redcar and Cleveland College and Wednesday’s picket line will be at Stockton Riverside College. UCU members at the colleges have overwhelmingly rejected an offer of 3% for 22/23, and have also voted to reject a further offer of an additional 1% – which was only to be paid for three months of that financial year. Staff have already taken four days of strike action since November (2023), but ETC has responded by offering two “wellbeing days” and nothing on pay read more
Strike ballot opens at Aberdeen university in row over job cuts in modern languages (4 Jan) – A ballot for strike action has opened at Aberdeen university in a dispute over job cuts in the university’s threatened modern languages department. The ballot will run until Wednesday 7 February and could pave the way for strike action at the university. Members of the UCU branch at Aberdeen are being asked if they are willing to take part in strike action and action short of strike. The ballot is being held because senior managers at the university are consulting on a proposal to end single honours degrees in modern languages meaning job losses. In December the university’s senate, the body responsible for academic standards in the university, called for the consultation to be halted and for senate to be given the opportunity to consider the plans. Despite this, senior managers drove their plan through the important university court meeting on 12 December 2023 meaning around 30 people remain at risk of redundancy and face a worrying start to the New Year read more
UCU fighting fund: the link is here and donations to the fund are spent on supporting members involved in important disputes.
FBU
Firefighters’ union launches ‘Equality Matters’ drive (2 Feb) – The Fire Brigades Union has today launched the next phase of its Equality Matters campaign. As the only democratic and representative body in the fire and rescue service, the union says that it is determined to lead the sector’s transformation, following a series of reports highlighting the prevalence of discrimination, harassment and bullying. A new video filmed with FBU activists representing its equalities strands has now gone out across social media, and the union has launched an online hub for Equality Matters. Posters supporting the campaign will land in fire stations and control rooms across the UK next week. The union is also drawing together its own set of standards for the fire and rescue sector, which it aims to use to hold fire and rescue services to account read more
Firefighters’ union announces settlement for members affected by Grenfell Tower fire (1 Feb) – The union representing firefighters across the UK has announced that the claims for its members injured in the Grenfell tragedy have been settled for £20m in the High Court. The claims were brought by 114 firefighters, some of whom were unable to work again due to severe trauma, for personal injury and loss caused by alleged negligence and breach of statutory duty when they attended the blaze on 14 June 2017 in the 24-story Grenfell Tower block of flats in West London. National law firm Thompsons Solicitors represented the firefighters supported by The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) read more
Firefighters’ union to consult members in Scotland on strike action over cuts (13 Oct) – The Fire Brigades Union has today announced its intention to begin consulting firefighters across Scotland on strike action in opposition to a devastating package of cuts imposed by the Scottish government. A projected five-year flat cash budget until 2027 has already removed 10 wholetime fire engines, whilst 150 retained fire engines are regularly unavailable due to significant recruitment and retention issues. The Scottish Fire and Rescue service has announced that its own projections mean it will need to save a minimum of a further £14 million next year, which would result in the loss of a further 339 firefighters and 18 fire engines, with more to come. Scotland has lost 1200 frontline firefighters since 2012. The move marks the first formal step towards firefighters taking strike action. This was agreed unanimously by the union’s Scottish committee this week. A formal strike ballot could follow read more
Fire union warns of “criminal complacency” after Wembley cladding fire (30 Jan) – At least 125 firefighters and 20 fire engines were called to a cladding fire in Wembley yesterday, 29 January read more
POA
National Chair Update December 2023 read more
NAPO
Probation update (2 Feb) – Here is your latest probation update read more
Call for research participants in the West Midlands (2 Feb) – Remote chance? Participation and access to justice in remote parole hearings Do you have knowledge or experience of in-person and/or remote parole hearings? If so, we would like to hear from you. We are carrying out research on in-person and remote parole hearings to understand peoples’ experiences of them, and whether they differ from one another in terms of participation and inclusion read more
Minimum Service Levels (MSL) Update (31 Jan) – Two major events happened last week. Firstly, Aslef union saw off the threat of Minimum Service Levels being imposed on their members on strike in LNER on Friday 2 February. The whole exercise demonstrated that not only are MSLs wrong in principle, they are also unworkable in practice, and destructive to good industrial relations. Solidarity to all Aslef train drivers across all the train companies on strike this week and next. Secondly, PCS union announced on Saturday that they are going to challenge the regulations setting out the minimum service level for border security staff in court. Good luck to PCS in their challenge – Napo will stand behind PCS as part of the wider trade union movement read more
BFAWU
Support the campaign to unionise Samworth Brothers – get organised, sign the petition read more
NUJ
Statement by Séamus Dooley, NUJ Irish secretary, on RTÉ report (31 Jan) – As Irish secretary of the National Union of Journalists, I note publication of the review of RTÉ’s voluntary severance package carried out by McCann FitzGerald. Trade unions did not receive an advance copy of this report nor were we involved in the review read more
Equity
New Equity-ITC agreement 2024-27 announced (31 Jan) – Performers, stage management & choreographers to see pay rise 5% every year for three years on new Equity-ITC agreement read more
Musicians Union
MU Pushes Government to Support Teachers’ Pensions and Increase Music Hub Funding (2 Feb) – We have written to the Department for Education for a second time, asking it to rethink its proposal to end essential top-up funding for teachers’ pensions in Music Hubs. Alongside this, we continue to highlight the significant overall funding shortfall facing music education read more
UVW
Harrods’ hospitality workers ready to strike for third time if 2024 pay promise not kept (16 Jan) – Following two UVW victorious disputes for workers’ tips in 2017 and a huge 25 percent wage increase in December 2021, Harrods’s hospitality workers are ready for a third strike if Harrods doesn’t keep its 2024 pay rise promise. The London luxury store has offered them a pay review with an increase by 1 April 2024, following moves by UVW bar and kitchen staff. A majority of workers and UVW members voted positively in December over their willingness to declare a third pay dispute read more
“They don’t treat us cleaners like human beings, they treat us like rats”: cleaners at the Department of Education poised to strike for a living wage (20 Dec) – Exhausted cleaners, struggling to pay for the basics, working at the Department for Education (DfE)’s Sanctuary Buildings are asking to be paid a living wage, equal sick pay and annual leave with civil service workers, appropriate staffing levels and union recognition. Cleaners at the department took three days of strike action over the summer as part of a mass strike by UVW members demanding dignity, equality and respect. The DfE cleaners, who are members of United Voices of the World (UVW), have given their bosses at ISS UK Limited (ISS), until 8 January 2024 to reply. If there’s no reply, members have instructed UVW to declare a dispute and issue a notice of intention to ballot for industrial action read more
IWGB
SIPTU (Ireland)
Bus and rail workers conduct sixth one-day strike action (1 Feb) – A further three strike dates in February are planned in campaign to secure a cost-of-living pay increase. More than 3,000 workers at Translink were on a 24-hour stoppage today in the cost of living pay dispute. Members of the transport unions, including SIPTU, brought all bus and rail services across Northern Ireland to a standstill read more
SIPTU endorse new public sector pay proposals (1 Feb) – The National Executive Council (NEC) of SIPTU met on the 31st of January to consider the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) proposals for a new ‘Public Service Agreement 2024 – 2026’. The NEC, having considered the details of the proposals, decided that they should be put to a ballot of SIPTU members in the Public Service and Section 38 Agencies with a recommendation for acceptance read more
SIPTU driver members at Kerry Agribusiness to take strike action tomorrow (16 Jan) – SIPTU members employed by Kerry Agribusiness will begin a campaign of strike action at 9.00 a.m. on Wednesday, 17th January, due to the company’s decision to impose compulsory redundancies read more
Other news
Strike Map: London launch of JT Murphy re-print of The Workers’ Committee with Manifesto Press – Friday 16th February 7.00pm at the Marx Memorial Library, London, EC1R 0DU, FREE/£5/£10 tickets
Affiliate with STAMMA – STAMMA’s Employment Support Service helps people who stammer as well as those who don’t around issues related to stammering in the workplace. Union branches and regions can affiliate with STAMMA to access a range of services and support at a reduced rate.
- £75 for branches and regions
- £125 for national unions with under 400,000 members
- £200 for national unions with 400,000+ members
Fight blacklisting and victimisation of union reps
Hazards urgently need our support
Many workers were blacklisted because they raised complaints about health and safety or took on the role of a union safety rep. So when our blacklisting campaign was first starting back in 2009, Hazards magazine set up the Blacklist Blog on their website. Alongside our FaceBook page it is the go to online resource for what our campaign has achieved over the past 13 years. www.hazards.org/blacklistblog
Hazards is now in financial difficulty and needs the support of the union movement. Its major funding stream has vanished almost overnight. The magazine and the Hazards centres around the country need union branches or official unions to take out a regular subscription to keep the union movement’s flagship safety magazine in operation. If you or your union committee can afford it, please support Hazards:
UCU condemns ‘baffling’ dismissal of University of Sussex lecturer (25 Aug) – UCU has today condemned plans by the University of Sussex to make a member of teaching staff redundant after having advertised a new permanent post that includes all his current duties. Philosopher Lecturer James Furner has been employed at the university on consecutive fixed term part-time contracts since 2021, but on 22 August the university wrote to him to say that his employment will come to an end this month. Yet on July 7 it advertised a new full-time post of Lecturer in Philosophy stating that the post-holder ‘will be expected’ to teach the same four undergraduate modules that James taught in 2022-3. A petition has been launched in protest against the plans read more
Sign petition: Reinstate Anne Howie RMT Activist – Anne Howie RMT activist at Manchester Piccadilly is facing dismissal with no due process
UVW to sue LSE for disability discrimination and trade union victimisation after sacking strike leader (24 Aug) – “My condition has got something to do with it, but I think there’s more to it. I’ve always been at the forefront of the fight… because I consider myself a union leader” – Geovanny Moreno Buitrago, LSE cleaner and UVW member. UVW strike leader Geovanny Moreno Buitrago, a migrant cleaner from Colombia at the London School of Economics (LSE), was sacked after being off sick with a herniated disc as he tried to return to work. UVW is appealing and suing for his dismissal on grounds of disability discrimination and trade union victimisation. In spite of two expert medical opinions, Geovanny’s willingness to come back to work, his own recommendations on what he is capable of doing, and LSE’s own health policies, LSE sacked him read more
Support Lee Fowler – Another blacklisted construction worker sacked after making complaints about safety on site read more about Lee’s case
Felixstowe 4’ protest demands justice at CK Hutchison AGM (18 May) read more
UK facing taps and pipes shortage as Warrington based GXO drivers strike over sacking of Unite rep (12 May) read more
Protest as Hackney Unison chair amongst those handed compulsory redundancies in libraries shake-up: 6pm Wednesday 17th May Hackney Town Hall Read more on Hackney Citizen website
#SPYCops Inquiry exposes state surveillance of workers movement
Construction blacklisting: Evidence sought in union officials’ collusion inquiry (11 Apr) – Unite, the UK’s leading union, is stepping up its search for information into the possible collusion by trade union officials into the blacklisting of construction workers. In April 2022 Unite established an independent inquiry into allegations that some union officials may have colluded with the blacklisting of construction workers. Unite has instructed a legal team of Nick Randall KC (Matrix Chambers), John Carl Townsend (33 Chancery Lane Chambers) and Paul Heron from (Public Interest Law Centre), to examine and investigate whether any union officials from Unite or its predecessor unions (T&G, UCATT, Amicus, AEEU or MSF), were involved in the blacklisting of construction workers. The inquiry is now entering its next stage and an online portal has been launched to allow anyone who has any information relating to the inquiry to submit information read more
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/blacklist-SG/
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. You can catch up on disputes at Strike Map UK. Also, check out Organise Now! – Support for new worker organising.
International
(From NUJ website) NUJ repeats its call for the release of Evan Gershkovich (31 Jan) – Russian authorities have extended pre-trial detention of the American journalist until 30 Marchread more
Solidarity with the striking textile workers at Ozak in Turkey – read more on Twitter of Solidarity with the People of Turkey @spotturkey
Diary
2024
June
22 NSSN Conference 2024 – 11am Conway Hall, Holborn, London
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
