Date for your diaries!! 2024 NSSN Conference – Saturday 22nd June, 11am-4.30pm, Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, Holborn, London WC1R 4RL Facebook event
Steel unions ballot for action
The NSSN stands in solidarity with steelworkers as steel unions begin balloting their members for industrial action. We will support any action that they take against Tata Steel’s intention to make 75% of the 4,000-strong Port Talbot workforce redundant. This would also result in thousands more losing their jobs at other Tata steel plants, contracting companies, and threaten related jobs such as on the rails and the wider local economy. And 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 working-class communities.
This has been a poignant few days for the labour and trade union movement. Forty years ago, the heroic year-long miners strike by the NUM began against Thatcher’s brutal attack on the mining communities, and its 10 years since Bob Crow RMT General Secretary and Tony Benn tragically passed away. We send our solidarity to the NUM and the RMT and all the families affected by these events.
Now the whole of the union movement must come behind the steelworkers and their fight to save steel jobs and defend communities, in Port Talbot and in other steelmaking areas.
Unite: Tata workers urged to vote yes to industrial action over shutdown plans (1 Mar) – Unite, the UK’s leading union, today (Friday) began formal industrial action proceedings over Tata’s plans to close its Port Talbot blast furnaces and shed 2,800 jobs. Yesterday evening Port Talbot steelworks, Tata UK HQ and Cardiff Castle were illuminated with a message urging Tata workers to vote yes for strike action. Unite says Tata’s decision to rush through the plans is incomprehensible given that the union has secured significant investment from Labour for the company’s UK operations. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Tata is planning to deal an absolutely devastating blow to Port Talbot and Llanwern that will spread destruction across the Welsh economy and risk national security. Unite will combat Tata’s plan with everything we have, including our multi-million pound strike fund. Now is the time for the steel workers of Port Talbot and Llanwern to fight for their communities and vote yes to industrial action. Tata knows there are other choices to be made – Unite has secured commitments from Labour that £3 billion for UK steel will be made available in the next parliament. Tata needs to change course, Unite won’t stop until it does.” Unite officially notified Tata today that it will be balloting around 1,500 workers at its Port Talbot and Llanwern sites from Friday 8 March to Thursday 11 April. Industrial action could begin before the end of April read more
Sign the Unite petition: https://surveys.unitetheunion.org/233412289055859
Unite: ‘Support our Steelworkers on the gates’ events – in Llanwern in Newport from 5.40pm this Thursday and on Friday in Port Talbot from 5.40pm
Find out more about the campaign: www.unitetheunion.org/campaigns/the-fight-for-steel
Community confirms plans to ballot for industrial action at Tata Steel UK (4 Mar) – Alun Davies, National Officer for Steel at Community, the steelworkers’ union, said: “Community representatives from all Tata Steel UK plants have unanimously agreed to serve notice on the company should Tata confirm their intention to close Blast Furnace Number 4. This would be a national dispute and Community will ballot all members on a site-by-site basis including the downstream plants…” read more
Fight the Tory attack on our #RightToStrike
About 5,000 trade unionists marched in Cheltenham on 27th January 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.
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.
FBU: Fire union calls on employers to refuse to implement “authoritarian” strike ban (12 Mar)
Defend The Right to Strike
Strike Map and the Campaign for Trade Union Freedom (CTUF) have launched a ‘write to your council campaign’ to seek their commitment to not issue work notices and defend the right to strike as key employers read more in the Morning Star
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.
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, CWU, Equity, BMA, NUJ, UVW, GMB, SOR, RCM, RCN, IWGB, Prospect, CSP, NAPO, INTO (Ireland), SIPTU (Ireland) and Mandate (Ireland)
NSSN sends solidarity to UCU and its members at Queen Mary University in London after security broke into the Queen Mary UCU office in order to remove posters expressing solidarity with Palestine. For developments, follow Queen Mary UCU on X/Twitter @qm_ucu
(From Novara Media) Indian Port Workers Refuse to Handle Israeli Weapons (20 Feb) – An Indian trade union representing more than 3,500 workers at 11 ports has called on its members to refuse to handle military equipment being sent to Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza. In a statement from 14 February, the Water Transport Workers Federation of India said it will “refuse to load or unload weaponised cargoes” from Israel or any other country which could handle military equipment for the war in Palestine read more on Novara Media
Demonstrate 16 & 17 March: #StopRacism #StopTheHate
London: Saturday 16th March – 12pm Home Office SW1P 4DF
Glasgow: Saturday 16th March – 11am BBC Scotland, Pacific Quay G51
Cardiff: Sunday 17th March – 11am Senedd
NSSN news
Get your trade union branch or trades council to affiliate to the NSSN – it only costs £50. Already affiliated? Please think about renewing it 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
You can receive this bulletin via email or you can choose to unsubscribe and stop receiving them. Like everyone else, the NSSN has to adhere to new data protection regulations. Therefore you must click here to subscribe/unsubscribe. Reports from unions do not necessarily reflect NSSN’s views.
RMT
RMT responds to National Audit Office report (8 Mar) – RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “This report confirms that both passengers and the taxpayer have been victims of the government’s shambolic management of our railways. Ministers promised reform after our privatised and fragmented railways resulted in the timetable meltdown in 2018 but since then the railways have lurched from crisis to crisis including the government’s disastrous attempts to cut services and pick fights with rail workers…” read more
RMT marks Herald of Free Enterprise disaster (6 Mar) – Maritime union, RMT today remembers the 193 crew and passengers who lost their lives in waters off Zeebrugge on 6th March 1987 when the Herald of Free Enterprise capsized. National Secretary Darren Procter will pay tribute to those who were lost in the tragedy at a memorial in Dover today. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “We pay tribute to the memory of the crew and passengers who died in the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster and extend our condolences to the community in Dover who were affected by this avoidable tragedy…” read more
RMT response to Chancellor’s spring budget (6 Mar) – Responding to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s budget statement, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “This is a budget of tax cuts and gimmicks designed to thinly disguise a Tory government only interested in propping up the super rich…” read more
Bidvest Noonan cleaners begin 48 hour strike action (4 Mar) – RMT members working for Bidvest Noonan on Alstom NTL and TPE contracts will take strike action from Monday. The cleaners are taking action over pay and working conditions having rejected the latest offer from the company. Strikes will take place in Glasgow and Manchester. Following the conclusion of the strike, RMT members will take industrial action short of strike from Wednesday by not undertaking any biological hazard cleaning read more
Gateline workers at Northern to take strike action (19 Feb) – Contracted out gateline workers at Northern will take strike action this week in a dispute over pay. Strike action will take place from Wednesday just after midnight for 48 hours. RMT is also wants to see the ending of zero hours contracts and the removal of the Timegate app which has failed to accurately calculate pay and leave allowance. Carlisle Support Services who runs the contract for gateline workers at Northern do not provide sick pay, holiday pay and provide significantly lower wages to their staff compared with the rest of Northern read more
Hitachi Rail strike spreads from East Coast to Great Western Mainline (17 Feb) – RMT members at Hitachi Rail will take 48 hours strike action at the end of the month over a pay dispute. Workers who maintain rolling stock and the signalling system will take the stoppages between Thursday 29 February and March 2. The depots that will be taking action are the London North Pole, Doncaster Train Maintenance and Bounds Green and Craigentinny Train Maintenance. Hundreds of workers will join the action which follows a referendum where Hitachi workers rejected a pay offer from the private company. Strike action will now be taking place on depots on the East Coast and West Coast mainlines read more
ASLEF
ASLEF announces strikes on LNER and Northern trains (14 Feb) – ASLEF, the train drivers’ trade union, has announced strikes and an overtime ban at two train companies – LNER and Northern – for their persistent failure to comply with existing agreements. ASLEF, the train drivers’ trade union, has announced strikes and an overtime ban at two train companies – LNER and Northern – for their persistent failure to comply with existing agreements. Members at LNER will take strike action on Friday 1 March for a failure by the company to adhere to the machinery of negotiation (‘regarding London North Eastern Railway’s abrogation of the diagramming and rostering agreements, and continued failure to adhere to the agreed bargaining machinery’). Members at Northern will also take strike action on Friday 1 March for a failure by the company to adhere to existing agreements. And members will take action short of a strike (a ban on non-contractual overtime) on LNER and Northern from Thursday 29 February to Saturday 2 March read more
TSSA
TSSA brands Budget ‘reckless’ hot air from Hunt (6 Mar) – Rail and transport union – TSSA – has criticised the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, for a Budget which boosted motorists with a “reckless” move to retain the cut to fuel duty on petrol and diesel, while remaining silent on public transport. The union said the Budget speech highlighted the lack of an economic plan from a government looking only to save itself at the ballot box with a cut in national insurance – rather than building an economy which works for working people read more
TSSA to ballot London Underground members (19 Feb) – TSSA rail union is set to ballot members working as Customer Service Managers (CSM) at London Underground. TSSA rail union is set to ballot members working as Customer Service Managers (CSM) at London Underground in a dispute about changes to working practices. TSSA members are extremely concerned about London Underground’s ‘Station Changes’ proposals which will dramatically reduce the number of CSM roles, changing their terms and conditions, pay and potentially work locations. TSSA has been to ACAS to try and resolve the dispute and to seek assurances regarding the proposed changes. When the dispute was not resolved through these channels TSSA was left with no option but to ballot for industrial action. Ballot papers will be sent to TSSA members on 22 February and must be returned by 7 March. TSSA are encouraging members to Vote Yes to “strike action” and “action short of strike action” read more
Unite
Cambridge University revealed to have £6 billion as workers languish on poverty-level wages (11 Mar) – In depth research from Unite, the UK’s leading trade union, has uncovered that Cambridge University is sitting on over £6 billion of cash and investments while trying to maintain it can’t afford to help its lowest paid workers. The revelations coincide with fresh strike action by university workers. Cleaners, librarians, museum workers and many other staff at the university have been in a long-running pay dispute over the failure of the institution to acknowledge the cost of housing in Cambridge as well as the wider inflationary pressure on its lowest paid workers. Some are being paid less than £23,000 per year yet live and work in one of the most expensive parts of the country. Unite has compiled a financial report that shows that Cambridge University is in rude financial health read more
Offshore chemists, heating and ventilation engineers set for strike action (11 Mar) – Dozens of Unite members at IES Callenberg and SGS UK Limited involved in working rota disputes. Unite the union confirmed today (Monday 11 March) around 60 members in the offshore sector including chemists, heating and ventilation engineers have emphatically backed strike action in disputes over working rotas. The IES Callenberg members supported strike action by 82.8 on a 72.5 per cent turnout. The dispute involves around 50 offshore workers who provide heating, ventilation, and air conditioning services on offshore platforms operated by BP, TAQA, CNR, Repsol, Serica and CNOOC. Unite can confirm its IES Callenberg membership will take three-days of strike action over a series of months. This involves strike action on 25-27 March; 15-17 April, 6-8 May, and 27 May until the close of play on 29 May. The union’s SGS UK Limited membership also supported strike action by 89 per cent on a 100 per cent turnout. Chemists employed by the company provide services to the offshore oil and gas industry. The dispute exclusively centres on chemists servicing BP’s platforms the Clair, Clair Ridge, ETAP and Glen Lyon. The chemists will take week-long strike action over a series of months. This involves strike action on 25-31 March; 15-21 April; 6-12 May and 27 May until the close of play on 2 June read more
London Sanctuary housing pay strikes intensify – Cancellation of over 200 jobs from initial industrial action set to worsen as more strikes set. Pay strikes by London Sanctuary Housing repair workers are to intensify, Unite said today. Three days of strike action in late February and early March led to more than 200 repair jobs on Sanctuary housing stock in London being cancelled, Unite understands. A further five days of strike action in March will cause increased delays to Sanctuary’s repair schedule. Around 50 repair workers, who are based in Hackney but carry out repairs across London, are striking over a four per cent pay rise imposed in 2023. This was a significant pay cut, as the real rate of inflation, RPI, at the time was 11.4 per cent. Meanwhile, Sanctuary Housing revenues for last year stood at £943 million, with its surplus increasing by 73 per cent to £101.3 million. Sanctuary Housing’s CEO, Craig Moule, is paid £380,000 a year… Adding to tensions, is the fact that Sanctuary Housing has completely ignored the workers’ requests for their union, Unite, to be recognised and has locked them out of collective pay negotiations. Currently, Sanctuary Housing does not engage in pay negotiations with any trade union. The workers will strike again on 20, 21, 22, 25 and 26 March. Industrial action will escalate if the dispute is not resolved. The strikes will impact scheduled and emergency repairs to Sanctuary Housing’s stock in London read more. Pickets at 9A Kingsmead Way, London E9 5QG. Contact the Unite LE/1111 Housing Workers branch to offer support or if you are a housing worker wanting to get organised [email protected]
Fermanagh and Omagh council must stop scapegoating workers for waste collection failures caused by their own policies (8 Mar) – Unite blasts management for attempting to exploit failures rooted in short staffing to pursue their long-term aim of ending ‘task and finish’. Unite the union which represents waste collection workers at Fermanagh and Omagh council has objected to a statement released by the council on its website [see link below] which blamed failures of waste bin collections on “legacy work practices”. This misrepresentation is an attempt to use a crisis caused by staffing shortages resulting from their own policies to advance their long-term objective of ending ‘task and finish’. Task and finish is widely understood as being the most efficient way to organise waste bin collections as it encourages workers to commence bin runs early to avoid rush-hour delays and to proceed swiftly through the work. In other councils where task and finish has been replaced by a system of fixed hourly pay, the experience has been that bins are left uncollected at the end of the day read more
Striking Drax canteen workers escalate dispute on International Women’s Day (8 Mar) – Female strikers say: “Our message on International Women’s Day is – We are fighting back, and we will win.” On International Women’s Day, striking Drax canteen workers, who are predominantly female, have escalated their industrial dispute over fair pay. The workers, who have been striking since early December in a dispute with their employer Baxter Storey and Drax’s management, announced today that they have voted to extend their strike action mandate. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The women at Drax are an inspiration and demonstrate the exact qualities that International Women’s Day celebrates: Empowered women effecting change to better their own lives and those of others. They have the full backing of Unite behind them as they strike for a fair pay rise.” Unite rep at the Drax canteen, Diane Power, said: “On International Women’s Day, we remember women who stood up against the status quo and created meaningful change. Today is particularly important for those of us who are striking at Drax because we are doing just that in our own workplace… Fresh strike dates will be announced in the coming days read more
NHS staff survey showing “morale at rock bottom” (7 Mar) – Commenting on today’s annual NHS staff survey, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Staff morale within the NHS is at rock bottom. The figures are jaw dropping, a third of staff want to leave within a year, 70 per cent say there aren’t enough staff to do their jobs properly and nearly half say they don’t even look forward to going to work. “This lack of care and investment in NHS staff cannot be allowed to continue and Unite is working tirelessly to secure the pay and conditions our members deserve” read more
Unite confirms ‘no notice’ given to Glasgow East Women’s Aid workers as union launches legal action (7 Mar) – Confusion reigns over reasons for administration as union seeks ‘urgent clarity’ from public bodies. Unite the union has today (7 March 2024) confirmed that its Glasgow East Women’s Aid membership were given ‘no notice’ prior to the Easterhouse based organisation being placed into administration last week. The organisation was thrown into turmoil last October after 13 Unite members were suspended amid allegations that workers were targeted on grounds related to their trade union activities. In a long-running saga, Unite then secured interim relief in a major legal victory last November on behalf of five workers who were subsequently dismissed. The legal decision coincided with the onset of strike action. The five workers were subsequently reinstated in January 2024. The union can reveal that no notification or consultation was afforded to the workers, and Unite first heard that Glasgow East Women’s Aid had been placed into administration through media sources read more
Third party harassment must be stamped out, says Unite (7 Mar) – Unite, the UK’s leading union, has called for concrete legislation to tackle third party harassment at work. Ensuring employers take a zero-tolerance approach to incidents and produce policies that truly protect workers. A third party is someone not directly involved in an organisation, for example: in the hospitality and retail industries, this would typically be a customer. In frontline workplaces such as hospitals, this is usually a patient read more
Coventry council in “abhorrent” fire and rehire shame (7 Mar) – Unite, the UK’s leading union, has described the decision of Coventry council to press ahead and fire and rehire its entire refuse collection workforce as totally abhorrent and entirely unnecessary. Unite has been in longstanding negotiations with the Labour-led authority, over changes to the working practices for the refuse collection team and the removal of task and finish (which allows workers to go home when all the work is complete). The council put forward several proposals to resolve the dispute, all of which Unite accepted without conditions, only for the council to withdraw its own proposals and press ahead with brutally firing and rehiring its own workers. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The actions of Coventry council in firing and rehiring its refuse collection workers is abhorrent. This makes Coventry and its Labour councillors the pariahs of the Labour movement…” The decision to fire and rehire its workers has placed the council in direct contravention of Labour party policy which is for an unequivocal ban on such practices. Labour leader Kier Starmer has repeatedly stated his commitment to outlawing fire and rehire, he has said: “My message is very clear – we would ban fire and rehire, it’s as simple as that. It just needs to be done.” Unite’s workers in the refuse collection department already have an active mandate for industrial action and given the council’s decision to fire and rehire them, strike action beginning before Easter is now likely. The exact timing and nature of any dispute is being actively discussed with the workforce. Unite national lead officer Onay Kasab said: “Coventry council’s actions are reprehensible, Unite has in good faith been involved in extensive negotiations with the council and has accepted several of the council’s proposals only for them to be then taken off the table. It is now clear that Coventry was never committed to securing a just settlement for its workers. It is almost inevitable that Coventry council’s decision will result in fresh bin strikes and the inevitable disruption for local residents is directly a result of its actions.” Read more
Budget response: Labour needs to make it clear it is not backing ‘Austerity Mk II’ (6 Mar) – Commentating on Labour’s response to today’s budget Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “It is all very well for Labour to endorse the chancellor’s tax cuts, but it needs to make it clear that desperately needed funding will still be provided for public services and investment. We can’t have Labour backing ‘Austerity Mk II’ if it wins the next election…” read more
Ireland Supreme Court unanimously upholds Unite’s right to strike (6 Mar) – ‘Historic’ judgement rejects employers’ injunction. In a ‘landmark ruling’, the Supreme Court has today found that Unite was fully legally entitled to undertake strike action in a dispute with construction company Jones Engineering. The strike action, which involved hundreds of mechanical workers employed by Jones Engineering, shut down construction work on Intel and Pfizer projects last year, in a dispute relating to travel time payments. Jones Engineering were initially successful in an application for an injunction, which placed extensive procedural hoops on Unite before it was able to commence industrial action read more
Biomedical scientists in Merseyside to strike over pay dispute (6 Mar) – Highly skilled scientists working in the microbiology department at a Merseyside hospital are to take substantial industrial action over pay, Unite announced today (6 March 2024). The workers, who are members of Unite the UK’s leading union, based at the Whiston Hospital on Merseyside are to take 36 days of strike action between March and June (see notes to editors), beginning with three days from 14 March. The workers, who covered all Covid testing for the region, have been informed they do not qualify for the essential services payment worth £4,000. The workers, employed by the Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, are taking unprecedented action due to the failure of the trust to pay the scientists in the microbiology team the same £4,000 payment that other members of the pathology department have received read more
Unite statement on Birmingham council budget cut vote (5 Mar) – Commenting on the vote by Birmingham councillors to approve swingeing budget cuts, Unite national officer for local authorities Clare Keogh said: “These cuts are devastating for Birmingham council’s workers and the entire city. Vital public services are on the brink of being all but destroyed. This is the culmination of years and years of brutal budget reductions by central government. Birmingham council’s workers, who have already suffered well over a decade of falling wages and whose efforts have ensured increasingly depleted services functioned, must not pay the price for a crisis they didn’t create. Unite will do everything in its power, politically and industrially, to ensure they don’t.” Read more
Bus strikes looming as Arriva Northumberland workers balloted over pay (5 Mar) – Hundreds of bus workers in Northumberland could strike later this spring, Unite the union announced today (5 March 2024). Over 300 Unite members who work as drivers and engineers across Northumberland are being balloted for industrial action after rejecting a pay increase of just four per cent from their employer, Arriva Northumberland. The ballot opens today (Tuesday 5 March) and closes on 19 March. Workers at other bus companies in the area, such as Go North East, have had substantial increases following campaigns by Unite read more
Tata workers urged to vote yes to industrial action over shutdown plans (1 Mar) – Unite, the UK’s leading union, today (Friday) began formal industrial action proceedings over Tata’s plans to close its Port Talbot blast furnaces and shed 2,800 jobs. Yesterday evening Port Talbot steelworks, Tata UK HQ and Cardiff Castle were illuminated with a message urging Tata workers to vote yes for strike action. Unite says Tata’s decision to rush through the plans is incomprehensible given that the union has secured significant investment from Labour for the company’s UK operations. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Tata is planning to deal an absolutely devastating blow to Port Talbot and Llanwern that will spread destruction across the Welsh economy and risk national security. Unite will combat Tata’s plan with everything we have, including our multi-million pound strike fund. Now is the time for the steel workers of Port Talbot and Llanwern to fight for their communities and vote yes to industrial action. Tata knows there are other choices to be made – Unite has secured commitments from Labour that £3 billion for UK steel will be made available in the next parliament. Tata needs to change course, Unite won’t stop until it does.” Unite officially notified Tata today that it will be balloting around 1,500 workers at its Port Talbot and Llanwern sites from Friday 8 March to Thursday 11 April. Industrial action could begin before the end of April read more
Mitie boss must pay healthcare workers what they are owed or strikes will continue, say UNISON and Unite (29 Feb) – Mitie chief executive Phil Bentley must pay healthcare workers in the West Midlands the lump sum they are owed, say UNISON and Unite today (Thursday). The general secretaries of the UK’s two largest unions have written to Mr Bentley to say strikes* planned for today (Thursday) from 5am and next Friday (8 March) will go ahead unless hospital staff get a one off £1,655 payment** that other NHS staff have already received. Cleaners, domestics, porters and catering employees are among around 300 workers set to take to picket lines again in protest following action which began with Unite in December. All are contracted by Mitie to work at three hospitals run by The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust and are among the lowest-paid staff in the NHS read more
Barts NHS workers demonstrate at Department of Health over missing Covid payments (21 Feb) – Low-paid facilities staff from across London working for Barts NHS Trust demonstrated at the Department of Health in Westminster today (Wednesday 21 February). Around 100 Unite members took to the streets of Westminster to highlight the failure of Barts Trust to honor its commitment to pay NHS a lump sum “thank you” payment for working during the pandemic. Unite’s members at the time worked for an outsourcing company, Serco, before transferring back into the NHS just after the imposed deadline for staff to receive the payment. So far NHS bosses have rejected their demands and refused to ask the Treasury for additional funding to cover the payment read more
DHL exposed of inflicting brutal pay cuts on East Midlands airport workers while company plans 20 billion takeover (28 Feb) – Union preparing to take campaign to German headquarters. Unite, the UK’s leading union, has revealed that its members who are employed by DHL at East Midlands Airport and are currently in a longstanding pay dispute, have suffered a brutal real terms pay cut of over six per cent since 2020. The workers who are responsible for bringing critical medical supplies as well as other cargo into the UK, worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic. They played a crucial role in bringing lifesaving drugs and equipment into the UK despite not being issued the required PPE. Despite their dedication DHL has now been exposed of systemically reducing their pay in real terms. The workers, many of whom are paid less than £11 an hour, began an extended pay dispute last month and are set to take 24 days of industrial action during February and March. Speaking to the striking DHL workers during a picket line visit at East Midlands airport today (28 February), Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “We will not sit back and watch your employer DHL make millions and refuse to give you a decent pay rise…” read more
Vital Derby rail maintenance workers to strike over failure to make pay offer (26 Feb) – Safety critical workers responsible for maintaining and preparing trains across the East Midlands are to begin strike action next month after their employer failed to make any form of a pay offer, Unite announced today (26 February). Around 70 Unite members at Alstom Engineering based in Derby are taking strike action on four days beginning on Wednesday 6 March. The workers are responsible for service and preparation of trains and carriages, fault finding and logging of incidents online and general problems with the fleet for East Midlands Rail and industrial action is likely to create a shortage of available rolling stock. Alstom has failed to make any pay offer despite the pay anniversary being 1 December with the real rate of inflation (RPI) running at above five per cent at the time adding to a cost-of-living crisis… Initial strike dates are set for 6, 7, 10 and 11 March but further dates are likely to be announced if Alstom fails to return to the negotiating table with an offer read more
Abellio London bus controllers to take further strike action (26 Feb) – Bus company staff in London are to escalate strike action next month after their employer failed to make an improved pay offer, Unite confirmed today (26 February 2024). Around 40 staff who work in the control rooms for Abellio buses (to be known as Transport UK from 2 March) and who control the bus routes, instruct drivers on traffic jams or accidents and ensure overall safety on the routes are to take a further 9 days of action beginning on 7 March… Controllers, managers and supervisors based at both Battersea bus garage and Twickenham bus garage are staging walkouts on the following dates: 7, 8, 9, 17, 19, 22, 27, 28 and 29 March read more
Translink unions to ballot members on improved pay offer (25 Feb) – Joint trade union press release: Planned 72 hour strike action due to commence midnight on Tuesday is suspended by all three trade unions. Following an improved pay offer by Translink the three public transport trade unions (Unite, GMB and SIPTU), will suspend the forthcoming strike action and will ballot their memberships on the new offer. Pay negotiations between the transport unions and Translink management were reconvened today (Sunday) following the rejection of an initial pay offer by management on Thursday (22 February). Following the receipt of an improved pay offer for all Translink employees workforce reps suspended the planned 72-hour strike action set for 00.01 on Tuesday (27 February). Workers in all three trade unions will now be balloted on the offer read more
Sainsbury’s Birmingham and Essex lorry drivers strike threat over outsourcing (23 Feb) – Anger that transfer to Wincanton will deprive 500 drivers of significant benefits. Around 500 Sainsbury’s lorry drivers based in Essex and Birmingham are being balloted for strike action over attempts to outsource their jobs. The workers, members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, are directly employed by Sainsbury’s. The company, however, plans to transfer them to Wincanton at the end of April. The transfer would result in the workers no longer being eligible for benefits they receive as Sainsbury’s employees. These include a 15 per cent Sainsbury’s discount card worth up to £1,600 a year in savings, as well as share save and incentive schemes. In November last year, Sainsbury’s upgraded its profits forecast to between £670 and £700 million for 2023 having raked in £340 million for the six months to 16 September 2023… The ballot for strike action opens this Monday (26 February) and closes on 11 March. Industrial action will cause severe disruption to deliveries from the distribution centres in Coleshill, Birmingham and Waltham Abbey, Essex to Sainsbury’s stores read more
Health visitors in Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board to take historic industrial action over unsustainable workloads (21 Feb) – Unite the union has today (21 February) announced its health visitor members at Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board will take industrial action. The health visitors at the Cwm Taf Morgannwg Health Board (CTM), have had their request for accurate job descriptions denied on multiple occasions and are faced with increasing and unsustainable demands for their specialist knowledge and expertise. The service is struggling under a tsunami of demands post-Covid alongside the impact of the ongoing economic crisis on families. The 67 workers, who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union recorded a 100 per cent yes vote in favour of industrial action. This action short of a strike, includes no unpaid overtime, no statistical reporting for the Welsh government and no covering for vacant caseloads. Action will begin on 26th February and continue until late July. This is the first time health visitors have taken industrial action as a distinct group of workers in Wales read more
Slough facing chaos as Saba Park Services to strike over pay (21 Feb) – Over 30 of Saba Park Services parking enforcement officers in Slough will take strike action following a dispute over pay, according to Unite. The UK’s leading union said industrial action will take place from 26 February to 10 March – leaving the council without parking attendance, back office support, CCTV monitoring or enforcement in bus lanes read more
Strike action at Newtownards factory to severely impact Lakeland dairies profits (19 Feb) – Workers determined to defend £1 pay an hour differential between skilled grades and bare legal minimum. Strike will bring production to a standstill. Unite the union members working at LE Pritchitt & Co Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lakeland Dairies, which operates the company’s Global Logistics Centre in Newtownards will take a first week of strike action (beginning on Wednesday 21 February) in a mounting pay dispute. Negotiations ended last week without agreement after management refused to provide an increase which maintained a £1 an hour pay differential with the minimum wage for fully trained production operators read more
M25 disruption looms as road maintenance workers ballot for strike (19 Feb) – Balfour Beatty workers angry over profitable firm’s below inflation pay offer. Around 150 M25 maintenance workers employed by Balfour Beatty are being balloted for strike action over pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Monday). The workers, who are responsible for the maintenance of the entire M25, are angry at Balfour Beatty’s pay offer of 3.4 per cent. With the real rate of inflation, RPI, at 4.9 per cent this is a real terms pay cut. Increasing tensions, is the fact that the workers also received a below inflation pay rise last year. Balfour Beatty’s latest financial report said the company brought in revenues of £4.5 billion during the first half of 2023, with underlying profits increasing by 12 per cent to £95 million…The workers will begin balloting this week and the vote will close on 12 March, with industrial action expected soon after read more
Strikes by hundreds of Ford white collar workers on cards (14 Feb) – Attend Acas talks or face industrial action proceedings Ford told. Ford is facing the prospect of strikes across its UK sites by salaried and managerial staff, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Wednesday). The company has been told it must attend negotiations with the conciliation service Acas or Unite will begin preparing to ballot its members for industrial action. Offers put forward by Ford for over 3,000 salaried staff and managers have been rejected by over 90 per cent by both sets of workers. The offer for many of the salaried staff is an unconsolidated one-off payment of five per cent of their salary for 2024, meaning their actual wages will not increase this year. Management grades, who have recently organised and achieved union recognition, have been offered a performance related bonus payment, which provides no guarantee of a cost-of-living increase. In addition, the company has proposed changes to the current absence processes, despite acknowledging there is no issue with staff attendance 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
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
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
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
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
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
End bullying and anti-union attacks at Cardiff Labour council
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
CWU
Post Office workers offered 3.75% rise plus extra benefits (23 Feb) – Union recommends negotiated deal raising wages and improving annual leave arrangements. Around 1,500 CWU members working on Post Office Counters and in Supply Chain and Admin grades are being urged to vote YES to an agreement reached in talks between the CWU and management that will lift pay rates and introduce a range of other enhancements read more
Save Enniskillen EE (ex-BT) site – The EE Enniskillen call centre is a lifeline for our community. It’s closure threatens over 300 jobs, eroding the heart of our local economy. This is a community crisis. Local businesses, public services, and the Fermanagh economy stand on the brink of a devastating blow
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]
Pensions Regulator still not listening to member demands (11 Mar) – More strong pickets as PCS members at The Pensions Regulator enter their seventh month of strike action in their dispute over pay. PCS members have continued to support the strike at The Pensions Regulator (TPR), with large numbers attending the picket lines over the past few weeks. Around 380 PCS members in TPR will strike again on 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, and 20 March 2024. But they are deeply disappointed by the continued intransigence of TPR, which is the only employer of more than 200 in the civil service that hasn’t matched the Treasury Pay remit guidance of 4.5% with an additional 0.5% to be directed to the lowest paid. PCS members working in TPR remain determined to achieve pay justice and will back their determination with strike action until they achieve it read more
PCS to launch strike ballot over pay campaign (7 Mar) – PCS is to launch a strike ballot across the UK Civil Service in support of its national campaign for decent pay, pensions justice and job protection. Our national executive met yesterday (6) to agree the next steps in our national campaign, following a national consultation and the submission of our pay demands to the Cabinet Office on 16 February. The statutory postal-only ballot opens on 18 March and closes on 13 May and it is vital that everyone takes part so that we beat the 50% legal threshold for strike action. A special NEC meeting will be held on 15 May to consider the results read more
Outsourced facilities workers need Labour’s New Deal (6 Mar) – On 12 March, PCS will be supporting a joint lobby of MPs calling on the Labour Party to honour its New Deal for Working People, if elected to government. Labour’s New Deal for Working People is a plan to make Britain better for working people. They have pledged to write it into law within 100 days of getting elected read more
New shift working and Public and Privilege Holidays Policy agreed with MoD (6 Mar) – A PCS working party was instrumental in negotiations to ensure members will be able to claim the correct hours and receive the correct pay. PCS has agreed a new shift working and Public and Privilege Holidays (PPH) policy with the Ministry of Defence read more
Update on pensions appeal case (6 Mar) – PCS has been in the Court of Appeal over the pension cost-sharing issue. During three days in February counsel for the FBU and a coalition of unions, including PCS, presented our case in the Court of Appeal that the government acted unreasonably in blocking the operation of its own cost-sharing mechanism in 2019 read more
HMRC sacks PCS rep in Newcastle (5 Mar) – A PCS rep has been sacked, in the aftermath of the strike in Benton Park View, with a second PCS rep facing similar charges. Given Newcastle management have history when it comes to sacking union reps, PCS will be consulting members and PCS Legal. HMRC management in the department’s Benton Park View branch in Newcastle, have sacked Gordon Askew, a member of the branch executive committee, on the grounds of ‘potential’ computer misuse read more
Border Force members at Heathrow to be balloted for strike action (1 Mar) – PCS members who work for the Border Force in Heathrow Airport are to be balloted for strike action in a dispute over shift patterns and working conditions. More than 600 Border Force officers based at Heathrow Airport are to be balloted for strike action, which could take place during the Easter holidays, potentially causing long queues at the UK’s largest airport. In a ballot that opens today and runs until noon on March 22 they will be asked if they are prepared to take strike action read more
Support the strike at National Museums Liverpool:-
Email the chairman of the NML board about paying the £1500 (26 Feb) – Use our online template to ask Sir David Henshaw to make the £1500 cost-of-living payment to PCS members at National Museums Liverpool. PCS members working for the seven museums and galleries that make up National Museums Liverpool (NML) are currently on strike because their employer is refusing to pay them the £1500 cost-of-living payment that the government agreed to pay last year read more
Solid start to strike at National Museums Liverpool (19 Feb) – Saturday was the beginning of eight weeks of strike action, with a massive turnout on the picket line and high levels of public support. PCS members working for the seven museums and galleries that make up National Museums Liverpool started strike action on Saturday 17 February in their dispute with the employer of its refusal to pay staff a £1500 cost-of-living payment. The strike is planned to continue until 14 April. On the first day of the strike on Saturday, around 70 striking members were on the picket line outside the World Museum Liverpool, which was closed to the public because of the strike. Many were dressed in historic costumes to represent museum exhibits, including Greek gods, suffragettes and even a dinosaur. There was music, dancing, and a vibrant and positive feeling among the pickets, many of whom have never been on strike before. The pickets started outside the World Museum and then marched through Liverpool to the Museum of Liverpool at the Pier Head, led by a member dressed as Zeus, king of the Greek gods read more Visit the picket line on 17 February from 8:30-11am at World Museum, William Brown Street, Liverpool, L3 8EN
DVSA strike action suspended (6 Feb) – Following intensive talks with senior management at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency we have suspended our planned strike action which was due to take place from Thursday to Sunday (8-11 February). Following the negotiations which concluded yesterday, we are pleased to report that we have reached an improved proposal, presented as a full package, which meets the 8 demands PCS members were balloted on. These include members’ safety, terms and conditions and the standards of safety that driving tests require. Our members believe in the quality of the public service that they provide, that helps keep those using our roads as safe as possible. It is important to us that the integrity of that driving test, the safety of that driving test and of the service that we provide to the public is maintained. To allow us to fully consult members on these proposals, we have suspended the planned strike action. Members must now attend work on those dates. We will contact members shortly to outline the details of a consultative ballot on management’s proposals read more
Prospect
Funding cuts of this magnitude could sound the death knell for services we rely on (7 Mar) – Respected thinktank the IFS have confirmed today that unprotected areas of public spending face cuts of 3.5% over the next parliament read more
Prospect ballots members at Defence Equipment & Support on strike action (16 Feb) – Prospect union is balloting its members at Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), a Ministry of Defence (MoD) agency, on industrial action. The ballot comes after the employer failed to meet the union’s pay claim and imposed an unagreed pay offer for 2023/2024. Under the imposed pay offer, the majority of DE&S employees will receive a consolidated pay increase of 3.25% or less. Prospect is recommending that members vote yes to both strike action and action short of strike (ASOS) 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
Amazon workers announce new strike dates (12 Mar) – Fresh industrial action comes as the retail giant could be on brink of forced union recognition. GMB union has today announced further strike dates at two Amazon fulfilment centres. The strike dates come just days after GMB members at the company submitted an application for mandatory recognition at Amazon to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC). The CAC – the Government body responsible for regulating collective bargaining between workers and employers – can force companies to recognise a trade union if more than 50 per cent of the work force are members. Workers will down tools at the company’s Coventry fulfilment centre as well as at Amazon’s new flagship HQ in Birmingham, a £500 million site that only opened its doors in October. Strike action will take place in Coventry on Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 March and in Birmingham on Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 March read more
Amazon on brink of forced union recognition (5 Mar) – Amazon could be on the brink of being forced to recognise a trade union for the first time. Amazon could be on the brink of being forced to recognise a trade union for the first time in the UK, after GMB made a formal bid to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC). The CAC – the Government body responsible for regulating collective bargaining between workers and employers – can force companies to recognise a trade union if more than 50 per cent of the work force are members. After over a year of industrial action, union membership at the company’s Coventry site has grown significantly and GMB is confident of surpassing the legal threshold for recognition. However, the union warns decision makers of Amazon’s track record of using union busting, dirty tricks to sidestep recognition – after an earlier recognition bid was met by the company flooding the fulfilment centre with 1,000 new workers in a week. Union recognition would mean Amazon would be forced to sit down with GMB on matters relating to pay, worker safety, terms and conditions read more
Cumberland’s urgent care team to strike (11 Mar) – Cumberland’s urgent care team is set for strike action. Approved Mental Health social workers in the Urgent Care Team, who have been fighting for more than two years for a job evaluation, will walk out for 48 hours from 9am 15 March to 9am 17 March. The Urgent Care Team is on the front line of mental health care – on call across Cumbria 24 hours a day and making on the spot decisions on whether immediate detention is necessary. In July 2022, these dedicated professionals applied for a regrading of their role, believing it was incorrectly evaluated. Cumberland Council denied their request. Now, following a successful strike vote, the members have been forced to take industrial action read more
Thirty five Birmingham schools facing strike threat (8 Mar) – Council bosses must act urgently to avoid springtime school strikes. GMB Union has today announced the names of thirty-five Birmingham Schools that will begin a formal strike vote next week. The ballot comes after the union accused Birmingham City Council on delay in resolving the equal pay crisis impacting city workers. Nearly ninety per cent of Birmingham workers backed strike action in a council wide consultative ballot earlier this month, with further waves of formal strike ballots expected to be announced read more
Regent’s Park gardeners win dispute (7 Mar) – Regent’s Park gardeners have won their dispute after a historic strike. Workers, employed by private contractor Idverde, have today [Thursday] agreed to accept new pay rates which give them parity with workers the other Royal Parks. Regent’s Parl gardeners downed tools last month [1] and were due to strike again this week when Idverde agreed to pay them the same rates and back date their pay read more
Wisbech Asda workers to strike after historic vote (6 Mar) – More than 170 Wisbech Asda workers are set to strike. The ballot – sparked by cuts to hours and an increase in a bullying management culture – saw more than 97 per cent voting to walk out, with a turnout of 87 per cent. Workers are also angry about poor levels of training and support for their job roles, the equal pay claim dragging on for years, and health, safety and fire safety issues being ignored. Wisbech will become just the second Asda store to face strike action, after more than 100 GMB members walked out at Gosport last month. Strike dates will be announced in the coming days read more
Asda Lowestoft strike vote dates announced (29 Feb) – GMB union has announced the dates Asda Lowestoft workers will vote on strike action. The ballot will open on 5 March and close three weeks later on 26 March. If workers vote to strike, the would be among the first Asda staff in the country to take industrial action read more
Asda faces three more strike votes (15 Feb) – Asda workers will begin a strike vote at three more stores. Nearly 400 GMB members at the Wisbech, Brighton Hollingbury, and Brighton Marina stores will vote on whether to take industrial action. The votes follow the first ever strike of ASDA workers at the retailer’s Gosport store, where almost 100 GMB members walked out in protest at the ‘toxic’ working environment. The new ballots will run from 16 February until 5 March read more
Birmingham workers back strike vote (4 Mar) – Birmingham City Council have voted overwhelmingly for industrial action to end the equal pay crisis. Strike action was backed by 87 per cent of GMB members voting in the council-wide consultative ballot. Workers in Birmingham City Council schools will now be asked to proceed with a formal strike vote, with strike dates anticipated for later this spring read more
Methryr Tydfil faces library and lesiure strikes (29 Feb) – GMB members at Merthyr Leisure Trust voted unanimously for industrial action. Leisure services across the town will be affect, including the beleaguered Rhydycar leisure centre which could see yet another delay for the re-opening of the £6 million swimming pool. Workers are owed a pay uplift in line with local government staff, following a decade old promise. The trusts failure to honour the commitment of around £1 an hour to staff has led to staff striking for owed pay. In a further twist on Tuesday evening, the council announced plans on its Facebook page to offload the leisure trust to a private provider without any consultation read more
Translink strike suspended after new pay offer (26 Feb) – A planned 72 hour strike by Translink workers has been suspended. The move will allow union members to vote on a improved pay offer read more
NI education faces ‘further industrial action’ (21 Feb) – GMB Union has warned of further industrial action among school workers in Northern Ireland. The union, which represents more than 3,000classroom assistants, kitchen staff, bus drivers, cleaners, admin workers and others, met with Education Minister Paul Givan at Stormont today [Tuesday]. Mr Givan made it clear that within the current public sector pay budget of £684 million there was nothing to address the pay and grading review for school staff, which has been ongoing since 2018. GMB will now go back to members, with a view to taking further industrial action read more
Ofsted should meet striking Swindon social workers (21 Feb) – GMB Union made the call withsocial workers at Swindon Borough Council will walk out on 27 and 28 February following a ‘botched’ pay and re-grading review. On the same day, Ofsted inspectors are due to visit the council’s children’s services department following a failed inspection in July. In the wake of the inspection, the council developed an improvement plan, but the ‘botched’ review has undermined the plan and thrown the whole department into chaos. GMB has written to Ofsted advising the inspectors of concerns and asking them to meet the striking social workers read more
Wiltshire Traffic Wardens Balloted For Further Strike Action To Mark Second Anniversary of GMB’s Longest Running Dispute (13 Feb) – GMB, the union for Wiltshire Council, has called a further strike ballot of traffic wardens opposing the removal of a 10% unsocial hours allowance, that would see each of them lose about £180 per month in take home pay. Social workers who provide the out of hours service are already planning a three-day strike, starting Friday 16th February, over a loss of a 20% allowance that will see them each lose from £500 to £750 per month read more
Brighton Refuse Workers Call For Meaningful Talks To Avoid Escalation Over ‘Service Delivery Issues’ (12 Feb) – Hard-working GMB members at City Clean are frustrated by management not dealing with issues. Brighton refuse workers have called for scheduled talks with the council over a series of service delivery issues affecting residents’ bin collections to be meaningful. A consultative ballot of GMB’s 119 members at the City Clean depot saw 95 per cent in favour of being balloted for industrial action over the changes 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
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
Unison
Donate to support striking workers – As UNISON members continue to take strike action, the union is asking for donations to its strike fund
Stop the Council Cuts – Sign the petition: Save our Services – Nottingham City – started by Nottingham City Unison
Bedfordshire NHS hospital staff in 48-hour strike over pay (11 Mar) – Staff across two Bedfordshire hospitals say they are being asked to perform medical tasks above their pay grade, such as inserting cannulas. Hundreds of NHS emergency hospital staff are expected to take part in strike action in a dispute over pay and rebanding of roles. Some 400 workers at the Bedford and Luton & Dunstable hospitals will walk out for 48 hours from 07:30 GMT. The union Unison said healthcare assistants were being asked to carry out clinical tasks without extra pay read more on BBC website. Unison: ‘Ripped off’ Bedfordshire NHS staff vote on strike action
Blog: Healthcare assistants are taking a stand over fair pay, a blog post by Clare Williams (8 Mar) – Strike action is a last resort and can still be avoided if the Trust do the right thing and give a firm commitment to back-pay eligible staff up to 1 July 2019 as a minimum read more
NHS staff across Teesside announce strike date in pay dispute, says UNISON (27 Feb) – Around 1,000 healthcare assistants at North Tees & Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust and South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will take strike action next month in a dispute over pay… Staff at the trusts’ seven sites* will walk out for 24 hours from 7am on Monday 11 March as part of their campaign to be paid on a higher wage band which accurately reflects the work they have been doing read more
Ramadan 2024: Your rights at work (8 Mar) – ACAS and EHRC guidance provides employers with a range of best practices during the holy month, for example, by allowing Muslim workers to start their work day earlier read more
Urgent action needed to avert school technician recruitment crisis
Low pay, heavy workloads and a lack of appreciation are why schools and colleges are struggling to attract technicians (8 Mar) – Schools and colleges will face a shortage of skilled support staff unless urgent action is taken to address low pay and morale among technicians, warns a new report released today by UNISON read more
Mitie must pay healthcare workers what they are owed or strikes will continue, say UNISON and Unite (29 Feb) – Staff will strike for second time today over failure to honour NHS lump-sum payment. Mitie chief executive Phil Bentley must pay healthcare workers in the West Midlands the lump sum they are owed, say UNISON and Unite today (Thursday). The general secretaries of the UK’s two largest unions have written to Mr Bentley to say strikes* planned for today (Thursday) from 5am and next Friday (8 March) will go ahead unless hospital staff get a one-off £1,655 payment** that other NHS staff have already received. Cleaners, porters and catering employees are among around 370 workers set to strike again following action which began with Unite in December read more
Barnet UNISON Mental Health social worker re-ballot results (23 Feb) – Our Barnet UNISON Mental Health social workers re-ballot results are now in. We had a 91% turn out with a 100% VOTE for strike action. Barnet UNISON Mental Health social workers have already taken 27 days of strike action which equates to approximately 4,050 lost contact days for Mental health service users in Barnet. Today UNISON submitted the results to the Barnet Council Chief Executive. UNISON has agreed to go into talks with Barnet Council and ACAS. UNISON have agreed a couple of dates in early March. UNISON has from the outset been prepared to negotiate to reach a resolution to what has become the longest running Mental Health social worker strike in UNISON’s history. Barnet UNISON has agreed a new strike timetable with our members which will begin in April in the unfortunate event that we are unable to reach a resolution. The strike timetable would be a significant increase in the number of strike days taken by the social workers so far:-
- From 15 April to 26 April 2024 (two weeks).
- From 13 May to 1 June 2024 (three weeks).
- From 17 June to 12 July 2024. (four weeks).
Our members are 100% behind UNISONs negotiating team and remain hopeful that a positive resolution can be secured to avoid any further strike action read more Send messages of support to [email protected]
Yoga instructors pose a strike problem for unbending council (16 Feb) – Together with colleagues teaching Pilates and aerobics, the instructors backed industrial action as Colchester City Council remains stubborn on pay. Yoga, Pilates and aerobics instructors employed by Colchester City Council are to take strike action later this month after nearly a decade without a pay rise, UNISON announced today. The fitness instructors will walk out for seven days from Wednesday 28 February until Tuesday 5 March read more
NIPSA
New economic model – briefing series (11 Mar) – ICTU is hosting a series of briefing meetings on the ‘New Economic Model’ at a number of venues in the coming months. These briefings will inform affiliates of our proposed strategy to promote a high-road economic model which will seek to broaden labour market opportunities and promote collective bargaining read more
HSC Pay Offer 2023/24 (6 Mar) – Patrick Mulholland Deputy General Secretary: NIPSA has now received a formal pay offer for the 2023/24 pay year. See link below – Pay Offer – Letter to Trade Unions.pdf. The HSC Central Panel Branches unanimously agreed to recommend to members that we accept the offer. This should not be misconstrued as a blanket endorsement of the offer. Members are encouraged to attend Branch meetings in the coming days. Details of which shall be issued through your Branch Secretary read more
Royal College of Nursing
Immediate action on pay and working conditions needed to halt nursing exodus, warns RCN (9 Mar) – The government must urgently boost nursing salaries with a recruitment and retention payment alongside an above inflation pay rise for nursing staff this year read more
Voting opens for new HSC pay offer in Northern Ireland (4 Mar) – Eligible members will have until 6pm on Thursday 21 March to have their say. The RCN is now consulting eligible members in Northern Ireland on the Department of Health’s new pay offer for Health and Social Care (HSC) staff on Agenda for Change terms and conditions. Voting is now open and closes at 6pm on Thursday 21 March 2024. You will not be able to cast your vote after this time. If you vote more than once, only your latest vote will be counted 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
RCM
Long overdue pay offer finally arrives for midwives in Northern Ireland (26 Feb) – Months of waiting and campaigning, two days of strike action and a reformed Executive the RCM says has ‘finally’ resulted in a ‘long overdue’ pay offer for its members in Northern Ireland. The proposed pay offer would see the restoration of pay parity with England with an uplift of 5% and a one-off payment of £1,505 read more
CSP
CSP highlights the needs of our members to the NHS pay review body (6 Mar) – CSP representatives met with the NHS pay review body (PRB) yesterday to further our members’ interests around pay, terms and conditions read more
Members urged to vote on Northern Ireland pay offer (26 Feb) – An offer on pay for Health and Social Care Northern Ireland staff will be put to CSP members following a breakthrough in talks read more
SOR
NI radiographers urged to share views on pay deal (4 Mar) – Northern Ireland’s Department of Health has put forward a 23/24 pay offer, and the Society of Radiographers is seeking member responses read more
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
BMA
Donate to support striking junior doctors
Frustration turns to action as junior doctors in Northern Ireland strike for first time (6 Mar) – Doctors earning lowest rate in the UK walk out for 24 hours in fight for pay restoration. It is hard to have a pay dispute when there has not a devolved government to argue with, while at the same time government in Westminster insists your dispute is a devolved issue. Yet this has been the case for junior doctors in Northern Ireland. Even since last month, when the Northern Ireland executive was reformed after two years of stalemate, they have been told the devolved government’s hands are tied until Westminster comes to an agreement with junior doctors in England. Earning as little as £13 an hour, the lowest rate in the UK, BMA members in Northern Ireland had to act. From 8am 6 March, about 2,000 junior doctors walked out on strike for 24 hours as they call for restoration of pay to 2008 levels in real terms, with an above-inflation uplift this year to stem the immediate workforce crisis read more
Government tables revised pay offer for consultants (5 Mar) – BMA seeks agreement from senior doctors on pay and terms and conditions proposal. Consultants are being asked to back a new offer on pay and conditions, described by BMA consultants committee chair Vishal Sharma as a ‘positive step forward’. The BMA is encouraging consultants in England to endorse a new offer CC says will further improve terms on pay as well as institute significant improvements towards renewing the independence of the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration read more
NHS Wales: Consultants and specialist doctors to strike (4 Mar) – BMA members have voted in favour for strike action over a dispute in pay. BBC Wales health correspondent. Consultant and specialist doctors in Wales have voted in favour of strike action in a dispute over pay. The industrial action takes place from 7am on 16 April until 7am on 18 April. They will walk out over workplace conditions caused by extreme pressures, and unsafe staffing levels, the British Medical Association (BMA) said read more on BBC website
SAS doctors reject pay offer (1 Mar) – 62 per cent vote against Government proposed terms, with no call for industrial action. SAS doctors in England have rejected the Government’s offer on a new pay deal, with the BMA now set to consult members on the next steps. The association has urged the Government to hold further talks on improving pay and conditions for specialist, associate specialist and specialty doctors, after a ballot on whether to accept the offer saw 62 per cent of doctors vote against endorsing the terms. The now-rejected offer would have seen a commitment to uplifts in basic pay of between 6 and 9 per cent for doctors on the 2021 SAS contracts, but notably excluded those doctors on the 2008 associate specialist terms. While the BMA specialist, associate specialist and specialty doctors committee has not made a call for any industrial action yet, associate specialists and specialty doctors, as well as other SAS grade doctors (including SAS locally employed doctors), have a mandate for taking strike action read more
Junior doctors embark on tenth round of industrial action (27 Feb) – Government failure to present revised pay offer forces another walk-out. ‘None of us want to be here,’ says foundation year 2 Callum Parr, one of dozens of striking doctors stood on the freezing-cold picket line outside St Thomas’ Hospital in central London read more
HCSA
HCSA publishes member briefing on revised England consultant contract reforms (6 Mar) – HCSA has published a new member briefing on the revised package of contractual reforms for consultants in England. It includes details of changes made via the improved offer, reached following further intensive negotiations after members rejected the original package read more
HCSA junior doctors announce five-day strike in February (9 Feb) – Junior doctors from HCSA – the hospital doctors’ union will strike for five days across England in February in the latest step in their pay dispute. This follows the government’s ongoing failure to address pay erosion, which has seen junior doctors’ pay fall by more than a quarter since 2008. Junior doctors will walk out from 7am on Saturday 24th February until 7am on Thursday 29th February read more
NEU
NEU launches preliminary ballot on pay and funding (2 Mar) – Fair pay is not just a request, but a necessity. Schools deserve proper funding for staffing provision – and the necessary funding to cover a pay rise. The NEU will today (Saturday 2 March) open its preliminary electronic ballot over pay and funding. Around 300,000 teacher members working in maintained schools and sixth forms across England will be consulted on whether they are prepared to take part in industrial action to win funding from Government for pay and additional staffing resources. This forms part of an ongoing campaign to secure a long-term correction in pay. Additional funding would ensure that a fully-funded, above-inflation pay rise could be achieved. The preliminary ballot opens on 2 March and closes on 28 March read more
Please support the following strike action:-
| Action Date Contact St Joseph’s RC Primary / Suffolk (Conditions of service) 12 March Susan Groome [email protected] Cathedral School / Cardiff (TPS) 12-13 March Angela Jardine [email protected] Tring Park School for the Performing Arts / Herts (TPS) 12-13 March Barhey Singh [email protected] St Edward’s College /Liverpool (Refusal to Teach) 12-14 March Peter Glover [email protected] Graham Copsey [email protected] St Mary’s School Ascot / Windsor & Maidenhead (TPS) 12-14 March Elaine Hurrell [email protected] Lady Eleanor Holles School / Richmond (TPS) 14 March Susan O’Connor [email protected] | |||
NASUWT
Teachers at Cheshire college strike over pension attacks (6 Mar) – Members of NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union at Abbey Gate College in Chester are taking strike action today over attacks on their pensions. The College is planning to remove staff from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) and enrol them in an inferior scheme, which will pay out less in retirement. Staff can opt to remain in the TPS, but only on the condition they accept a significant cut to their pay read more
Teachers at Chetham’s School of Music to strike over attempts to downgrade pensions (26 Feb) – Members of NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union at Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester are starting the first five planned days of strike action tomorrow (Tuesday) over attempts to make teachers choose between their pension or their pay. Chethams, which is the UK’s largest specialist music school, is attempting to remove staff from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) and enrol them in an inferior Defined Contribution scheme. If teachers choose to remain in the TPS they must accept a reduced salary read more
EIS
Strong Support for Strike Action in Colleges Across Scotland Today (29 Feb) – There has been strong support from lecturers, students and supporters of Further Education as the EIS-FELA staged a day of national strike action over pay. Picket lines were in place at colleges across Scotland this morning, while a rally outside the Scottish Parliament also attracted strong support. EIS-FELA members have been engaged in a programme of action short of strike, including a work to rule and a resulting boycott, in recent weeks and today’s national day of strike action marks an intensification of the dispute in the continuing campaign for a fair pay settlement read more
INTO
NITC receive Pay Offer (11 Mar) – The Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council (NITC) today considered a draft agreement from Management Side with a pay offer which has the potential to bring a settlement to the ongoing pay dispute. The out working of this agreement would lead to a significant increase to the starting salary for teachers and an uplift in teachers’ and school leaders pay from 1st September 2023. The constituent members of the NITC have agreed to consult members in the coming week, with a view to responding to the offer by Tuesday 26th March 2024 read more
UCU
NSSN sends solidarity to UCU and its members at Queen Mary University in London after security broke into the Queen Mary UCU office in order to remove posters expressing solidarity with Palestine. For developments, follow Queen Mary UCU on X/Twitter @qm_ucu
Strike ballot at New College Durham over low pay (11 Mar) – UCU has opened a strike ballot at New College Durham in a dispute over low pay. The ballot will close on Monday 15 April and a successful result paves the way for strike action if the employer refuses to make a realistic offer. The ballot comes after staff voted to reject a paltry pay offer of 4% (from August 2023). According to its most recent accounts the college has over £9m in assets, a £2m increase on the year before, and is rated as having outstanding financial health by the government’s Education and Skills Funding Agency, yet UCU’s research shows it spends less of its income on pay than any other college in the region read more
Donelan must resign, says UCU (6 Mar) – UCU has called on the Secretary of State for Innovation and Technology, Michelle Donelan to resign. UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: ‘Despite using taxpayers’ money to pay damages and settle a libel claim, Michelle Donelan has failed to actually apologise to the individuals she falsely accused and attacked, or for the damage she has done to the academic community. That she only retracted her allegations after a lengthy legal process makes matters worse read more
Two new strike dates at North East college group in low pay dispute (4 Mar) – Staff at five colleges in Cleveland, Redcar and Stockton-on-Tees will strike on Wednesday 20 and Thursday 21 March. The strikes come after an overwhelming 79.3% of UCU members at Bede Sixth Form College, NETA Training Group, Stockton Riverside College, The Skills Academy and Redcar and Cleveland College who voted, rejected the latest pay offer from employer Education Training Collective (ETC). Turnout was 64%. UCU also confirmed it will open a new strike ballot on Wednesday (6 March) that will run until Monday 15 April so it can continue to take industrial action if ETC refuses to settle the dispute. A successful ballot will allow the union to take strike action for a further six months. The dispute is over the 22/23 pay award read more
Strike ballot opens at Goldsmiths in bid to stop cull of over 130 jobs (29 Feb) – A strike ballot will open tomorrow over plans by Goldsmiths, University of London to cull 130 jobs as part of its ‘transformation programme’. The ballot will run until Thursday 28 March. Goldsmiths’ transformation programme lead wrote to UCU yesterday threatening to cut 130 full-time equivalent posts. These redundancies will mainly hit the departments of theatre and performance, history, English and creative writing, visual cultures, politics and international relations, music, anthropology, sociology, educational studies, psychology and social, and therapeutic and community studies. With so many academic staff on fractional and part-time contracts, the cuts will impact far more than 130 people read more
Outrage over ‘callous’ fire & rehire threat at SOAS (29 Feb) – UCU has launched an indicative ballot on taking strike action at SOAS, University of London over fire and rehire plans that place 34 staff at risk of losing their jobs and being rehired on worse terms and conditions. The cuts would eliminate all term time English-language and study skills support for international students. The indicative ballot runs until Wednesday 6 March and a successful result paves the way for an industrial ballot and strike action if SOAS management refuses to rule out compulsory redundancies read more
Aberdeen University staff overwhelmingly back industrial action in row over modern languages cuts and job losses (7 Feb) – Staff at the University of Aberdeen have today backed strikes in a dispute over plans to end single-honours degrees in modern languages and put 30 staff at risk of redundancy. In the ballot of UCU Scotland members, 80% of those who voted backed strike action on a turnout of 60%. On 30 November, the same day that the Scottish Government launched its Scottish languages bill, the university announced a consultation with proposals to end single honours degrees in French, Gaelic, German, and Spanish; to end both single and joint honours degrees; or to end all language degree programmes. At the time, amidst widespread criticism, UCU general secretary Jo Grady called the proposals ‘academic vandalism’ 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
UCU fighting fund: the link is here and donations to the fund are spent on supporting members involved in important disputes.
FBU
Fire union calls on employers to refuse to implement “authoritarian” strike ban (12 Mar) – The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has called on all fire service employers to refuse to implement the government’s new minimum service levels, condemning the legislation as a “draconian attempt to ban strikes”. In a letter sent to all fire service employers in England, the FBU has warned that implementing work notices will “irreparably damage” industrial relations and threaten public safety. New regulations issued as part of the Minimum Service Levels (Strikes) Act will give fire service employers power to issue ‘work notices’ during period of strike action. ‘Minimum service’ in the fire and rescue sector has been set at 73% of fire engines crewed, while control rooms will be expected to operate as if no strike was happening. Firefighters, control staff and other fire service employees could face dismissal for remaining on strike during a period of industrial action once a work notice has been issued. The regulations are expected to be approved by parliament soon. They will apply only in England. The governments of Scotland and Wales have already said that they will not issue work notices and/or that they have no intention of introducing their own regulations to make the legislation operative. Fire service employers are different depending on the region, and include fire authorities; police, fire and crime commissioners (PFCCs); mayors; and devolved administrations. Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary, said: The government’s minimum service levels amount to a draconian attempt to ban firefighters and control staff from taking strike action. This is an attack on the fundamental democratic rights of fire service employees…” read more
Firefighters’ leader blasts Tory Budget as ‘final insult’ to workers (6 Mar) – Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack has blasted Jeremy Hunt’s Budget as the “final insult” to firefighters and hard-pressed workers after nearly 15 years of Tory austerity. Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary, said: There is nothing whatsoever for firefighters and other public sector workers in this Budget delivered by an out of touch multi-millionaire Chancellor. With this Budget of handouts to the rich and austerity for everyone else, the Tories have yet again insulted hard pressed workers and the poorest families. During the worst cost of living crisis in living memory caused by 14 years of Tory cuts, Jeremy Hunt has shown two fingers to workers unable to afford even the basics. The Fire Brigades Union sincerely hopes that this will be the last Budget delivered by a Tory Chancellor for many years read more
POA
National Chair update January 2024 read more
Political News W/C 19th February read more
NAPO
ESCL Joint Trade Union Statement (8 Mar) – On 7th March 2024, the employer met with the probation Trade Unions to give them an emergency briefing on prison capacity and the resulting emergency measures they will be taking in an attempt to get some control over prisoner numbers. Currently the ESCL scheme allows prisoners to be released 18 days earlier. This will now be extended to 35 days. The unions were clear with the employer that this news will have a devastating effect on a workforce who are already overworked and where there is also a capacity crisis. The Early Release Scheme will leave many staff anxiously trying to arrange or re-arrange release plans, liaise with victims, find accommodation and ensure public safety. On top of the workloads crisis this will be devastating news read more
VLO Upgrading urgent advice for members (8 Mar) – VLO members of Napo and UNISON will be aware that there is a disagreement between the unions and the Probation Service in relation to the date to which the VLO regrading from pay band 3 to pay band 4 should take effect. The Probation Service is stating that backdating will be from 26 June 2021, the day that the newly unified Probation Service was inaugurated. The trade unions’ position is that the backdating should take effect from 4 July 2019 which is the date that the VLO job description was last changed read more
BFAWU
Support the campaign to unionise Samworth Brothers – get organised, sign the petition read more
BALPA
Bristow helicopters pilots in BALPA to strike in pay dispute (20 Feb) – The British Airline Pilots’ Association has given notice to Bristow Helicopters that it will call on its members to strike in March. BALPA has been in negotiation with the company for months, but Bristow has failed to put forward any offer that its pilots and tech crew could support read more
NUJ
STV journalists vote for strike action as pay talks break down (11 Mar) – Journalists at STV are set to go on strike after an industrial ballot showed overwhelming support in favour of industrial action at the Scottish broadcaster. Members of the NUJ have voted 89 per cent in favour of strike action after last minute talks at ACAS resulted in the management refusing to improve its offer to resolve a pay dispute. STV News faces a summer of disruption to its flagship news programming as journalists are expected to walk out of newsrooms and onto picket lines. NUJ members at the broadcaster will be meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) to discuss the form and timescale of industrial action read more
NUJ urges radical change to Local Democracy Reporter contracts to ensure fair pay (11 Mar) – The union is calling on the BBC to review and increase a 1.5 percent uplift to LDRs, to increase required minimum salaries and ensure publishers do not use allocated funds to boost profits read more
Reach journalists vote to accept five per cent pay deal (7 Mar) – Following negotiations with the publisher, journalists at Reach plc have voted overwhelmingly in favour of the 2024-2025 pay offer. Reach journalists will receive a five per cent uplift to their consolidated pay from 1 April, following acceptance of the offer in the union’s consultative ballot. The NUJ achieved a strong turnout with more than nine to one in favour of the deal. At a meeting today, the NUJ Reach group chapel formally approved the pay offer, endorsing the result of the members’ ballot. The NUJ has informed Reach of the decision, urging the company to ensure pay increases are paid promptly to journalists in next month’s pay packets read more
Equity
Trade Unions excluded from Government Culture and Education panel (7 Mar) – Five trade unions have written to the Chair of the Government’s ‘Cultural education plan expert advisory panel’ today, highlighting the failure of the panel to engage with education and arts unions read more
Musicians Union
Community
A new union for Dental Nurses announced (8 Mar) – In the midst of a crisis within the UK’s dental sector, Community Union has today formally announced that it will be creating a dental nurses’ section of its union. The union will welcome dental nurses into their ranks at a national dentistry convention held in Manchester on Saturday 9th March read more
Community confirms plans to ballot for industrial action at Tata Steel UK (4 Mar) – Alun Davies, National Officer for Steel at Community, the steelworkers’ union, said: “Community representatives from all Tata Steel UK plants have unanimously agreed to serve notice on the company should Tata confirm their intention to close Blast Furnace Number 4. This would be a national dispute and Community will ballot all members on a site-by-site basis including the downstream plants…” read more
USDAW
Ikea restructure proposal could impact over 3,000 roles in UK and RoI – Usdaw to enter into consultation talks (7 Mar) – Retail giant Ikea has today briefed staff about their restructure proposals that could impact all 3,233 staff currently working in selected fulfilment areas across the United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland. There are also proposed changes in the Wembley and Warrington offices. Usdaw is the union for Ikea staff in the UK and will now enter into consultation talks with the company read more
Co-op pay rise – Usdaw members overwhelmingly accept a 10.1% increase, taking the hourly rate to £12 (6 Mar) – Retail trade union Usdaw has balloted members working for Co-operative Group on a 10.1% pay rise and they have overwhelmingly accepted, with 87% voting in favour. The increase takes the basic hourly rate to £12 and will be paid from 1 April 2024 read more
B&Q stores could face disruption as Usdaw members vote for industrial action over pay at a GXO distribution centre in Swindon (5 Mar) – Members of Usdaw at a GXO distribution centre in Swindon, which operates a B&Q contract, have voted unanimously for industrial action over pay. The ballot of over 100 Usdaw members had an 87% turnout and was conducted after the company’s offer of 5.25%, with some investment in an attendance bonus and a damage bonus, was rejected. The ballot gives Usdaw a mandate to take industrial action from week beginning 18 March 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
IWGB
Workers at debt charity vote to strike following “aggressive intimidation” from management (8 Mar) – Frontline workers at the debt advice charity Rooted Finance will down tools later this month after their ballot to strike passed with a 100% yes vote. The decision to walk out on March 18 and 19 follows what workers have described as “anti-union and intimidatory tactics” from management read more
Find out more about the couriers’ strikes on the X/twitter of the IWGB Couriers’ branch @IWGB_CLB
Mandate (Ireland)
Other news
Sign this petition: To the Right Honourable Steve Barclay, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and The Right Honourable Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister – Make toxic landfills safe – Support ‘Zane’s Law’! Find out more about this campaign here
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
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
