This year’s TUC HeartUnions week takes place as an increasing number of workers take action – showing the vital importance of being organised in a trade union. Read about the disputes in this weekly NSSN bulletin, which builds support and solidarity for unions and their members in dispute – fighting on pay, terms & conditions and pensions and against job cuts and the bosses’ union-busting attacks. The NSSN also continues to demand that Starmer’s Labour government immediately delivers on its commitment to repeal the Trade Union Act and Minimum Service Levels Act Tory anti-union laws. Get organised – join a union, support the strikes!
TUC HeartUnions week 2025 10-16 February
#HeartUnions week is a chance to tell the story about why unions are vital for everyone at work, and encourage people who aren’t yet in a union to join. This year, HeartUnions week is also raising awareness of our campaign, Unions Make Work Pay. Find out more
NSSN news
Advanced notice!! NSSN Annual Conference 2025 11am-4.30pm Saturday 5th July in Conway Hall London
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Campaign For Trade Union Freedom Rally: 3 years on from P&O sackings – strengthening the Employment Rights Bill – Join our rally to demand more from the Employment Rights Bill – Saturday, March 22, 11am – 3:45pm, Hamilton House, Mabledon Place London WC1H 9BB details register
Union News
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RMT
RMT criticises Scottish Rail Holdings appointment (3 Feb) – Rail union RMT, has condemned the appointment of Professor Iain Docherty as Chair of Scottish Rail Holdings, warning that it does nothing to address the needs of Scotland’s railway. With ticket office opening hours facing cuts, the Scottish Government’s vision for Scotland’s rail network is one of de-staffing by stealth. These cuts, sanctioned by the Scottish Government, will affect 101 of its 143 staffed stations and would see ticket office hours reduced by a staggering 2,800 per week, jeopardising safety, accessibility, and quality of service for passengers read more
RMT Avanti strikes back on!! RMT suspended two days of strike action so that talks could proceed with Avanti on finding a solution and settlement to this dispute … Having cancelled those two strike days Avanti announced that talks would NOT take place – show your anger at being treated with contempt. Show your steadfast resolve to achieve a fair settlement – JOIN THE PICKET LINES! Avanti West Coast RMT Train Managers Strike – Next strike date: SUNDAY 2nd FEBRUARY 2025 read more
Unipart rail staff strike over union derecognition (27 Jan) – Rail workers at Unipart Rail’s Crewe Depot will strike Tuesday, in protest against the company’s decision to strip RMT of union recognition. The move, described by the union as a disgraceful assault on workplace rights, has sparked outrage among staff, who are demanding the immediate restoration of their right to collective representation read more. RMT: Sign petition: To Neil McNicholas – Managing Director Unipart Rail: Tell Unipart Rail to stop De-recognition of RMT Union
RMT members stage separate strikes on the Elizabeth line (31 Dec) – MTR Elizabeth Line and Rail for London Infrastructure (RFLI) workers are taking strike action today in disputes over pay, working conditions, and safety concerns. Control Room staff at MTR Elizabeth Line will strike from 9:00 PM on December 31, 2024, to 8:59 PM on January 1, 2025, after rejecting the latest pay offer. The union is demanding improved holiday entitlements and reductions in working hours. RFLI staff will strike from 6:00 AM on December 31, 2024, to 5:59 AM on January 1, 2025, citing issues including unsafe rostering, pay progression delays, and safety concerns read more
Sign the petition: To Joanne Maguire, Managing Director ScotRail and Fiona Hyslop MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Transport – Stop the cuts to ScotRail ticket offices
ASLEF
Open Access is not the future (7 Feb) – Privately owned rail operators are ke en to continue making a profit from our railways, and with the approaching return of franchised rail contracts to the public sector, many are looking to open access to maintain a place in the industry. ASLEF has always campaigned and called for the railway to be in public ownership read more
Unite
BREAKING NEWS!! Wrexham Oscar Mayer fire and rehire workers ballot to extend long running strikes (10 Feb) – Long running strike action at Wrexham’s Oscar Mayer ready meal factory is set to stretch into the summer as workers ballot to extend industrial action. Around 550 Oscar Mayer workers have been striking since last September over the company’s attempt to slash pay by up to £3,000 a year by firing and rehiring them on inferior contracts. The workers are now being balloted to extend strike action over the dismissal of a handful of colleagues during the industrial action. Oscar Mayer disgracefully sacked the workers after they sent a letter stating they would be working under duress under the revised terms the company wants to impose read more
Sign petition: To Beaumont Myers, Marie Carter & Jonathon Kirby, Directors at Almost Famous – Justice for the Sacked Workers of Almost Famous Burgers – Pay Us What We’re Due!
Government investment key to boosting growth, Unite (6 Feb) – Following the announcement from the Bank of England that it has halved the UK’s expected growth rate this year to just 0.75 per cent, Unite, the UK’s leading union, has repeated its call for government investment in infrastructure projects without dela read more
Sheffield refuse workers vote to continue strikes in fight for union recognition (6 Feb) – Unite members working for Veolia have voted to continue all-out industrial action. Employer refuses to recognise their union and continues to fail to sign its own proposed agreement. Workers at a refuse centre in Sheffield have voted to continue their long-running industrial action, Unite announced today. Unite members at the Lumley Street depot in Sheffield, employed by outsourcing company Veolia, have been on continuous strike since August in their fight to have Unite recognised by their employer for collective bargaining. Veolia has refused to recognise Unite, despite having similar recognition agreements all over the country. This appalling approach to industrial relations has left workers furious, especially after a recognition agreement proposed by the employer and signed by the union was taken away at the eleventh hour by Veolia bosses. Negotiations took place at the end of 2024 with agreement being reached by both sides. In the lead up to and during negotiations, the employer, in written communication, had stated that it had no problem with recognition for Unite at the depot. On this basis, an agreement was reached only for the employer to then refuse to sign it read more
Unite wins recognition agreement with Siemens Mobility for Lincoln workers (6 Feb) – Voluntary recognition will cover employees at bogie service centre. Unite has signed a new recognition agreement with the Siemens Mobility train engineering firm in Lincoln, it was announced today (6 Feb). Workers on the factory floor who strip down, repair and then reassemble bogies will now have formal union recognition for vital areas like health and safety, pay negotiations and disciplinary hearings. The agreement follows months of negotiations between Unite and Siemens Mobility management. Unite members will now begin the process of electing representatives (reps) from the workforce for key positions read more
Stellantis Luton betrayal a total disgrace (5 Feb) – Commenting on Stellantis’ announcement that its Luton plant will shut, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Stellantis’ betrayal of its Luton workforce, who have delivered every target asked of them, is a total disgrace. Once again, UK workers have been exposed to a company willing to sacrifice our manufacturing base for fleeting gains – this has to change. We urgently need an industrial strategy that puts the national interest at the heart of decision making in manufacturing, as they do in other countries.” Read more
Unite’s fight for Grangemouth intensifies as workers begin to learn their futures as initial redundancies announced (5 Feb) – Unite, the UK’s leading union, has described the announcement that workers at the Grangemouth refinery have begun to be told their futures, “as a national disgrace.’ Under the plans by Petroineos to close the refinery and establish an import terminal, the majority of the workers are set to leave Grangemouth, job losses are set to take effect in a time span of three to 18 month read more
Justice for Anne Marie: fired for raising safety concerns and union organising at Premier Inn – 1pm-2pm Saturday 1st March, Derby Premier Inn, City Centre Riverlights DE1 2BB
Birmingham bin strikes escalate over pay attacks (3 Feb) – Industrial action to intensify across February and March. Strikes by more than 350 Birmingham bin workers will intensify from Tuesday, Unite, the UK’s leading union, announced today. The dispute was sparked by the council’s decision to abolish the safety critical Waste Recycling and Collection Officer (WRCO) role, resulting in pay cuts of up £8,000 for 150 workers. Birmingham’s refuse staff believe the scrapping of the WRCO role is the first step in a broader campaign of cuts across a service that is already on its knees. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “There is no justification for such huge pay cuts to workers’ wages. Birmingham council cannot just ignore this situation and hope that it will go away. It is a line in the sand for our members, who know more attacks will follow if they don’t fight back. Unite is with them 100 per cent.” Strike action will now escalate from four to 12 days in February and from four to 13 days in March (see notes to editors for full dates). The escalation means that the next strike day begins tomorrow (4 February) rather than 7 February. Since the council effectively declared bankruptcy in September 2023, refuse workers have accepted cuts to their pay and terms and conditions and worked with management in good faith to ensure services continued. The council then, however, attacked the safety critical WRCO role. This is despite the service being massively over reliant on costly employment agencies because the council refuses to directly employ enough staff. Disgracefully, a number of refuse workers are employed through agencies, despite having performed the role for over a decade read more
Royal Navy tugboat crews could strike to protect critical naval services (1 Feb) – Devonport, Portsmouth, Faslane, Great Harbour Greenock and Kyle of Lochalsh Serco Marine workers demand consultation over future of Royal Navy’s afloat services. Around 300 Royal Navy tugboat and marine services crews, many with decades of experience, are being balloted for strike action due to being locked out of consultations over the services they provide, despite their vital expertise. As part of their roles, the crews are responsible for the movement of nuclear submarines, aircraft carriers and other naval vessels in and out of ports. The proposed service changes would impact on their ability to provide a 24-7 365-day service, including for the continuous at sea deterrent. They are employed by Serco Marine, which is currently in talks with the Ministry of Defence (MoD) about renewing its 10-year £1.2 billion contract with the Royal Navy. Officials have indicated they want to reduce the contract by £250 million, putting nearly 100 jobs at risk read more
Council and school staff are overdue a significant pay rise, say unions (31 Jan) – Local government unions representing 1.4m council and school employees in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are demanding a decent wage rise as they submit their annual pay claim today (Friday). Unite, UNISON and the GMB say a substantial award is essential as staff continue to struggle with rising living costs, having missed out on the higher wage settlements paid out to workers in other parts of the public sector in the past year. This year’s joint union pay claim, which would apply from this April, is for all council employees to receive a wage rise of £3,000 read more
Huddersfield First bus strikes suspended following improved pay offer (31 Jan) – Huddersfield bus strikes by drivers employed by First West Yorkshire have been suspended after an improved pay offer was put forward. Industrial action has been suspended to allow around 170 drivers, who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, to be balloted on the new offer read more
Knowsley Livv Housing workers step up strikes throughout February (31 Jan) – Hundreds of low-paid workers at Knowsley-based Livv Housing are escalating their pay dispute with strikes taking place throughout February, Unite and UNISON said today (Friday). Repair, maintenance and call centre staff already took strike action in October, November and January. The February strike, beginning on Monday (3 February) and running to Friday 28 February, will be the longest yet, with staff walking out across the entire organisation. More than 13,000 homes will be affected. The dispute stems from years of below-inflation pay increases. The workers have rejected a five per cent pay rise as it fails to reverse the real-terms pay cuts they have endured previously, say the unions. Livv Housing, which manages properties primarily in Knowsley, reported reserves of £110.6 million in March 2024. Additional strike dates will be announced if the dispute remains unresolved. Significant disruption will be caused to Livv Housing’s entire operations, including to tenant services read more
Unite files ethical trading complaint against Bakkavor as dispute escalates (30 Jan) – Customers of food manufacturer to be targeted as union continues to campaign for fair pay. Unite has made a formal complaint on behalf of its members to the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) which ensures compliance with international labour standards in the global supply chains of member companies. Major high street supermarkets are signed up members of the ETI and will now be aware that Bakkavor is paying poverty wages to its workforce. Unite members at the food manufacturer have been on strike since the early autumn to secure better rates of pay. Hundreds of members working for Bakkavor Foods in Spalding, Lincolnshire, are taking industrial action after years of real terms pay cuts. Bakkavor’s management has refused to engage in meaningful negotiations. Instead, they have brought in strike-breakers from other sites. In response, Unite has complained to the ETI which means that it will have alerted all its members to Bakkavor’s appalling behaviour read more. Send messages of support to [email protected]
Huddersfield bus chaos as First drivers strike over delayed pay (29 Jan) – Huddersfield drivers angry at having to wait 10 months for pay parity with First West Yorkshire colleagues. Around 170 Huddersfield bus drivers employed by First West Yorkshire will strike in February and March over pay parity. The drivers have rejected a pay deal from First that would see pay rise to £15.43 an hour from April 2025 following incremental pay rises during 2024. This is because wages for First drivers in other parts of West Yorkshire reached over £15 an hour in mid-2024, as did wages for drivers at competitor bus companies operating in Huddersfield. The rejected offer also ties the workers into a pay agreement beginning in April 2024 and ending in October 2026, which will once again result in their wages lagging behind that of their colleagues. The workers will strike from 3 to 16 February and from 24 February to 9 March. Industrial action will intensify if the dispute is not resolved read more
Miami Vice: Investment conference hit by protests over sponsor Pemberton’s exploitative employment links (29 Jan) – Unite warns UK and international pension funds over investments in owner of Wrexham Oscar Mayer fire and rehire firm. The Miami Global Alts investment conference has been hit by protests against sponsor Pemberton’s links to exploitative employment practices in the UK. Pemberton Asset Management is the owner of Wrexham-based ready meal maker Oscar Mayer, which is attempting to fire and rehire hundreds of low paid workers to slash wages by up to £3,000. Pemberton is a ‘silver tier’ sponsor of Global Alt and its head of net asset value financing, Thomas Doyle, is speaking at the event. Unite is urging Global Alt attendees – such as the Office of the New York City Comptroller, New York State Common Retirement fund, Norges Bank and the Guy’s & St Thomas Foundation – not to invest in Pemberton until fire and rehire is scrapped at Oscar Mayer. The same call has been made to local council pension funds across the UK, which currently have around £700 million tied up in investments linked to Pemberton. Clwyd Pension Fund, for retired council workers across North East Wales, has already pledged not to invest anymore in Pemberton after discovering that £5.6 million of member funds were indirectly invested in the business read more.
Send messages of support to [email protected]
Send messages of protest to [email protected]
Capita staff begin strike action over pay (29 Jan) – Workers at outsourcer Capita will today (Wednesday 29 January) begin strike action in a dispute over their employer’s refusal to negotiate a pay award for 2024. There will be ongoing industrial action until 5.59am on Wednesday 5 February. The workers from Capita were due a 2024 pay award last April. The employer postponed the annual pay talks with their union Unite with the assurance that the workers would be given a pay rise in October. This has not materialised despite this part of the business reporting profits and a healthy balance sheet. In December 2024, workers voted overwhelmingly to take strike action across the two Capita sites. This industrial action will start today following the decision of their employer to deny workers a pay increase. The dispute involves around 1,000 employees…The Capita staff in Manchester and Glasgow work on Royal London account which will all face disruption and delays if industrial action takes place…Strike action will start at 07:00 on Wednesday 29 January and pickets will be in place. The picket locations and times on Wednesday 29th January:-
- Manchester: Broadhurst House, 56 Oxford Street, M1 6EU
- Glasgow from 08:00-10:00 at The Skypark, 8 Elliot Place, G3 8EP read more
500 Scottish Water workers balloted on industrial action (27 Jan) – Unite highlights workers ‘poor pay’ offer as CEO Alex Plant earns ‘eye-watering’ £483,000 package. Unite, Scotland’s leading trade union, can confirm today (27 January) that its 500-strong Scottish Water membership are being balloted for industrial action following a ‘poor pay’ offer made by the public body. The basic pay offer made in October amounted to 3.4 per cent, or no less than £1,200 depending on salary grade. Standby payments would similarly increase by the same percentage. The offer was overwhelmingly rejected by Unite’s membership. Scottish Water then proposed an additional £200 but the pay round would start from July 2024 – July 2025, and then commence in April for a year. This offer was also rejected by Unite outright. Unite is highlighting how Scottish Water’s counterparts in Northern Ireland in contrast received a £1,500 non-consolidated payment and a five per cent wage rise in December. The union is further drawing attention to the ‘eye-watering’ executive pay levels at Scottish Water. In August 2024, it was reported that Scottish Water executives were awarded £227,000 in bonuses. The bonuses followed water bills in Scotland increasing by 8.8 per cent from April read more
Unite condemns union-busting and offshoring threats from Princes Foods (24 Jan) – Factories across the UK under threat. Princes threatening jobs by moving production overseas. Unite has condemned the union-busting approach of Princes Foods after its chairman threatened to withdraw all pay offers and to move production overseas with the risk of hundreds of job losses. Workers at Princes Food sites across the UK have been taking industrial action after the new owners, Italian conglomerate Newlat, refused to honour a pay rise that had been negotiated with previous owners, Mitsubushi. Today (23 Jan), the chairman, Angelo Mastrolia, announced that in response to the prospect of further industrial action in February, his company will transfer the production of much-loved British foods like Branston beans and Crosse & Blackwell to overseas facilities in retribution. This would also come with the threat of hundreds of job losses for those workers at sites in Cardiff, Lincolnshire, Glasgow, Bradford and Wisbech read more
Housing workers in Southwark to strike over annual leave disgrace (22 Jan) – Workers to walk out as council gives more leave to those on higher salaries. Nearly 160 essential housing and estate services workers in the London Borough of Southwark are set to strike later this month over the council’s disgraceful approach to annual leave. Unite members, who perform vital repairs and maintenance on council-owned housing stock and the council’s own properties get up to 12 fewer days annual leave than management grades in administrative positions at the council and the lowest paid technicians get two fewer days than higher paid colleagues in the same department. Despite negotiations by Unite, the council has refused to compromise or offer additional leave to housing workers to bring them up to the same level. Workers will now head to the picket line to voice their anger from 28-30 January read more
Reading parking chaos continues as strikes escalate (22 Jan) – Modaxo refusing to negotiate on pay. Outsourced traffic officers on worse pay than council staff. Residents of Reading, Berkshire, are to face further parking chaos in January and February as Unite members in the Modaxo enforcement teams take further strike action over pay. Nearly 40 civil enforcement officers are to take part in industrial action from 24-30 January and from 31 January-6 February. They have previously taken strike action in December last year. Reading council has outsourced parking protection to Modaxo. The dispute is in relation to Modaxo’s failure to address concerns around rates of pay. Civil enforcement officers are currently on just £12 per hour which is significantly lower than the rate they would be paid if they were directly employed by the council read more
Bidfood warned Unite takes zero tolerance view to union busting (21 Jan) – Unite, the UK’s leading union, has warned that industrial action is probable at food wholesale and distributor Bidfood unless the company reverses its decision to tear up longstanding recognition agreements and derecognise unions. Bidfood is one of the UK’s largest food distributors and has a huge number of high profile clients across the country including schools, prisons, the army, Subway, Five Guys and Manchester United. Last Friday (17 January) Unite and the other recognised union were told without warning that Bidford was tearing up the recognition agreement that had been in place for over 30 years and was immediately derecognising them…Unite believes that the decision to derecognise the union is a precursor to attacks on workers’ pay and conditions. The majority of Unite’s members are based at Bidfood’s depots in Battersea, Birmingham, Plymouth and Salisbury…The GMB union also represents workers at Bidfood and has also been derecognised read more
Strikes looming at Strathclyde university as workers vote on pension attack (16 Jan) – Unite understand workers could be left thousands of pounds ‘worse-off’ every year in retirement despite £100m university pension surplus. Unite Scotland has today (16 January) confirmed that around 350 members at the University of Strathclyde are to be balloted on industrial action in reaction to the threat of detrimental pension changes. The workers are part of the Strathclyde Pension Fund (SPF) and are at risk of losing thousands of pounds a year due to the University of Strathclyde proposing to move existing and future workers into an inferior superannuation scheme because the university wants to access a pension surplus of nearly £100m. Unite is highlighting that the University of Strathclyde is proposing to make around 1,100 workers ‘worse off’ in retirement using the drop in overseas students as the pretext for an attack on the pension scheme. Unite is aware of no other education institution that is part of the wider SPF proposing a similar detrimental move for staff read more
Unions warn Belfast council of leisure centres strike threat (13 Jan) – Patience of leisure workers at end, Greenwich Leisure Limited must provide clarity and transparency. Trade unions Unite and NIPSA have met Belfast city council management and warned them of the prospect of disruptive industrial action by leisure centre workers. The workforce is in a pay dispute with outsourced management company Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL). Following disputes in late 2023, GLL recommitted to an updated recognition agreement with both unions. Despite this, management failed to engage with the unions and instead imposed a pay settlement for 2024. This month a new employee absence policy was imposed for GLL staff in the face of opposition by both unions read more
Remaining Synnovis strike dates suspended (18 Dec) – London based pathologists to return to work while negotiations with employer continue. The remaining three days of strike action at privatised pathology lab, Synnovis, have been suspended to allow talks to continue. Over 500 pathologists were due to strike 16-20 December over a restructure that had introduced threats of redundancy, downgrading and reduced staffing levels that would put patient safety at risk. Strike action today (Wednesday) and for the rest of the week has now been suspended while talks between Unite and Synnovis continue read more
Petrol shortages predicted at West Midland’s Tesco garages as tanker drivers strike (13 Dec) – Drivers taking industrial action over pay. Drivers elsewhere in the country earn up to £11k more. Around 20 tanker drivers in the West Midlands are taking strike action in the run up to Christmas that could see petrol run dry at Tesco garages across the region. Drivers contracted to XPO Bulk UK Ltd deliver petrol from refineries to Tesco stores across the West Midlands. Unite members at XPO are taking strike action from 19-24 December of the lack of a fair pay offer from their employer. Tanker drivers in other parts of the country earn up to £11,000 more read more
Fare free-for-all in London as enforcement officers take strike action (6 Dec) – Compliance staff at TfL to strike over unacceptable pay offer. Hundreds of operations officers within the compliance unit at Transport for London (TfL) are to take strike action this month that will see London descend into a free-for-all fare scenario. Nearly 300 officers in the Compliance, Policing, Operations and Security Directorate (CPOS) are to head to the picket line after rejecting a pay offer from the company. Unite members voted for strike action after the company refused to make a percentage increase offer for staff and instead simply offered a lump sum payment. Additionally, the company is refusing to deal with pay parity issues with equivalent London Underground staff who earn considerably more…Unite has announced strike dates on 12,13 and 14 December and then the 20,21 and 22 December read more
Hampshire bus workers set to strike over pay (5 Dec) – First Bus drivers and supervisors to walk out over lack of fair offer. Over 140 drivers and supervisors at First Bus in Hampshire are set to strike this month after the company failed to make a reasonable fair pay offer. Workers based at the Hoeford depot who operate across Gosport, Fareham, Portsmouth and into Southampton will take to the picket line to demonstrate their anger at the pay rates on offer. Staff are now being paid barely above the minimum wage for a skilled and stressful job. Strikes are due to take place from 19-27 December meaning that bus services over the Christmas period will be close to zero. First has offered workers just a four per cent pay deal and has also refused to reinstate many of the terms and conditions that were removed during the Covid pandemic read more
Shortage of Christmas turkeys in West Midlands as drivers strike (5 Dec) – Drivers at Culina who deliver chilled poultry to strike after company plays Scrooge with no pay increase. Residents in the West Midlands could see empty tables this Christmas as HGV drivers who deliver chickens and turkeys to supermarkets go on strike this month. Around 40 drivers who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, are taking industrial action after their employer, Culina, failed to offer them any pay rise this year. Culina’s contract is with Avara Foods Hereford who supply Tesco and Marks & Spencers to deliver poultry from abattoirs to supermarket warehouses. Despite being in pay negotiations since April, no offer has been made to drivers who have been left with little choice but to take industrial action read more
Support the sacked TGI Fridays workers: Sign this petition – On 7th October, over 1000 TGI Fridays workers were given 57 minutes notice of a call with their CEO at which they were all sacked. 35 sites across the company were padlocked and workers locked out of their workplaces with valued possessions inside. Support our national petition to demand legal, financial and political justice for these workers
Support the Sanctuary workers – contact the Unite LE/1111 Housing Workers branch to offer support or if you are a housing worker wanting to get organised [email protected]. “At Sanctuary Housing we are also campaigning for recognition. Sanctuary is a massive employer. It has 14,000 members of staff but currently recognises no union. Scandalously this organisation receives millions of pounds in public money. Shamefully much of this money comes from Labour authorities. No Labour authority should hand out contracts to union hostile employers! You can help us in our fight by dropping a few Join Unite@Sanctuary leaflets at your local Sanctuary care home, supported living or estate office. Message me via this platform, personally or via email if you can help. [email protected]. You can search your nearest Sanctuary workplace via this link: https://www.sanctuary-supported-living.co.uk/
Please sign this letter to Lizzie Hieron, chief customer officer: Shame on Sanctuary – Rents up, bills up. Wages down. Fair pay and union recognition now! Support Sanctuary Housing repair workers!
CWU
CWU LIVE – How We’re Holding This Labour Government to Account w/ Dave Ward (6 Feb) – This week we speak to General Secretary Dave Ward about the urgent need to apply pressure on the Labour government, how unions can collaborate more effectively, and the latest update on the major CWU restructuring project read more
Santander members to vote on inflation-busting pay deal (8 Jan) – CWU members at Santander are being urged to back an above-inflation pay deal fought for by the union. Members are being urged to back the deal in a consultative ballot, following a strong recommendation from the Santander National Committee (SNC) read more
Tesco Mobile and VM02 workers to vote on pay rise starting today (23 Dec) – CWU members at Tesco Mobile and VM02 are set to vote on an inflation-busting pay offer starting today. The workers, who work on Capita contracts at the phone giants, will see ballots land today (23rd December) on whether to accept a deal from their employer. For Capita members on the minimum wage, an hourly increase to £12.66 an hour – a real-terms increase of 9.52% – will be in effect from 1st January 2025. For those who are above the Capita minimum rates, it will mean a 5.5% uplift from January 2025. It was also confirmed that the pay agreement applies until the next round of discussions, which will take place in April 2025. The offer comes following the union’s negotiations with Capita, and after the union began plans to ballot workers for industrial action. If the ballot is successful, Capita has confirmed that the increase will be paid in January’s salary read more
PCS
You can show your support to the strikes by PCS members by:
- Making donations to the PCS Fighting Fund Levy account, sort code: 60-83-01, account no. 20331490
- Sending solidarity messages to [email protected]
G4S in DWP – strike ballot begins (7 Feb) – A strike ballot involving 650 members who work for G4S as security guards has begun today, running until noon on 28 February, in an ongoing dispute over pay and terms and conditions. PCS has made a number of attempts to get G4S and DWP around the table to discuss our very serious demands on pay and terms and conditions. We believe G4S has failed to meet its contractual obligations and have called on DWP to sanction G4S for its contractual failures. Despite our concerted efforts both the department and G4S have refused to engage with us and left the union with no choice but to ballot members for further strike action read more
More picket lines planned at HMRC Benton Park View (6 Feb) – Strike action continues at Benton Park View in Newcastle in defence of 3 victimised trade union reps, Rachel Farmer, Gordon Askew and Joel Hamilton, who were dismissed by HMRC last year. A group of more than 250 members working at Benton Park View have been striking since 23 December, with action now set to continue until 14 March. PCS remains steadfast in our demand to have our 3 reps reinstated. At the picket line yesterday (5 February), strikers were joined by members of the HMRC GEC, supporters from Newcastle Trades Council and DWP reps from the Tyneside and Northumbria branch. Picket lines have been organised at the site for the dates below, from 7am – 9am. The branch is asking all striking members and supporters to attend to show their solidarity on:-
- Friday, 14 February (main gate)
- Wednesday, 19 February (main gate)
- Tuesday, 25 February (main gate)
- Wednesday, 26 February (Ainthorpe)
- Tuesday, 4 March (Ainthorpe)
- Wednesday, 5 March (main gate)
- Friday, 14 March (Ainthorpe).
Send messages of solidarity to the branch, you can email HMRC group secretary, Steve Swainston, at [email protected]. Members can also support the campaign by donating to the fighting fund. Donations can be made to the PCS account with the reference ‘BPV Strikes’ –
- Account name: PCS Fighting Fund
- Levy account number: 20331490
- Sort code: 60-83-01 read more
Fierce solidarity as strikes for sacked reps extended (4 Feb) – HMRC members at Benton Park View add another four weeks to their eight-week strike read more
British Council in financial crisis (5 Feb) – Urgent funding is needed from central government to protect jobs and the future of the organisation. The British Council plays a crucial role in connecting the UK to the rest of the world, whether it’s through arts, cultural engagement or access to English language training and assessment read more
First day of Met Police strike receives widespread support (4 Feb) – From the picket line to an online rally, to messages of support from our parliamentary group and media coverage, the members have received great support today. Over 300 PCS members, working as civilian staff for the Metropolitan Police, have today (4) taken their first day of a two-week strike. The dispute is over a forced return to the office, which goes against a previously agreed Blended Working Framework drawn up in 2021. Management have refused to negotiate with PCS and when members voted to take action short of a strike, refusing to comply with the new hybrid working model, management threatened to dock the wages of its staff for continuing to work at home. PCS members were therefore forced to take strike action which started today and ends on 17 February. Members were out on the picket line outside Marlowe House, opposite Sidcup train station this morning and picket lines will continue on 5 February from 7-10am and on 6, 11, 12 and 13 February…Donations have started to pour into PCS’s fighting fund, from non-striking PCS members who want to support the fight against 60% mandated office attendance, an issue affecting many across PCS. You can make a donation online. Please use our quick form to email the London mayor to ask him to intervene and work with the Home Secretary to find a resolution for our members read more
Support our striking facilities members (31 Jan) – PCS members working for ISS and G4S will be holding picket lines during the next two weeks in central London. Nearly 300 PCS members employed by outsourcing companies G4S and ISS as security, cleaners, porters, receptionists and post room staff will be starting another six days of strike action next week. The strike action is part of our ongoing dispute with the outsourced facilities management companies over their failure to improve pay, terms and conditions for the members, who are employed on far less favourable terms than civil service colleagues working in the same buildings. The members have already taken a substantial amount of strike action, including over Christmas and into the new year. This next round of walk outs for the ISS members will run from 4 – 13 February. For the G4S members it will run from 3 – 12 February or 4 – 13 February, depending on where they work. Picket lines will be held as follows:-
- Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, 22-26 Whitehall – 3, 4, 11 and 12 February, 8-10am (ISS and G4S
- Cabinet Office, 70 Whitehall – 3,4, 11 and 12 February, 7:30-10am (G4S)
- Department for Business and Trade, Old Admiralty Buildings – 4 February 8-10am, 5 and 6 February, noon-2pm, 11 February, 8-10am (G4S and ISS)
- Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, 3-8 Whitehall/55 Whitehall – 4 February 8-10am, 5 and 6 February noon-2pm, 11 February 8-10am (ISS)
- Canary Wharf Hub, 10 South Colonnade, 4,5, 6, 11, 12 and 13 February, 11:30am-1:30pm (G4S) read more
First day of Fujitsu strike off to a strong start (31 Jan) – The members in Telford are on strike on 30 and 31 January over the imposition of a 1.5% pay rise. More than 300 PCS members employed by outsourced Fujitsu Services UK at Telford and offices across the UK are on strike today (30) and tomorrow (31) after being offered a pay rise of just 1.5%. Their civil service colleagues employed directly by HMRC got 5% this year for doing similar jobs. The two days of strike action take place on the two days prior to the self-assessment online tax return deadline read more
Strike dates announced for PHSO members (30 Jan) – All members at the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman will walk out on 12 February followed by a week of targeted strike action. PCS members at the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman last week voted overwhelmingly for strike action in a dispute over pay, a compulsory return to the office and proposals that could see extra responsibilities delegated to more junior staff without any extra pay. Around 200 workers, who investigate complaints about the NHS and other UK government bodies, will strike for one day on 12 February. This will be followed by a week of targeted action from 24-28 February read more
Border Force officers at Heathrow to be balloted for more strike action (29 Jan) – The members took industrial action last year over the imposition of a new, inflexible roster. Over 550 Border Force officers at London’s Heathrow Airport are to be balloted for more strike action after managers refused to address their concerns over a new roster system. In 2024 PCS members took 11 days of strike action and 53 days of action short of a strike in protest at the imposition of the new roster, which forced staff into a complicated pattern of long shifts with a lack of flexibility and disproportionately affects those with caring responsibilities read more
CAA members to take further strike action (28 Jan) – The members at Gatwick Airport will take a day of joint strike action with members of Prospect. PCS members working for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) took two days of strike action on 16 and 17 January after rejecting the pay offer imposed by their employer. The CAA imposed a pay offer of 4% for the lowest-earners, and 3% for other grades. They have made an offer of a £1000 non-consolidated payment to be made in April 2025, which was immediately rejected by both PCS and Prospect, but have confirmed they will not reopen pay negotiations for the year 2024-2025. PCS and Prospect have therefore decided to take a day’s joint strike action on Thursday 6 February. The joint action will see around 450 members of the two unions being asked to withdraw their labour. This action, including the previous two days, is the first industrial action in the CAA since the late 1980s. If the CAA refuse to make an acceptable pay offer, more combined strike days will follow…There will be a picket line from 7:30-10 a.m. on 6 February at the Civil Aviation Authority, Aviation House, Beehive Ringroad, Crawley, West Sussex RH6 0YR read more
ISS GPA strike ballot – Vote YES (22 Jan) – Vote today, attend one of our online members’ meetings and read our Frequently Asked Questions. Members working for ISS delivering cleaning, catering and logistics services to the Cabinet Office, Canary Wharf Hub, and the Department for Education have been sent a strike ballot paper as part of our escalation of the ongoing disputes around pay and conditions read more
Land Registry Action Short of a Strike begins (22 Jan) – Nearly 4000 PCS members in England and Wales have begun an indefinite work to rule. PCS members in Land Registry began their action short of a strike (ASOS) yesterday (21) in pursuit of the objectives voted for in their industrial action mandate read more
Further strikes announced by G4S members in East Kilbride (13 Jan) – The members at the FCDO will take strike action for another five weeks. G4S members working as security officers at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) building at Abercrombie House in East Kilbride have already taken an extended period of strike action in their dispute over pay, terms and conditions. The new strike dates run from 24 January to 28 February. PCS met with FCDO management last week and we have another meeting scheduled, which we hope will be positive, but until the dispute is settled the strike action will continue. So far G4S has failed to make a pay offer that lifts members out of poverty pay and delivers any significant improvements to terms and conditions read more
Successful two-day strike at DBS (10 Dec) – The PCS Disclosure and Barring Service picket line in Liverpool was well supported during the strike action this week in the dispute over the imposition of a new customer contact system. Striking workers held picket lines on both strike days (9 and 10) outside their workplace at Shannon Court in Liverpool where they spoke to the public and other staff from the building and made themselves visible with their placards and banner. The strike action affected people requiring DBS checks for their employment as our members routinely help customers with email queries about their DBS check, help with barring referral disputes, and deal with complaints from the public. Introduced without proper consultation, the new customer contact system, “Max Contact” would not only force members to carry out work they’ve not been required to do before, but has also been beset by early technical problems and will fail to offer customers the resolutions they need. The two-day strike by our members in DBS Customer Services will now be followed by a work to rule up to 24 December. PCS has a further meeting with DBS on Thursday morning to discuss the new system. Show your support for the strikers by emailing [email protected] read more
Heathrow members to decide on the future of their dispute (6 Dec) – Border Force officers have already taken eleven days of strike action in their dispute over enforced rota changes. 650 Border Force officers have taken 11 days of strike action and 53 days of action short of a strike against a roster imposed in April as a result of Priti Patel’s disastrous tenure as Home Secretary… The members are now being surveyed to ask about the continuing impact of the rota and whether they want to vote for more strike action in 2025. The survey opened today (6) and closes on 24 December read more
Use the e-action to fight de-recognition of PCS at the Imperial War Museum – The e-action sends an email to the director general asking her to halt plans to derecognise PCS, and preserve workers’ voices and rights. On 6 March, Imperial War Museum Director Francoise Harris wrote to PCS, FDA and Prospect unions confirming that they wish to derecognise PCS and FDA and move forward with only one union, Prospect. The three unions, Prospect, PCS, and FDA have a constructive and collaborative relationship and all three have appealed to management at the IWM not to derecognise PCS and FDA read more
Sign our petition for members in Hinduja Global Solutions to keep their jobs – Members in HGS in Liverpool have been told they will need to relocate 40 miles to keep their jobs. In November 2023 Hinduja Global Solutions announced a significant restructure on the Disclosure and Barring Service contract, which they planned to take effect from 1 April 2024. Staff were told that the restructure was a direct result of the new contract for services between HGS and DBS. The impact on PCS members in Liverpool has been damaging because the changes mean a 41% reduction in headcount (later reduced to a 26% cut) and withdrawal of all staff from the Tithebarn Street office, meaning HGS would no longer have a presence in the city read more
Prospect
“A radical step-change is needed to tackle TV’s bullying and harassment problem”: Bectu responds to Gino D’Acampo allegations (7 Feb) – Head of Bectu Philippa Childs said in response to the allegations levelled at Gino D’Acampo: “The allegations levelled at Gino D’Acampo are very serious, as is the significant time period they span. That at least one production company was reportedly aware of crew’s concerns about his behaviour but continued to work with him should be of particular concern, and it is imperative that ITV investigates this. Everyone deserves to work in a safe and respectful environment, free from any form of harassment or inappropriate behaviour. And in a sector where power imbalances can be particularly extreme, it’s critical that people feel empowered to come forward with concerns, without fear that their careers will be adversely impacted…” read more
Prospect members at the CAA to take strike action (28 Jan) – Prospect members working at the Civil Aviation authority (CAA) will take strike action in a dispute over pay. Aircraft maintenance mechanic with a flash light inspects plane engine in a hangar. This will be the first time Prospect members have taken strike action there in 40 years. Strike action at CAA HQ in Crawley will be for 24 hours on 6 February.
Industrial action short of a strike, which has been ongoing since 20 January consisting of working to rule and an overtime ban, will pause for the duration of the strike, resuming on 7 February. Ongoing action short of a strike could cause delays across the industry to things like fleet refits, the introduction of new models, licensing of new hanger facilities. The CAA imposed a 3-4% pay offer on staff after going through the motions of negotiating – an offer which neither kept pace with the industry nor civil service (The CAA is a Non-Departmental Public Body) read more
Vital Navy support workers to go on strike (27 Jan) – Prospect members working at Serco Marine will take strike action over a refusal of the company to engage with members on the parameters of a new contract with Ministry of Defence read more
Prospect members working at Draken Europe to take strike action (15 Jan) – Prospect members working at aerospace company Draken (in Hurn, near Bournemouth, and Teesside) will take strike action from the 20th to 21st of January inclusive read more
FDA
FDA challenges “political rhetoric” over reports senior officials could be dismissed if they fail to make efficiency cuts (7 Feb) – The FDA has criticised the political rhetoric around the government’s updated performance management framework for the senior civil service, which was announced in The Times under the headline ‘Find efficiency savings or risk the sack, civil servants told’ read more
GMB
Unsafe working conditions at Mansfield bus station (10 Feb) – Workers are reporting anti-social behaviour at crisis levels, says GMB. GMB Union has today called on Nottinghamshire County Council to take urgent action over safety concerns at Mansfield Bus Station. Representing ticketing, cleaning and security staff at the station, GMB has raised the alarm after workers reported an increase in anti-social behaviour at the terminal. Union representatives are reporting that complaints have doubled in the last year read more
Billingsgate Market cleaning staff to be outsourced (6 Feb) – Cleaning staff at Billingsgate Market will have their roles transferred to outsourcing giant Mitie. GMB Union, which represents staff employed by the City of London Corporation at the historic market, are disappointed by the decision. Mitie has a track record of poor pay and conditions, including underpaying workers and withholding pay. The Corporation recently announced its intention to close Billingsgate Market in 2028, after plans to relocate it were abandoned read more
Government Must Act to Support Hundreds of Skilled Jobs at Cammell Laird (6 Feb) – With the right Government investment, we can protect existing skilled jobs and create a new generation of shipbuilders and engineers. The yard is busy, and the potential for long-term, high-quality employment in the region is clear. But without government action, this opportunity could be lost. Last week, GMB General Secretary Gary Smith visited the shipyard, accompanied by staff and members alike. He saw encouraging signs of growth and plenty of opportunities for both the union and workers on site. The potential for expansion is there – but government backing is essential to secure jobs and strengthen the industry for the future. GMB is calling on ministers to back British shipbuilding and commit to securing the long-term future of yards like Cammell Laird read more
Remembering the Morecambe Bay Cockling Disaster (5 Feb) – 21 workers died, 21 years ago today. What happened during the Morecambe Bay cockling disaster? The Morecambe Bay cockling disaster happened on 5th February 2004 when 37 undocumented immigrants from Fujian, China were picking cockles at the Morecambe Bay. 21 of them died after being drowned by high tides and suffering from hypothermia. Most of the victims were men aged between 27 and 39 while two of them were women. A father and son who ran the Liverpool Bay Fishing Company had hired the workers to pick cockles at a rate of £5 per 25kg. The workers had arrived in the UK via Liverpool using containers and had been paid China-based criminal gangs to be smuggled. Despite having received little training, being unfamiliar with their surroundings and speaking little English, they left the shore at 4pm on the day. At about 930pm, there were high tides at the bay and one of them called 999 to say ‘sinking water’ before the call was interrupted read more
British Steel ‘warm’ on blast furnace plan (4 Feb) – British Steel have ‘warmed’ to a multi-union to keep two blast furnaces open in Scunthorpe and save thousands of jobs – but say the Government must move on carbon costs. Unions GMB, Community and Unite met with bosses from British Steel owner Jingye this week and presented their plan to maintain a two blast furnace operation throughout the transition to low carbon steelmaking. The company acknowledged the alternative plan, prepared by the independent steel consultants Syndex on our behalf, is a serious and credible piece of work and accepted a number of the recommendations and findings. However the future of the blast furnaces remains the most important issue to resolve read more
Thames Water High Court battle ‘Futile’ (4 Feb) – GMB Union has described the High Court battle over Thames Water’s finances as ‘futile’ – and says the company must be nationalised. The debt-ridden water giant is subject to a hearing this week as negotiations continue as to whether the near-bankrupt firm should be placed into administration read more
South London streets set for car parking chaos (31 Jan) – Lambeth and Kingston parking wardens set to strike with Lambeth refuse workers possibly joining in. Streets of two South London boroughs are set to be affected by five days of strike action from Monday [3 February], with parking wardens taking further action in a long-running dispute. Members of GMB union working for Apcoa in Kingston and Lambeth will be possibly joined by refuse workers in Lambeth employed by Serco, with a last-minute offer set to be tabled this weekend. The parking wardens also took action in December of last year. Talks between GMB and Apcoa management took place this week, with the union agreeing to suspend pre-arranged action in Wandsworth and Richmond following a renewed offer read more
Strike action looms at major HGV company (15 Jan) – Workers manufacturing spare parts for Volvo and Scania Heavy Goods Vehicles will walk out next month. GMB Union have today announced that workers at CNC Speedwell have voted overwhelmingly to support strike action in an ongoing dispute over pay. Workers at the Walsall based company manufacture key components for Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs), including Volvo, DAF and Scania. Staff are furious after company managers rejected demands for a pay rise of just £1. Industrial action could take place as early as February, with around 150 workers expected to walk out read more
Christmas chaos across South London streets as traffic wardens strike (20 Dec) – Streets in Kingston, Lambeth, Richmond and Wandsworth face gridlock in two days before Christmas. GMB, the union for local government, are warning of Christmas chaos across the streets of South London as parking wardens across four London Boroughs take two days of strike action. The members employed by Apcoa work within the boroughs of Kingston, Lambeth, Richmond and Wandsworth and are taking action in a dispute that has already seen them strike for a week in November. The parking wardens will not be working on Monday 23 or Tuesday 24 December, which will see little or no civil enforcement across the boroughs on the two days preceding Christmas 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 Unison
HE conference highlights link between funding and pay (6 Feb) – Delegates agree higher education sector needs a ‘new start’ read more
Council and school staff are overdue a significant pay rise, say unions (31 Jan) – A rise of £3,000 is needed at all pay points. Local government unions representing 1.4m council and school employees in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are demanding a decent wage rise as they submit their annual pay claim today (Friday). UNISON, GMB and Unite say a substantial award is essential as staff continue to struggle with rising living costs, having missed out on the higher wage settlements paid out to workers in other parts of the public sector in the past year. This year’s joint union pay claim, which would apply from this April, is for all council employees to receive a wage rise of £3,000 read more
Swansea Bay health workers’ strike suspended following new pay offer, says UNISON (10 Dec) – A strike by hundreds of NHS staff at hospitals in Swansea, Neath and Port Talbot set for this week has been suspended after health board managers made an improved pay offer, says UNISON today (Monday). Healthcare support workers were due to walk out at eight hospitals in the local area from 7am tomorrow (Tuesday) until 7pm on Wednesday. The union says it is now to put the improved offer to the healthcare assistants over the next two weeks to establish whether they want to accept or reject the proposals. The dispute centres on Swansea Bay University Health Board’s refusal to pay staff for extra work they have been doing. Hospital workers say their wages should reflect the more complex extra tasks they’ve been doing for years and that they should have been paid at a higher salary grade read more
Workers at Livv Housing continue to strike as pay and conditions row heightens – HUNDREDS of workers at a housing association will be next on strike in Unison and Unite are continuing their strike action this month. For strike dates, read more on Knowsley Unison website and Facebook page. Please donate to strike funds by emailing [email protected] for details
Support Manchester EIS Strike by Unison and Unite members – Mental Health workers in Early Intervention in Psychosis will be on strike. It’s not over pay, which is not enough, but over serious concerns for the service, it’s users, & the community. Show your support. @MancStrikeNHS.
Health workers in East Suffolk and North Essex launch strike appeal (26 Nov) – More than 350 workers at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT) have launched three weeks of strikes to stop their jobs being outsourced. On Monday 25 November, cleaners, porters, housekeepers and other facilities staff started three weeks’ worth of strike action to keep their jobs in the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT). The dispute comes after the trust wrote to staff in April to tell them their jobs could be outsourced. In May, the chief executive of the trust, Nick Hulme, was filmed telling workers lobbying a board meeting that the decision to outsource had already been made. Staff fear the sell-off will threaten their pay and conditions and pose a serious risk to patient safety. As an example, outsourced staff in Ipswich get fewer days of annual leave and less sick pay than their colleagues directly employed by the NHS. They also missed out on the extra one-off payment of £1,655 that NHS staff received in the last financial year. Now, more than 350 workers, employed at Colchester Hospital, Aldeburgh Hospital and several other ESNEFT community sites have walked out until Friday 13 December – or until the trust abandons plans to outsource their jobs. They had already taken more than 20 days of strikes and ahead of this week’s strikes, staff had to hold a second ballot to renew their legal mandate to take industrial action. Workers again voted 99% in favour of strikes in results announced on Friday (22 November) read more. Sign petition Write to the Board. How to donate to the strike appeal: UNISON Colchester & Ipswich Area Health, UNITY Bank, Sort code: 60-83-01, Account number: 20403881, Reference: STRIKE
Grimsby maternity support workers launch strike appeal (26 Nov) – Maternity support workers at Diana Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby are fighting for proportionate backpay and need your support. Maternity support workers at Diana Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby have just completed two weeks of strike action in their fight to secure proportionate back pay for carrying out clinical duties beyond their pay band for years. Although the NHS trust re-banded them from Band 2 to Band 3 in October 2023, the trust is currently refusing to make an equitable offer of backpay. As things stand, the current proposals would see some maternity support workers, who have nearly forty years’ service, and have worked high levels of unsocial hours, receiving less backpay than someone who has been at the trust for only four years. The support workers took two days and then one week of strike action earlier in the year and started a two-week strike as of Monday 11 November read more. How to donate: Unity Trust, Sort Code: 60-83-01, Account Number: 20337627, Account name: Grimsby Goole Scunthorpe health branch
NIPSA
Members in Health: Update 2024/25 Pay Award (24 Jan) – Following correspondence from the Minister for Health, Mike Nesbitt, additional monies have now been found in the January monetary round, to impose the pay award from 1 May 2024. As a result, management have also confirmed that the arrears of this award will be paid in March 2025 salaries. Please note that NIPSA are continuing to pursue the remaining monies owed in order to seek full parity for 2024/25 pay read more
Royal College of Nursing
Corridor care: public backs RCN demands for swift government action (3 Feb) – We’re reiterating calls for urgent intervention as a poll finds half of the public think it should take the government no longer than a year to solve the corridor care crisis, if it acts now 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
RCM publishes results of pay consultation with members in Northern Ireland (27 Jan) – Midwives and maternity support workers (MSWs) working in the HSC in Northern Ireland have had their say on the overdue 5.5% pay award announced in December. Following a two-week consultation the RCM says 76 percent of its members who voted said the 2024/25 award is acceptable as a step towards addressing the long term pay cuts they’ve suffered, while 24 percent have voted to say they feel this pay award is unacceptable. The RCM says the consultation was crucial in gauging the feelings of its members and has thanked all those who took the time to respond read more
Campaign to improve pay for RCM members continues (22 Jan) – Members of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) were in London this week giving oral evidence about the lived experience of midwives and maternity support workers (MSWs) to the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB). They were joined by RCM staff who also urged the PRB to consider the bigger picture when it comes to pay and staff retention. The RCM has told the PRB that the 5.5% pay award for 2024/25 was just a start to addressing the years of real terms loss of pay. Describing the 2.8% figure that the Westminster Government has deemed to be affordable for NHS pay this year as ‘not good enough’, the RCM has warned that this will worsen the current staffing issues. Not only does this impact on staff, but also the quality and level of maternity care women are receiving read more
CSP
Government risking below-inflation pay rise for NHS staff in England, CSP warns (15 Jan) – It is ‘simply implausible’ to make much-needed reforms to Agenda for Change within a cost envelope also intended to deliver a pay rise for NHS staff, the CSP has told the pay review body read more
SOR
STAC submits 2025/26 pay claim to Scottish government seeking ‘pay modernisation’ (23 Jan) – The Scottish Terms and Conditions Committee Staffside has this week submitted its collective pay claim read more
HSC pay award delays in Northern Ireland to have ‘devastating impact’ on waiting lists (14 Jan) – Health and Social Care pay awards in Northern Ireland are unlikely to reach employees until late in the pay year, the SoR has said read more
NEU
Bridget Phillipson speech on school standards (3 Feb) – Commenting on a speech delivered this morning setting out a ‘new era’ on school standards, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “There is an elephant in the room here. The Secretary of State is talking today about urging the education system to achieve more. At the same time, this Government is gearing up to make cuts to education, and to the other services which students need to remove barriers to their learning. Sir Keir Starmer will be the first Labour Prime Minister since James Callaghan to tell schools to make cuts. He fudges this by calling them ‘efficiencies’, but they amount to reducing what schools require to meet their students’ needs properly. The Prime Minister’s recommendation to the pay review body is an unfunded pay award that will also cut into already tight school budgets. It will undermine the pledge to attract more teachers and to retain the experience which our schools need, to be successful for every learner…” read more
“The strike action planned for Thursday 6 February and Friday 7 February has been suspended while we consult members in non-academised sixth form colleges on the pay offer from SFCA, now that we have received firm assurances around future pay parity.”
Strike ballot in 18 Harris schools and colleges (20 Jan) – The NEU’s formal strike ballot of over 700 members in 18 Harris secondaries and sixth form colleges opens today (Monday) and closes on 28 February. The ballot concerns excessive and unhealthy levels of workload, an unfair and punitive pay progression system, and the unfair treatment of Caribbean and other overseas trained teachers. Members’ terms and conditions in Harris-run schools and colleges are clearly having an impact on teacher retention. At the end of Summar Term 2023, a quarter of teachers (27%) in Harris schools left. This is far higher than in local authority maintained schools where only one in seven (15%) teachers left their school. Teacher retention at Harris schools has been in the bottom 10% of multi-academy trusts for 9 out of the last 10 years. The strength of feeling amongst staff is so great that our indicative ballot that has led to this formal ballot had an 80% turnout with a 92% yes vote for strike action. The question on the formal ballot paper reads: “Are you prepared to take part in sustained and discontinuous strike action in furtherance of this dispute?” read more
NEU announce indicative ballot on pay (9 Jan) – At a special meeting of the national executive of the National Education Union, held this week, the union has agreed to proceed with a preliminary online ballot of teacher members in England. This is to gauge the strength of feeling about the Government’s recent recommendation to the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) of an unfunded 2.8% pay rise for teachers in 2025/26. The NEU will commence an indicative ballot of members from 1 March which will close on 11 April read more
NEU Cymru to ballot members for strike action (8 Jan) – Members of the National Education Union Cymru at Ysgol Robert Owen in Newtown have asked their union to ballot for industrial action following proposals for massive redundancies. Ysgol Robert Owen opened on September 1st 2024, at a cost of £22m, and yet within months staff have been told that up to one in six of them face redundancy and the state-of-the-art Hydro Pool may never be used read more
Please support the following strikes:-
| Action | Date | Contact |
| Cottingham High School / East Riding | 11-14 Feb | [email protected]; [email protected] |
| St Dominic’s Catholic Primary School / Hackney | 11 Feb | [email protected] |
| Gateacre School / Liverpool | 11-13 Feb | [email protected] |
| LIPSA Sixth Form College / Liverpool | 11-13 Feb | [email protected] |
| Newbury Park Primary / Redbridge | 10-14 Feb | [email protected] |
| Wanstead High School / Redbridge | 12-14 Feb | [email protected] |
| George Dixon Primary School / Birmingham | 11-14 Feb | [email protected] |
| Voyage Learning Campus / Somerset | 11 & 13 Feb | [email protected] |
| Durham Schools / County Durham | 12 Feb | [email protected] |
| Edinburgh Primary School / Waltham Forest | 12 Feb | [email protected] |
| Our Lady’s Abingdon – Oxfordshire | 12-13 Feb | [email protected] |
| Plumstead Manor / Greenwich | 12-14 Feb | [email protected] |
NASUWT
Teachers in Northern Ireland vote to reject pay offer (6 Feb) – Teacher members of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union have voted overwhelmingly to reject the pay offer for teachers in Northern Ireland. Teachers had been offered 5.5% but the offer also sought to address other matters. 78% of NASUWT members voted in favour of rejecting the offer, with 5734 teachers participating in the survey. NASUWT members will now commence action short of strike in schools from Monday 10 February read more
NASUWT comments on proposals for Ofsted reform (3 Feb) – Commenting on the proposals for reform of inspection published by Ofsted today, Dr Patrick Roach, NASUWT General Secretary, said: “It is to be welcomed that the Chief Inspector has committed to a genuine consultation around essential reforms to the inspection system in England. No one should be in any doubt that reform is necessary and long overdue. However, it is deeply regrettable that the proposals published by Ofsted highlight how far away we still are from developing a fit-for-purpose approach to school accountability that serves the public interest whilst respecting, supporting and valuing the work of the teaching profession…” read more
Teachers at Liverpool school take strike action over adverse management practices (3 Feb) – Members of NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union at Gateacre School in Liverpool will be taking the first of five planned days of strike action tomorrow (Tuesday) over concerns about the way in which they are being managed and a failure to recognise workforce trade unions. Members have been subject to a long-standing culture of adverse management practices and treatment which has undermined their wellbeing, health and safety in the workplace. This includes excessive workloads and working hours, the failure to address poor pupil behaviour and excessive monitoring and surveillance of staff. The employer has also failed to agree to any collective bargaining arrangements with education workforce trade unions. Northern Schools Trust, which officially took over the running of the school in December, derecognised workforce trade unions several years ago read more
East Dunbartonshire teachers to take action over failure to tackle abuse and violence (29 Jan) – Members of NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union at Kirkintilloch High School in East Dunbartonshire are to begin a programme of industrial action over the failure of their employer to act to address poor pupil behaviour and abuse of teachers. Members are to begin taking action short of strike action from Wednesday 5th February which will initially consist of refusing to cover classes for absent colleagues. Members will also refuse to undertake any additional voluntary duties such as extra-curricular clubs, trips or study classes which are outside of their contracted working hours. Concerns include regular verbal abuse and swearing at teachers and some violent incidents, pupils being allowed to roam around corridors and shared spaces in the school when they should be in class, no serious consequences for poor behaviour and an overuse of ineffective restorative approaches to managing incidents of abuse. Furthermore, neither the school nor the local authority appear to have done anything significant to embed the key points of the National Action Plan on Relationships and Behaviour announced by the Cabinet Secretary last August read more
Teachers at Coventry School Foundation to take further strike action over attack on pensions (27 Jan) – Members of NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union at the Coventry School Foundation (Bablake Senior, Bablake Junior, King Henry VIII Senior and King Henry VIII Junior) are taking further strike action this week as a result of the failure of the employer to withdraw attacks on their pensions. Members are due to take strike action tomorrow (Tuesday), Wednesday and Thursday this week. Twelve further days of strike action have been pencilled in for late February and March. Members have already taken six days of strike action. Teachers have been told they must make a choice between moving to an inferior pension scheme or remaining in the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) but taking a pay cut. Furthermore, teachers have been threatened with being fired and reemployed on new contracts if they do not voluntarily accept these changes read more
Ballots open over sixth form pay dispute (13 Jan) – An industrial action ballot of members of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union working in sixth form colleges opens today. The ballot is over the failure to offer teachers working in sixth form colleges a fair and equitable pay offer for 2024/25. The ballot will run until Monday 10th February. The Sixth Form Colleges Association (SFCA) has offered a 5.5% pay award to teachers working in sixth form college academies, but only on the condition that teachers working in non-academised sixth form colleges accept a pay offer of 3.5% from September 2024 to April 2025. These teachers would only receive 5.5% from April 2025 – seven months later than their colleagues read more
Members strike over school closure plans (10 Dec) – Members of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union at Lewis Girls School, Ystrad Mynach, Caerphilly, are taking strike action tomorrow (Wednesday) over plans to close the school and merge with Lewis Pengam School. The decision over the closure is being made without any consideration to the impact the changes will have on members’ workload, working conditions and the welfare of members. Members have been given no assurances that they will not lose their jobs read more
Striking teachers protest at the Senedd over pupil behaviour (10 Dec) – On Thursday 12th December, members of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union, at Ysgol Nantgwyn, Rhondda Cynon Taff, and Ysgol Abersychan in Pontypool will take strike action over poor pupil behaviour and will be taking their protest to the steps of the Senedd. At 11am on Thursday, striking members from both schools will gather in front of the Senedd to express their concern over the lack of progress on this crucial issue read more
Essex teachers threatened with school lock out (9 Dec) – Members of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union at Gable Hall School in Thurrock are being threatened with being locked out of the school and prevented from teaching their pupils after they voted to take industrial action in an ongoing dispute over workload and working practices. Members at the school are due to begin action short of strike action from Wednesday over concerns about adverse management practices which are resulting in unsustainable workloads that are undermining teachers’ health, safety and wellbeing. NASUWT members have sought to minimise any disruption to pupils’ education at the school. However, the employer has responded by threatening to lock out more than three-quarters of the teaching staff at Gable Hall School. Despite making every effort to avoid industrial action, the employer is refusing to engage in genuine negotiations and has now threatened teachers with a lock out. Mossbourne Trust Management is currently running the school and will formally take over as of the 31st December from The Ortu Federation read more
EIS
Glasgow Teachers to Strike over Education Cuts (7 Feb) – Teachers and associated professionals in Glasgow are to take strike action as they continue to fight back against Glasgow City Council’s damaging education cuts. Following an overwhelming ballot result, where 95% of those voting backed the move to strike, Glasgow’s teachers will stage an initial day of strike action on Thursday 20th February. The EIS anticipates robust support for the strike from members, with a strong likelihood that most of Glasgow’s schools will close on that date. The EIS has formally notified Glasgow City Council of the impending strike date, which will proceed unless the Council confirms that it will halt, and reverse, its damaging programme of education cuts which has already seen around 300 teaching posts axed from the city’s schools read more
Glasgow Teachers vote Overwhelmingly in Favour of Strike Action over Education Cuts (4 Feb) – Teachers in Glasgow have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action in opposition to Glasgow City Council’s ongoing programme of education cuts. A statutory industrial action ballot, organised by the EIS, closed today, and 95% of those voting backed strike action in the fight against the cuts that have already resulted in significant reductions in teacher numbers. The EIS has notified Glasgow City Council of the ballot result and intends to call its members out on strike unless the programme of cuts is halted and reversed read more
Dispute Declared Over Teachers’ Class Contact Time – Statement from the SNCT Teachers’ Panel (7 Feb) – The Teachers’ Panel of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) has declared a formal dispute following the failure of COSLA and the Scottish Government to table a proposal on the nature and timescales for a reduction of class contact time to a maximum of 21 hours per week, as a step towards the alleviation of teachers’ workload. Following COSLA and the Scottish Government’s inability to table a proposal by a previously set deadline of 12 noon on Monday 3rd February, the Teachers’ Panel met today to consider its response. It was the unanimous view of panel members that the abject failure to realise publicly stated commitments and make meaningful progress on the promise to reduce class contact time to a 21 hour maximum, has left no option but the declaration of a formal dispute read more
Dispute Appears “Inevitable” Over Teachers’ Class Contact Time (6 Feb) – The Educational Institute of Scotland has expressed growing concern at the lack of any offer to progress the Scottish Government’s manifesto commitment on reducing class contact time for teachers to 21 hours as a way of reducing teacher workload. A deadline of 12 noon on Monday 3rd February, previously set by the Teachers’ Panel of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), passed without any offer on reducing class contact time being made by the Scottish Government and COSLA and none has been forthcoming since. This is despite several public assurances being made by the Scottish Government, including the’ Cabinet Secretary for Education that an offer would be made, through the SNCT, on time read more
INTO
Action Short of Strike (ASOS) Action Commencing 10 February 2025 – Action Short of Strike (ASOS) Action Instructions: These action short of strike action instructions will apply to all INTO members. The action short of strike action instructions apply to all members working in grant-aided schools or employed directly by the Education Authority on teachers’ terms and conditions of employment. These action short of strike action instructions are effective and will be continuous from 00.01 on 10 February 2025 read more
Member Update: Pay Offer Explained (1 Feb) – Pay offer explained. The Industrial Action Ballot result of 16 December 2024 was in relation to pay only read more
Member Update: Consultation with INTO Members on Pay Offer (31 Jan) – A short period for consultation with members will begin from today, Friday 31 January to Wednesday 5th February at 5pm. Following this survey Northern Committee will make a final decision on the offer, and will communicate this to Management Side and Members. The survey link was emailed to members on Friday 31 January – titled ‘NI Member Update – Consultation with Members on Pay Offer’. In the meantime, actions will be taken to protect the Industrial Action ballot result from 16 December 2024 read more
UCU
Threat to cut adult education funding “an act of self-sabotage” that flies in face of Labour’s missions, says UCU (7 Feb) – Responding to a report in FE Week that adult education budgets are set to be cut by 2%, University and College Union (UCU) general secretary Jo Grady today (Friday) said: ‘We need huge investment in adult and community education if Labour is going to achieve its mission to get Britain working again and grow the economy…” read more
Staff overwhelmingly back strike action at University of East Anglia over brutal cuts (6 Feb) – An overwhelming 82% of University of East Anglia (UEA) staff have voted in favour of strike action. The ballot resulted in the highest turnout UEA UCU has ever achieved, reaching 67%. 84% of staff also backed action short of strike, which could consist of working to rule. UCU said management now needs to begin meaningful negotiations to prevent compulsory redundancies if it wants to avoid industrial unrest. The dispute is over management’s threat to cut over 190 staff members to meet continued budget shortfalls. According to the business case published in November 2024, management intends to cut at least 30 staff in the faculty of medicine & health sciences, 25 in the faculty of science, 22 in the faculty of arts & humanities, and at least 90 from departments across professional services. This dispute follows over 400 staff leaving UEA in 2023 due to management’s projected £40m deficit in that year read more
UCU condemns Trump’s plans for a ‘US takeover’ of Gaza (5 Feb) – Responding to President Donald Trump’s plan for the United States to take over Gaza, University and College Union (UCU) general secretary Jo Grady today (Wednesday 5 February) said: ‘The proposal by President Trump to forcibly displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip is not only morally reprehensible but also a blatant violation of international law…” read more
Dundee university staff overwhelmingly back industrial action in row over £30 million deficit and job losses (31 Jan) – Staff at the University of Dundee have today (Thursday) backed strikes in a dispute over the university’s £30 million deficit and plans to cut jobs including by compulsory redundancies. In the ballot of University and College Union (UCU) Scotland members, 74% of those who voted backed strike action on a turnout of 64% read more
Staff vote for strike action after 36 threatened with job cuts at University of Sheffield International College (29 Jan) – Staff at the University of Sheffield International College (USIC), run by the private company Study Group, voted overwhelmingly to take strike action over job cuts. With a turnout of 72%, 100% of those who voted backed strike action. The result comes after USIC put 36 staff at risk of redundancy by April (2025) in the student support and academic teaching teams. The employer has claimed the cuts are necessary due to a fall in student numbers this academic year, which it says has hit the company’s finances, but it has also described the situation as a ‘short-term gap’ in communications to staff read more
Cardiff UCU Press Release against cuts announcement (28 Jan) – Cardiff University senior management today announced cuts to departments, and degree programmes on a scale that is unprecedented in UK higher education. Cardiff UCU, the recognised representative trade union for academic and academic-related staff at the University, condemned the plans as cruel and unnecessary, vowing to ballot for strike action and fight compulsory redundancies tooth and nail read more
Strike ballot opens at University of East Anglia over swingeing job cuts (14 Jan) – A strike ballot has opened at the University of East Anglia (UEA) after almost one in six staff were put at risk of redundancy. The ballot will run until Tuesday 4 February, and a successful result will pave the way for strike action to begin later that month unless management rules out compulsory redundancies. The dispute is over management’s threat to cut over 190 staff to meet continued budget shortfalls at the institution. According to the business case published in November (2024), management intends to cut at least 30 staff in the faculty of medicine & health sciences, 25 in the faculty of science, 22 in the faculty of arts & humanities, and at least 90 from departments across professional services at the institution. This dispute follows over 400 staff leaving UEA in 2023 due to management’s projected £40m deficit in that year read more
Staff under redundancy threat at Sunderland University “gagged” by management (13 Jan) – Staff threatened with a restructure by Sunderland University management have been told they cannot tell colleagues they are at risk of losing their jobs. Last week, upon returning from their Christmas break, a small team of academic staff were told they would be restructured and that at least one post would be deleted. However, university management forbade impacted staff from having any “discussions with students, alumni or colleagues.” When UCU challenged the university’s decree, management said gagging impacted staff would prevent “unnecessary unrest”. This latest restructure comes just a few months after the university announced plans to seriously reduce its workforce read more
Strike ballot to open at Newcastle University over the impact of £35m cuts (13 Jan) – Over 1.000 UCU members will be balloted for strike action at Newcastle University later this month over £35m in cuts management is slashing from the university’s budget. The ballot, which opens next Monday (20 January), is over the impact of huge cuts across the institution. These include cancelling promotions, restricting travel, and asking staff to quit the institution via a voluntary severance scheme. The university has also refused to rule out compulsory redundancies. The university claims it needs to make the cuts due to a shortfall in international student numbers, but UCU said staff should not pay the price for financial mismanagement from those at the top. A UCU survey on the impact of cuts showed their detrimental impact, especially for those staff on precarious contracts read more
Strike ballot on the cards as 300 staff threatened with sack at Coventry University (17 Dec) – Coventry University has threatened more than 300 staff with the sack. Those who remain will be forced to work through a subsidiary company on behalf of the university, and any new starters would be unable to access the industry-standard Teachers’ Pension Scheme. From correspondence it has received from university management, UCU estimates over 100 staff could lose their jobs and more than 200 could be contracted over to Peoples Futures Limited (PFL), a company owned by the university. UCU said its Coventry University members are meeting this week to decide how to fight the punitive proposals and that they will likely begin balloting for strike action read more. UCU responds to Coventry University VC government appointment (20 Dec)
UCU calls on Open University to withdraw fire and rehire threat (13 Dec) – The University and College Union (UCU) has today reiterated its call for the Open University (OU) to scrap plans to fire and rehire staff. In a letter sent to the OU’s vice chancellor and chair of council, the local branch has expressed their shock at the institution’s plan to threaten a group of Associate Lecturers with fire and rehire proceedings. The OU first began consulting on fire and rehire plans in 2023 and expects to fire over 20 lecturers in the early part of 2025 if those staff refuse to have their working hours and pay reduced. Many of the 160 staff initially threatened with fire and rehire have confirmed they only signed up to reductions in hours and pay because of that threat. The tutors under threat (who provide tuition and academic support to students) have a high workload, often because they have agreed to do additional work in areas the university has found it hard to recruit in read more
HE offer 2024/25: member consultative ballot – Following a decision by UCU’s higher education committee, we are running a formal electronic consultation of HE members in participating institutions on the final pay and conditions offer for 2024/25. This launched on Tuesday 12 November 2024 and closes on Tuesday 3 December 2024 at 17:00. UCU’s higher education committee recommends that you:-
- vote to REJECT the pay element of the offer, and
- vote to ACCEPT the terms of reference on the pay-related elements (contract types/casualisation, workload, equality pay gaps, pay spine review).
This consultative electronic ballot launches on 12 November and closes on 3 December 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 leader calls for government to protect firefighter health in letter to minister (6 Feb) – Steve Wright, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), has written to minister Andrew Gwynne calling for urgent health checks for firefighters following the latest research into the impact of exposure to fire contaminants read more
Reviews into two fire services in Wales reveal extent of leadership failings (5 Feb) – Today, two damning reports have been published revealing the extent of bullying, harassment and sexism in North and Mid and West Wales fire and rescue services. Mid and West Wales service has been described as a ‘boys club’, with nearly half (47%) of survey respondents reporting personal experiences with bullying and harassment in the service since June 2021. Firefighters reported that senior management presided over a ‘culture of fear and mistrust’. Bullying and harassment remains “widespread” in North Wales fire service, with over two-fifths (42%) of survey respondents reporting personal experiences since June 2021. Nepotism was found to be rife in the service, with respondents reporting intimidation and abuses of power from senior leaders read more
FBU demands “significant above-inflation” pay rise ahead of talks (10 Dec) – The Fire Brigades Union has written to fire service employers to start the process of negotiating a pay rise for the UK’s firefighters and fire control staff. After more than a decade of real terms pay cuts under the Tories, the union is looking to the Labour government to make funding available for an above-inflation rise. Last year’s pay settlement saw a rise of 4%, as well as a boost to on-call firefighters’ retainers, and a minimum of six months’ paid maternity leave across the UK. In 2022 and 2023, the threat of strike action forced rises of 7% and 5%. Unlike many other parts of the public sector, the fire and rescue service has collective bargaining, meaning that the union will sit down with employers to negotiate a pay rise. Fire service pay is negotiated July to July read more
POA
National Chair Update January 2025 read more
Prison Officers Union calls for action to address violence in prison (7 Feb) – The Union representing the UK’s 35,000 Prison and Operational Support Grade Officers is calling for urgent action to address soaring levels of violence in jails in England and Wales. The latest statistics from the Ministry of Justice show that in the 12 months to September 2024, there were 342 assaults per 1,000 prisoners (29,881 assaults in total), up 14% from the 12 months to September 2023. For the same period, the rate of assaults on staff was 120 assaults per 1,000 prisoners (10,496 assaults on staff in total), up 19%. Meanwhile the number of serious assaults on staff rose by 22% read more
Prison officers and operational support staff need a pay rise say union (28 Jan) – Prison Officers and those working in Operational Support Grades in England and Wales need an urgent pay rise to help address recruitment and retention problems across the prison estate. The Union representing over 32,000 Prison Officers submitted its pay claim calling for action to address the decline in the real terms value of their pay. The POA has submitted a pay claim for 6.5% for each of the next two years read more
NEC Minutes January read more
General Secretary update (13 Dec) read more
Spotlight on the right to strike (17 Dec) – The debate over giving prison officers back their ‘industrial muscle’ is heating up, reports Charley Allan. The ban on prison officers taking any form of industrial action has been raised many times in Parliament in recent years, often in the context of exploitative pay, terms and conditions. Back in December 2020, Labour’s Grahame Morris highlighted how “it is a criminal offence even to suggest that they should, for example, start working to rule” when attacking the then Tory government for rejecting the pay review body’s recommendation of a £3,000 rise for Band 3s, which he described as “an abuse of power” read more
NAPO
Update: Ongoing Business as Usual (BAU) Pay Discussions (17 Jan) – This is a reminder regarding the content of our previous communication (JTU 62-2024 Pay Update). We want to emphasise that we are continuing to address Business As Usual (BAU) pay issues separately from the ongoing pay negotiations for 2025 read more
BFAWU
Support the campaign to unionise Samworth Brothers – get organised, sign the petition read more
Nautilus International
Nautilus awaits Stena response during pay review (3 Dec) – Nautilus International is awaiting a response from Stena Line Pte Ltd after ‘respectfully’ rejecting the company’s offer at the 2025 pay and conditions review read more
BALPA
BALPA Secures Landmark Court Victory Against Ryanair Over Illegal Blacklisting Practices (17 Jan) – The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) has achieved a significant legal triumph in the Court of Appeal, securing a landmark judgment that not only delivers justice for Ryanair pilots but also sets a powerful precedent for the entire trade union movement. The Court’s ruling today firmly established that Ryanair’s practice of putting pilots who exercised their legal right to strike in 2019 on a blacklist in order to withdraw their travel benefits constituted a breach of the Blacklisting Regulations. This decision underscores that such retaliatory actions against workers who take part in lawful industrial action are both unacceptable and unlawful read more
NUJ
NUJ joins IFJ in urging for release of Iranian-American journalist (7 Feb) – Reza Valizadeh’s ten-year jail term upheld. The plight of Iranian journalists and those who report on Iran is once again in the spotlight after a court in Tehran turned down an appeal by Iranian-American journalist Reza Valizadeh against his prison sentence for allegedly “cooperating with the hostile US government”. The NUJ deplores the decision and is backing the International Federation of Journalists in its call for the Iranian government to drop the charges against Valizadeh and release all journalists jailed in the country read more
Journalist charged for ‘terrorist financing’ in Philippines (7 Feb) – NUJ criticises anti-terror legal action against second journalist. The NUJ joins the International Federation of Journalists in condemning the charging of journalist Deo Montesclaros in a terrorism financing case – making him the second journalist to be charged under anti-terror laws in the Philippines read more
NUJ gives evidence on the surveillance of journalists in Northern Ireland (6 Feb) – On 5 February, Séamus Dooley, NUJ assistant general secretary, answered questions from the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee alongside journalists Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney of “No Stone Unturned” read more
Equity
Enforce performers’ data rights in AI, Equity tells entertainment bosses (10 Feb) – Equity is calling for an urgent conversation over AI use in performing arts and entertainment read more
Pay day! £100 million paid out to performers since 2017 thanks to Equity’s fight for royalties (6 Feb) – Over £100 million of royalties have been paid to tens of thousands of performers since Equity’s in house Distribution Service was launched in 2017. These royalties, which are paid to performers on everything from Coronation Street to Skyfall to the Matilda cast album, only exist because Equity members fought hard for them to be incorporated into performers’ film and TV contracts read more
Equity responds to planned reduction of ITV soap episodes (4 Feb) – Equity is in contact with ITV to ensure that any negative impacts of these changes are minimal. Equity says ITV soap cuts announced today (Tuesday 4 February) add to the “difficult time in UK continuing dramas”. While ITV has told Equity that regular cast member numbers should not be cut as a direct result of this decision, Equity highlights the reduction in acting opportunities for supporting and guest artists and the continuing squeeze on acting roles for professionals in the UK regions. ITV has announced a reduction of 52 episodes per year for Coronation Street and Emmerdale, two of the flagship soaps on the channel read more
Creatives unite on Northern Ireland arts funding call (4 Feb) – Equity hosts event calling for arts funding to be increased in Northern Ireland read more
Welsh National Opera Chorus strike action update (8 Nov) – Industrial action short of strike is ramped up and strikes planned for February. Equity members of the Chorus at Welsh National Opera today agreed to postpone planned strike action set for Friday 15 November, but other industrial action will continue. Further talks are expected and both sides hope to build on progress made in recent weeks. However, Equity members are clear that the situation cannot drag out, and strike action is now planned for 6, 7 and 8 February 2025 if the dispute is not resolved, in addition to further industrial action short of strike. The 30-strong Chorus are taking action to save jobs and prevent compulsory redundancies. Industrial action short of strike has seen Chorus members wear campaign t-shirts on stage during curtain calls, make speeches to the audience from the stage, demonstrate outside venues, and hand out campaign leaflets as audiences arrive read more
Musicians’’ Union
New Survey Launched to Investigate Discriminatory Licensing Practices in London (7 Feb) – A survey by Black Lives In Music, the Musicians’ Union, UK Music, LIVE, and the Mayor of London, has been launched to investigate reported race inequality, bias and over-policing of music events in London read more
Support the Safe Sick Pay Campaign (6 Feb) – The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is calling on union members to take part in a day of action on Friday 7 February to campaign for an increase in statutory sick pay read more
MU Statement on Proposed Closures at Cardiff University (6 Feb) – Cardiff University has recently announced proposals to close its School of Music. The MU will be supporting members in relation to the relevant consultations, and those affected are urged to get in touch with the regional office as soon as possible read more
MU General Secretary Gives Evidence in Government’s Misogyny in Music Enquiry (3 Feb) – Last week MU General Secretary, Naomi Pohl, gave powerful evidence to the Women and Equalities Committee as part of the ongoing Misogyny in Music enquiry read more
MU Members at Welsh National Opera Renew Mandate for Industrial Action (15 Jan) – MU members at WNO have voted to renew their mandate for industrial action read more
Community
STRB – Community gives evidence (7 Feb) – This week, a team from Community Education & Early Years gave oral evidence before the School Teachers’ Pay Review Body (England). Our Head of Education Policy, Martin Hodge, has provided an update on the evidence session. Every year we prepare lots of written evidence which is read by the School Teachers’ Pay Review Body and we are then questioned on the points that we have raised and points the Review Body wants extra information on read more
USDAW
ACAS advice on dealing with neurodiversity at work welcomed ahead of Usdaw’s Spotlight Day (3 Feb) – Retail trade union Usdaw has welcomed new advice on how employers can manage neurodiversity at work. The advice has been published ahead of Usdaw’s Spotlight Day on Wednesday 25 June 2025, which this year is themed on supporting neurodiverse workers and members who are parenting a neurodiverse child or caring for neurodiverse relatives read more
KP Snacks strike suspended after negotiations with Usdaw (9 Dec) – Usdaw has suspended strike action at the Ashby-de-la-Zouch site of KP Snacks in Leicestershire, which was due to start today (9 December), this follows a restart in pay negotiations read more
UVW
Hundreds rally to save vital domestic abuse support services in Tower Hamlets (7 Feb) – Hundreds of people gathered outside Tower Hamlets Town Hall last night in a powerful rally to protest against devastating cuts to domestic abuse support services. The protest saw widespread support from Sisters Uncut, trade unionists, an MP, councillors, and members of the local community, all standing in solidarity with UVW members, the Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) at Solace Women’s Aid, who have voted unanimously to take indefinite strike action from 14 February 2025. This landmark industrial action marks the first time in history that IDVAs have gone on strike, in response to looming redundancies and severe funding cuts that threaten to strip away essential support from some of London’s most vulnerable communities. On the steps of the Town Hall, UVW members, the IDVAs at Solace, spoke passionately about their fight to protect the survivors who rely on these services, emphasising the critical need for proper funding read more
Statement on Solace Women’s Aid dispute (6 Feb) – UVW members from Solace Women’s Aid met with council officials and representatives from the Mayor’s office to discuss the redundancies being proposed by Solace and the impact on victim/survivors in Tower Hamlets. The council shared the concerns expressed by UVW members and pledged to raise these concerns with Solace. The council confirmed they commission Solace to provide domestic violence support and it is not acceptable that a situation has been allowed to develop which will see this vital service disrupted. The council also confirmed it has not cut funding and therefore not behind the redundancies being proposed by Solace, and that this instead appears to be a result of mismanagement by Solace. UVW members remain resolute read more
Solace Women’s Aid workers call indefinite strike to stop devastating job cuts (3 Feb) – “Our main priority with this strike is to highlight the importance of our service and the impact on the community if the team is reduced” – Solace worker and UVW member who wishes to remain anonymous. Workers at Solace Women’s Aid, a vital charity supporting domestic abuse victim-survivors, have announced an indefinite strike starting 14 February, in response to devastating job cuts that threaten life-saving services in Tower Hamlets. The decision was made by Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVAs) who are members of United Voices of the World (UVW) union, after Tower Hamlets Council failed to act on their calls to intervene and safeguard these critical services read more
UVW Stands in Solidarity with Courageous Fruit Pickers Fighting for Justice (29 Jan) – UVW was proud to stand in solidarity with our courageous members Juli, Aida, and their fellow fruit pickers outside the Home Office on January 24, alongside the Land Workers’ Alliance (LWA), the Solidarity Across Land Trades union (SALT), and other organisations to demand justice for seasonal workers from Latin America. The workers were lured to the UK with false promises, only to face harassment, discrimination and abuse. The conditions were so appalling that they took the historic step of organising the first-ever strike of UK seasonal workers read more
Striking security guards visit V&A trustee Amanda Levete to demand fair pay and sick leave (22 Jan) – “We’ve had no response from her. How would you feel if your boss ignored you or your questions for five months?” — Urzula, UVW striker and representative for the guards at the V&A. Frustrated after 22 days of strike action and months of being ignored, security guards from the Natural History, Science, and V&A Museums took their fight for dignity and equality directly to the doorstep of V&A Trustee Amanda Levete. On Monday, 20 January, around 40 guards and their supporters visited the central London office of Amanda’s architectural firm, where she is a founder and director, to hand-deliver a letter outlining their demands for fair pay, better sick leave and equal terms and conditions with other museum staff. Amanda had previously ignored repeated emails, so the guards decided it was time to speak to her face to face. The office workers at the architectural firm kindly allowed the group to enter the reception area and passed on the message to Amanda. Unfortunately, Amanda didn’t come down to meet them. “All we want is to speak to her for two minutes, and we will leave peacefully and quietly,” Urzula, UVW striker and representative for the guards at the V&A, explained. “We’ve had no response from her. How would you feel if your boss ignored you or your questions for five months?” read more
Solidarity Financial Appeal: UVW’s office has been targeted in a break-in! (10 Jan) – Overnight, laptops, essential equipment and other valuables worth several thousands of pounds were stolen, disrupting critical support for low-paid, migrant and precarious workers. This won’t stop our fight for justice. The theft comes as UVW leads critical campaigns with hundreds of workers taking strike action across London. Please support UVW during this critical time. Help replace stolen equipment and ensure campaigns for dignity and equality continue. Every donation makes a difference. Donate now: https://www.uvwunion.org.uk/donate. Read more on UVW Facebook page
Department for Education security guards to join mass strike on 21 December (17 Dec) – “We all saw how the cleaners and caterers were treated, and how UVW stood up for them. They were able to win their demands, and it was their fight that inspired me to join UVW. Morale is high despite G4S’s response, which really showed they don’t seem to care about us. They say they won’t negotiate with UVW, even though all the guards have joined. We do not accept that they want to negotiate with a union that doesn’t represent us. We are ready to strike” – Dele Bodumde, who has served as a security officer at DfE for 12 years and is a UVW member. Security officers employed by G4S at the Department for Education (DfE), who are members of United Voices of the World (UVW), will strike on Saturday 21 December in a fight for fair pay and sick pay parity with civil servants. The guards, who work at Sanctuary Buildings in central London, are demanding a minimum pay rate of £15 per hour, a comprehensive sick pay scheme in line with directly employed DfE staff, improved annual leave entitlements and better quality uniforms read more
Hundreds of Harrods workers to strike over pre-Christmas weekend and boxing day as store refuses talks (10 Dec) – “As one of the world’s leading luxury department stores, Harrods should be setting the standard for retail and hospitality workers. Instead, we are earning the living wage and denied basic benefits such as a food allowance and Christmas bonus – something which should be commonplace in a company accumulating millions of pounds in profit year on year” – Alice Howick, Harrods waiter and UVW member. Hundreds of retail, restaurant, kitchen, and cleaning workers at Harrods will walk out of their jobs on the weekend of the 21 and 22 December as well as Boxing Day – the busiest retail dates of the year – if the luxury store continues to deny them a Christmas bonus and improved working conditions read more
IWGB
Join the drivers log-off: Friday 14th February (4 Feb) – Drivers working for apps like Uber, Bolt and Addison Lee are at a breaking point. Poverty pay, high car rents, brutally long hours to try and ends meet and the threat of unfair deactivation hanging over our heads are having a devastating financial, physical and mental impact on us and our families. Drivers’ lives are being torn apart by these companies in their endless pursuit of profit… That is why we are calling on all unions, groups and associations to join us on the 14th February in striking from 4pm-10pm read more
Mandate (Ireland)
Tesco Workers Begin Protests for Respect & Representation (12 Dec) – Members of the Mandate Trade Union have today (Thursday, 12th December 2024) launched public protests following Tesco management’s decision to deny workers their right to be represented by their trade union and refusing to agree to an adequate pay increase. The first protest took place at Ardkeen in Waterford at 10am. According to Mandate, the protests will continue until Tesco agree to “respect their workers” read more
SIPTU (Ireland)
BNM Recycling sale is an act of economic vandalism says SIPTU (10 Feb) – SIPTU has demanded a halt to the sale of Bord na Móna (BNM) Recycling and an investigation into the attempt to privatise part of a profitable public company in a manner which runs counter to economic and environmental best practice read more
SIPTU conference told we need an economy for workers not billionaires (7 Feb) – An economy which works for workers rather than billionaires must be built in Ireland, SIPTU Deputy General Secretary, Greg Ennis, told delegates attending the Union’s Services Division Conference in Galway read more
SIPTU will demand TDs honour their pledge to improve workers’ rights (6 Feb) – The 89 TDs, a majority of TDs in Dáil Eireann, who signed the ‘Respect at Work’ pledge will be held to account by trade unions to ensure they keep their commitment to improve workers’ rights, SIPTU Deputy General Secretary, Ethel Buckley, told the Union’s Services Divisional Conference in Galway read more
SIPTU Section 39 workers to ballot for strike over Government inaction on pay (17 Jan) – SIPTU’s Health Division is to begin a ballot of up to 5,000 members working in Section 39 Organisations for strike action due to the failure of the Government to honour a pay agreement struck at the Workplace Relations Commission in October 2023 read more
SIPTU considers strike action to save bin collection service (10 Jan) – SIPTU members employed by Bord na Móna Recycling will meet later this month to consider industrial action, up to and including a strike, to safeguard the future of the country’s last publicly-owned domestic waste collection service read more
Other news
Fighting for anti racist workplaces – Stand Up to Racism and TUC annual trade union conference: fighting for anti racist workplaces and countering the rise of the far right – Saturday, March 1 · 11am – 5pm central London venue tba more details
Summit of Resistance: We Demand Change – Saturday 29 March, 11:00am to 5:00pm Central London location tba more details
Latest from Keep Our NHS Public: complete this survey for local NHS activists up and down the country to tell us about their work, and how they can be better supported by the national Keep Our NHS Public team; London and southern region Keep Our NHS Public is calling an emergency rally outside Parliament on Wednesday 26th of February from 12-14:00 hrs. More information coming soon!
Alan Hardman ‘Need not Greed’ – Alan Hardman’s razor-sharp political cartoons collected for the first time. Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the Miners’ Strike, Need Not Greed is a career-spanning collection of visual art by one of Britain’s greatest unsung political cartoonists. Alongside Alan Hardman’s essential work, the book also includes a contribution from former President of the National Union of Mineworkers, Arthur Scargill, as well as a foreword by Jeremy Corbyn order a copy – £45 each
Can you help? Crowdfunding to tour a production and exhibition of The Grunwick Strike Autumn 2025 – 2026 – We wanted to get in touch to let you know we are crowdfunding for a new production and interactive exhibition. The theatre show will tell the story of Jayaben Desai – the inspirational leader of the 1976-78 Grunwick Film Processing Factory Strike. We need your help to get this production and exhibition on the road, any donation you make will mean we are one step closer to getting this very important story out there performing to audiences across the UK. Any money raised will be matched by other funders. We’ve just got eight weeks to reach our target. Please find the link for our crowdfunding campaign HERE. Link to our Crowdfunding video Here. www.cramlingtontrainwreckers.co.uk
Affiliate with STAMMA – at this year’s NSSN Conference, Gary Clark retired CWU Royal Mail rep and a member of the NSSN Steering Committee spoke about 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
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
From Strike Map – Our final instalment of the ‘Industrial Unionism’ series with Manifesto Press is here. Building on this success of our other pamphlets- which has sold over 2,000 copies, our next pamphlet in our series is the infamous ‘A Manual of Industrial Unionism’ by William Z Foster. Click the button here to pre-order your copy for you and your organisation
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. This has now escalated and widened.
See Stop the War website for info on protests.
- TUC: Join the workplace day of action for Palestine on 13 February details
- The next national demonstration in Central London will be this coming Saturday 15th February – assemble Whitehall 12noon for march to US Embassy details
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)
Gaza protest on Saturday 18th January in Central London: oppose the arrests, defend the right to protest – the NSSN stands in solidarity with all those who have been arrested, including Stop The War Coalition’s Chris Nineham. It is outrageous that as a ceasefire is announced, protestors were denied the right to march, particularly under the watch of a Labour government and Labour London Mayor. We demand justice for all those arrested – with the immediate dropping of all charges Stop the War Coalition statement
Fight blacklisting and victimisation of union reps
Affiliate to the Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance (COPS) here
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
NIGERIA SOLIDARITY – END THE ATTACKS ON DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS! END THE ‘TREASON’ TRIAL AND DROP ALL CHARGES AGAINST ADARAMOYE MICHAEL LENIN AND OTHER #ENDBADGOVERNANCE PROTESTERS
The ‘treason’ trial of Michael Lenin and 10 other #endbadgovernance protesters was scheduled to commence on 29th of January after its postponement last year.
Adaramoye Michael Lenin and 10 others would be arraigned in Court on trumped up charges of treason and terrorism financing which could potentially earn them a death penalty if not quashed.
Further details on www.NigeriaSolidarity.com/Events
Germany: Request for solidarity message for German strikers who are mainly responsible for cash transport – They are in the ver.di trade union in Berlin-Brandenburg. The drivers have very precarious conditions (some have 10 to 11 hour shifts without a real break as they are not allowed to leave their vehicles) and are generally on a low wage. The bosses are blocking improvements and demand changes for the worse which has heightened anger. The latest strike saw over 2000 of the 10,000 workers nationally striking. Next strike starts on 11 November. Email messages of support via [email protected]
Diary
2025
July
5 NSSN Annual Conference 2025 11am-4.30pm Conway Hall London
12 Durham Miners Gala details
18–20 Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival details
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
