This week’s NSSN bulletin headlines with the fantastic victory by Unite members at Barts NHS Trust after two weeks of strike action. The Unite branch secretary is Len Hockey, a member of the NSSN steering committee
Unite: Major victory for outsourced NHS workers at Barts (3 Mar) – Unite has struck a landmark agreement with one of the UK’s largest NHS trusts to bring 1,800 NHS workers employed by the outsourcer Serco into NHS employment. Cleaners, porters, security guards, and domestic staff working at the Barts Health group of hospitals are to benefit from NHS pay, terms and conditions. Unite members staged a two week strike between Monday 31 January and Sunday 13 February 2022 to demand improved pay, an end to bullying and an end to the injustice of a two tier workforce.
Yesterday (Wednesday 2 March) the Trust’s board confirmed that the services Serco provides will be brought back in-house when the current contract with Serco expires at the end of April 2023. Almost 1,800 staff will be transferred across to join the existing 17,000 Barts Health staff as NHS employees under Agenda for Change (AfC) conditions.
Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite has struck a landmark agreement with one of the UK’s largest NHS trusts to end the two tier workforce. Unite members and their representatives have shown impressive determination and resilience to reach this negotiated settlement. The workers are exposed to the same risks as NHS-employed staff, so it’s only right for them to be treated equally and brought back into NHS employment. The pandemic has put the treatment of NHS workers in the spotlight. Unite will be ramping up the pressure on other trusts because they can no longer look the other way.”
Unite regional officer Tabusam Ahmed said: “It was clear from Unite’s dispute with Serco that the inequality and pay disparity that our members faced needed to be addressed. The Trust’s board has now confirmed that the mainly Black, Asian and ethnic minority staff will be brought in-house and transferred on to Agenda for Change terms and conditions from day one. The agreement negotiated between Unite and Barts is a significant step forward. The workers have tirelessly campaigned and their solidarity has paid off. Barts has set an example which other NHS trusts should follow.”
Unite’s strike action also delivered a cash lump sum for workers, including agency staff, on top of the annual pay increase. To address the issue of bullying, the Trust and Serco have agreed that Serco managers will undergo training read more
TUC demonstration – Britain Needs A Pay Rise: March and rally in Blackpool
Saturday, March 19, 2022 • 11:00 AM
Blackpool• Bank Hey Street, Blackpool, FY1 4BJ GB read more
The NSSN is supporting this demonstration in Blackpool and calls on all our supporters, trades councils, union branches to attend and mobilise for it. But if they can’t get to Blackpool, we appeal to them to organise local protests on Saturday 19 March to coincide with TUC demo on theme of Britain Needs A Pay Rise
NSSN sends solidarity greetings to all our supporters and affiliates on International Women’s Day today March 8th
Stop the war in Ukraine
The NSSN calls for the unity of working-class people across Ukraine, Russia and the whole region against war, militarisation and repression. We support the actions of independent trade unions in Ukraine and Russia in defending workers.
RMT statement on Ukraine from General Secretary Mick Lynch: “RMT condemns the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces and calls for their immediate withdrawal. It is workers and their communities and families who suffer from military conflict and we will do all we can to support humanitarian assistance for displaced people from Ukraine and all those that need it. We welcome refugees seeking to come to the UK. As trade unionists we oppose war and support peace and cross border solidarity between workers and alongside the global trade union movement we call for a long-lasting negotiated solution through diplomacy and de-militarisation that guarantees security and peace for all in the region.”
Sharon Graham Unite General Secretary: “Unite stands in solidarity with all trade unions impacted by the Ukraine conflict and calls for solidarity across borders. Only peace and security can achieve social justice and social protection for working people and their families.”
Unison: Energy workers put a spoke in Putin’s war machine (7 Mar) – UNISON members on the Medway were determined to show solidarity with Ukrainians when they discovered that a consignment of Russian gas was heading their way read more
Dockers refuse to unload Russian oil tanker (6 Mar) read more from The Mirror
NSSN news
NSSN Conference 2022 will be on Saturday 2nd July 11am-5pm. Venue to be confirmed
Get your trade union branch or trades council to affiliate to the NSSN – it only costs £50. Already affiliated? Please think about renewing it. Also, many of our supporters pay a few pounds a month. You can set up a similar standing order to ‘National Shop Stewards Network’, HSBC – sort code 40-06-41, account number 90143790. Our address is NSSN, PO Box 54498, London E10 9DE. Feel free to use this affiliation letter.
And if you can, come to one of our regional Conferences. If there is not one in your area, get in touch to either assist in organising or have a speaker at one of your meetings or events. Contact Rob or Linda on [email protected]
Union News
RMT
Churchill cleaning staff to take 48-hour strike action (8 Mar) – Hundreds of key rail cleaning staff to take 48-hour strike action across London and South East this weekend. RMT members working for cleaning contractor Churchill across London and the South East, will take 2 days strike action from Saturday March 12 across trains and stations run by major railways companies. This will be the second bout of strike action in the campaign, and it will affect Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern, Southeastern, Eurostar and HS1 services. Cleaners in London currently earn the National Minimum Wage of £8.91 per hour and are demanding to be paid £15 per hour, the right to company sick pay, and to be made direct employees of the railway. In 2020 cleaning contractor Churchill made £39m profit yet has refused to raise cleaners wages to £15 an hour read more
Hundreds of key rail cleaners to strike (2 Mar) – 48-hour strike action next week in fight for pay justice. Rail cleaners will continue their fight for pay justice next week with a 48-hour stoppage next week. RMT members who keep trains and stations clean across London and the Southeast are campaigning for £15 an hour and to be made direct employees of the railways. This will be the second bout of strike action starting Friday 11 March, affecting Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern, Southeastern, Eurostar and HS1 services. Cleaners in London currently earn the London Living Wage and this action follows the biggest strike by cleaners in the history of the railways read more
RMT warns of significant threat to railway safety (8 Mar) – Union warns of significant threat to railway safety and services caused by loss of thousands of rail jobs as national protests set for tomorrow. Britain’s largest rail union has warned of a significant threat to rail safety and services cause by plans to axe thousands of rail jobs. The warning came as tomorrow, 9th March, rail workers will gather at stations in London, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds to warn passengers that despite another huge increase in fares earlier in the month rail companies and the government are intent on cutting thousands of frontline staff making the railways less safe, secure and accessible. Passengers will be paying “more for less.” Read more
35th anniversary of the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster (6 Mar) – RMT statement on the 35th anniversary of the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster which took the lives of 193 crew and passengers in waters off Zeebrugge on 6th March 1987. RMT General Secretary, Mick Lynch said: “We pay tribute to the memory of the crew and passengers who died in the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster and extend our condolences to the community in Dover who were so badly affected by this avoidable tragedy…” read more
RMT members standing firm again on TPE (6 Mar) – RMT members standing firm again in fight for pay justice on Trans Pennine Express this morning as company boardroom awash with cash. RAIL UNION RMT said today that conductor members fighting for pay justice on TransPennine Express are standing firm and united again this morning in the latest of a series of strikes. This week, ahe ad of today’s fourth wave of strike action by TransPennine Express conductors battling against attacks on pay and enhancements which are eating away the value of their wages, RMT revealed that TPE’s owners have taken out dividends worth £30 million from their rail empire and are awaiting rhe Secretary of State’s permission to pay out a further £33 million. proving they could easily cut their conductors a fair deal read more
Transpennine Express Conductors strike again on Sunday for pay justice (4 Mar) – Transpennine Express Conductors strike again on Sunday for pay justice, FirstGroup are back to profiteering as usual with plans for a £63 million dividend bonanza. Ahead of a fourth day of strike action on Sunday by Transpennine Express conductors who are battling against attacks on pay and enhancements which are eating away the value of their wages, rail union RMT has revealed that TPE’s owners have taken out dividends worth £30 million from their rail empire and are awaiting the Secretary of State’s permission to pay out a further £33 million. Due to the abject failure of the company to address the issues at the heart of the dispute RMT has today confirmed an additional programme of action through to June as follows:-
TPE Conductor members to take further industrial action. Members are instructed not to book on for any shifts that commence between:-
- hours until 23.59 hours on Sunday 13th March 2022
- hours until 23.59 hours on Sunday 20th March 2022
- hours until 23.59 hours on Sunday 27th March 2022
- hours until 23.59 hours on Sunday 3rdApril 2022
- hours on Saturday 16th April 2022 until 23.59 hours on Sunday 17th April 2022
- hours on Saturday 30th April 2022 until 23.59 hours on Sunday 1st May 2022
- hours on Saturday 4th June 2022 until 23.59 hours on Sunday 5th June 2022 read more
RMT calls on the Scottish Government to listen to passengers (3 Mar) – Ahead of a meeting with the Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth MSP, RMT calls on the Scottish Government to listen to passengers and reject the cuts to ScotRail ticket offices. Ahead of a meeting between the trade unions and the Scottish Transport Minister Jenny Gilruth MSP today, Thursday 3rd March, Rail Union RMT has written to the Minister to call for a commitment that her Government will halt the proposed cuts to ticket offices, the majority of which are still under threat, despite the spin from operator ScotRail. In his letter to the Minister, RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch highlighted the ‘overwhelming opposition’ to the cuts expressed by passengers and stakeholders in response to the public consultation, with just 1% of the 1550 respondents not opposing the proposals read more
Congratulations on rock solid London Underground action (3 Mar) – All RMT London Underground members are congratulated for the rock-solid strike action across the entire network this week. There has been a brilliant show of solidarity and support from you all and you are commended for your commitment to fight against vicious attacks on your jobs and pensions in order to pay for the TfL funding crisis read more
Tube members standing firm again (3 Mar) – RMT says members standing firm again in fight for jobs and pensions on London Underground this morning. TUBE UNION RMT said that members are standing firm with pickets out in force at all key locations in todays strike action in the fight to defend jobs, pensions and working conditions on London Underground read more
Tube strike goes ahead tomorrow (2 Mar)
RMT demands Sadiq Khan make good on his promises (1 Mar)
West Coast train cleaners to strike again – Fight for pay justice. RAIL UNION RMT confirmed today that heroic train cleaners working to keep Avanti West Coast trains clean and safe for passengers will be taking further strike action from this evening and into the weekend in pursuit of their campaign for fair pay. The cleaners, who have worked throughout the pandemic to keep essential transport services running, are employed by Atalian Servest Limited, a multi-national outsourcing company based in France. The outsourced cleaners are paid £9.68 per hour, less than the Real Living Wage and have no company sick pay, meaning that they frequently come into work when sick because they cannot make ends meet. Atalian Servest have refused to make an offer that would raise pay above the Real Living Wage rate of £9.90, with their latest offer amounting to an insulting additional 6p per hour for most staff (especially those outside London). The union has called the following two 48 hour strikes, members are instructed NOT to book on for any shifts between:-
- 19:30 hours on Thursday 24th February 2022 to 19:29 hours on Saturday 26thFebruary 2022
- 19:30 hours on Thursday 10th March 2022 to 19:29 hours on Saturday 12th March 2022 read more
Support the London Night Tube strike: every Friday and Saturday nights on Central and Victoria lines read more
TSSA
Network Rail job cuts could have “devastating consequences” for rail safety, warns TSSA (7 Mar) – Rail union TSSA warns that plans by Network Rail to cut more than 2,600 maintenance and works delivery jobs could have “devastating consequences” to the safe running of the rail industry. TSSA says strike action will be considered if unsafe cuts are made or compulsory redundancies put forwards read more
MTR Crossrail pay 2022-23 (1 Mar) – After a series of meetings and having listened to a range of different submissions from the TSSA, MTR has reached its full and final position on pay for the period 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2023. The offer from the business to settle our claim for improvements to pay and working conditions has been met with the following offer: The business is looking to do a deal for one year only and seeks to award you an increase equivalent to the February RPI figure or 2% whichever is the greater. For your information the January RPI figure was, I believe 7.3%. In addition to this, the TSSA has sought a “No compulsory redundancy agreement” with MTR for the same period ending 31st March 2023. We wish to seek extensions to this arrangement in time, as we firmly believe that no modern forward-thinking business should be unable to anticipate and manage any staffing issues, without compelling someone to leave against their will. In conclusion, all existing agreements will be honoured and will not be affected by this award. TSSA is able to commend this offer to you with a recommendation for acceptance. Unless we hear contrary arguments from you, our members, it is our intention to accept this offer on your behalf read more
Unite
BREAKING NEWS!! Workers at five London universities balloted for strike action over ‘abysmal’ pay deal (8 Mar) – Workers at five London universities are being balloted for strike action over an ‘abysmal’ pay deal, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Tuesday 8 March). Professional support staff, including technicians, administrators and estate staff, are being balloted at City, University of London, King’s College, the Royal College of Art, Royal Holloway and Bedford New College and University College London. The ballot, which opened yesterday and closes on 8 April, is over the University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) 1.5 per cent pay deal for 2021/22. The deal was imposed last August and is the focus of a long-running dispute between Unite members and the London teaching institutions read more
Cheltenham racegoers buses back on as Stagecoach workers secure pay increase (8 Mar) – Planned strike action involving bus drivers employed by Stagecoach West due to begin this Thursday (10 March) has been called off after the workers accepted a greatly improved pay offer. The resolution of the dispute means that the Stagecoach shuttle bus service which takes customers to the Cheltenham festival will not be disrupted. The 380 drivers, who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, have accepted a pay increase worth up to 12 per cent for 2021 and 2022 read more
London facing bus strikes due to Arriva’s ‘pathetic’ pay offer (8 Mar) – Bus services across London face severe disruption later this month, as bus drivers employed by Arriva announce strike action due to the company’s failure to make an acceptable pay offer. The 1,000 drivers who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, are employed at depots in Brixton, Croydon, Norwood and Thornton Heath. They operate routes across south and central London. The first 24 hour strike will take place on Monday 21 March and a further 48 hour strike is scheduled for 28 March. If there is no breakthrough in the dispute then further industrial action will be announced read more
Unions launch campaign to ensure fair pay on new Leeds waste to energy construction project (7 Mar) – Construction unions Unite and GMB have launched a campaign to ensure that workers employed on a new waste-to-energy plant at Skelton Grange, Leeds are paid the correct rate for the job. Over 500 construction workers will be employed on the £250 million project, which will eventually provide power for 100,000 homes. The project is being built for Enfinium by principal contractor Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI). The nature of the construction work means that it should be built under the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI). HZI has previously built two waste-to-energy plants, at Ferrybridge in Yorkshire, where the workers were employed under the NAECI agreement, but is not applying the NAECI agreement on this project. The unions are seeking to ensure that Leeds council demands HZI agrees to pay workers in line with the NAECI agreement or the project will not go ahead read more
Profitable Royal Mail blasted for rising stamp prices while cutting services (4 Mar) – Royal Mail, which last November recorded profits of £311 million, has been blasted for ‘greedily’ cutting services while raising stamp prices. Unite, the UK’s leading union, called on the company, privatised in 2014, to halt plans to cut 900 middle management jobs. The union said they could not be justified given November’s £400 million giveaway to shareholders and today’s announcement that first class stamps will increase by 10p to 95p, with second class stamps rising by 2p to 68p read more
Unite leader Sharon Graham slams ‘incompetent’ Coventry council fat cats after bin driver picket line visit (3 Mar) – Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has slammed ‘incompetent’ Coventry council fat cats who are among the highest paid local authority executives in the country, after visiting the city’s striking refuse drivers today (Thursday 3 March). Strikes began early this year and the 70 HGV drivers have been on all out strike since 31 January in the dispute over low pay. The workers’ basic rate of pay begins at just £22,183 per annum, which is far below what workers receive in the private sector and well below pay rates of neighbouring councils. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Coventry councillors have no problem when it comes to shelling out telephone number salaries for their top executives but when it comes to refuse drivers looking for a fair rate of pay, they won’t even attend negotiations read more
Coventry bin strikes set to continue until summer as fresh vote underway in battle for the rate for the job (1 Mar) – The long-running Coventry bin strike is poised to continue into the summer as the striking HGV drivers prepare to re-ballot to renew the mandate for industrial action. Strikes began early this year and the 70 HGV drivers have been on all out strike since 31 January in the dispute over low pay. The workers’ basic rate of pay begins at just £22,183 per annum, which is far below what workers receive in the private sector and well below pay rates of neighbouring councils. The current strikes are due to end on Thursday 24 March, but should the workers vote for renewed strike action the strikes will run through the spring, including during the local elections in May, when 18 of Coventry’s councillors will be elected. The dispute has already cost the council £2.9 million, with costs rising daily, when it would cost just £250,000 to resolve the dispute read more
Follow @UniteWestMids on twitter. Coventry bin worker’s strike fund – Unity Trust Bank; Name of Account: Unite WM/7116 Branch Coventry Local Government; Account number: 20302665 Sort code: 60-83-01; send messages of solidarity to [email protected]
GE Steam Rugby buyer EDF warned it’s ‘inheriting industrial unrest’ as first strike in 45 years continues (3 Mar) – EDF’s plans to buy Rugby’s historic turbine factory could result in the French energy giant inheriting industrial unrest unless pay strikes against the current owner GE Steam Power are resolved, Unite has warned. The first strike in 45 years will continue at the 120-year-old factory tomorrow (Friday 4 March) and Monday (7 March) at Newbold Road, Rugby, CV21 2NH. The dispute is over GE Steam Power’s refusal to negotiate over flexible working payments and the expectation that workers will take on new roles without extra pay. More than 75 Unite members, comprising nearly the entirety of the factory’s workforce, are taking a further eight days of strike action between 18 March and 2 May. Since GE Steam Power’s acquisition of the Rugby site 11 years ago, the relationship between the workers and management has been become increasingly strained over pay, redundancies, attacks on pensions and cuts to death in service benefits read more
Unite secures pay victory for Lewisham workers employed by Greenwich Leisure Limited – Unite, the UK’s leading union, has secured a significant pay victory on behalf of workers employed by Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) on the outsourced Lewisham leisure contract. The long running dispute concerned problems regarding unpaid wages which occurred as a result of the workers going through several TUPE transfers. Unite’s members had overwhelmingly voted for industrial action last autumn but the union held off announcing strikes to allow talks to resolve the problems to take place. GLL has agreed to settle the outstanding pay claims, establish a process to avoid such problems in the future and it will also encourage its workers to join Unite, the recognised union read more
HGV drivers at top Heathrow airline catering company to vote on 14 per cent pay deal (3 Mar) – About 100 HGV drivers at premium aviation catering firm DO & CO at Heathrow will be voting on new pay deal that is worth just under 14 per cent overall, Unite the union said today (Thursday 3 March). This means that the strikes due to have taken place tomorrow (Friday 4 March) and Saturday (5 March) over pay have been suspended while the drivers vote on the offer. The ballot is expected to be completed by Friday 11 March. The pay offer means that the drivers, who joined DO & CO as part of the 2020 TUPE transfer process, will receive a six per cent increase on basic pay. Additionally, the base salary for other drivers will rise to £33,000-a-year thereby achieving parity for all drivers that amounts to just under a 14 per cent increase in pay from 1 April 2022. The company has also recognised Unite for collective bargaining for the drivers and talks on recognition for the rest of the workforce continue read more
UK Lager ‘drought’ threat as GXO beer delivery strike ballot opens over payroll chaos (2 Mar) – Pubs nationwide could run dry of lager if 1,700 beer delivery workers employed by GXO vote for strike action, Unite, the UK’s leading union, has warned. The dispute, involving workers in Manchester, Derby, Coventry, Livingston, Thatcham and Normanton, is over longstanding issues with the logistic giant’s payroll system. For months the GXO workers, who deliver lager to more than 20,000 UK hospitality venues, have suffered delayed payments and underpayments of wages, pension contributions and holiday pay. The problems began after GXO introduced a new payroll system and could result in a lager ‘drought’ across the country if the workers vote for strike action in the ballot, which opens on 4 March and closes on 18 March read more
Sainsbury’s facing spring shortages as low paid DHL workers ballot for strikes (1 Mar) – Over 250 warehouse workers employed by DHL on the outsourced Sainsbury’s contract are to be balloted for strike action in a dispute over low pay. The workers, who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, are based at the distribution centre in Emerald Park in Bristol. The distribution centre supplies Sainsbury’s stores throughout South West England and as far as west Wales. The workers are on three separate contracts resulting in them being paid different rates for undertaking the same job. The lowest paid is on £11.22 an hour. Unite is seeking an increase of at least £1.70 an hour on basic rates of pay, a 13 per cent increase for the lowest paid. Negotiations broke down after DHL refused to make an offer which increased the basic rate of pay, instead offering one-off payments and bonus schemes, but also attacked workers’ conditions including sick pay and holiday pay. The ballot will open on Tuesday 8 March and closes on Tuesday 22 March. If the workers vote for action, strikes will begin later this spring read more
Sainsbury’s must ‘rule out compulsory redundancies’ as café closures put 2,250 jobs at risk (1 Mar) – Sainsbury’s must ‘rule out compulsory redundancies’, Unite, the UK’s leading union, has demanded, following the announcement that store-based cafés, coffee bars and hot food closures will put 2,250 jobs at risk. The supermarket giant said it will close 192 coffee bars, seven cafés and 34 hot food and pizza counters in the spring, with a longer term intention to close all of its remaining cafés. An unspecified number of coffee bars and cafes will be taken over by third party providers, Unite, which represents around 9,000 Sainsbury’s staff, understands read more
Huge vote for industrial action as Unite calls on MAHLE Engine Systems to think again on further cuts (1 Mar) – Unite the union has today (Tuesday, 1 March) confirmed that its membership at MAHLE Engine Systems based in Kilmarnock have voted for industrial action in a dispute over pay, terms and conditions. The ballot involved around 130 workers at the plant’s materials unit. 89 per cent of Unite’s members supported strike action in a ballot turnout of 82.4 per cent. Over 95 per cent of the workers also supported taking action short of a strike including an overtime ban. The workers will take part in three 7-day periods of strike action starting at 7.30am on 14 to 21 March, 28 March to 4 April, and 11 to 18 April. There will also be a continuous ban on overtime starting at 07:30am on 14 March. The workers are contesting the current holiday entitlement provisions and contractual clauses which can shut the plant down for two weeks at any given period. The plant makes high-quality components for motorsport engines, combustion engines and electric vehicles read more
Unite welcomes ‘ground-breaking’ pay deal for ICTS workers at Glasgow Airport (1 Mar) – Unite the union today (1 March) welcomed a ‘ground-breaking’ deal for ICTS security workers based at Glasgow Airport worth up to 11.4 per cent. The pay offer has now been accepted by around 50 workers involved in providing security at the Airport. The security agents perform a number of tasks including the x-ray screening of hold baggage, document checks and the upkeep of the baggage system. The agreement will now see pay rates increase to £9.50 per hour backdated to 1 April 2021, representing a 6.1 per cent increase. Unite further secured an increase in the basic rate of pay to £10 per hour from 1 April 2022, which represents a further 5.3 per cent increase read more
Unite to stage targeted industrial action as council workers express disgust at 1.75% pay offer (28 Feb) – Unite’s local government members will stage targeted industrial action at councils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in March, after rejecting a 1.75 per cent pay offer in a ballot of more than 300 local authorities. More than 80 per cent of Unite’s 70,000 members, who voted in nearly 400 separate ballots, were in favour of industrial action over the 1.75 per cent offer made by the Local Government Association (with 2.75 per cent for those on the bottom pay point) for 2021/22. Council workers from Belfast to Bath to Ipswich have said loud and clear: ‘We are worth more’. The union said that the employers’ offer was and remains ‘completely unacceptable’, given that the RPI rate of inflation has raced ahead to 7.8 per cent. (A list of councils, where the legal threshold for industrial action has been met and where action will be taken, will be unveiled soon) read more
Envases Liverpool Ltd printers to strike over dismissal of Unite rep (28 Feb) – Members of Unite employed as printers by Envases Liverpool Ltd will take 12 days of strike action next month following the dismissal of the union’s rep. Unite believes that its rep John Williams was dismissed on the false charges as a direct consequence of him standing up for the Unite members at the factory. Envases had sought to use misleading information and a false statement to try to drive a wedge between Unite and another union at the factory. After Mr Williams exposed the company’s actions he was dismissed read more
GE Aviation workers in Gloucester to strike over pay (24 Feb) – Workers employed by GE Aviation Systems Limited’s subsidiary Dowty Propellers are to begin strike action next week in a dispute over pay. The 90-plus workers, who are based at the company’s factory in Hurricane Road, Gloucester, are taking industrial action after rejecting a two year pay offer worth just 4.5 per cent, even though the real level of inflation (RPI) currently stands at 7.8 per cent. The first strike will take place on Friday 4 March, with further strikes scheduled for every Friday until 20 May read more
Stagecoach bus drivers in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire to strike during Cheltenham Festival in low pay dispute – Over 380 bus drivers employed by Stagecoach West and based throughout Gloucestershire and Wiltshire have announced a month long strike in a dispute over chronic low pay. Strike action, which was backed overwhelmingly by the drivers who are members of Unite the union, will begin on Thursday 10 March and continue until Saturday 9 April coinciding with the Cheltenham Festival. The strike is set to cause considerable disruption to the event as Stagecoach has the contract to take festival goers to and from the racecourse. With many drivers paid under £11 per hour, Unite has been pressing for an increase in line with real inflation, currently at 7.8 per cent. However, Stagecoach has tabled offers that are in effect pay cuts. It is the first time ever that the drivers have voted for industrial action read more
Support the Scunthorpe Scaffolders: Follow @UniteNEYH & @UnitedScaffs on twitter
Donate to strike fund:-
Either via bank transfer – sort code: 60-83-01 account number: 20173962, account name: Unite North East Region 1% Fund, reference: Actavo Limited and your branch number
Or by cheque made payable to ‘Unite the Union’ and forwarded to the Leeds Regional Office, Unite the Union, 55 Call Lane, Leeds LS1 7BW marked for the attention of the Regional Secretary (Actavo Limited Dispute). Letters of support can be sent to the Regional Office
Support striking Manchester Chep workers – the workers, members of Unite the union, have been on strike since December – and recently renewed their mandate for strike action into the spring by a majority of 94 per cent – over the management’s failure to improve on their offer of two per cent, when the RPI rate of inflation is running at 7.5 per cent. Chep UK, which is based in Trafford Park, Manchester, repairs and supplies pallets for supporting and transporting goods to a host of prominent companies including InBev, Heinz, Heineken, A&B Containers, Encric and TDS. Unite is dedicated to advancing the jobs, pay and conditions of its members and will fight back against any efforts to diminish workers’ living standards read more
Economic forecasters to strike in a row over inflation – Economists and researchers at the world famous NIESR (National Institute of Economic and Social Research) will stage a two week strike in a row over two years of below inflation pay offers. The strike begins on Friday 21st January and ends on Friday 4 February. The action means that there is a very real possibility that the forthcoming forecasts for the UK and global economies, which have been published quarterly since the 1980s, will not go ahead. NIESR staff will be unable to deliver on project work for external partners and funders, and will be unable to participate in events and other dissemination activities. The RPI reached 7.1 per cent at the end of 2021 but NIESR bosses are sticking to their decision to give staff 0% for 2020-21 and just 2% for 2021-22. The pay offer fails to keep up with the rising cost of living and represents a significant pay cut in real terms read more
Strike action set to hit Dalkeith based FLB print firm – Unite the union has today (10 January) confirmed that around 110 workers at print and publishing firm FLB Group in Dalkeith, which owns the Filofax and Letts brands, will take strike action this week in a dispute over pay. The strike action will take place on Wednesday (12 January) at 6am and conclude at 05:59am on Thursday. It is the first of a series of 24 hour stoppages commencing every Wednesday into Thursday until 31 March. Some 95.7 per cent of the eligible workforce previously voted in support of strike action in late November on an 84.4 per cent turnout. The pay dispute originates from early 2021 when Unite’s members were informed by FLB that there would be no pay rise. Due to pressure from Unite, the company made several unsatisfactory offers that ended with a below inflation two-year offer of 2.75 per cent. Unite is demanding a six per cent pay increase at a time when the cost of living is at a ten-year high. The Retail Prices Index stood at 7.1 per cent in November 2021 read more
Strike action by Turners of Soham logistic drivers set to impact major aviation companies – Logistic drivers working for Turners of Soham based out of Grangemouth are set to begin strike action tomorrow (6 January) in a dispute over pay. The logistic drivers work on the Q8 Aviation Deliveries contract which provides fuel services for a number of major aviation companies. The strike action follows 100% of Unite members voting to take strike action, on a turnout of 100% at the end of December 2021, following a lack of progress after months of negotiations with the company. The current wave of strike action ends on 14 January at 24:00 hours with further dates to be planned in the coming weeks. Unite’s members based at Grangemouth have been offered an 8.7% increase, despite the same company awarding its drivers in the North West of England 17.5% in October of last year read more
Transport for London bosses ‘declare war’ as seven workers suspended at crisis-hit Woolwich Ferry – Transport for London (TfL) bosses were today (Tuesday 21 December) accused of ‘declaring war’ on the Woolwich Ferry’s workforce by Unite the union, as seven workers were suspended with no reason given. Unite also said that there needs to be an urgent investigation into so-called ‘technical issues’ that mean the troubled ferry operation will be out of action until the New Year. The union has, therefore, called off planned strike action in the first fortnight of January, due to start on Monday 3 January. Unite regional officer Onay Kasab said: “We are also demanding an investigation into the on-going technical difficulties with the ferry which means there will be no ferry service until sometime in the New Year. As a result, we will be suspending at least the first two weeks of our industrial action in January. The strikes, once they commence, are due to run until the end of March…” read more
East Lancashire NHS Trust intransigence forces new period of strike action by biomedical scientists – East Lancashire NHS Trust intransigence forces new period of strike action by biomedical scientists. Bosses at East Lancashire NHS Trust must shoulder the blame for a new 12 week strike which starts today (15 December). Blackburn and Burnley biomedical scientists will re-start strike action today (Wednesday 15 December) in a dispute over unpaid wages. Union negotiators met with the Trust on Tuesday (7 December) last week in an attempt to identify a solution to the dispute. It was an opportunity to avoid further strike action and to re-establish union / Trust relations. On the eve of the strike, the Trust had still failed to take up the opportunity to end the dispute read more
Evonik workers at historic Manchester chemicals site strike over pay – Evonik workers at a 130-year-old Manchester chemicals site are to strike over pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Wednesday 13 October). Around 25 production and warehouse operatives at Evonik’s Clayton site, which has been a chemical plant since 1892, are taking industrial action after rejecting a 1.5 per cent pay offer read more
PCS
PCS 2022 pay claims in departments and national ballot – see here for HM Land Registry, DCMS, Cabinet Office, Scottish Sector, BEIS, Home Office, Department of Health and Social Care, DWP, MOJ, Attorney General’s Office, Department for Education, DfT, Welsh Government and Senedd Commission, Defra, Ministry of Defence, Met Police, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, HMRC
Deadline to join and vote in PCS national ballot 5pm, 4 March – Non-members who join by 5pm on Friday (4 March) can get a vote in our national consultative ballot on pay, pensions and the cost-of-living crisis. The ballot of our public sector members runs until 21 March and asks what action they would be prepared to take in support in our campaign to raise pay, pensions and living standards. It’s not too late to join and have your say. New members who join by 5pm on Friday (4 March) will be included in the ballot automatically read more
Strike ballot victory at the British Council (2 Mar) – PCS members at the British Council have overwhelmingly voted in favour of industrial action in a statutory ballot on redundancies, restructuring and outsourcing. 73% were in favour of strike action, and 85% were in favour of action short of strike. The turnout surpassed the 50% threshold required by law for industrial action to be called. PCS has asked that the CEO, Scott McDonald, meet with the union to discuss the ballot results and the demands of the campaign. While some concessions have been achieved in redundancy consultation so far, without serious intervention the British Council as we know it will be devastated beyond recognition. In a world with increasing levels of conflict, the role of cultural relations organisations should not be underplayed and diminished in this way by the UK government. If significant progress cannot be achieved through negotiations, then PCS members will have no choice but to serve notice of industrial action read more
Atos members to take industrial action on 28 February – The members working for Atos IT Services will take a day’s strike action followed by an overtime ban. PCS members working for Atos IT Services on the National Savings & Investment, PiP, BBC and Tax Free Child Care contracts are to start industrial action on 28 February. Atos have not made an improved offer since our members overwhelmingly rejected the 1.5% pay offer. Our claim is for 5% or £1300 underpin plus a £600 one off payment in recognition of the contribution our members made throughout the pandemic. The industrial action is twofold with a strike on 28 February followed by action short of a strike, which will include an overtime ban across all the accounts. If we do not receive a significantly improved offer we will be continuing the action short of a strike and also moving to all out selective strike action read more
Fujitsu members vote for strike action over pay – PCS members in Fujitsu have voted strongly in favour of industrial action. PCS members who work for Fujitsu Services have voted by 77.1% to take strike action and by 90.7% to take action short of a strike on a turnout of 80.4%. Members are furious at being offered 1.5% after a pay freeze last year and due to the current cost of living crisis spiralling out of control. This is in effect a 0.75% pay offer per year and goes no way near to meeting our very reasonable and justified pay claim of a consolidated 4% increase or a £1500 underpin whichever is greater. PCS has written to Fujitsu to inform them of the result and ask them if they want to reopen the pay negotiations. We have made it clear that only a significantly increased offer will prevent the union moving to industrial action read more
GMB
BREAKING NEWS!! Barrow bin strike tomorrow as three quarters of workers walk out (8 Mar) – A Barrow bin strike will take place tomorrow [9 March 2022] as more than three quarters of the work force down tools. Refuse collectors working for FCC Environment voted unanimously to walk out over the real terms pay cut offered by bosses. The strikes will take place on six days from 9 to 11 March and then 16 to 18 affecting more than 33,000 households read more
Construction unions fight for correct pay at energy-to-waste plant (7 Mar) – Construction unions GMB and Unite have launched a campaign to ensure that workers employed on a new waste-to-energy plant at Skelton Grange, Leeds are paid the correct rate for the job. More than 500 construction workers will be employed on the £250 million project, which will eventually provide power for 100,000 homes. The project is being built for Enfinium by principal contractor Hitachi Zosen Inova (HZI). The nature of the construction work means that it should be built under the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI). HZI has previously built two waste-to-energy plants, at Ferrybridge in Yorkshire, where the workers were employed under the NAECI agreement, but is not applying the NAECI agreement on this project read more
Refuse workers vote for bin strike in North Somerset (7 Mar) – North Somerset residents are facing piling bins after refuse staff voted for industrial action. Almost 100 workers at recycling centres and refuse collection services run by North Somerset Environment Company are set to walk out. The strike could affect 88,000 homes. Workers are angry after North Somerset Council, who set up the company last year, have only provided funding for a 4.5 per cent pay award over two years. With inflation running at 7.8 per cent and expected to get even higher, this amounts to a big real-terms pay cut read more
Thousands of jobs saved at Liberty Steel (7 Mar) – GMB Union has responded to today’s announcement that winding up orders on Liberty Steel have been retracted and thousands of short term the jobs have been saved read more
Solihull bin strike to go ahead (4 Mar) – A Solihull bin strike affecting more than 86,000 homes will go ahead after GMB members voted for industrial action. In total 84 per cent of the refuse collectors who took part in the ballot voted for a walk out. Amey Services Limited who employ the workers, are refusing to negotiate collectively with GMB Union on workers’ pay. Refuse and recycling services for Solihull Metropolitan Council – including Bickenhill waste tip and recycling centre, local cemeteries, street cleansing, parks and more than 86,000 households will be affected. GMB will now meet with members to discuss strike dates read more
MP meet striking workers at Fox’s Glacier Mints factory (4 Mar) – York MP Rachael Maskell met with workers at Valeo, manufacturer of Fox’s Glacier Mints, Mint Humbugs and Poppets, ahead of their strike action. Dozens of GMB members voted to walk out after Valeo bosses offered below inflation pay rise, excluded the lowest paid workers from a one-off payment and took two days holiday off others. Industrial action is set to start on 21 March read more
Calderdale hospital workers protest over ‘poverty pay’ (3 Mar) – GMB union members working as cleaners, caterers, porters and security will demonstration outside Calderdale Royal Hospital in anger over ‘poverty pay’. The protest takes place as follows: Saturday 5 March 2022 at 2pm – Calderdale Royal Hospital, Salterhebble, Halifax HX3 0PW. Workers are unhappy their employer ISS pays only the minimum wage while other nearby hospitals – in Bradford, Leeds and Doncaster – those in identical roles employed by the NHS are paid £1.28 per hour more. Many Calderdale workers don’t receive weekend enhancements and are on a lower night rate read more
Wiltshire bin strike to go ahead from Monday after GMB members turn down pay offer (3 Mar) – A two-week Wiltshire bin strike affecting 250,000 homes is set to go ahead on Monday [7 March 2022] after GMB members turned down a new pay offer. The industrial action was due to begin on 28 February, but was postponed after Hills Municipal Collections made an improved offer. GMB took the latest updated offer to members across all three affected sites in this dispute – they voted to reject the offer as it remains short of their expectations. The latest offer included moving the agreed pay anniversary, meaning ow paid workers would have to wait longer to start any more pay negotiations read more
Croydon Hospital workers balloted for strike action amid cost of living crisis (3 Mar) – GMB union are set to ballot their members working as domestics and porters at Croydon University Hospital for strike action. The members, who are employed by G4S are unhappy that the company have failed to pay their workers the London Living Wage or occupational sick pay. The ballot opens on Friday (4th March) and will close on Friday 18th March, and comes on the back of a packed out member meeting at which there was a unanimous vote to be formally balloted. The dispute begun with a successful protest in January and has won support from doctors, nurses and medical staff, as well as the general public and external groups such as local politicians and fellow trade unions read more
Ninety days pay reclaimed for Reylon workers (2 Mar) – The furniture magnate went into administration back in June 2021. Staff were made redundant on July 10th, inside the legally protected 90-day consultancy period for staff redundancy. After representations from GMB, the employment tribunal has now ruled that the company must pay the redundancy in full read more
Northampton faces bin strike after refuse collectors ‘hung out to dry’ (2 Mar) – Northampton town faces a bin strike after refuse workers were ‘hung out to dry’ with a massive real terms pay cut. More than 70 GMB refuse collectors working for Veolia have turned down a pay offer of just 2.5 per cent – despite inflation running at a 7.8 per cent. Workers are ‘furious’ because the council – ultimately responsible for bin collections – have increased Veolia’s funding by 5.5 per cent, but the company are refusing to pass that on to workers. The strike ballot will open in the next few days, and any industrial action could affect up to 94,500 homes read more
GMB protest outside Lewisham Hospital over ‘insulting’ 20 pence pay rise (1 Mar) – GMB union members employed in Lewisham and Greenwich NHS trust as cleaners, porters and hostesses are planning a demonstration outside Lewisham Hospital on Monday [7 March 2022]. The workers are unhappy their employer, Danish outsourcing giant ISS, has offered them a 20p per hour pay rise. These key workers have not had a pay rise since before the pandemic and are demanding the London Living Wage of £11.05. ISS took on the contract in 2020 based on them being a living wage employer but have consistently paid their workers below that rate for two years read more
Adur and Worthing bin strike dates announced – GMB Union has announced the Adur and Worthing bin strike will begin on Monday 14 March. Industrial action – set to last at least 14 days – will continue until March 27. The council’s Chief Executive and Director for Digital, Sustainability and Resources now have three weeks to avoid disruption to 82,000 homes, the union says. More than 60 refuse, streets and recycling operatives and drivers will walk out after their demands for a pay increase, increased rates for overtime and shift patterns, plus a review of operating and management practices were ignored by management read more
Barrow bin strike confirmed as refuse collectors vote for industrial action – A Barrow bin strike has been confirmed after GMB members voted for industrial action. More than three quarters of the refuse collectors working for FCC Environment voted unanimously to walk out. The strikes will take place on six days from 9 – 11 March and then 16 – 18 affecting more than 33,000 households read more
Unison
Glasgow branch overwhelmingly votes to back new strike action (7 Mar) – The long running dispute around equal pay and has continued even after the members were awarded a £500m settlement in 2019. UNISON members at Glasgow City Council have voted in favour of strike action in an ongoing equal pay dispute. In a ballot of just under 9,000 workers, with 52.5% of members voting, 96% of UNISON members voted to take further industrial action. The branch will now be seeking authorisation from the union’s NEC before moving forward with industrial action. The ballot comes as part of a long-running legal dispute with Glasgow City council around equal pay. In 2019, a £500m settlement was agreed with staff which settled pay claims up until March 2018 and included a new pay and grading system to rectify issues of unequal pay, primarily of women. Since then, around 5,500 new claims have been lodged for the period prior to March 2018, with nearly 20,000 claimants waiting on settlements for the period after that. The current dispute centres around whether the new claimants receive the terms of the 2019 agreement, while the council has recently said that it may not be able to finally settle its debt to these women until 2024, with no progress has been made on the issue of interim payments read more
Forced academisation threat for schools is stopped (1 Mar) – Education secretary withdraws order which would have affected 19 schools. The Secretary of State for Education has agreed to withdraw Academy Orders that were sent to schools in the Catholic Diocese of Hallam after education unions warned that they were ‘unlawful’. Unions representing staff in schools across Hallam Diocese – which has schools in Yorkshire and the North Midlands – wrote to the Secretary of State last month warning him that letters sent to all Voluntary Aided schools in the area informing them that they would be forced to join Multi-Academy Trusts were ‘unlawful’ and unless they were withdrawn unions would have no choice but to pursue legal action. The Secretary of State has now formally withdrawn the Academy Orders for all 19 schools affected. The unions who took part in this action were school leaders’ union NAHT, the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), the National Education Union (NEU), and public service union UNISON read more
Pay and pensions issues prompt higher education strike – Decent wage offer needed and pensions preserved. Staff are striking at 11 universities and higher education institutions from today (Monday 21 Feb) over a range of issues including pay and pensions, UNISON says. Action will take place on several days over the next fortnight at Birkbeck, SOAS, City, King’s College London, Goldsmiths (all University of London), Trinity Laban, Brighton University, Edinburgh Napier University, Gloucestershire University, Leeds University and Queen Margaret University read more
Further industrial action at Sandwell Leisure Trust – UNISON members set to take to the picket lines for a sixth time in continued fight against their employer’s fire and rehire tactics. Workers at Portway Lifestyle Centre and Tipton Leisure Centre in the West Midlands will take strike action on Thursday 24 February. This follows last month’s strike on 28 January, which received widespread support read more
NIPSA
Urgent Message: Trade Union Activists in NJC Workplaces (4 Mar) – We wish to take this opportunity to clarify the position of the Northern Ireland NJC trade unions listed above. Following consultation by each union with its members the offer of a 1.75% uplift for workers covered by NJC terms and conditions has been resoundingly rejected. There has been complete refusal by NJC employers side to improve their offer. The NJC pay award covers workers in Local Authority, Council’s, and Schools across England. Wales. In Northern Ireland NJC covers Local Authorities, Education Authority, Housing Executive, Libraries, FE Colleges and arms-length bodies. Our members in England and Wales are bound by restrictive anti-trade union legislation which requires any Industrial Action ballot to obtain more than a 50% turnout before any action can be taken. This threshold was not met by any of the unions. While unions in Northern Ireland are not bound by the 50% threshold for industrial action, we have also had to take account of the forthcoming end of mandate of the current Northern Ireland Executive and Ministers. Northern Ireland NJC trade unions met, under the auspices of ICTU, to discuss the results of each unions consultations and assess the responses of our membership. This meeting was attended by Northern Ireland representatives of UNISON, NIPSA, GMB SIPTU and Unite. At that meeting, all unions confirmed a common view that this year’s pay award has failed to address the expectations of our members. On that basis the unions agreed to seek to explore a future common campaigning approach, up to and including future industrial action, to defend and improve our members’ living standards read more
NIPSA Members employed as Education Welfare Officers announce 72 Hour stoppage (1 Mar) – NIPSA, the largest union from the non-teaching workforce in Education, announces that members employed as Education Welfare Officers will embark on 3 full days of strike action commencing 2nd March read more
Society of Radiographers
Joint NHS union reaction to RCN pay position breach (8 Mar) – The NHS unions are deeply disappointed that the RCN has taken the decision to back out of the collective position on NHS pay agreed by everyone in January and confirmed in a formal vote of the Staff Council staff side. All 14 unions signed up to the collective call for an urgent NHS retention package, with an inflation-busting pay rise at its heart. This package, which aims to help the NHS hold on to increasingly disillusioned staff, formed the basis of the joint union evidence submitted to the NHS pay review body last month. The submission set the key conditions by which unions would judge any pay outcome. Crucially, the retention package was designed to generate a ‘unity position’ after the multi-claim approach taken in the previous pay round. All the unions had concluded that a shared position was an essential element of the campaigning power necessary to achieve a decent outcome on pay this year. The RCN had been strong advocates for a collective position and voted in support when the staff council decision was originally taken. Sadly, the RCN has now breached this agreement by announcing a separate position for 2022-23, preventing Agenda for Change staff from speaking with one voice on pay this year read more
RCN
NHS pay: RCN demands pay rise of 5% above inflation and asks members to do one crucial thing to help make the case (7 Mar) – We’ve set our UK pay position for 2022-23, warning ministers that they must rethink current pay plan or risk staff losses that erode safe care standards read more
Health and Care Bill: peers vote for legal duty on workforce assessment, but it doesn’t go far enough, insists RCN (3 Mar) – The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care must be made accountable for fixing the nursing workforce crisis read more
CWU
BREAKING NEWS!! Post Office members – VOTE YES and join us on the zoom rally at 7.30pm! (8 Mar) – Around 1,400 CWU members working for the Post Office will start voting tomorrow morning on strike action against the pay freeze. The union is calling for the biggest possible YES vote and asking members to attend this evening’s ‘virtual’ meeting. “It’s so important that we get a massive YES and also a massive turnout,” said CWU assistant secretary Andy Furey, as he prepared for the 7.30pm online rally. With inflation high and rising, we’ve got to smash the freeze…” read more
TUPE talks deliver important safeguards for Supply Chain members (4 Mar) – Intensive negotiations with BT Supply Chain and logistics giant GXO that were triggered by BT’s shock announcement last month of a major outsourcing of the company’s warehousing and transport operations have already delivered a raft of important safeguards and reassurances for those impacted. Despite CWU dismay at being presented with a virtual ‘fait accompli’, with no opportunity being given for the union to champion an in-house solution before commercial contracts with GXO were signed – an omission that has been forcefully raised with senior BT management – the union has necessarily been focussing on defending the interests of members going forward read more
FBU
“Will be too much to deal with”: FBU responds to IPCC climate change flooding and extreme heat warning (Mar 1) – The FBU has responded to a new UN report on climate change by stating that much more needs to be done on climate change in terms of both prevention and adapting to its devastating impacts. The report, released yesterday and from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, suggests that Europe will face increasingly severe climate impacts, including in terms of heatwaves and flooding, unless action is taken to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Firefighters are the public service primarily tasked with responding to flooding incidents in the UK. There are known links between heatwaves and wildfires, which firefighters are also responsible for responding to read more
BFAWU
We have a right to food by BFAWU General Secretary Sarah Woolley (27 Feb) – Over the last year the Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) has been busy continuing our work on the ‘Right to Food’ campaign. An extensive members’ survey conducted last year produced shocking results. 40% of respondents said that due to a lack of money they had eaten less than they thought they should have at some point during the pandemic. Over 35% said they had gone without enough food to make sure others in the house could be properly fed and 19% reported that there had been a time during the pandemic when their household had run out of food because of a lack of money. And it goes on, more than a fifth of members said they have had to rely on the support of friends and for food with 7% reporting that at least once they have had to rely on a food bank to feed their household. These statistics do not lie. They tell the story of real people. The very people who worked in factories, bakeries and food processing plants all through the pandemic keeping the country fed. These workers need a pay rise read more
NEU
Joint union statement to STRB (4 Mar) – Education unions call on the Government to repair damage to teacher and school leader pay. Organisations representing virtually all teachers and school leaders in England, ASCL, NAHT, NASUWT, NEU and Voice Community, have submitted a joint statement to the School Teachers’ Review Body. The statement calls for the STRB and the Government to listen to the united voice of the teaching profession and to make the changes necessary to recruit, retain and properly value teachers and school leaders read more
BREAKING NEWS!! GDST strikes for this coming week are suspended because of ACAS talks
Strike details for Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST)’s independent schools in England and Wales from 10 February – Countdown to strike action at GDST’s 23 independent schools. In one week from now, teacher members of the National Education Union in Girls’ Day School Trust (GDST)’s independent schools in England and Wales will go on strike to defend their pensions. Six days of strike action have been announced – 10 February 2022, 23 February, 24 February, 1 March, 2 March, 3 March read more
Wales: Strike action at Howells School over pensions – from 10 February, teacher members of the NEU at Howells School will go on strike to defend their pensions. Four days of nationally co-ordinated strike action have been announced across the Girls’ Day School Trust’s independent school in the Wales – 10 February 2022, 1 March, 2 March, 3 March. A single formal ballot, which closed last week, resulted in 95% of teacher members at the 23 schools voting in favour of discontinuous strike action on a turnout of 84%. (1) This is an unprecedented and overwhelming ‘yes’ vote for action, and the strike action will be the first in the Trust’s entire 149-year history. Howells School will not take part in the strike days planned for 23 February and 24 February due to it being half term read more
Support these strikes:-
| Action | Date | Contact |
| Ipswich School / Suffolk
(TPS) |
8-9 March | [email protected]
|
| Forest School /Waltham Forest
(TPS) |
8-10 March | [email protected]
|
| Bobby Moore Academy / Newham
(Terms & Conditions) |
9-10 March | [email protected]
|
| Prior’s Field / Surrey
(TPS) |
08 March; 10 March | [email protected]
|
| South Chingford Foundation School
/ Waltham Forest (Redundancies/Workload) |
10 March | [email protected] |
NASUWT
Northumberland teachers take strike action over workload and working practices (7 Mar) – Members of NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union at Bedlington Academy in Northumberland will take the first of fifteen planned days of strike action tomorrow (Tuesday) over adverse management practices which are negatively impacting on members’ health and welfare. Members at the school are facing excessive and unacceptable workload burdens, along with a failure by management to put in place effective measures to manage pupil behaviour read more
Ipswich teachers strike to protect pensions (28 Feb) – Members of NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union at Ipswich School are taking the first of six days of planned strike action tomorrow (Tuesday) after being threatened with dismissal from their jobs unless they agree to new contracts that would leave them with worse pensions and working conditions. The Employer is seeking to withdraw from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) and impose inferior pension arrangements on teachers which would adversely affect their future financial security read more
London teachers strike over attack on pensions – Members of NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union at Forest School in North East London are starting the first of six planned days of strike action tomorrow (Wednesday 22 Feb), over adverse plans for their pensions, all of which have the potential to leave teachers worse off in future read more
Norwich teachers strike over pensions – Members of NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union at Norwich High School for Girls, are starting the first of six days of planned strike action tomorrow (10 February) in protest at plans to downgrade their pensions, which would leave them significantly worse off in retirement. The Girls Day School Trust (GDST), which runs the school, is planning to withdraw from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) and impose an inferior scheme on its teachers. Staff have been threatened with dismissal from their jobs if they refuse to sign up to new contracts which include the downgraded pension entitlement. The NASUWT does not believe there is any financial justification for GDST to seek these cuts to teachers’ pension entitlements. GDST has enough funds to offer teachers fair pensions. The Trust’s finances are in a healthy condition with total funds of £461.9 million and available reserves of £43.1 million as of August 2020 read more
EIS
EIS opens consultative strike ballot over Dundee faculty plans (4 Mar) – The Dundee Local Association of the EIS has opened a consultative strike ballot over Dundee Council’s proposals to move to a faculty structure in its secondary schools. The ballot will run until 21 March and the EIS is urging all of its members in Dundee secondary schools to use their vote to support strike action in protest at the council’s plans read more
UCU
UK universities to face five more days of strike action before Easter (4 Mar) – UCU today said that 68 universities across the UK will face a further five days of strike action beginning this month unless vice chancellors revoke pension cuts and meet staff demands over pay and working conditions. Over 50,000 staff are taking five further days of strike action over two weeks in both the USS pension dispute and the pay and working conditions dispute. In the first week 39 universities will take five days of action from Monday 21 March to Friday 25 March. In the second week of action 29 universities will take five days of action from Monday 28 March to Friday 1 April. Well over a million students will be impacted. As part of the ongoing dispute, all branches will also be reballoted soon in preparation for potential industrial action next term. Due to the nature of its teaching model, staff at the Open University will be taking seven days of strike action. Staff at the 68 universities just finished taking up to 10 days of strike action this week but after employers forced through pension cuts and refused to negotiate meaningfully over pay and working conditions, further action has now been called read more
Dispute ‘far from over’ says UCU as employers force through pension cuts (22 Feb) – UCU has told university employers to expect more industrial action, including a marking and assessment boycott, as UUK’s proposals that would lead to devastating cuts to USS pensions were ratified at a meeting of the JNC today read more
Strike warning over low pay in North West colleges (25 Feb) – The University and College Union (UCU) today warned the leaders of colleges in the North West that strike action is on the cards unless staff pay demands are met. Over 1,000 UCU members at Hopwood Hall, Bury, Burnley, Oldham, The Manchester, and City of Liverpool colleges were asked in a consultative ballot whether they were willing to take strike action in support of an ‘inflation plus’ pay claim. They overwhelmingly turned out to vote yes. A consultative ballot is the first step on the path to industrial action. UCU will move to a statutory industrial action ballot, and potential strike action, unless its demands are met. If strikes were to take place over 40k students could be impacted. UCU is demanding that the colleges increase pay by at least the level of inflation for 2021/22. This would mean pay increases of at least 8.5%. Since 2009 pay in further education has fallen by 35% in real terms and the gap between school and college teachers stands at around £9k read more
Strikes begin today at Goldsmiths in jobs row – Industrial action by University and College Union (UCU) members will begin today (Monday 7 Feb) at Goldmiths University as part of an ongoing dispute over plans to sack 46 members of staff. Goldsmiths wants to make the cuts as part of a ‘recovery plan’ after years of financial mismanagement have left the university with a £12.7m deficit. The union says the ‘recovery plan’ is a deal struck with Lloyds and Natwest banks to use redundancies to improve the university’s finances. Following a failure by the university last week to reduce the number of compulsory redundancies staff have been left with no option but to take industrial action in defence of jobs. Staff will walk out today (Monday 7 February) and tomorrow, and follow this up with strike action alongside that taking place as part of UCU’s national pay and pension disputes later this month. The full dates that Goldsmiths staff will be on strike over this dispute are – Week 1 Mon 7 & 8 Feb; Week 2 Wed 16 – Fri 18 Feb; Week 3 Mon 28 Feb – Fri 4 March
The university has already been hit with a global boycott which means UCU is asking its members, other trade unions, labour movement organisations and the international academic community to support its members at Goldsmiths in any way possible read more Follow @GoldsmithsUCU on twitter
UCU fighting fund: the link is here and donations to the fund are spent on supporting members involved in important disputes.
NUJ
#BreakTheBias – International Women’s Day 2022 (8 Mar) – This year’s theme is about celebrating women’s achievements, raising awareness of bias and taking action for equality read more
NUJ condemns Russia’s domestic crackdown on reporting of war on Ukraine (4 Mar) – NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet has condemned new Russian legislation designed to criminalise journalism and deter the independent reporting of the invasion of Ukraine read more
Ukraine: new safety solidarity fund (3 Mar) – A special fund to support journalists working in Ukraine is now open. Please donate today read more
NUJ renews calls for independent investigation into O’Hagan murder (1 Mar) – Following fresh allegations concerning the conduct of the police investigation, the National Union of Journalists has made a renewed call for an independent international investigation into the murder of Sunday World journalist and union activist, Martin O’Hagan in September 2001 read more
Prospect
Increase in pay for MPs will be met askance by many civil service members (2 Mar) – Prospect has responded to news that MPs will receive a 2.7% pay rise against the background of pay restraint for public servants read more
Broken pay system at Natural England poses risks to net zero and biodiversity targets (1 Mar) – A new report by Prospect trade union has found that Natural England’s broken pay system is threatening its ability to attract and retain highly-skilled and committed staff… Prospect members are currently taking part in industrial action short of a strike against Natural England over pay and have a mandate to take strike action if necessary read more
Equity
Equity ICAF: We’re pledging up to £10,000 to help artists affected by the war in Ukraine (7 Mar) – Equity’s International Committee for Artists’ Freedom (ICAF) are pledging up to £10,000 to help artists affected by the war in Ukraine. ICAF have issued the following statement read more
Equity and Hope Mill Theatre agree improved terms for performers and stage management (3 Mar) – Stronger minimum pay and working conditions are at the centre of our recently updated House Agreement with the North West’s Factory of Creativity. The agreement covers actors, performers and stage management in all house produced productions at Manchester’s Hope Mill Theatre and improves upon the one signed in 2020. The agreement ensures that performance and stage management professionals working at the Hope Mill Theatre are protected by the terms of the Equity House Agreement and commits to stronger working practices, placing dignity at work and equality at the heart of all productions read more
Sign the petition to save Stratford Circus! https://www.change.org/p/save-stratford-circus
USDAW
#ReinstateMax Week of Action March 12th-18th – defend sacked Tesco USDAW rep Max McGee
3 months on from exhausting all appeals, Max McGee is preparing to take Tesco to an Employment Tribunal over his trade union victimisation and sacking. A GoFundMe page has been set up to donate to Max’s reinstatement campaign and trade union comrades are encouraged to raise the campaign at their Trade Union branches and Trades Councils over the coming weeks. Link to the page below:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/reinstate-max-usdaw-rep-socialist
To keep the pressure on Tesco in the run up to the upcoming Employment Tribunal we will be using the funds raised to produce a run of leaflets drawing attention to his case. We are asking that where comrades can, distribute leaflets outside their nearest Tesco and take photos of themselves holding posters with #ReinstateMax on them in the week of March 12th-18th.
Messages of solidarity and photos can be sent to [email protected]
ACS Crime Report 2022 confirms Usdaw’s findings that 9 in 10 shopworkers suffered verbal abuse last year (8 Mar) – Leading retail trade body the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has today published their annual crime report, which confirms Usdaw’s findings of the scale of violence, threats and abuse faced by shopworkers. The ACS report finds that 89% of shopworkers are suffering verbal abuse, which matches the high levels found by Usdaw’s own annual survey of retail staff. ACS also found that on average convenience store owners spend over £5,000 on crime prevention, which effectively results in a 9p ‘crime tax’ on every transaction made in these local small shops read more
Abuse, threats and violence against shopworkers remain high, confidence in reporting incidents is low – Usdaw annual survey results published (3 Mar) – Retail trade union Usdaw has today published shocking statistics from their annual survey of nearly 3,500 retail staff, which show that in the last twelve months:
- 90% have experienced verbal abuse.
- 64% were threatened by a customer.
- 12% were assaulted.
- 61% said they were not confident that reporting abuse, threats and violence will make a difference read more
UVW
UVW GOSH strike protest: Friday 11th March – 12.00pm
Support the six-week GOSH security guards strike, every Friday
📍Meeting point: North end of Queen Square, London WC1N 3AU
There are some restrictions within 50 metres of the hospital which we will clarify to anyone joining us. 🚫
See this map of where we’re meeting and the rough area where the restrictions apply. 🗺️
UVW stewards will be on hand to answer any questions.
Let’s make sure the wealthy GOSH trustees see us and hear us! 🎺 We won’t give up the fight for equality! ✊🏾
THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES: GOSH STRIKE RALLIES ARE BACK! (2 Mar) – Security guards at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) held their first picket since a series of rallies was interrupted by a High Court injunction and then an extratropical cyclone. Security guards at the hospital are more than half way through a six-week strike against racist outsourcing. The outsourcing arrangement puts the security guards, who are predominantly Black, brown and migrant, on poorer terms and conditions than other NHS workers. The dispute has seen them be ignored by the hospital and subjected to a High Court injunction restricting their right to protest, union-busting tactics and even racial slurs read more
UVW forces Mitie bosses to drop bogus disciplinary process against union member (2 Mar) – “I raised grievance last year because I felt I was being bullied and harassed, but my complaint wasn’t upheld. To my surprise I was then put through a bogus disciplinary process, which I felt was related to my complaints. But thanks to the support and encouragement of my union, we managed to quash it. I won because I am a union member and I was very well supported by my union representative, Chris, who encouraged me and advised me at every step. I am so happy to be a member of UVW. I always recommend this union to my friends and my colleagues, and some have already joined. I advise everyone to join UVW. Thank you UVW for the all support!” – Maria, Mitie security officer and UVW member read more
IWGB
Migrant Cleaners Protest Poverty Pay, Bullying and Covid Violations outside Private London Bridge Hospital – Outsourced migrant cleaners from the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) are demonstrating on 4th March outside the private London Bridge Hospital over poverty pay, harassment, and a slew of health and safety concerns. Cleaners lack adequate covid training, necessary vaccinations, uniforms, changing rooms, and several cleaners have been instructed to clean covid wards without prior warning of infection risk or PPE. Some cleaners have received disciplinary warnings for raising health and safety issues read more
Longest Gig-Economy Strike Escalates as Sheffield Couriers Blockade McDonald’s – Yesterday 30th January, striking food delivery couriers, employed by the JustEat subcontractor Stuart Delivery, demonstrated outside of the Sheffield Archer Road McDonald’s. 60 drivers and supporters, joined by Paul Blomfield MP, blockaded the entrance to the McDonald’s, shutting down all orders for 45 minutes. Speeches were given by drivers and local business owners who came out to support the action. Couriers began strike action on 6 December 2021, after Stuart Delivery cut the minimum delivery pay by 24%, from £4.50 to £3.40, following a gradual decline in pay and conditions. Couriers have been declining orders from McDonald’s between 5-8PM every evening for 40 days, and have recently started targeting Greggs and other restaurants. Strike action has also taken place in Sunderland, Chesterfield, Blackpool, and Huddersfield read more
Write to Stuart Delivery, JustEat: END THE STRIKE, PAY RISE NOW!
SIPTU
SIPTU members win significant Labour Court case over unpaid wages (4 Mar) – SIPTU members have won a significant Labour Court case where it was found that a major manufacturing company based in county Limerick made unlawful deductions from their pay when it temporarily reduced their hours of work in 2019 read more
SIPTU ground staff members in Aer Lingus reject Labour Court recommendation (2 Mar) – SIPTU members employed in Aer Lingus ground operations at Dublin airport have voted by 85% to reject a Labour Court Recommendation which granted the company a pay freeze until December 2024 and a permanent 10% pay cut to Roster Duty Allowances (RDAs). The Labour Court recommendation followed the rejection of a Covid-19 recovery document put to our members by the company in September 2021 to reduce costs and change work practices in order to offset the airline losses incurred due to the pandemic read more
Other news
March against racism for UN Anti-Racism Day – Saturday 19 March 2022
BBC Portland place, London, 12noon
Kelvingrove park, Glasgow, 11am read more on Stand Up To Racism website
Fight blacklisting and victimisation of union reps
Donate to the reinstatement campaign of Declan Clune RMT bus driver in Southampton (on behalf of Declan Clune and all RMT Southampton District Bus and Coach Branch members). Email message of support: [email protected]
Support GARY CARNEY, TRAIN OPERATOR – LONDON UNDERGROUND
Defend Adrian Mitchell RMT driver on London Underground
Donate to solidarity campaign of Moe Muhsin Manir Unite bus rep Email messages of support to Moe: [email protected]
Trade union rep victimisation at Woolwich Ferry reaches ‘obscene levels’, says Unite
Unite: Ealing’s Labour council ‘actively helping’ Serco ‘hound’ union rep from civil enforcement job
St Mungos management escalate dispute by suspending Unite rep – sign petition: End the culture of fear at St Mungo’s – model motion
St Mungo’s: Unite will not tolerate victimisation and bullying
Sign petition: Reinstate Gary Bolister sacked GMB rep at Islington Council
Watch Reel News video: Victimised union reps: Act like it’s you and fight back
Reinstate John Boken Shropshire NEU rep – For more details and send solidarity messages, email [email protected]
Sign petition to support Redbridge NEU Rep Keiran Mahon
Watch Reel News video: Huddersfield teachers strike to defend Louise Lewis
Victimised Tesco warehouse rep Max McGee fighting for reinstatement read more. There is now a GoFundMe to support the campaign (https://www.gofundme.com/f/reinstate-max-usdaw-rep-socialist) and Max can be invited to speak at Usdaw and other union branches plus trades councils ([email protected])
Blacklisting Investigation – Unite the Union has commissioned an independent investigation into alleged involvement of any past of present union officers or officials in the operation of blacklists in the construction industry. The independent investigation will be conducted by Jane McNeill QC in accordance with the attached Terms of Reference. Evidence for the investigation is now being compiled by Thompsons Solicitors LLP. Any documentary evidence which any individual wishes to provide should be submitted to Thompsons either by email to [email protected] or by post to Unite Blacklisting Inquiry, Thompsons Solicitors LLP, Congress House, 23-28 Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3LW, reference L213003/RH. All evidence to be considered for the purpose of the independent report must be received by Thompsons by 9 November 2021 read more
#SPYCops Inquiry exposes state surveillance of workers movement
Keep up with developments and read and watch campaigners’ statements on the Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance (COPS) and Undercover Policing Inquiry websites and spycops info Facebook group
Builders Crack: The Movie
In the current situation, this long lost film from the 1990s about rank and file union organising in the construction industry is intended to lift the spirits, but also to spark a debate in our movement. Hope the youngsters in this film put a smile on your face.
Watch – Share – Discuss https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VZ-QMA1FMg
Blacklist Support Group
Book: http://newint.org/books/politics/blacklisted-secret-war/
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNcgrNs6pB8
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/
Blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog
Blacklist Support Group financial appeal: the Blacklist support group is desperately short of funds, to continue the incredible work we need more finance, would you please consider making a donation, raise it at your branches and trade councils. Please make cheques payable to Joint sites committee and send to 70 Darnay Rise Chelmsford Essex CM1 4XA. Please forward onto your contacts many thanks Steve Kelly (JSC Treasurer)
Blacklisted t-shirts available at: https://shop.hopenothate.org.uk/component/hikashop/product/78-blacklisted-t-shirt
The NSSN is continuing to report on how workers are organising during the coronavirus pandemic
The NSSN is opening up our weekly email bulletin, website and social media platforms of Facebook and twitter to provide a public forum for workers during the Coronavirus/COVID-19 crisis. We want to be a place where we can all share queries and experiences that workers are facing in their workplaces. These include reports of action taken by workers to defend themselves from their employers.
You can read about many of these actions in our weekly bulletin and out social media groups, especially our Facebook group: NSSN – defend workers’ rights under Coronavirus.
You can also send the NSSN your reports and queries via our website, twitter – @NSSN_AntiCuts and email – [email protected]
We welcome the information being sent to union members concerning the spread of coronavirus, including the Accord, Advance, AEP, AFA-CWA, ASLEF, BDA, BECTU Sector of Prospect, BFAWU, BOS-TU, College of Podiatry, Community, CSP, EIS, Equity, FBU, FDA, GMB, HCSA, MU, NAHT, NASUWT, National Society for Education in Art and Design (NSEAD), Nautilus International, NEU, NGSU, NUJ, PFA, Prospect, RCM, SoR, TSSA, TUC, UCU, UNISON, Unite, URTU, USDAW, WGGB and the RCN
But it is absolutely vital that unions retain their ability to organise and act independently in defence of their members and workers generally. This includes the right of unions to take industrial action. We are already aware of workers being forced to take unofficial action on health and safety grounds. We also believe that unions should have oversight of any government bans on protests and picketing. This is the same Tory government that tabled more new anti-union laws in the Queens Speech in December 2019 and cannot be trusted and is now attacking the right to protest through its Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.
We believe that it is essential that workers are protected during this worrying period and are not impacted, whether in terms of their safety as well as their pay and employment rights. The Tory government have announced measures that include some workers receiving 80% of their wages. This furlough scheme was due to finish but has now been extended because of the 2nd lockdown. But it’s clear that the Tories are looking to end it asap.
However, we believe that no worker should pay the price for any spread of the virus. We say: work or full pay. Any worker who is required not to attend work or is unable to do so because of COVID, childcare or transport closures should receive full pay and not be forced to take annual leave. But unions have to remain vigilant that any government payments actually happen and also covers all workers, including those in precarious employment such as zero-hour contracts and in the gig economy.
We have drafted this model motion which we’ve made into a bulletin that can be downloaded and printed off to be distributed. Feel free to use in your union and trades council, in totality or partially to highlight the issues that need to be addressed.
Keep an eye out for other Facebook and social media groups and pages that are being created. The Coronavirus Support Group for Workers has been set up on Facebook and is a useful forum and you can catch up on disputes at Strike Map UK
Diary
March
19 TUC demonstration – Britain Needs A Pay Rise: March and rally in Blackpool
July
2 NSSN Conference 2022 11am-5pm. Venue to be confirmed
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
