The TUC has postponed next week’s TUC Congress following the Queen passing away. It appears that the Congress will now be held in October or November, still in Brighton. Therefore, the NSSN has had to postpone our rally and lobby, that were due to take place this coming Sunday. We will organise it when the TUC Congress is reconvened. The issues that have seen the wave of strikes develop, above all the cost of living crisis, continue to face workers. Therefore we still need to campaign for the unions to strike together. We will keep you informed of the new date for the NSSN TUC Congress Rally and lobby.
The NSSN is again lobbying TUC Congress, and it is especially important this year, given the escalating cost of living crisis and the election yesterday of Liz Truss as prime minister. Truss was elected through the votes of just 80,000 Conservative Party members – half the number of CWU members that took action together last Wednesday in Royal Mail and BT. The implicit threat of even more Tory restrictions on unions, makes it even more essential that unions co-ordinate strike action.
The TUC has called a lobby of Parliament on Wednesday 19th October. This should be turned into a mass midweek demonstration, bringing together workers in dispute and all others looking to take action.
Fight the Tory pay insult: Come to the NSSN TUC Congress Rally & Lobby #StrikeTogether – 1pm Sunday 11th September Holiday Inn Brighton Seafront Facebook event
Speakers confirmed so far: Sharon Graham Unite General Secretary, Sarah Woolley BFAWU General Secretary, Mick Whelan ASLEF General Secretary, Steve Gillan POA General Secretary, Ian Lawrence NAPO General Secretary, Matt Webb Brighton Trades Union Council, Rob Williams NSSN Chair plus speakers from RMT and CWU disputes and the Unite Coventry bin strike. As usual at NSSN events, there will be an open mic to give a platform to rank and file workers.
Join the lobby – send the message to the union leaders: co-ordinate the action. There will be a rally in the Holiday Inn Hotel and then a march to lobby TUC Congress delegates at the Brighton Centre.
If you want to attend the NSSN TUC Rally and need transport and/or you want leaflets and posters to give out, email us via [email protected]. Let us know if your union/organisation would like a stall in our rally.
Please support this model motion and take it to your union branch and trades council and support the NSSN rally and lobby in Brighton:-
“This (union branch/trades council) gives our full support to workers being forced to take strike action against their employers backed by the Tory government. The cost of living crisis, fire and rehire tactics and other attacks by employers in pursuit of maintaining profits at our expense all mean workers are uniting to fight back.
We will continue to give our solidarity, building practical and financial support to all striking workers. The increasing number of disputes shows the immense power of workers. If unions act together, significant victories can be won. We also oppose the Tories’ threats to introduce further anti-union legislation to the raft of undemocratic restrictions already in existence and call on the TUC to co-ordinate opposition.
We call on unions in struggle to urgently come together to discuss and formulate a strategy to co-ordinate industrial action ballots and strikes.
We therefore agree to build the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) rally and lobby of TUC Congress in Brighton on Sunday 11 September behind this call.”
Please let us know if your union branch/trades council supports our rally and we’ll add to our list of supporting union organisations:-
The rally and lobby are supported by:
Brighton Trades Council, Cardiff Trades Council, Coventry Trades Council, Swansea Trades Council, Cardiff Unite, Unite Coventry Tom Mann, Coventry Local Government Unite, Coventry Telecoms CWU, GMP London Print Unite branch, Housing Workers Unite branch, South Birmingham Unite, Waltham Forest Unite, Barts NHS Trust Unite branch, Doctors in Unite branch, Lambeth Unison, Mid Yorks Unison, Sheffield RMT, Piccadilly and District West RMT branch, Doncaster RMT, Unite Nottingham Area Activists Committee, CWU Scotland No,2 Branch, United Tech and Allied Workers Branch of the CWU, Waltham Forest Trades Union Council, RMT LU Engineering branch. Additional Unison branches have supported the plan to lobby the TUC
To make a donation to the NSSN and/or get your union branch/trades council to affiliate for an annual fee of £50, either make a cheque out to ‘National Shop Stewards Network’ and post to NSSN, PO Box 54498, London E10 9DE or pay online: HSBC – sort code 40-06-41, account number 90143790.
Watch the video of the NSSN Conference platform speakers here
TUC rally and lobby of Parliament on Wednesday 19th October against the cost of living crisis – 11am Palace of Westminster, London SW1A 0AA more details on TUC website
RMT reaction to Liz Truss becoming Prime Minister
Unite reacts to Liz Truss becoming prime minister
TSSA comment on Liz Truss winning Tory leadership contest
PCS: Truss should shelve civil service job cuts
The government has got to get back to governing, says UNISON
NEU: Liz Truss Appointed Conservative Party Leader
RCN: New PM Liz Truss must act now to protect health service
Coventry TUC: Fight the Cost of Living Crisis: march and rally to support strikes to defend pay and conditions – 11am Saturday 24th September, assemble at Coventry train station Facebook event
‘The working class is back as a movement’ – Enough is Enough read more on CWU website. People can find out about events and how to join the campaign via the Enough is Enough website
Enough is Enough National Day of Action on energy prices rise on October 1st with protests across the UK
Protest the Tory Party Conference – 2 Oct, 1pm, Victoria Square, Birmingham
National Demonstration – 5 Nov 2022, London, Assemble Embankment, WC2N 6NS
Support the rail strikes
Donate to the RMT National Dispute Fund
RMT announce new strike dates in national rail dispute (1 Sept) – Railway workers will walkout across the country on 15th and 17th September in a fight over jobs, pay and working conditions. Over 40,000 RMT members from Network Rail and 14 train operating companies will take to picket lines, effectively shutting down the railway network. In separate disputes, Hull Trains and Arriva Rail London will also be taking one day of strike action on the 15th of September. Negotiations between the union and rail industry have been ongoing but there has been no breakthrough or new offers from either Network Rail or the train operating companies in the national rail dispute. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “Our members have no choice but to continue this strike action. Network Rail and the train operating companies have shown little interest this past few weeks in offering our members anything new in order for us to be able to come to a negotiated settlement. Grant Shapps continues his dereliction of duty by staying in his bunker and shackling the rail industry from making a deal with us…” read more
More strikes likely after RMT rejects TfL funding deal (31 Aug) – A funding deal struck by TfL and ministers will attack tube workers’ pay and pensions and will lead to further strike action, RMT have warned today. Following talks behind closed doors between Mayor Sadiq Khan and the government, funding has been secured for TfL operations until 2024. But the deal appears conditional on attacks on workers’ pensions, potential job losses and a push for pay restraint in the future despite the astronomical rise in inflation and an escalating cost of living crisis. Driverless trains are also part of the reforms insisted on by Grant Shapps despite the huge costs involved and safety concerns read more
RMT: Support for striking workers declared by 600 Labour councillors (30 Aug) – More than 600 Labour councillors have declared their full backing for all rail, postal, dock and other workers on picket lines. Amid a wave of strikes over pay and increasing talk of coordinated industrial action this autumn, the councillors signed an open letter saying they offered “full solidarity and support” to the Rail, Maritime and Transport workers’ union (RMT), the Communication Workers Union (CWU), Unite and others read more
ASLEF: Train drivers to strike on 15th September (31 Aug) – Train drivers at 12 operating companies will walk out on 15th September in a dispute over pay. This follows two days of action – in July by members at seven companies, and August at nine companies – and very strong votes for industrial action in ballots across the companies. Drivers will not book on for duty between 00:00 and 23:59 on Thursday 15th September 2022. ASLEF members working for Avanti West Coast, Chiltern, Cross Country, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railways, Hull, LNER, London Overground, Northern, Southeastern, Transpennine Express and West Midlands Trains will be on strike on 15th September read more
ASLEF: Each one of you has been immense (1 Sept) – Colleagues! Or militant trade unionists, as Mr Shapps has taken to calling you. If highlighting no pay rise for three years is militancy, then I plead guilty. If wanting to share in the profits of our employers is militancy, then I plead guilty. If worrying about managed decline and safety on our railway is militancy, then I plead guilty. And, yes, if sending solidarity and support to those in our industry and others fighting for their jobs and futures in this government-driven cost of living crisis is militancy, then I plead guilty read more
ASLEF: TfL Funding Deal – ASLEF Comment (31 Aug) – A London Underground train is moving into a platform and is blurred. There are some people (also blurred) standing on the platform. After a series of short-term deals, the UK Government and Transport for London have reached a funding deal. The agreement lasts until March 2024, but while some stability is welcome, there are still a number of unresolved issues read more
TSSA announce Avanti strike action 15 and 17 September (2 Aug) – TSSA has announced further strike action in September across Avanti West Coast in an escalation of the ongoing dispute over pay, job security and conditions. The action will cover the period from 00:01 to 23:59 on Thursday 15 September and Saturday 17 September, with TSSA members in station grades at Avanti West Coast asked not to turn up for work during this period. The latest strike dates are set to align with industrial action announced by RMT also on 15 and 17 September. The move comes after the union wrote to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and thirteen train operating companies last week to express concern over the lack of meaningful negotiations following over five thousand TSSA members walking out on strike on Thursday 18 August, and Saturday 20 August, the biggest TSSA strike in a generation read more
TSSA announces 24-hour September strike across railways (31 Aug) – Rail union TSSA will hold a country wide 24-hour strike next month in an escalation of the ongoing national rail dispute over pay, job security and conditions. Staff at nine train operating companies (TOCs) as well as Network Rail (NR) will walkout from midday on Monday 26 until midday Tuesday 27 September read more
TSSA concerned at TfL funding deal (31 Aug) – London Underground tube train at a platform with a red footbridge above. TSSA – the biggest union for Transport for London staff – has reacted with “concern and anger” to the latest Government funding deal which forces TfL to make hundreds of millions of pounds of new cuts over the next 19 months. The union has said any changes to pensions would lead to “industrial unrest”. The terms of the deal, which was announced late yesterday (Tuesday), include an attack on staff pensions and real terms pay cuts for staff, many of whom have seen the value of their salaries cut by 20% over the last seven years read more
TSSA members vote for strike action at West Midlands Trains and TransPennine Express (25 Aug) – Hundreds of TSSA members at TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains have voted overwhelmingly for strike action in results revealed today. The dispute with the train operators is over pay, job security and conditions, with the union also in dispute at Network Rail and other train companies across England. TSSA is not naming dates for any industrial action today but will now consider next steps with workplace reps read more
Strike wave escalates with massive CWU action
We send our full support and solidarity to the CWU and its members, who are striking in Royal Mail, British Telecom/Openreach and the Post Office. Last Wednesday August 31st, workers in Royal Mail and BT went on strike together – bringing out up to 160,000 in the single biggest day of action in the current strike wave. This was a massive step up in the growing tide of workers’ action against the squeeze in living standards as RPI inflation rises to 12.3% and energy prices spiral still further, while the employers and their Tory government maintain their pay restraint. This week, Royal Mail workers will be taking two successive days of action on Thursday and Friday.
We support the call of the CWU for Royal Mail and BT to be re-nationalised. Follow the latest news via CWU’s Facebook page, website and Twitter @CWUnews
The action is as follows:-
Friday 26th August – Royal Mail Group and Post Office Crowns, Admin and Supply Chain
Saturday 27th August – Post Office Crowns
Tuesday 30th August – BT Group, Openreach and Post Office Admin and Supply Chain
Wednesday 31st August – Royal Mail Group and BT Group, Openreach
Thursday 8th September – Royal Mail Group
Friday 9th September – Royal Mail Group
Over 150,000 strike on historic day for our union – region by region (31 Aug) – Members in Royal Mail, BT, Openreach and Parcelforce walk out right across the country in the CWU’s biggest ever action. Delivery, processing, network and engineering services, distribution, vehicle repair, plant maintenance and admin at two of the UK’s largest companies were hugely impacted in every corner of the country today as pickets were deployed from the early hours of the morning until late in the evening. Strikers were in good humour and high spirits, as well as disciplined and determined, united in standing up and standing together in the fight for a fair deal on pay. Our general secretary Dave Ward staunchly defended our members, praising them for their public service, insisting that the strike action was absolutely necessary and had been effectively forced on the union by stubborn and arrogant leaderships in both Royal Mail Group and BT Group and vowed that the CWU would continue the fight and would prevail. “Today was an historic day for the CWU – the first time we’ve ever taken simultaneous strike action virtually right across our membership. And our members have responded magnificently in every city, town and village of the UK. Now the ball is in the employers’ court. They need to respond positively and make real efforts to settle these disputes. We have further action planned for next week in Royal Mail and our industrial executive on the telecoms & financial services side of the union will be meeting to discuss their next steps with BT Group…” read more
Andy Furey to POL members – ‘Your action is making a massive difference’ (30 Aug) – Another weekend of strikes across the Post Office, pay offer increases, ACAS talks are on. “Although the current offer is still not enough, the fact that it’s increased is 100 per cent down to the magnificent unity shown by members,” said CWU assistant secretary Andy Furey this morning. Post Office members took their fourth and fifth strike days over the weekend, with Crown Office, Supply Chain and Admin members walking out on Friday, Crown Office workers stopping again on Saturday, and Supply Chain and Admin grades on the picket lines again early this morning. Andy Furey spoke to us from the Birmingham site just after 6am, saying: “There’s already a few of us here and the mood is one of determination among the members I’ve spoken to so far. I’ve told them all how proud this union is of all of them for their fighting spirit…” read more
Walkout Friday – a ‘monumental’ day for our union’ (26 Aug) – As over 110,000 CWU members take action for fair pay, national officers heap praise on ‘magnificent, determined and disciplined’ strikers. What a day for the CWU – our general secretary Dave Ward and deputy general secretary Terry Pullinger leading from the front as always, Dave visiting east London delivery offices and then spearheading a lively rally at Royal Mail’s giant Mount Pleasant site in central London, while our deputy general secretary postal Terry Pullinger began his day at Blackpool, before heading onto Kirkham and Preston read more
NSSN news
Get your trade union branch or trades council to affiliate to the NSSN – it only costs £50. Already affiliated? Please think about renewing it. Also, many of our supporters pay a few pounds a month. You can set up a similar standing order to ‘National Shop Stewards Network’, HSBC – sort code 40-06-41, account number 90143790. Our address is NSSN, PO Box 54498, London E10 9DE. Feel free to use this affiliation letter.
And if you can, come to one of our regional Conferences. If there is not one in your area, get in touch to either assist in organising or have a speaker at one of your meetings or events. Contact Rob or Linda on [email protected]
Union News
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RMT
RMT pay tribute to merchant navy seafarers (3 Sept) – Maritime union RMT today paid tribute to the vital work of seafarers as part of Merchant Navy Day. Mick Lynch, RMT General Secretary said: “RMT pays tribute to the skills and sacrifice of working-class seafarers who have kept this country safe and supplied since the Merchant Navy was established after the First World War, and for centuries before that read more
ASLEF
Scotland Demands a Pay Rise (31 Aug) – Join ASLEF and fellow trade unionists from across Scotland to demand better on Thursday 8th September. Thousands of trade unionists and Cost-of-Living campaigners will march down the Royal Mile to deliver a message to the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament that we need action on pay read more
Unite
BREAKING NEWS!! Striking workers at Derry City and Strabane District Council end strike action after winning double pay point increase (6 Sept) – Unite the union members vote to accept improved pay offer with 63 percent majority. Workers at Derry City and Strabane District Council have voted with a 63 percent majority to accept an improved offer from management and end their industrial dispute with their employer. Management at the council made a substantially improved pay offer to avoid a return of strike action which had struck council activities earlier in the year. The pay deal includes a one-off payment of £500 and a fully consolidated two pay point increase worth approximately five percent – on top of the wider National Joint Council pay improvement. Derry City and Strabane now becomes the second council in Northern Ireland, after Mid Ulster District Council, to have resolved the 2021-22 pay dispute with a significantly improved pay offer including a two pay point increase plus cash read more
London and South East pubs face beer shortages during delivery strikes (5 Sept) – GXO drivers and drayman vote to strike over job cuts. The strikes, which are yet to be scheduled, by drivers and drayman employed by GXO Logistics, are over plans to close the company’s Dagenham depot. The closure would result in major job losses while also dramatically increasing the workload of the remaining drivers at the company’s Croydon, Faversham and Greenford depots. GXO Logistics rejected proposals by Unite that would have kept the Dagenham depot open read more
Striking Tipton CabAuto workers reveal shocking levels of in-work poverty (5 Sept) – Workers in McLaren, Aston Martin, JLR and Bentley supply chains ‘terrified of winter bills’. Striking Cab Auto worker – “How can it be that I work for a company that makes millions in profits, yet I have to use a begging bowl at food banks?” More than 100 West Midlands workers, paid just £9.90 an hour, are taking renewed strike action, which began on 23 August and will finish on 16 September, over a three per cent pay offer. The real rate of inflation, RPI, is running at 12.3 per cent and is expected to climb even higher. The workers, who make luxury car interiors but do not receive company sick pay or shift pay, have taken 26 days of strike action since 28 June read more
London Grosvenor Casino workers to walk out for a fair wage (5 Sept) – Huge 91% vote for 72-hour strike: Parent company records £74m profit. Casinos across London may be forced to close for the weekend from Friday 9 September as workers, all members of Unite the union, take action to win a fair wage. Around 150 workers across Grosvenor Casinos’ seven venues across the capital have voted by an overwhelming 91 per cent to reject retention bonus payments of £600 and £800 as totally inadequate amid a grave and growing cost of living crisis. The workers are mainly croupiers and dealers but also include food and beverage waiting and kitchen staff. Unite says that Grosvenor Casinos, part of the huge Rank Group, which has returned £74 million in profits so far this year, can easily afford a more realistic offer to the workers read more
Unite chief: Tens of thousands will strike in coming months for better pay (4 Sept) – As Sharon Graham marks her first year in office, she warns of more strikes if employers keep ‘offering pay cuts’. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The two words that unite all the individual strikes taking place are ‘pay cuts’. Workers are simply no longer prepared to accept poverty wages, especially when they know employer after employer is guilty of rampant profiteering. Since I was elected, 76,000 Unite members have taken industrial action in pay disputes. That’s put £150 million more in their pay packets. “There could be hundreds of disputes involving tens of thousands of workers over the coming months if employers continue to offer real terms wage cuts presented as pay increases. Summer of discontent? We’ve had the spring, summer, autumn and winter of discontent with austerity every single season” read more
Unite confirms new ‘credible’ offer in Scotland put to trade unions (2 Sept) – Trade union recommends acceptance as strikes suspended. Unite the union can confirm that following talks involving the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, COSLA and the trade unions, a new ‘credible’ pay offer has been formally put on the table. Unite can confirm that the substance of the new offer has led to a recommendation by its local government committee to accept. Strikes scheduled to take place in waste and education services from 6 to 13 September are now suspended. Unite will hold a consultative ballot of its local government membership on the offer which it aims to complete by 22 September read more
Unite hails another win at British Airways (2 Sept) – Holiday days taken from over 2,000 engineers in 2020 returned. Autumn strike at airline now averted. Engineers at British Airways will have `stolen’ holiday days returned, their union has announced today (Friday 2 September). The move is another victory in Unite’s campaign to return British Airways’ workers’ terms and conditions to their pre-pandemic level. The 2,000 engineers were preparing to take strike action to return the three days of annual leave that had been taken from them by the airline but via talks, a resolution has been secured. Had it gone ahead, a strike would have caused massive disruption to the airline read more
September Liverpool docks strikes to go ahead over ‘pay cut dressed up as rise’ (2 Sept) – Billionaire owned port operator MDHC made £30 million profits in 2021 but won’t honour pay promises. More than 560 port operatives and maintenance engineers will take strike action from 19 September to 3 October over a seven per cent pay offer. With the real rate of inflation, RPI, at 12.3 per cent and rising this is a pay cut. Workers will also strike over MDHC’s failure to honour the 2021 pay agreement. This includes the company not undertaking a promised pay review, which last happened in 1995, and failing to deliver on an agreement to improve shift rotas… More strikes are set to be scheduled in the coming weeks if MDHC fails to put forward an acceptable offer to the workers read more
Belfast City Council vote for Greenwich Leisure Limited to recognise leisure workforce unions must now be implemented (2 Sept) – Leisure staff warn council that failure to recognise representative trade unions will led to ballot on industrial action. Outsourced leisure services across Belfast are delivered by a two-tier workforce with staff pay the lowest in Northern Ireland, further exposing them to the pain of the cost of living crisis. Councillors at Belfast City Council yesterday [Thursday, 1 September] voted in support of the formal recognition of representative trade unions at municipal leisure centres. In response, Unite the union, the largest representative union, called on the council to move swiftly to deliver the commitment and ensure that outsourced management company, Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL), afford basic union recognition to its members read more
Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council challenged over costly preference for insecure agency staffing (2 Sept) – Unite challenges management to address workforce pay claim through ending waste on agencies and consultants. Unite members working at Lisburn and Castlereagh City council are due to commence all-out strike action to win a pay increase from next Tuesday. Their strike action is likely to escalate with the GMB now balloting their members on strike action on the same issue read more
Hull Fair Stagecoach strikes on cards as bus workers ballot over pay (2 Sept) – Workers angry at below inflation pay offer, lack of pay parity and 1% increase in wages since 2019. More than 250 Stagecoach workers in Hull are being balloted for strike action over a pay cuts ‘disguised as a rise’, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Friday 2 September). The ballot of bus drivers, cleaners, engineers and commercial assistants will close on 20 September, with potential strike action set to be scheduled for the week of Hull Fair. Stagecoach, whose profits for the second half of 2021 more than doubled to £32.9 million, is offering workers an 8.7 per cent increase. With the real rate of inflation, RPI, standing at 12.3 per cent and rising, this is a real terms pay cut. Moreover, workers are angry that their wages have fallen far behind their Stagecoach colleagues in other parts of the country. For instance, Stagecoach drivers in Merseyside earn £14 an hour, while Hull drivers earn just £11.14. Pay for Stagecoach drivers in Hull has gone up by just one per cent in three years read more
Caterpillar 83 jobs redundancy announcement is another bitter blow for Larne area (1 Sept) – Unite to engage with employer to mitigate impact on its membership. This afternoon’s announcement by Caterpillar that it is to seek 83 redundancies among its Larne workforce has been branded as another ‘bitter blow’ for the local area by trade union Unite which represents the workforce. The union was notified of the redundancies this afternoon. Management are seeking to make redundant seventy-seven shop floor workers and six salaried staff. They have offered a downturn in sales of the G7 product – which is a smaller capacity generator – as the reason for the move. Unite rejects the logic behind this redundancy and called for Caterpillar’s huge profits to be used to ensure the jobs of those who had contributed to its success read more
Unite secures improved holiday pay for Balfour Beatty electricians (1 Sept) – A campaign by construction union Unite has secured improved calculated holiday pay for electricians employed by construction giant Balfour Beatty. From January 2023, Balfour Beatty has agreed that all electricians employed under the terms of the Joint Industry Board (JIB) or Scottish Joint Industry Board (SJIB), the appropriate industrial agreements for electricians, will receive 32 full days holiday pay in the spirit of these agreements. Currently the workers receive full holiday pay, which is based on average pay for 20 days of annual leave, with the remaining leave (up to 12 days a year) paid at basic pay rates. In most cases, this results in workers receiving a far lower level of pay for holidays paid at basic pay rates. In addition the 280 workers who will benefit from this change in holiday pay, will each receive an additional payment of £250 this year, in recognition that holiday pay should be paid in full read more
Arriva’s pay failures result in Kent bus strikes (1 Sept) – Over 600 bus workers, employed by Arriva, based in Kent, will take four days of strike action next month in a dispute over pay. The workers who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, have backed strike action after the company made a pay offer of around 10 per cent. With the real rate of inflation currently standing at 12.3 per cent, the offer is a real terms pay cut. The strike action will take place on Monday 5 September, Friday 16 September, Tuesday 20 September and Friday 30 September read more
Unite wins Bath & North East Somerset council bin workers 10% pay rise (1 Sept) – Around 100 waste workers employed by Bath and North East Somerset council will receive a 10 per cent pay increase in a deal negotiated by Unite, the UK’s leading union. Loaders and LGV drivers employed at the Ashmead Road and Midland Road depots in Keynsham will see an immediate 10 per cent uplift in pay. All other waste service workers will see their pay grade increased by one level. The deal is on top of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) offer for council workers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland of £1,925 for 2022. The workers will presently be balloted on whether or not to accept the LGA’s offer but will receive the locally negotiated pay rise regardless of the outcome read more
Unite responds to Coventry council’s claim that the strike has created redundancies (31 Aug) – Unite regional officer Onay Kasab said: “As usual, the council is pulling the wool over people’s eyes. They lost millions of pounds in an unnecessary dispute that workers convincingly won. They ended up with two workforces in a bid to cover the dispute. And now they are asking for voluntary redundancies.” A total of 35 senior drivers and crew employed by Coventry council have applied for voluntary redundancy (VR) and early retirement (EV) packages that were offered this month read more
Abellio rail workers in the East Midlands to ballot for strikes as company fails to make pay offer (31 Aug) – Workers employed by Abellio at East Midlands Railways are to be balloted for industrial action after the employer refused to make a pay offer to the workforce. Unite, the UK’s leading union, represents over 140 workers at the company who are based at depots in Derby, Leicester and Nottingham. The workers are employed as cleaners, technicians, shunters, engineers, inspectors, lathe operators, team leaders and supervisors. The ballot for industrial action will open on Friday 2 September and closes on Friday 16 September. If workers vote for industrial action then stoppages are set to begin this autumn read more
Eastleigh VFS auto strikes end after Unite wins pay deal worth up to 14% (31 Aug) – Strike action at automotive assembly contractor VFS Southampton Ltd has ended after the UK’s leading union, Unite, secured a pay deal worth up to 14 per cent for the lowest paid. The workers assemble large vehicles for Ford and Mercedes and took seven days of strike action in July and August. After an improved offer was put forward, they voted to accept. The deal will see hourly pay rates for 2022 increase by between 11.65 and 14 per cent depending on salary. As well as a percentage pay rise and the consolidation of the attendance bonus to increase wages, the deal contains improvements to sick pay and a new holiday pay agreement read more
Real terms pay cut forces strike by Hartlepool chemical workers at Venator (31 Aug) – Members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, employed at chemical company Venator Materials Ltd, will begin strike action this week in a dispute over pay. The company, which produces pigments and additives, has only offered the workers a five per cent pay increase – far below the rate of inflation. The 100 plus members of Unite at the company recorded an 81 per cent vote in favour of strike action on an 84 per cent turnout… The workers will take a total of 10 days of strike action (see note to editors for details) this month in the dispute. The first four day strike will begin on Thursday 1 September at 18:59 and will initially involve the night shift read more
Unite secures Red Funnel workers pay rises of up to 18% (30 Aug) – Strikes on all Southampton to Cowes Red Funnel ferries have ended after workers voted to accept a two-year deal pay deal worth 18.3 per cent for the lowest paid and 13.4 per cent for all other staff. More than 140 workers, members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, who work as customer service staff, shunters and ratings, will benefit from the deal. The deal also includes improvements to paid leave, sick pay, food allowances and health benefits read more
Baker Hughes strike action amid fire and rehire claims (29 Aug) – Billion dollar US oil and gas giant plans to wipe-off £10,000 from salaries. Unite the union members working for US oil and gas giant, Baker Hughes, are starting strike action today (29 August) in a dispute over fire and rehire tactics. Around 110 workers are taking strike action with Unite accusing the multi-billion pound company of `laying waste to Scottish jobs’. Unite estimates that detrimental contractual changes could wipe-off up to 29 per cent from the annual wages of Baker Hughes workers. The equivalent to a £10,500 drop in annual income. Unite members voted for strike action by 87.3 per cent on an 87.5% per cent turnout to defend their jobs, terms and conditions. The all-out strike action will last until the morning of 14 September with a series of 48-hour stoppages taking place until 16 November read more
Strike notice issued to Northern Ireland Housing Executive after management fail to make any pay offer (26 Aug) – Four week strike will have severe impact on housing services. Strike involving 300 Unite members will start on Monday 5 September. Unite the union has confirmed that it has given the Northern Ireland Housing Executive seven day notice of a strike action over pay. The strike by the union’s approximately 300 members working at the agency is due to commence on September 5th and will remain in place for four weeks. The strike has been called after management failed to make any offer whatsoever to improve pay and meet the pay claim of Unite members. Workers’ demands include a cash payment alongside a consolidated two pay point increase above the [National Joint Council] national pay offer for 2021-22, which is a bare 1.75 percent. Workers at the Housing Executive engaged in two strikes earlier in the year but the latest announcement represents a clear escalation read more
Unite anger over University of Dundee imposing ‘pension poverty’ (26 Aug) – Striking workers fight against £5,700 pension cut. Unite Scotland has today (26 August) angrily reacted to the University of Dundee confirming that it will forge ahead with detrimental pension changes. Over 100 Unite members are on continuous strike action since yesterday (25 August). The workers include technicians, administrators, student support staff and estates staff such as plumbers, joiners and electricians read more
Newham council’s failure to get serious about the cost of living crisis means bins will go unemptied (26 Aug) – Newham council’s failure to get serious about the cost of living crisis means bins will go unemptied. Strike action begins this Saturday. Council offers a “measly” £850 when workers demand £2300 to address pay disparities and the cost of living crisis. Strike action by refuse collection workers in the London Borough of Newham officially begins on Saturday 27 August. 99% of union members voted for action. Talks stalled this week after council bosses failed to improve an offer of just £850 a year for bank holiday working. The workers are currently paid far less than refuse workers in neighboring Hackney and Greenwich. For example an operative in Newham earns £22,850 compared to £24,763 for a worker in Greenwich doing the same work. With inflation running at 12.3% (RPI) and forecast to climb higher, spiralling price rises mean the essential workers face an impending financial emergency. The Borough’s failure to address the pay disparities alongside the cost of living crisis means a week of unemptied bins in Newham. More action will follow unless there is a deal read more
SQA workforce vote for industrial action hitting student appeals (25 Aug) – 86.7% back strike action after ‘derisory’ pay offer. Unite the union has today (25 August) confirmed that its Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) members have voted to take strike action. 86.7 per cent supported strike action on a 78.9 per cent turnout. 95.9 per cent of members also voted to take action short of a strike. Unite represents hundreds of SQA workers across all levels of staff and functions. Unite can confirm the following three days of strike action: 8, 15 and 16 September. An overtime ban and ban on accrual of time off in lieu will also be in effect from 8 September to 30 November read more
Unite turns its fire on Felixstowe Ports’ owner, multi-national giant, CK Hutchison (24 Aug) – Speaking at the picket line today (Wednesday 24 August), on the fourth day of the Felixstowe dock strike, Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, pledged to turn the union’s force on exposing CK Hutchison, the global company based in Hong Kong, which is the ultimate owner of Felixstowe Ports. Sharon Graham said: “Every single client, every investor, every decision maker at CK Hutchison is being looked into. “I will be inviting the shareholders at CK Hutchison, the clients of CK Hutchison, the decision makers of CK Hutchison to meetings with me, to open the books on what is going on. The company refusal to settle the union claim is about corporate greed. “The ultimate owner of CK Hutchison is Li-Ka Shing, Hong Kong’s richest businessman and the 32nd richest man in the world. All of the accounts of Li-Ka Shing are being looked into. All the tax havens in the Cayman Islands, are being investigated.” Read more
September Arriva bus strikes to hit Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire (23 Aug) – Around 900 bus workers at German-owned giant to strike over real terms pay cut. Staff at bus company Arriva, which has paid £560 million from its UK operations to owner Deutsche Bahn since 2012, will strike from 0300 hrs on 5 September to 0259 hrs on 7 September. More strikes will be scheduled if the dispute is not resolved. Arriva is offering drivers, admin staff, engineers, cleaners and shunters pay rises of between four per cent and six per cent. With the real rate of inflation, RPI, running at 12.3 per cent, this is a pay cut in real terms. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bahn has paid dividends of £5 billion to the German government over the last decade read more
Strike by DHL Services workers set to commence at Spirit Aerosystems next Monday (10 Aug) – Workers vote with 84 percent majority for strike action, rejecting insulting 4 percent pay offer when inflation is running at almost 12 percent. Industrial action of DHL workers will impact production at all Spirit Aerosystems sites in Northern Ireland. Unite the union which represents workers employed by DHL Services at Spirit Aerosystems has confirmed a first, one-week strike is set to commence on Monday [August 15] at sites across Northern Ireland. Unite members working for DHL Services at Spirit Aerosystems voted with an 84 percent ballot majority for strike action after rejecting an inadequate pay offer from management. The offer provided only a four percent increase to consolidated pay – far below the current rate of inflation (RPI) which has surged to 11.8 percent with the cost of living crisis. DHL workers elsewhere in Northern Ireland have received higher pay offers than those working on the Spirit-Aerosystems contract; recently Unite members at DHL Services in Scotland won a double-digit improved pay offer read more
Go North East bus workers forced to strike in battle to prevent Chester-le-Street garage closure – Bus workers employed by Go North East at its Chester-Le-Street garage in Durham, will begin strike action later this month as a direct response to the company’s plan to close the depot. The industrial action will involve 170 members of Unite, the UK’s leading union. The all out continuous strike action will begin on Friday 12 August. The strike action has been called due to the company’s plans to close the Chester-le Street garage next month and permanently move the workers to different depots, some of which are 14 miles away read more
North Sea strike to hit Foinaven vessel – 96% vote for strike action over inferior redundancy package. Unite the union today (25 July) confirmed that its members operating the Foinaven Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) have voted to take strike action. 96 per cent voted for strike action on an 84 per cent turnout. Continuous strike action is now scheduled to take place from 5 August. The dispute centres on offshore members being given a significantly inferior redundancy package compared with Altera’s onshore workforce. The Foinaven field is situated approximately 120 miles west of the Shetland Isles within the Faroes/Shetland Trough. Production from the field was suspended in 2021 read more
Tipton workers in McLaren, Aston Martin and Bentley supply chain using foodbanks – CabAuto workers building interiors for luxury cars renew strikes. More than 100 West Midlands workers, paid just £9.90 an hour, will stage two weeks of strike action in July over a three per cent pay offer. The fresh industrial action follows on from seven days of strikes in June and at the beginning of this month. This is a significant real terms pay cut when prices are soaring and RPI inflation is running at 11.7 per cent. CabAuto’s owner, the Adler Pelzer Group, made profits of £118 million (€137.6 million) in 2020. Meanwhile, some CabAuto workers are so poorly rewarded that they have been forced to use food banks read more
Bosch Rexroth workers to strike in dispute over pay and shift changes – Unite slams global giant’s plans that leave Scottish workers £7000 a year worse off. Unite has today (Monday 4 July) confirmed that members working at Bosch Rexroth Glenrothes, will walk out over a pay proposal that will leave workers £7000 a year worse off. The German-owned global tech and engineering giant has proposed a six per cent pay deal, which Unite says is a significant pay cut given that real inflation currently stands at 11.7 per cent. The employers are also refusing to back-date the pay award to 1 January or to reverse changes to shift patterns and shift allowances, which means the combined impact of the offer is to leave workers around £7,000 per year worse off. Workers at the site have rejected the company’s proposal by 74 per cent. Unite says that the Bosch Rexroth, a subsidiary of Bosch, is in a strong financial position and has no need to attack the workers’ pay and conditions. In its 2021 annual report, Bosch Rexroth boasted of `reaching a new high on incoming orders’ which have generated sales of £5.4 billion (6.2 billion euros), up by nearly one fifth on the year before. The union’s members, 245 workers, will take continuous strike action from Tuesday 5 July until Tuesday 12 July inclusive. Thereafter they will strike every Monday and Tuesday going forward with an ongoing ban on overtime throughout read more
PCS
PCS members begin second wave of strike action at HGS (5 Sept) – Workers are on strike over pay until September 10. PCS members are today back on strike at Hinduja Global Solutions in Liverpool. The workers, employed by HGS to run the contact centre and back-office functions of the government’s Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) are taking their second wave of strike action until September 10 read more
Sign petition to support striking workers at Hinduja Global Solutions
PCS Devonport security guards start strike action read more
High Court to hear challenge to home secretary’s Rwanda removal policy (5 Sept) – PCS, Care4Calais and Detention Action, along with a number of asylum seekers facing removal to Rwanda have brought a judicial review, which begins today, challenging the government’s Rwanda policy. The claimants are represented by Duncan Lewis Solicitors. Other claims are joined with those cases and they will all be heard by the Divisional Court between 5 and 9 September. This is the first time that the court will consider the legal arguments in full, and make a judgment on the lawfulness of the policy read more
Next week’s BEIS strike suspended (2 Sept) – PCS members vote to suspend action after employer offers “significant” concessions. PCS members employed by private company ISS who work on a contract at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have suspended strike action planned for Monday and Tuesday. But the cleaners, security guards, reception workers, post and porterage staff are still planning to take action on September 13 and 14 over health and safety protocols if agreement cannot be reached. PCS reps late last night voted to suspend next week’s strike after the union met with ISS managers who offered “significant” concessions read more
PCS members call on Mitie to address the cost-of-living crisis for its employees (2 Sept) – It makes business sense for Mitie to minimise the impact of high inflation on its already low paid employees. PCS has sent an open letter to Mitie urging the company to rethink its approach to 2022 pay. PCS represents outsourced workers employed by Mitie to provide facilities management (FM) services to several government departments. They provide the key services of catering, cleaning, guarding, front of house, maintenance and portering and are the lowest paid staff in the civil service read more
PCS serves notice of further ballot over Common Platform (30 Aug) – A second group of PCS members employed by HMCTS is to be balloted for industrial action. Following the decisive vote for industrial action over the Common Platform case management system in the first cohort of affected magistrates’ courts, a second group of PCS members employed by HMCTS as legal advisers and court associates in magistrates’ courts is to be balloted for industrial action. The ballot, which starts on Tuesday 6 September, comes as a result of the decision taken by the HMCTS Crime Programme Board and senior judiciary to continue the national roll-out of the Common Platform after months of inaction by HMCTS to resolve the serious and fundamental concerns raised by PCS on the health, safety and welfare impacts on members. Common Platform remains fundamentally unfit for purpose and PCS members are no longer willing to have to grapple with a system that is negatively and significantly impacting on their health, safety and well-being. The PCS demands are clear and achievable read more
GMB
BREAKING NEWS!! Almost 200 workers at Polyflor flooring factory in Manchester fired after voting to strike – Almost 200 workers at a floor company have been laid off after voting to strike. Staff at Polyflor Ltd, in Manchester, will down tools tomorrow [7 September]. But ahead of the strike, all workers taking industrial action received a messaged from the company saying ‘process shifts for process workers continue to be suspended…please do not turn up for your shift(s) from 6am on Monday 5th September.’ The company is a leading manufacturer of vinyl floorcoverings. After months of delays and several weeks of negotiations, GMB members have rejected the company’s final pay offer read more follow @GMB_union on Twitter for updates
Scotland strikes suspended as members vote on improved pay offer (2 Sept) – Responding this afternoon (Friday 2 September) to the revised offer for local government pay, proposing a flat rate increase of over £1,900 for all workers earning less than £39,000 a year (based on a 36-hour working week) read more
Sunderland stagecoach drivers to vote on strike action (2 Sept) – Almost 200 Stagecoach drivers in Sunderland will be balloted for strike action in a pay dispute. GMB members working for the company are angry after being offered a massive real terms pay cut of just 4 per cent, with 2 per cent to follow later in the year. The ballots opens on 12 September and closes on 26 September. Any strike action would take place October read more
Coventry Amazon workers ready to strike (2 Sept) – Amazon workers at a Coventry warehouse have voted they are ready to take strike action over pay. More than 300 workers voted in the consultative ballot at the fulfilment centre in the West Midlands, with 97 per cent saying they were ready to walk out. Amazon workers across the UK have staged informal protests in anger at a pay offer of between one and three per cent from the company. Last September, Amazon reported paying £492m in tax the previous year – despite UK revenue soaring to £20.6billion in the pandemic. GMB will now meet with members at Amazon Coventry to discuss next steps, including a potential formal strike ballot read more
‘Callous’ M&S tells contractor to cut cleaners’ pay (2 Sept) – Marks and Spencer has told its contractor to cut cleaners pay at a distribution centre. GMB members employed by GS Associates, who provide a cleaning service at a Marks & Spencer distribution centre in Thorncliffe, South Yorkshire, have been told their hourly rate of pay is to be cut – at the instruction of the retail giant. Workers were given a pay rise in February, but have now been told their hourly rate of pay is to be cut citing ‘human error in calculating the increase which cannot be sustained economically by GS Associates Ltd nor Marks & Spencer’. Workers are now being threatened with fire and rehire if they do not accept their pay being slashed from £11.41 per hour to £10 per hour read more
Walsall Housing Group workers to strike (1 Sept) – Workers are Walsall Housing Group are set to strike over a ‘paltry’ pay offer. Almost 200 GMB members will walk out for six days in September; 12, 16, 19, 23, 26 and 30. Staff are angry after being offered just a 3.1 per cent day deal, amounting to massive real terms pay cut with RPI inflation at 12.3 per cent. Meanwhile Walsall Housing Group’s chief executive was handed a 14.7 per cent pay rise read more
Windsor bin strike over as GMB members accept improved pay offer (31 Aug) – GMB, the union for refuse workers, have called off the two week long bin strike within the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead after just one day of strike action. The members were set to take action for two weeks from today until their employer, council’s waste contractor Serco, tabled a fourth improved pay offer which was accepted by the majority of members. The revised pay offer will mean a 17 per cent pay rise for some workers, depending on their job role. Kerbside collections will recommence from tomorrow, meaning that the bins at Windsor Castle will be collected as usual read more
Tens of thousands of NHS workers balloted over ‘punishment’ pay offer (30 Aug) – GMB is to ballot tens of thousands of NHS workers over a ‘punishment’ pay offer. Health workers are being offered a meagre flat rate pay increase, amounting to between 1 and 7 per cent, despite inflation running at 12.3 per cent. The ballot opens today [30 August] and closes on 27 September read more
Further Budweiser strikes planned after talks collapse (19 Aug) – Further strike action at Budweiser has been scheduled after workers turned down the latest pay offer from the company. A total of 275 GMB members working at BBG’s Samlesbury site, near Preston, will down tools from 22 – 29 August. In total, 93 per cent of GMB members rejected latest offer from Budweiser read more
Further strikes announced by Wandsworth traffic wardens (17 Aug) – GMB, the union for parking attendants, have announced members will take a further four days of strike action as the dispute over pay continues. The members, who are employed by Wandsworth Council’s parking contractor NSL, are seeking an improved pay deal which reflects the extremely high rate of inflation and the attached cost of living crisis. The latest dates which have been announced to the employer are Friday 9, Monday 12, Friday 23 and Monday 26 September. The dispute has been ongoing since June and has already taken in 20 days of strike action so far read more
Solidarity with GMB after yet another arrest on a bin picket line – For the second time in months, GMB Southern Region officers have been arrested on a picket line of their striking refuse members. Previously, arrests were made on the Wealden picket. They appeared at Hastings Magistrates Court on 29th June. The case was adjourned to Brighton Crown Court on November 16th. Then two weeks ago, further arrests were made on the Surrey bin picket line. This is outrageous attacks on the right of trade unions to strike, picket and protest. The NSSN sends our continued solidarity and support read more about Surry strike
Sign petition – To St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Mitie out: Demand fair pay and conditions for staff at St George’s Hospital
Unison
Strikes called off after improved COSLA pay offer (5 Sept) – UNISON secure significant improvements to the Scottish local government pay offer after industrial action across sectors read more
AQA strike: A tough decision but the right one (2 Sept) – Two of the UNISON members who are taking strike action at exam board AQA explain why they were left with no option – as a hardship fund is launched to support them read more
University staff vote to strike over ‘ludicrously low’ pay rise (1 Sept) – Managers must put people before profits and pay staff proper, fair wages. Thousands of university staff including cleaners, administrators, library, catering and security workers have voted to strike in a dispute over pay, says UNISON. The workers, some of the lowest paid in the higher education sector, will walk out after rejecting a 3% pay award from the University and Colleges Employers Association in May, the union says. Staff had asked for a pay increase 2% above the rate of inflation. With inflation topping 10% and further increases on the way, the award effectively represents a pay cut, the union says. The increase won’t touch the sides of the cost-of-living pressures decimating household budgets, says UNISON. Staff in more than 20 universities across the UK will stage a series of strikes later in the year. Employees from four universities in Scotland, one in Northern Ireland and 17 in England will take action read more
Care staff announce new strike dates over pay, says UNISON (16 Aug) – Workers at St Monica Trust plan 48-hour walkout and two-day strike in August. Care workers, registered nurses and residential home staff employed by Bristol-based St Monica Trust will take further strike action next week, said UNISON. Staff at the Russets and Sherwood care home in Sandford, North Somerset, will walk out for 48 hours from 7am on Tuesday 16 August, while workers at Cote Lane in Bristol will launch a two-day strike from Friday 19 August. The new dates follow five days of action in June and July over fire and rehire threats and cuts to pay read more
There is a strike fund which is being collected for. Many of these workers are low paid and part time. With cost of living ever rising it’s essential that we can ensure no one feels like they can’t stand up with their colleagues and strike for fear of lost pay. The union will be paying strike pay and members can request hardship payments up to their full wages so no one gets left behind.
For donations please send to the following details with the reference “SMT”
Account name: UNISON South West; Account number: 49021079; Sort Code: 60-83-01
OCS LANCASHIRE: PAY UP NOW – Pay our hospital heroes what they are owed for working throughout the pandemic. We are NHS workers in Lancashire and we urgently need your support. As hospital cleaners and catering staff, we are outsourced to OCS and have worked 24/7 throughout the pandemic to keep staff and patients safe. But while OCS boasts it turned over hundreds of millions during the COVID crisis, it continues to pay us less than our NHS colleagues doing exactly the same jobs. Hospital workers employed by OCS are £2000 worse off than our colleagues working for the NHS. We also have inferior working conditions including 7 days less annual leave and lower sick pay. 45 of us submitted a collective grievance about this issue in May 2021, but EIGHT MONTHS on, we have still not been listened to. We have become increasingly frustrated and have now voted 97.8% in favour of taking strike action to resolve this issue…We think that a great way to get the Chief Executive’s attention is to flood his inbox with emails from all of us. Can you take a few minutes to email Bob Taylor? It’s easy, you just need to add your details and press send. https://www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/ocs-pay-up-now. Post messages of support on social media: please tag @NorthWestUNISON. Use hashtags #ONENHS and #PayUpNowOCS read more
NIPSA
NICS Pay Charter Issued to MLAs (5 Sept) – As previously advised, the NICS pay claim was formally submitted to the Department of Finance (DoF) on 21 June 2022. On 18 July, and entirely separately from the pay claim, I wrote to the department to ask the Minister to consider compensation payments to all Civil Service and ALB staff equivalent to £500 net for each of the last 2 years from August 2020 to July 2022. On 30 August 2022, Trade Union Side met with the Finance Minister and the DoF Permanent Secretary, Neil Gibson, to raise concerns about the delay in the award which was due from 1 August and to impress upon them the urgent need for a pay offer of inflation plus an additional 5% read more
Concerns by Approved Social Workers across various Health Trusts (31 Aug) – In recent weeks a number of concerns were highlighted by Approved Social Workers (ASWs) across various Trusts in response to a number of matters read more
Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council Strike Action: Monday 15 August onwards – Picket information For All Unions for Actions in Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council
- Armagh Palace Demesne from 6.30am to 2pm
- Gosford Forest Park from 7.30am to 2pm
- Banbridge Depot from 6.45am to 9am
- Banbridge Civic Centre/Leisure Centre from 9am to 2pm
- Carn Depot from 6.30am to 9am then moving to South Lakes Leisure Centre
- South Lakes Leisure Centre/Civic Centre from 9am
Action short of strike from the 16 August 2022 for NIPSA members will take the following form:
- A total ban on overtime from union members
- Members working to their job description;
- Members not covering for absent colleagues for whatever reason;
- Working to written, agreed protocols where these exist including refuse and leisure;
- order to clarify (4) in particular we have prepared some examples below read more
RCN
Members taking strike action to receive increased payment from RCN (2 Sept) – The strike benefit will be available from the first day of industrial action…Our strike ballot will be opening on 15 September, and the RCN is encouraging members to vote in favour of strike action read more
Northern Ireland members join rest of the UK in biggest ever nursing strike ballot (25 Aug) – We’re encouraging eligible members to vote in favour of strike action when the ballot opens on 15 September read more
New RCN ballot results give clearest sign yet of strike action by nursing staff across the UK. RCN members in Scotland overwhelmingly reject NHS pay deal with majority backing strike action (12 Aug) – The results of our recent ballot of members working for the NHS in Scotland provide the clearest sign yet that industrial action could take place across the UK later this year. The ballot of nursing staff on Agenda for Change contracts in Scotland saw more than double the number of members turnout to vote than a similar ballot last year. More than 90% rejected the Scottish government’s pay offer, with the majority voting in favour of taking strike action. The turnout far exceeded 50%, which is the minimum turnout needed for strike action to be legal. Members in Scotland will now be asked to vote in a statutory ballot by post, which is required by law for nursing staff to join picket lines. The recent ballot was indicative of members’ feeling towards the pay offer and industrial action, but did not meet the strict criteria required for a strike to be lawful. Members working for the NHS in Scotland will now join those in England and Wales asked to vote in a statutory strike ballot opening on 15 September. We’ll be encouraging members eligible to take part in that ballot to vote in favour of strike action read more
Vote to strike: RCN members urged to support industrial action in strike ballot over NHS pay. Hundreds of thousands of nursing staff in England and Wales will soon have the chance to vote on whether to take historic strike action. RCN members ballot for industrial strike action in England and Wales opens 13 October (9 Aug) – Our postal ballot on industrial action will open on 15 September. We will encourage RCN members working for the NHS in England and Wales, on Agenda for Change contracts, to vote in favour of strike action. Eligible members will receive their ballot in the post and will have four weeks to respond, with the vote closing on 13 October. We need you to urgently check that we have your up-to-date home address, employer details and job title so that every eligible member receives their postal ballot. If enough members vote for industrial action, it will be the first time in RCN history that members in England and Wales go on strike. RCN Council, made up of elected members, has increased our strike fund to £50 million (up from £35 million) to provide some financial support to members who lose earnings during any industrial action. The ballot has been called by members in response to the latest NHS pay award read more
NEU
Be ballot ready – reject the pay cut read more
NASUWT
NASUWT members reject Scotland teachers’ pay offer (2 Sept) – The NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union is to reject the 5% pay offer for teachers in Scotland tabled by COSLA. This decision follows the results of a snapshot survey of NASUWT members in which 83% of respondents said they believe the pay award should be rejected as inadequate or unacceptable. 82% said they did not believe that 5% was a fair pay offer in the current circumstances. The decision to reject, which has been confirmed today by the Union’s National Executive, will be formally conveyed to employers at a meeting of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) next Tuesday read more
EIS
EIS Opens Consultative Ballot on pay Offer Strike Action (2 Sept) – The Executive Committee of the EIS has unanimously voted to open a consultative ballot on the latest pay offer to teachers and on potential strike action in pursuit of an improved pay settlement. The online ballot will open immediately and run until the 16th of September. The EIS is recommending that members vote to reject the current 5% pay offer from local authority employers, and to vote in favour of potential strike action read more
Students Offer their Support to Lecturers Facing Redundancy at Argyll College (1 Sept) – Members of the Argyll College EIS-FELA branch are being told their courses are ‘no longer financially viable’ due to a fall in student numbers over the past three years making these courses unsustainable. However, the lecturers in the art and hospitality departments say their courses have not been effectively marketed for a number of years and that COVID had an impact on practical class numbers. Numerous former students have now come forward to report on the exceptional work carried out by their lecturers and how they would not have been able to undertake further education if it had not been local. Former students include owners of Tobermory Whisky Den and Oban’s Fish Box read more
EIS Condemns GCC’s “Antagonistic Approach” to Teachers over Support Staff Strike (31 Aug) – Glasgow City Council has instructed Headteachers that teachers cannot take sick leave and will be classed as taking unlawful strike action if they require parental leave on Unison, GMB and Unite’s strike days next week read more
UCU
BREAKING NEWS!! University strike ballots open today amidst cost-of-living crisis (6 Sept) – Ballots for industrial action opened today at universities across the UK in disputes over pay, working conditions and pension cuts amidst the worst cost of living crisis in living memory, confirmed UCU. In total, over 70,000 staff at 150 universities are being balloted across two separate ballots. 67 institutions are being balloted over pension cuts to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) and 145 are being balloted over pay and working conditions. Both ballots are aggregated. This means that for the first time in these disputes if UCU achieves an overall turnout of 50% or above and a majority YES vote in both ballots, all 150 universities will be hit by strike action, which would be unprecedented read more
BREAKING NEWS!! Two-day strike at three North West colleges begins today over low pay (6 Sept) – Staff at Burnley College, The Manchester College and Oldham College began a two day strike today – during student induction week – in a dispute over low pay. UCU members are on picket lines at college entrances from 8am on both strike days, today and tomorrow. In 2021, the Westminster government announced an 8.4% increase in funding targeted at those in England aged 16-17 years old, the biggest rise in funding for further education in more than decade and coming after £240m in additional funding announced in 2018 read more
Richmond upon Thames College issues ‘sign or sack’ ultimatum to over 100 teachers (30 Aug) – Tomorrow all 127 teachers at Richmond upon Thames College will be forced to sign up to a punitive new contract of employment that will see them lose eight days holiday, the University and College Union (UCU) revealed today. Any teacher who refuses to do so will be sacked the following day. The implementation of the punitive contract comes after UCU recently suspended strike action in good faith in an attempt to facilitate a resolution through industrial conciliation service ACAS. The ACAS talks did not lead to a resolution of the dispute leaving staff with the ‘sign or sack’ ultimatum. Staff will strike on Monday 12 September 2022 in protest against the imposition of the new contracts and the dispute remains ongoing. UCU said further action will be called if the dispute remains unresolved read more
Staff at Falmouth University vote for strike action over two-tier workforce (25 Aug) – Staff at Falmouth University have overwhelmingly voted in favour of strike action in a long running dispute over management’s creation of a two-tier workforce. The ballot result comes after the employer made the unilateral decision to start employing all new academic staff on worse terms and conditions through a subsidiary company. 90% of UCU members who voted said YES to strike action. The overall turnout was 62%, easily clearing the 50% threshold imposed by Tory anti-union legislation. UCU said the result is an emphatic rejection of Falmouth University’s plans read more
Date set for strike ballots at UK universities over pay, conditions & pensions (22 Aug) – Strike ballots will open at UK universities on Tuesday 6 September. UCU will run two ballots: one over pay and working conditions and the second over pension cuts. In total 151 universities will be balloted. The ballots will run until Friday 21 October and are aggregated. This means that for the first time in these disputes, if UCU achieves an overall turnout of 50% or above and a majority YES vote in a ballot, all universities in that ballot will be hit by strike action. This would represent unprecedented action in the sector read more
Strike action announced at colleges across north west England – Four colleges across the north west of England will be hit with more strike action later this year unless employers agree to raise staff pay, the UCU announced today. Staff at Burnley College, The Manchester College, City of Liverpool College, and Oldham College will walk out for two days during college induction weeks on Tuesday 6 and Wednesday 7 September. UCU says college leaders must act now if they want to avoid a repeat of the disruption of strike action in May and June, which impacted thousands students read more
UCU fighting fund: the link is here and donations to the fund are spent on supporting members involved in important disputes.
FBU
BREAKING NEWS!! Firefighters prepare for ballot for strike action over pay (6 Sept) – Firefighters and firefighter control staff are preparing for a ballot for strike action, following consultation in Fire Brigades Union branches and a meeting of the union’s executive council on 2 September. The decision follows firefighters and firefighter control staff receiving a 2% annual pay offer on 27 June, which has not been improved upon since despite union representations to multiple parties. Inflation (CPI) has been measured at 10.1%, meaning that such a pay offer represents a significant real-terms pay cut. The aim is for the ballot to be held in five weeks’ time read more
BFAWU
Post Conference Foodworker 2022 here
NUJ
Reach cost-of-living payment, too little and “out of touch” (2 Sept) – Reach has announced to staff that the company is to unilaterally pay £400 in two payments to relieve the cost-of-living burden to some employees, just two days after the first group-wide strike by the NUJ. Having told staff that there was no new money that can be afforded to improve the income of staff in the face of the worst inflation in 40 years, management now makes a gesture that will cost an estimated £1m-plus to fulfil. The fact that Reach wants to pay more in the current circumstances is not the problem. Additional help must be given in the face of double-digit inflation and a looming winter crisis. While the change of position is welcome, the issue is that the amount put forward without any discussion with recognised unions and capped to those earning £50,000 and below. The sums do not touch the sides when it comes to the huge real-terms cut from rampant inflation that members face. It will satisfy few and, at the same time, ignores the collective bargaining process giving our members no opportunity to take a reasonable view on it. With this announcement coming after the first-ever group-wide strike action by the NUJ on Wednesday 31 August, our members could be forgiven for concluding that this payment is designed to divide the workforce and buy off further strike action. A scheduled meeting of reps from the Reach NUJ Group Chapel will consider the latest development read more
#NUJReachStrike – Day 1 (31 Aug) – Today’s news from the picket lines
Details of Reach picket lines here
Reach hardship fund – Show support for Reach strikers – donate to the NUJ Hardship Fund. When NUJ members are on strike, all members of the union are encouraged to offer support and show solidarity. As NUJ members across Reach gear up for strike action, we are launching a union-wide appeal raising funds for a special NUJ Hardship fund read more
August date spells strike action across two Scottish newspaper groups (15 Aug) – Journalists working at two companies in Scotland, on titles including The Scotsman, Daily Record and Sunday Mail, will be taking strike action on Friday 26 August. Staff on Reach plc titles – including the Daily Record, Sunday Mail, Perthshire Advertiser, Stirling Observer, Dumfries and Galloway Standard and the Live websites – have voted for strike action and action short of a strike over the company’s failure to improve its pay deal of 3 per cent/£750 minimum increase read more
Welsh executive council statement on the closure of The National (1 Sept) – The decision of the Book Council of Wales to give £100,000 of public money to fund Newsquest’s Welsh language news service, Corgi, is now under question read more
Join the campaign to save the BBC News Channel and BBC World News (2 Sept) – The BBC is to close them down, with the loss of 70 journalists, and create a new channel by next April. We are calling on Ofcom to hold and inquiry and have a public consultation. This is a major change and the BBC should not be able to try to do it under the radar and without consultation. It’s an insult to BBC staff and licence fee payers read more
Scotsman and other Scottish titles vote for industrial action (10 Aug) – NUJ members on National World’s Scottish titles have voted in favour of taking industrial action over compulsory redundancies. Two separate ballots have been held: one for the members at Scotsman Publications; and another for those employed at the company’s Scottish Weeklies. The titles affected include The Scotsman, The Edinburgh Evening News, Scotland on Sunday, The Falkirk Herald, and Milngavie and Bearsden Herald. Of the 45 members balloted at the former, 29 voted: a turnout of 64.4 per cent. Of those, 27 voted yes to strike action, and 26 voted for action short of a strike. Of the members on the weekly titles, 23 were balloted and 15 voted: a turnout of 65.2 per cent. Ten voted in favour of strike action, and 11 in favour of action short of a strike read more
BBC North West journalists vote for work to rule – NUJ members are making a stand about the damaging impact of job cuts on news outpt in the region. As well as working with a significantly reduced workforce, staff at BBC North West are now expected to take on more and more technical duties previously carried out by skilled technical staff. If allowed to continue, the quality of the regional news programmes will suffer and deteriorate, they say. More than 97 per cent of NUJ members in the chapel voted in favour of industrial action. It follows the BBC’s decision to cut £25m from BBC England’s budget, leading to 450 job cuts cross England. The vast majority of journalists who work for BBC North West are NUJ members read more
Equity
Equity member wins fight to improve access to Spotlight for Deaf and disabled members (31 Aug) – Earlier this year, Equity member Daneka Etchells (pictured above) successfully campaigned for Spotlight to remove barriers preventing disabled members accessing their Deaf and disabled members discount. Here Daneka shares how they achieved the change read more
IWGB
IWGB Union takes Deliveroo to Supreme Court over bargaining rights months after company signs union partnership (5 Sept) – The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) is challenging Deliveroo’s denial of collective bargaining rights in the Supreme Court, months after the gig-economy giant signed a so-called ‘partnership’ deal with the GMB union. A victory for the IWGB would mean that delivery couriers working for the company would be classified as workers for the purpose of Article 11. A victory would set a precedent for collective bargaining rights across the gig-economy, and it would pave the way for a future worker status claim (limb B) to ensure that Deliveroo couriers have both basic worker rights and flexibility read more
Mandate (Ireland)
Budget should increase Minimum Wage to €14 per hour and enable workers to access full time jobs, says Mandate Trade Union (2 Sept) – Mandate Trade Union, representing almost 30,000 workers in the retail, bar and administrative sectors says Budget 2022 should increase the minimum wage to a Living Wage of €14 per hour and enable workers to access more hours at work. The Union has also called for the removal of sub-minimum rates of the minimum wage, the reduction in public transport fares of 50% and a reduction in childcare fees of 50% read more
SIPTU
SIPTU National Executive Council Statement on the WRC Proposals on the Review of ‘Building Momentum’ Public Service Agreement 2021-2023 (5 Sept) – The National Executive Council (NEC) of SIPTU met on Monday, 5th September 2022, to consider the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) proposals on the review of the pay provisions of the Public Service Agreement, Building Momentum read more
SIPTU demands date set for referendum on public ownership of water services (1 Sept) – SIPTU representatives have called on the Government to set a date for a referendum on the public ownership of water services to ensure against any future privatisation of the national utility read more
Barristers start indefinite action over pay and conditions
From The Criminal Bar Association website: Indefinite Weeks of Action Arrangements for Week Commencing 5th September 2022
The Government continues to refuse to negotiate with the Criminal Bar Association and, pursuant to the last overwhelming ballot of our membership, indefinite weeks of action will begin from the 5th of September 2022, the day that the new Prime Minister is announced. That action will continue, with no further ballot initiated, unless and until there is a substantial positive movement from Government.
This action is taken as a last resort, driven by our collective resolve to ensure the viability of the junior criminal bar, in order to guarantee the future sustainability of the criminal justice system for all of our communities, across the country. The collapse of the Criminal Justice System, pre-dating, not caused by, our action, can no longer can be disguised. The remedies of immediate, substantial, long-term investment and reform, can no longer be ignored.
Whilst strength and unity are expressed in national zoom meetings and realised across the profession, it is also very important that barristers publicly show their strength and support for each other, and for the junior bar, in order to continue to raise the profile of the crisis, and our action, in the media. The CBA thanks and welcomes the solicitors, HCAs, barristers from other practice areas and law students who have come and stood beside criminal barristers on court steps across the country read more – including details of strike rallies on Tuesday 6th September – this includes the Supreme Court in London at 9am and at court buildings in Cardiff 9am, Manchester 9am, Birmingham 12noon, Bristol 10am and Leeds 9am.
Police Scotland officers to ‘withdraw goodwill’ in pay row
(From BBC website) Police officers in Scotland will withdraw “all goodwill” after they were offered a “derisory” £565 pay rise, the force’s chief constable has been told. The Scottish Police Federation said members would claim payment for any overtime they were ordered to work read more
Other news
Book launch: A Very British Conspiracy – the Shrewsbury 24 and the Campaign for Justice
Dear colleague
Your Trades Council has been a supporter of our campaign over many years. I am pleased to inform you that Verso is publishing my book about the Shrewsbury pickets entitled, A Very British Conspiracy: the Shrewsbury 24 and the Campaign for Justice. The book tells the full story of how the state prosecuted these workers and the campaign that was established to overturn this miscarriage of justice.
As the voluntary Researcher for our Campaign my priority was to discover the evidence that would get the pickets’ convictions overturned. But during that 12-year quest I also discovered an enormous amount of information about the building workers strike and the prosecution of the North Wales pickets. The book outlines the government and police documents that revealed the careful planning of the prosecution of the 24 men. It shows how the state used the criminal justice system to secure convictions, revealing how, in the absence of hard evidence, the Police and prosecution went to extraordinary lengths to criminalise trade unionists.
The book will be launched at the TUC Congress in Brighton on Tuesday 13 September, at an event sponsored by the TUC. Amongst the speakers will be Frances O’Grady, Mark Serwotka (PCS), Dave Ward (CWU), Jim Mowatt (Unite) and investigative journalist Laurie Flynn. If you are attending Congress, you are welcome to come along.
The book is available on Verso’s website here (https://www.versobooks.com/books/4057-a-very-british-conspiracy). All proceeds from the book will go to The Casa, the club and meeting place for the labour movement set up by sacked Liverpool dockworkers.
If you would like any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.
In solidarity
Eileen Turnbull
Secretary and Researcher Shrewsbury 24 Campaign
Tel 07927 937773
Shrewsbury 24 Campaign, PO Box 92 Liverpool L19 3WD
Website: www.shrewsbury24campaign.org.uk
International News
Pakistan flooding disaster – Urgent appeal from the Sindh Workers’ Alliance read more and find details on how to donate
Fight blacklisting and victimisation of union reps
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])
QC appointed to lead the independent Unite inquiry into blacklisting (25 Mar) – Unite is delighted to announce that Nick Randall QC and John Carl Townsend have been appointed to investigate the possible collusion by union officers in blacklisting. Over the past months, evidence gathering by Thompsons solicitors has continued, with many blacklisted construction workers and other witnesses having already been interviewed. The work of the independent investigators is expected to start officially on 11 April read more
#SPYCops Inquiry exposes state surveillance of workers movement
Keep up with developments and read and watch campaigners’ statements on the Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance (COPS) and Undercover Policing Inquiry websites and spycops info Facebook group
Builders Crack: The Movie
In the current situation, this long lost film from the 1990s about rank and file union organising in the construction industry is intended to lift the spirits, but also to spark a debate in our movement. Hope the youngsters in this film put a smile on your face.
Watch – Share – Discuss https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VZ-QMA1FMg
Blacklist Support Group
Book: http://newint.org/books/politics/blacklisted-secret-war/
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNcgrNs6pB8
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/
Blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog
Blacklist Support Group financial appeal: the Blacklist support group is desperately short of funds, to continue the incredible work we need more finance, would you please consider making a donation, raise it at your branches and trade councils. Please make cheques payable to Joint sites committee and send to 70 Darnay Rise Chelmsford Essex CM1 4XA. Please forward onto your contacts many thanks Steve Kelly (JSC Treasurer)
Blacklisted t-shirts available at: https://shop.hopenothate.org.uk/component/hikashop/product/78-blacklisted-t-shirt
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
September
11 NSSN TUC Rally 1pm Brighton
October
1 Enough is Enough National Day of Action on energy prices rise with protests across the UK
2 People’s Assembly Protest the Tory Party Conference – 1pm, Victoria Square, Birmingham
19 TUC Rally & Lobby of Parliament
November
5 People’s Assembly National Demonstration – London, Assemble Embankment, WC2N 6NS
CONTACT US
PHONE 07952 283 558
EMAIL mailto:[email protected]
TWITTER – https://twitter.com/NSSN_AntiCuts
FACEBOOK NSSN GROUP or STOP The CUTS Likes page
ADDRESS NSSN, PO Box 54498, London E10 9DE
