607: Turn TUC lobby Parliament into #ToriesOut demo!

The Tories are imploding. Truss has been forced out, triggering another leadership election. But new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who was Boris Johnson’s Chancellor, will also look to make workers and their families pay for the crisis. We face massive austerity and the threat of even more anti-union laws to try and stop us taking action we need to keep a roof over our heads as the cost of living squeeze tightens.

The TUC has organised a lobby of parliament on Wednesday 2^nd November. The NSSN believes that this must now be turned into a mass ‘Tories Out’ midweek demonstration, to mobilise workers and all those furious at Tory policies. The People’s Assembly demo also in London on Saturday 5^th October must be a mass mobilisation as well.

TUC rally and lobby of Parliament on Wednesday 2^nd November against the cost of living crisis – 2pm Palace of Westminster, London SW1A 0AA more details on TUC website

RMT: TUC Mass Lobby of Parliament – Fight the new Anti-Trade Union laws!

“Let’s rise up in Westminster on 2 November – in UNISON”

POA: Autumn of action – lobby and rally 2nd November 2022

The TUC is organising town hall rallies around the country. Find your local event here.

People’s Assembly:-

National Demonstration – 5 Nov 2022, London, Assemble Embankment, WC2N 6NS

The NSSN has proposed the following model motion, which can be tabled at union branches and trades councils as part of the discussion about how the unions build the movement we need now:-

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. Many of these disputes are seeing workers win significant gains.

We will continue to give our solidarity, building practical and financial support to all striking workers. We oppose any attempt by the Tory Government to impose more austerity to pay for tax cuts for the rich and big business

We 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 call on unions:-

to co-ordinate industrial action ballots and strikes to fight the cost of living squeeze
to mobilise for the TUC’s 2nd November lobby of Parliament, to build a massive midweek demonstration to support striking workers and oppose the Tory Government and its anti-worker policies

We call on the TUC:-

to co-ordinate union strike funds, for a public financial appeal to support unions and their members taking strike action

We call on the TUC and the unions:-

to prepare for the maximum co-ordinated industrial action, up to and including a 24 hour general strike if the Truss Tory Government moves to implement new anti-union laws and restrictions

‘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

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]

The NSSN is developing a campaign pack for social care, which we hope to make available in the not-too-distant future for supporters to use in their localities. As part of this, communications officer Dave Gorton is keen to hear from supporters who:

(1) work in social care (either local authority, private or independently provided)

(2) represent social care workers for a trade union

(3) are in need of social care provision themselves or act as an (unpaid/underpaid) carer for a family member

Dave can be contacted in the first instance via [email protected]

Union News

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RMT

RMT National Dispute Fund

Avanti West Coast train managers take strike action (21 Oct) – Avanti bosses claim that imposing rosters is to prevent cancellations. However, the crisis ridden company have slashed multiple services and left staff with dreadfully low morale and feeling completely neglected. Controversially Avanti has had its contract renewed on the West Coast mainline despite its appalling track record running the franchise read more

Bus workers take strike action (21 Oct) – RMT members working on buses in Somerset, and Cornwall are on strike today for better pay and conditions. First Group workers are angry that many of them are only paid just over £11 and hour and that bosses only offered a small uprate to £12 an hour. The company paid out £500m to shareholders in 2021/22 and has an operating profit of £226m read more. Four days of strike action will take place on the following dates: 10 October, 21 October, 4 November, 11 November. Around 400 workers who are planning to take action are furious that many of them are only paid just over £11 and hour and that bosses only offered a small uprate to £12 an hour

RMT response to Minimum Service Levels Bill (20 Oct) – Transport union RMT today slammed “autocratic” new anti-union laws designed to end effective industrial action on the railways. Legislation is being put forward by the government focused solely on the railways and legally preventing workers from having the right to withdraw their labour. Amongst the new raft of threats being levelled at RMT members includes:-

Unions will lose legal protections from damages if minimum service is not delivered.
Specified workers who still take strike action will lose their protection from automatic unfair dismissal.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “This cynical piece of legislation outlaws effective legal industrial action on our railways read more

RMT launch strikes on train operating companies in national rail dispute (19 Oct) – Rail union RMT will take strike action on 14 train operating companies on November 3 and 5 after no new offer on pay jobs and working conditions. Strike action will coincide with RMT members on Network Rail, London Underground and Overground who are also walking out. Despite repeated negotiations, the Rail Delivery Group has failed to offer RMT members any offer on pay, jobs and conditions read more

RMT announces new Network Rail strike dates (18 Oct) – RMT to take coordinated strike action after Network Rail performs U-turn on pay offer. Rail union RMT will take 3 days of coordinated strike action next month after Network Rail attempted to impose drastic changes in working practices on their staff. Following intense negotiations with RMT, there was an agreement where the company would commit to an improved offer on pay and working towards a negotiated settlement. However, in a dramatic U-turn, Network Rail bosses reneged on their promises of an improved pay offer and sought to impose job cuts, more unsocial hours and detrimental changes to rosters. In a crass attempt to cut the union out of national negotiations, Network Rail have written directly to staff undermining delicate talks and have tried to rehash a previous deal that RMT has categorically rejected. Strikes on Network Rail will now take place on November 3, 5 and 7. In separate disputes on London Underground and Overground networks (Arriva Rail London), RMT members will take strike action on November 3 read more

Avanti workers to take two days strike action (7 Oct) – Train managers on Avanti West Coast will take strike action on Oct 22 in a row over the imposition of rosters. RMT members will also walkout on Sunday 6 November. Avanti bosses claim that imposing rosters was to prevent cancellations. However, the company is in such dire straits that they have slashed services and left staff with poor morale and feeling neglected. Controversially the stricken company has had its contract renewed on the West Coast mainline despite its appalling track record running the franchise read more

TSSA

TSSA promises to fight railway minimum service levels legislation (19 Nov) – Transport and travel union – TSSA – is promising to fight “tooth and nail” against legislation announced by the Government which will see severe restrictions placed on the rights of transport workers across Britain. The Transport Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill receives its first reading today (Thursday 20 October) and if passed will force unions to ensure ‘minimum’ service levels during periods of industrial action and will see thousands of workers face unfair dismissal for taking strike action. This follows months of travel disruption in which Train Operating Companies reported not having a government mandate to negotiate with unions, which led to wide scale industrial action over fair pay, jobs security and conditions read more

TSSA demands full public ownership after Great British Railways plans thrown into chaos (18 Oct) – TSSA General Secretary, Manuel Cortes, has called for the full public ownership of the country’s railways after the Transport Secretary told MPs that the government has no immediate plans for a major Transport Bill which would have rubber stamped the planned Great British Railways (GBR) reforms. The creation of GBR, announced by Anne-Marie Trevelyan’s predecessor, Grant Shapps, in May last year, had been due to go ahead in early 2024 read more

TSSA Industrial Action October 2022 – Summary – Across October TSSA continues to fight to defend jobs, protect terms and conditions and secure a pay rise for members that meets the ever-rising cost of living. Industrial action including strike action and action short of a strike will take place on multiple dates throughout the month starting Saturday 1 October read more

Unite

Support Newham’s Refuse & Street Cleansing Workers – Community demo & rally: Saturday 29^th October 12noon, assemble East Ham Station, rally at Queens Market read more

Irish Government must confirm Covid Recognition Payment for non-HSE healthcare staff (23 Oct) – Frontline workers need firm payment date as cost-of-living crisis bites. Trade union Unite, which represents workers throughout the economy, has written to Health Minister Stephen Donnelly seeking confirmation that the Pandemic Special Recognition Payment, introduced to recognise the unique contribution of frontline workers in healthcare settings during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, will be extended to all non-HSE staff working in a healthcare setting, including hospital security guards and contract cleaners. The union also urged the Minister to set a date by which all eligible workers will receive the payment read more

Arriva Kent half term strikes suspended following improved pay offer (22 Oct) – Strike action scheduled for next week at Arriva Kent has been suspended following an improved pay offer by the employer. The 600 bus workers based at four depots (Gillingham, Gravesend, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells) were due to begin five days of strikes from Monday 24 October, but following an eleventh hour improved offer from the company, the strikes scheduled from Monday to Thursday were suspended. Previously, planned strike action planned for Wednesday to Friday (19-21 October) this week was suspended to allow members to ballot on a revised offer. The workers rejected this offer. However the employer returned to the negotiating table and an improved offer was made. The workers, who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, will now be balloted on the latest offer…If the latest offer is rejected the strike action scheduled for Friday 28 October will go ahead read more

Liverpool Dock Strike: Peel Ports continue to refuse to pay a decent pay rise despite huge profits (21 Oct) – Two week pay strike from Monday to go ahead after talks end in chaos. Peel Ports’ board continues to refuse to give workers a decent pay rise whilst profits soar. The union has in good faith been at the negotiating table with management to thrash out a deal: A deal the company has now reneged on. It was believed the deal would be accepted by the workforce. However, any chance to halt the industrial action has been lost after Peel Ports’ board intervened to stop the deal, which had been agreed in principle, from going ahead read more

Gatwick taxi drivers protest over attack on Unite rep (21 Oct) – Gatwick airport taxi drivers are today (Friday) protesting over an attack on their rep by their employer, Airport Cars. The worker has been sacked for undertaking his duties as a Unite union workplace representative. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said:“Unite will not tolerate attacks on our reps. The full force of the union will be directed into making Airport Cars right this wrong and cease its hostile treatment of union members read more

Shelter workers begin balloting for strike action following insulting pay offer (20 Oct) – Workers at housing charity Shelter have begun balloting for strike action after receiving an “insulting” pay offer. Shelter is imposing its pay offer on its staff and refusing to consider any further permanent increases to salaries, which the Union say is essential to a fair cost of living increase. The three per cent pay increase and a one off payment of £1,500 has been described as insulting, it is in effect a substantial real-terms pay cut given that the real inflation rate (RPI) now stands at 12.6 per cent. Over 450 members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, employed by Shelter throughout the UK, have begun balloting for industrial action this week with the ballot closing on Friday 4 November. If workers vote for industrial action then strikes could begin later next month read more

Bristol council hit by housing management strikes over unsustainable workloads (20 Oct) – Unite members walk out over terrible working conditions. Around 50 housing officers and team leaders, responsible for managing Bristol council’s 27,000 tenancies, will strike from tomorrow (Friday 21 October) to Monday 24 October over unsustainable workloads. The workers, members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, are angry that Bristol council is refusing to act even though the extra work is causing high rates of stress and anxiety. They are calling on the council to reduce workloads and allocate additional resources read more

New Living Wage highlights need for supplementary increase to Minimum Wage (20 Oct) – Cost of living crisis driving widening gap between Living Wage and statutory wage floor. Responding to today’s announcement that the Living Wage Technical Group has calculated the new Living Wage as €13.85 per hour, an increase of 95 cent on the previous rate of €12.90, Unite Regional Coordinating Officer Tom Fitzgerald called on the Government to announce a supplementary increase to the National Minimum Wage to help bridge the widening gap between the Living Wage and the statutory wage floor read more

Unite vows to defend workers from Tory attack on right to strike (20 Oct) – Unite vows to defend workers from Tory attack on right to strike. A “predictable” attack from a Government that wants the country to take a pay cut. Commenting on the transport secretary’s plans to introduce the Transport Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This is just another predictable attack on trade unions from a failing Government that expects the country to take a pay cut. It’s always workers and communities that pay the price. “We can all see whose side they are on and their long-term direction of travel. Now it is time to start asking the question – who is this economy for?” “Unite is prepared for all eventualities. We will defend workers.” Read more

Muller factory dispute escalates with 11 day all-out strike (19 Oct) – M&S and Waitrose to be hit hardest in strike over breach of rota agreement. HGV drivers and shunters at Mullers’ Stonehouse factory in Gloucestershire, members of Unite the union, will escalate their dispute over imposed rota changes with 11 days of all out strike action. Around 70 workers will strike from 19 October to 29 October. The employer is seeking to impose a change to a five days on two days off rota system to require all drivers to work at least one day every weekend. The move is a clear breach of an agreement the company signed with Unite earlier this year. The workers are responsible for delivering milk and other dairy products to M&S and Waitrose nationwide read more

Walsall Housing Group workers to strike over imposed pay cut (19 Oct) – Members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, are stepping up strike action this week after their employer Walsall Housing Group imposed a real-terms pay cut on the workers. The company has imposed a 3.1 per cent increase and an additional £300 one-off payment on the workers, far below the current real inflation rate (RPI) of 12.3 per cent. The Walsall Housing Group workers play an essential role in keeping tenants’ homes safe and repaired. Over 40 members of Unite at Walsall Housing Group will take 12 days of strike action over the coming weeks on October 21, 24, 28 and 31 and then on 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, 21, 25 and 28 November read more

Protests in Stokesley and Manila in support of striking Quorn workers’ rejection of pay cut (19 Oct) – Billion pound food business faces fair pay rallies in Teesside and Philippines. Workers for the food giant Quorn who are on strike for a fair wage will link up with food workers based in the Philippines, their union, Unite, said today (Wednesday). Unite’s members will be joined by members of the International Union of Food Workers (IUF) who will take the protest tomorrow to the Manila headquarters of parent company Monde Nissin. The Manila rally will take place as the striking workers march through Stokesley to Quorn’s UK headquarters in protest at the company’s refusal to put forward a cost of living pay rise. The demonstrations will get underway as the UK workers begin all out strike action at Quorn’s Billingham factory. Quorn’s revenues for 2021 were £224.9 million, with gross profits of £88.9 million, while Monde Nissin brought in record revenues of more than £1 billion during the same period. Quorn’s highest paid director was paid nearly £1.5 million read more

Quorn strikes go all-out over super-profitable firm’s ‘derisory’ pay offer (18 Oct) – Company’s efforts to undermine strike causing chaos and raises safety fears. More than 60 workers at Quorn’s meat-free paste production factory will begin all-out strike action this Thursday (20 October) in a dispute over a ‘derisory’ pay offer. The workers, members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, have already taken nine days of strike action in October over a four per cent pay offer plus a one-off payment. The workers are seeking a nine per cent pay rise, which was the RPI inflation rate in April when negotiations began. The strikes are expected to lead to shortages of Quorn products in supermarkets read more

Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and M&S hit by poverty pay strikes at Lincolnshire food manufacturer (18 Oct) – Bakkavor food manufacturer made £100 million profits but minimum wage workers offered pay cut. More than 700 workers at Bakkavor’s food manufacturing factory in Spalding, Lincolnshire, will strike over poverty pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Tuesday). The production line operatives, who make own brand soups, sauces and deli produce for major supermarkets, will strike from 1 November to 9 November. More strikes will be scheduled if the dispute is not resolved read more

Strike action set to hit Co-op coffin factory based in Glasgow (18 Oct) – Action follows rejection of pay cut. Unite members at Co-op Funeralcare based at Bogmoor Place, Glasgow, are set to take strike action following the rejection of a real terms pay cut. Around 50 craft workers based at the Co-op’s only coffin manufacturing facility in the UK overwhelmingly rejected a real-terms pay cut and served notice of strike action. The offer on the table from the Co-op is less than half that of the current real rate of living cost, which is 12.3 per cent. The strike action will commence 31 October and it will continue each day until 7 November when the action will conclude read more

World Cup beer drought deliveries strike looms (18 Oct) – 1,000 GXO draymen striking over pay cut while firm makes hundreds of millions in profit. GXO drivers who make around 40 per cent of UK beer deliveries will take strike action over pay during the run up to the World Cup, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Tuesday). The workers have rejected a five per cent offer, well below the 12.3 per cent real inflation rate, but it also comes with strings as the employer is demanding a reduction in sick pay. In August, GXO reported that its UK operations brought in revenues of £687 million during the three months between April and June alone and boosted its profits forecast. The first round of strikes will take place between 31 October and 4 November at depots across the UK, with more scheduled if the dispute is not resolved. The strikes will impede the ability of pubs and other venues to replenish their cellars prior to the World Cup, which begins on 20 November. A continuous overtime ban will also begin on 24 October read more

Hestia Hounslow LIFE workers move toward strike action – Unreasonably high caseloads. Workers at Hestia’s flagship Hounslow LIFE integrated support service are set to ballot for strike action over unreasonably high caseloads, low pay and attempts by Hestia’s senior management to railroad through changes to their conditions and possible job losses, despite the service recently being awarded additional funds in recognition of the fact that staff are overworked, and the service overstretched. Unite has given senior management until Wednesday 19th October to respond. In August workers at Hounslow Life were informed of drastic changes which would require floating support and specialist recovery workers to take on extra work in the form of supervising social work students. For some of the workers involved there would be a very small salary uplift, for the rest nothing! Read more

PETITION https://surveys.unitetheunion.org/221924736030854

LEAFLET https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oBQCFZaivNClIQoB9qj94BT0rbu3w5ct/view

Woolwich Ferry faces 5-day strike as TfL fails workers (14 Oct) – Workers will strike for five days from Monday 24 October. TfL refuses to discuss pay as inflation reaches 12.3 per cent. The unmitigated failure of TfL (Transport for London) managers to discuss pay with Woolwich Ferry workers means Unite will stage a five day strike. The strike begins on Monday 24 October and ends on Friday 28 October. 87% of the workers who took part in the ballot voted for strike action. The workers currently face a toxic combination of an employer refusing to discuss a pay deal for 2022, and management victimising and unfairly suspending workers on the service. Unite is challenging the inconsistent treatment of a number of older staff who have been unfairly suspended or dismissed. The service has also refused to discuss the over-reliance on agency workers and alternative working arrangements read more

West Midlands Metro strike goes ahead as Unite members vow to defeat pay pittance (14 Oct) – Extensive strike action affecting the West Midland Metro will begin tomorrow (Saturday 15 October), in a dispute over rates of pay described as a ‘pittance’. Fifty-three days of strike action will get underway following the employer’s failure to improve its pay offer or to propose fresh negotiations. The dispute involves over 174 members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, employed by West Midlands Metro, who are seeking a major improvement on their pay. For some it is the lowest rate of pay in the country for the roles they undertake. Saturday is the first of 53 days of strike action, which has been scheduled to continue until Saturday 5 January 2023 read more

Derby Alstom pay cut strikes to impact East Midlands Rail maintenance (14 Oct) – Alstom profits at £233m but workers offered just four per cent. More than 70 highly skilled workers who maintain the rolling stock at Alstom’s Derby site will strike over pay on 27 October and 29 October. If the dispute is not resolved more strikes will be scheduled. The workers will also begin industrial action comprising of a work to rule and an overtime ban on 19 October over the four per cent pay offer, well below the RPI rate of inflation of 12.3 per cent. French-based Alstom’s latest financial report shows it made sales of £13.6 billion in 2021/22 and net profits of £233 million read more

Tyne and Wear braced for Metro disruption as Stadler Rail engineers vote to strike (13 Oct) – Stadler makes £119 million profit but offers workers a miserable 4%. More than 50 Tyne and Wear Metro engineers will strike after their employer Stadler Rail Service Ltd offered them a miserable four per cent pay rise. With the real rate of inflation, RPI, at 12.3 per cent and expected to rise, their union Unite says that this is a real terms pay cut. Strike dates are yet to be announced but an overtime ban will commence tomorrow (Friday). As maintenance schedules are reliant on staff working overtime, the ban is expected to impact services on the Metro, which is the UK’s busiest light rail system outside of London read more

Arrow home deliveries facing strikes until Christmas over ‘dismal’ pay offer (13 Oct) – Members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, employed by Arrow XL, will begin strike action later this month in a dispute over pay. Unite represents 350 workers who undertake two-person deliveries for major retailers including Amazon, Very Group, LG Electronics, Richer Sounds and Buy it Direct read more

Pickle and vinegar shortages loom as Mizkan Euro workers announce strikes over pay cut (12 Oct) – The UK is facing a shortage of pickles and vinegar as workers at Mizkan Euro in Middleton, Rochdale, announce strike action following a derisory pay offer. The 50-plus workers who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, produce well-known brands including Branston Pickle, Sarsons Vinegar and Haywards Pickled Vegetables. The company’s customers include all the major supermarkets, with both ASDA and Sainsbury’s being particularly reliant on its products. The workers recorded an 81 per cent vote in favour of strike action, having rejected a pay increase of five per cent. Unite says this would be a substantial real terms pay cut, with the real inflation rate (RPI) currently standing at 12.3 per cent. Workers are paid as little as £11.50 an hour. Last year, Mizkan Euro recorded a gross profit of £24 million on a turnover of £98 million read more

Unite lays blame for mounting repairs backlog firmly at employers’ door as NI Housing Executive strike enters ninth week – As Unite members employed by the NI Housing Executive enter their ninth week of strike action, the union has hit out at the employer’s failure to resolve the dispute, which is causing mounting problems for vulnerable tenants. According to Unite, the strike is having a huge impact on the operations of the NI Housing Executive read more

Arriva drivers in Northumberland to strike over threatened closure of Jesmond depot – Bus drivers employed by Arriva will begin strike action later this month in opposition to the company’s plans to close its Jesmond depot. The strike will involve over 100 bus drivers, who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union. Beginning on Thursday 21 October, it will be an all-out (continuous) strike. The drivers recorded a 97 per cent vote in favour of industrial action. The Jesmond depot is due to close on Monday 31 October. The closure threatens jobs and will result in a poorer bus service throughout Newcastle and Northumberland. The company has failed to adequately consult Unite over its plans read more

Unite leader Sharon Graham to visit Hull Stagecoach picket line Friday 7 October – Stagecoach operating profits reach £72m in 2021/2 but workers offered ‘pay cut’. More than 250 Hull Stagecoach bus drivers, cleaners, engineers and commercial assistants are taking all out strike action from 7 October until 29 December. The workers are angry at a below inflation pay offer, a lack of pay parity compared to other areas and a one per cent increase in wages since 2019 read more

Offshore drillers and contractors set to hold 48-hour stoppages after vote for strike action – 95% support action following real terms pay cut. Unite the union confirmed today (5 October) that over 300 offshore drilling and contract maintenance workers employed by Archer, Maersk, Transocean and Odfjell have backed strike action. The mandate for industrial action follows Unite members rejecting a 5 per cent pay offer. The pay dispute involves workers covered by the United Kingdom Drilling Contractors Association (UKDCA). 95 per cent supported strike action in a ballot turnout of 86 per cent. The strike action will involve a series of 48-hour stoppages every second week for the first 8 weeks. The action will start on 20 and 21 October. A further series of stoppages will take place on 3-4 and 17-18 November, 1-2 and 15-16 December. Unite has further warned that the action could thereafter escalate to all-out strike action. Unite members by 98 per cent also supported action short of a strike. This could include an overtime ban from 18 October limiting the working day to 12 hours; no extra cover provided during scheduled field breaks, and the withdrawal of goodwill pre and post tour briefings preventing handovers between shifts read more

Abellio East Midlands workers announce strike action over pay – Strikes begin as company with £401m profit fails to make any pay offer. Workers at train company Abellio East Midlands will begin strike action this week after the company refused to make any pay offer to its members. Over 140 workers, who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, will begin a 48-hour strike on Thursday 6 October, followed by a further 48-hour strike beginning on Monday 17 October. Abellio made a net profit of £401 million in 2021. However, it has blamed its failure to make a pay offer on the Department for Transport (DfT), claiming that ministers have not authorised it to make a pay offer to its workers. The workers – based at depots in Derby, Leicester and Nottingham and employed as cleaners, technicians, shunters, engineers, inspectors, lathe operators, team leaders and supervisors – recorded an 84 per cent vote in favour of industrial action read more

Felixstowe dock workers return to picket lines – Workers at the UK’s largest container port at Felixstowe will renew strike action tomorrow (Tuesday 27 September) in an ongoing dispute over pay. Over 1,900 members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, will begin strike action at 07:00 on Tuesday 27 September with the eight day strike ending on 06:59 on Wednesday 5 October. Strike action is resuming after the company refused to return to negotiations following the initial eight days strike action in August. Instead the company imposed a seven per cent increase on the workforce. This amounted to a real terms pay cut with the real inflation rate (RPI) currently standing at 12.3 per cent. The workers rejected the imposed pay offer by 82 per cent on 78 per cent turnout read more

Honeywell workforce set for strike action – Workers reject ‘pitiful’ pay offer at Edinburgh aerospace company. Members of Unite, Scotland’s leading trade union, employed at aerospace company Honeywell, will begin strike action tomorrow (8 September) in a dispute over pay. Around Unite 20 members including production and assembly workers recorded a 78.6 per cent vote in favour of strike action on a 77.8 per cent turnout at Honeywell. The first day of strike action (8 September) will be followed every Thursday for the next twelve weeks. The company, which specialises in the design and manufacturing of electronic hardware and systems, has proposed a multi-year deal of 2.75 per cent for this year and next year then followed by 0 per cent in 2024. This offer has been resoundingly rejected by the workers read more

Workers at Causeway Coast and Glens council to commence all-out strike action tomorrow after councils vote down pay increase – Offer of two pay points plus a cash lump sum to end dispute was rejected at last night’s council meeting by a single vote in the chamber. Unite the union has confirmed that its members at Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council will commence continuous strike action at the local authority tomorrow (8 Sept). The decision by workers followed last night’s vote at full council at which a proposal to settle the strike by offering two pay point increments and a lump sum to workers – similar to that provided in Derry City & Strabane and in Mid-Ulster District Councils – was voted down by a majority of one councillor. General Secretary of Unite, Sharon Graham, pledged her union’s full support to the striking council workers read more

Striking Tipton CabAuto workers reveal shocking levels of in-work poverty – 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

Real terms pay cut forces strike by Hartlepool chemical workers at Venator – 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

Baker Hughes strike action amid fire and rehire claims – 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

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

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

CWU

Support the CWU strikes in Royal Mail, BT/Openreach & Post Office – 19 further days of action strikes have begun in Royal Mail, BT-Openreach workers are taking action on October 6, 10, 20 and 24, while CWU members in the Post Office were out last on September 28^th. This Thursday October 20^th, CWU members in Royal Mail and BT strike together. The CWU has launched a strike fund – please support: Unity Bank, CWU General Fund, 60-83-01 33019822

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

Enough is Enough, CWU tells Cardiff (21 Oct) – ‘Yma o hyd’ – ‘We’re still here’. Defiant Welsh strikers call out company bosses as they march through the capital. Nowhere was yesterday’s national display of BT Group and Royal Mail workers’ fury at real term pay cuts more evident than in Cardiff, where local CWU branches organised a highly successful march and rally in the city. The high-profile event – which secured widespread media coverage as well as providing a focus for striking CWU members from both the unions telecoms and postal constituencies – was addressed by speakers from the Wales TUC, Cardiff and Swansea Trades Councils, BT and Royal Mail reps and other trade unions including the RMT and GMB. Addressing the estimated 200-plus crowd, CWU speakers lashed out at the double standards of an entire management class who are continuing to award themselves huge pay rises and bonuses – and simultaneously paying out large dividends to shareholders – while leaving ordinary working people to shoulder the pain of the cost of living crisis read more

Biggest strike of 2022, support & solidarity grows even bigger and the PM resigns – what a day! (21 Oct) – Some 160,000 CWU members take action at thousands of UK workplaces, other unions visit our lively pickets and the Government collapses into chaos. In yesterday’s early-morning darkness, local authority refuse vehicles – members of the local GMB branch – drove down Brighton’s North Road past CWU pickets outside their delivery office. Every vehicle blaring its horn and flashing its lights, while our members cheered and waved their flags in appreciation. Bus drivers too joined in with the show of support, as did passing motorists – although, as the street started to fill with supporters, local police temporarily closed the road and a planned solidarity rally began. Rain started falling, but it only added to the atmosphere as numbers grew, boosted by local trade unionists and TUC delegates, as well as other supporters and members of the public. Our general secretary Dave Ward, president Karen Rose, deputy general secretary (T&FS) Andy Kerr and acting deputy general secretary (Postal) Andy Furey all addressed the pickets and supporters – while speakers from other unions included Gary Smith (GMB), Mark Serwotka (PCS), Mick Lynch (RMT), Jo Grady (UCU), Kevin Courtney (NEU) and the TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady. All of them made rousing speeches, sparking cheers and applause from the packed street – and even from the flats above read more

Cracks appearing across BT Group as more strikes pile on the pressure (20 Oct) – Over 40,000 BT and Openreach workers are downing tools today (Thursday) for their seventh day of industrial action amid clear evidence that mounting engineering workstacks and lengthening call centre queues are seriously impacting all parts of the business. That disruption will be compounded on Monday (October 24) with a further day of all-out strike action demonstrating an entire workforce’s disgust at the steadfast refusal of BT Group bosses to reconsider real-term pay cut that have triggered the first national strike action in the telecoms giant in 35 years. Despite repeated CWU appeals to senior management to return to the negotiating table to achieve a fair and just settlement of an increasingly bitter pay dispute, bosses have so far shown no interest in resolving the industrial relations conflagration. As such, the CWU is embarked on a co-ordinated programme to up the ante, with plans to reballot the entire workforce – including members in EE –announced in a special Facebook Live broadcast on Tuesday night. That, plus simultaneously revealed plans for future bouts of industrial action to be longer and more intense, builds on the escalation that has already seen more than 500 emergency services call handlers based at 999 call centres across the country join the strike for the very first time. Previously, those fielding 999 calls had been specially exempted from the CWU’s industrial action in recognition of the essential public service they provide read more

PCS

London and South East Pay Day Rally (24 Oct) – Join us on 31 October to hear about our ballot, how the cost of living crisis is affecting you, with speakers from CWU and a dispute-winning barrister. London and south east region is holding a virtual pay day rally on Monday 31 October at 12 noon on Zoom. Speakers at the event will include Vinnie Micallef from the CWU, updating us on the postal workers’ dispute and Russell Fraser, barrister at Garden Court Chambers and Haldane Society on how they won read more

HGS strikers join rally to show solidarity with MoD staff (21 Oct) – Today (21) ended another week of strike action by PCS members working for Hinduja Global Solutions on the Disclosure and Barring Service contact centre and back-office functions contract in Liverpool. The picket line will be on again every day next week starting at 7.30am as members start the second week of strike action. The strike has once again been solid with no members going into work and many members coming down to the picket line throughout the week. Once the picket lines finished today striking HGS staff went over the road to show their support to MoD staff holding a rally organised by PCS outside Walker House. The rally, also addressed by local MP Mick Whitley, had been called to oppose MoD plans to close Walker House and move work to Blackpool. Earlier HGS strikers were buoyed by reports that HGS was struggling to deal with work as a result of this week’s strike and concerns things will be worse when the strike action continues next week read more

Support PCS members on 9-day courts strike (21 Oct) – Legal advisors and court associates are starting 9 days of strike action tomorrow (22) at more than 60 magistrates’ courts in England and Wales over the controversial Common Platform system. The workers, who postponed last month’s planned strike after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, are striking until 30 October. The employer, Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), paused the system’s roll-out to allow negotiations to take place but has since pressed ahead with the unpopular scheme. There is a strike rally with PCS General Secretary Mark Serwokta on Zoom at 5pm on Wednesday (26) read more

Branches passing 50% threshold but lots more work still needed (21 Oct) – More and more branches have passed the 50% legal national ballot threshold, but every vote counts in this ballot so we need a concerted effort from all reps and members to achieve a huge yes vote. So far 54 PCS branches have now passed the 50% legal ballot threshold as more and more reps and members are telling us they have voted and posted back their ballot paper ahead of the end of the ballot on 7 November. So, we can target our resources where they are most needed most to smash the 50% threshold we need everyone to vote and then tell us when you have read more

PCS launches strike ballot of 150,000 civil servants (26 Sept) – PCS today begins a strike ballot of more than 150,000 civil servants. Our members in 214 government departments are being urged to vote ‘Yes’ for strike action over pay, pensions, jobs and redundancy terms. PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka said: “The government has ignored our demands for a fair pay rise, so we have no choice other than to launch what is the most significant ballot for strike action in our history read more

Sign petition to support striking workers at Hinduja Global Solutions

GMB

Ambulance strike ballot begins as more than 15,000 workers vote (24 Oct) – More than 15,000 ambulance workers across 11 trusts in England and Wales begin voting on strike action today [Monday 24 October]. Thousands more NHS workers will also be balloted across other NHS trusts, with more votes set to follow. Ambulance workers from the following trusts will take part in the vote, which closes on 29 November read more. Workers are angry over the Government’s imposed 4 per cent pay award – another massive real terms pay cut – as well as unsafe staffing levels across the ambulance service

Northern Ireland NHS faces strike vote (18 Oct) – Hundreds of health workers in Northern Ireland will be balloted for strike action GMB Union launches a formal ballot. Health service workers across the NHS and Northern Ireland Ambulance Service will begin voting today [18 October]. The ballot closes on 7 November, with any strike action likely before Christmas. Health workers in Northern Ireland are angry over the lack of any kind of pay offer to help with the cost of living crush and unsafe staffing levels read more

Up to 1,000 strong march for Doncaster Sheffield Airport (21 Oct) – Up to 1,000 people are set to join workers, local politicians and union reps on a march to save Doncaster Sheffield airport. The airport’s owners, the Peel Group, have announced they would be winding down operations from the week commencing 31 October, despite the offer of public cash to keep it open until a buyer is found. Doncaster Sheffield Airport workers went to Parliament last week [13 October 2022] to hand in a 100,000 strong petition to save the site read more

Construction workers protest in Central London (18 Oct) – GMB construction workers took to the streets to protest over the cost of living crush. Senior stewards from the union demonstrated outside the Engineering Construction Industry Association headquarters in central London today [Tuesday]. In 2021, pay for construction workers was settled at 2.5 per cent for 2022 and 2023 under the NAECI agreement – the national agreement for engineering construction workers. But that was before inflation rocketed – workers are now asking employers to work with the GMB Union to ensure they are not left struggling to afford to live read more

Durham chemicals company faces strike (18 Oct) – Almost 100 workers at a Durham chemical company will take part in a strike vote over a real terms pay cut. GMB members at Thomas Swan, in Consett, are angry after the company offered them zero per cent and misled them over whether the company was in profit. The ballot opens on Monday, 24 October and closes on Friday, 11 November. A revised offer of 5.1 per cent – capped at £1,000, meaning the vast majority of the workforce would get even less – was overwhelmingly rejected read more

Christmas beer drought fears as Budweiser workers strike (18 Oct) – Hundreds of Budweiser workers are on strike again after talks collapsed. Staff at the beer giant’s Salmesbury site will now strike until 7am 22 October in anger at a real terms pay cut. Workers at the plant brew Budweiser, Stella Artois, Becks, Boddingtons and Export Pale Ale. Meetings between GMB, the company and conciliation service ACAS collapsed last week after bosses only upped their offer by £250 for 2023 read more

Richmond bin workers return to work after winning pay deal (18 Oct) – Three week strike ends after one day as Serco table improved pay offer to GMB members. GMB, the union for refuse workers, can announce that the scheduled three week bin strike within the London Borough of Richmond has ended after only one day of action. The members, who are employed by the council’s waste contractor Serco, accepted an improved pay offer on Monday [17 October] which will see HGV drivers’ pay increase by 15 per cent. The workers will return to work today [18 October] and kerbside collections will recommence immediately read more

Pizza Express, KFC and Burger King face food shortages amid strike vote (17 Oct) – Some of Britain’s best loved family restaurants face severe disruption to their food deliveries this Christmas as GMB launches a strike ballot among workers. Almost 600 GMB members working for Bestfood will take part in a strike ballot after they rejected the company’s latest pay offer. The workers, who deliver fresh food to the likes of Pizza Express, KFC, Zizzi, Burger King, Wagamama and Pizza Hut, rejected a 6 per cent pay offer, which would amount to a real terms pay cut this year and into next. A total of 93 per cent of GMB members rejected the offer, with 85 per cent indicating they wanted to be balloted formally for industrial action. Dates for the strike ballot will be announced in the coming days read more

New Sunderland bus strike dates announced (14 Oct) – GMB Union has announced two new strike dates in the Sunderland Bus dispute. Almost 200 bus drivers will take part in 24 hour walkouts on 28 and 31 October. GMB members were keen to take part day strikes – from 10am until 3pm – so the people of Sunderland were able to get to and from work and school. Unfortunately Stagecoach told them they would not be able to work for any part of a day when they took industrial action. The dispute broke out after Stagecoach offered a massive real terms pay cut of just 4 per cent, with 2 per cent to follow later in the year read more

Polyflor profits hit £52 million as struggling workers strike (5 Oct) – Flooring company Polyflor has seen profits rise to more than £52 million while hard up workers take strike action to make ends meet, says GMB Union. James Holstead – Polyflor’s parent company – posted a 9.6 per cent rise in revenue year-on-year to £291.9 million for the year that ended June 30. Pre-tax profit increased 1.6 per cent £52.1 million. Almost 200 workers at the firm are in midst of three weeks’ solid strike action until 14 October. Pickets will be staged from 8 to 10am and 4 to 6pm, Monday to Friday outside the factory on Radcliffe New Road, M45. Workers voted to strike over a pay dispute. Shortly after they received a message from the company saying ‘process shifts for process workers are to be suspended…please do not turn up for your shift(s) from 6am on Thursday 1st September’ read more

Walsall Housing Group strike extends into October – Industrial action at Walsall Housing Group will extend into next month, GMB Union has said. Almost 200 GMB members will walk out for six days in October 12, 14, 17, 21, 24 and 28. The industrial action comes on top of strike dates in September. 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 highest paid director was handed a 14 per cent pay rise between 2020 and 2021 read more

Amazon workers begin first ever UK strike ballot – Amazon workers at a Coventry warehouse will become the first in the UK to take part in a formal strike ballot. Hundreds of workers will today begin voting on whether to walk out in anger over the company’s 35 pence per hour pay offer. The ballot closes on 19 October, with any industrial action likely to take place in November. Amazon workers across the UK have staged informal protests in anger at a three per cent pay offer from the company. Last September, Amazon reported paying £492m in tax the previous year – despite UK revenue soaring to £20.6billion in the pandemic 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 16^th. 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

Working a day every week for free at the Environment Agency (21 Oct) – UNISON members at the agency have seen pay fall since 2011, but now these vital workers are balloting for industrial action – and three explain why they’re voting ‘yes’ read more

Environment Agency condemned over pay imposition (20 Oct) – UNISON slams the move, as the agency also announced worse terms for new employees. UNISON has today condemned the decision of the Environment Agency (EA) to implement a 2% + £345 pay offer for staff while, at the same time, imposing worse terms in contracts for new workers joining the agency read more

Food Standards Agency strike ballot could mean Christmas meat shortages, says UNISON (18 Oct) – The FSA needs to come up with a significantly higher offer to avoid any disruption. Staff at the Food Standards Agency (FSA) are being balloted for strike action that could affect meat supplies during the festive season, says UNISON today (Tuesday). The dispute involving several hundred inspectors, vets, and office-based staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland could bring the industry to a halt, according to the union. Earlier in the year, FSA staff voted to reject a pay offer of between 2% and 5%. UNISON says this is significantly lower than inflation – currently 9.9% – and falls short of the 10% pay claim put forward by the union. The ballot closes on 31 October. UNISON says this could result in strikes in the run up to and over Christmas leading to less meat on supermarket shelves read more

The OCS dispute has been won: Standing up for ourselves – Our OCS dispute story – my name is Joanne Thompson and I work in the NHS but am employed by a private company, OCS as a domestic worker, cleaning wards at The Harbour Mental Health Hospital in Blackpool. I am also a member of UNISON. Last week myself and colleagues took three days of industrial action over pay, terms and conditions. We want parity with directly employed NHS staff. From Wednesday 29 June through until Friday 01 July, I stood outside my place of work in Blackpool on all three days, on the picket line. It was my first experience of taking strike action and it was empowering read more here and here

Council housing repair staff at Barnet Group begin strike action (17 Oct) – Council housing repair staff at Barnet Group begin strike action. Council housing repair staff working for the Barnet Group have walked out in a dispute over sick pay, says UNISON today (Monday). The workers have voted for strike action after a colleague was denied sick pay despite being injured at work. UNISON says the worker was three weeks away from signing a new contract which would have entitled them to sick pay. The Barnet Group is refusing to provide any support for the employee, according to the union read more

“It’s started!”: #BarnetStrikers all out strike action has begun today (17 Oct) – All-out strike action by our Council Housing repairs service has started. Daily picket lines 7.30-8.30am, Grahame Park Housing Office 17-19 The Concourse NW9 5XA. Please send messages of solidarity to [email protected] read more

Support the Unison strike at Reigate & Banstead Council – the branch of UNISON were successful in their ballot and have strike action arranged on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. There will be two pickets each day. One at the Town Hall, Castlefield Rd, Reigate RH2 0SH and the other will be at Earlswood Depot, Horley Road, Redhill, RH1 6PN from 5.00am

Stop Hackney Council cutting library services read more about the campaign here. Join the protest on Monday 23^rd October from 5pm – Hackney Town Hall, Mare Street, London E8 1EA

Workers at Leeds Beckett University begin strike over pay, says UNISON (4 Oct) – Low pay has been a massive, and growing, problem in the university sector for a decade and more. Low-paid employees at Leeds Beckett University will walk out today (Tuesday) in a row about pay, says UNISON. The workers – including those in administrative, cleaning, library, security and catering services – will continue their strike tomorrow and Thursday after rejecting a 3% pay award from the University and Colleges Employers Association. UNISON had called for an increase of 2% above the rate of inflation, currently running at 9.9%. With further rises in the cost of living expected, the award effectively amounts to a pay cut, the union says read more

University staff to strike over pay as new term begins (20 Sept) – Workers have reached breaking point and have little choice but to strike. Thousands of university staff including administrators, cleaners, library, security and catering employees are to walk out in a wave of strikes that will hit universities from today (Tuesday), says UNISON. Universities will be disrupted across England and Scotland as employees push for a fair pay rise that takes account of soaring cost of living pressures and years of below-inflation awards, says the union. The workers, among the lowest paid in the higher education sector, took the difficult decision to strike after rejecting a 3% pay award from the University and Colleges Employers Association in May, the union says. Staff are asking for a wage increase of 2% above inflation, the lowest measure for which is currently 9.8% read more for details of picket lines

Care staff announce new strike dates over pay, says UNISON – 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

NIPSA

Workers Pay the Price of Downing Street Chaos (19 Oct) – On 23 September we responded to the “mini-budget” (Mini-Budget – The Rich Continue to Benefit) not only outlining the specific risks it posed but also emphasising that this suggested an acceleration of the political extremism that has dominated UK public policy for decades. This is rooted in the primacy of capitalist demands that prioritise profit-seeking individualism over the need to build a society that invests in public services and provides a social security system that could support us all “from the cradle to the grave” read more

SWAH Services Under Threat (18 Oct) – A meeting of the Trust Board of WHSCT took place at South West Acute Hospital (SWAH), Enniskillen on 17 October 2022 to discuss cutting Emergency General Surgery Service in SWAH. This announcement will be of great concern to both service users and health service staff who will be deeply concerned for the future provision of service that requires the support of Emergency Surgery. It is clear that any cut in services will increase pressure on the other hospitals within the Trust, further exacerbating the safe staffing crisis and putting the lives of more patients at risk. Unfortunately, the Trust chose to add to the distress caused by this announcement by failing to communicate through established trade union consultation process read more

NIPSA Ballot Opens in Health on Pay, Staffing Levels and Travel Reimbursement (11 Oct) – NIPSA urges members to VOTE YES to INDUSTRIAL ACTION including STRIKE and ACTION SHORT of STRIKE. The ballot will open on 27 October 2022 – 18 November 2022. Please ensure that your contact details are up to date. If you have had any changes, please contact NIPSA Membership Section on 02890 661831 or email the NIPSA Membership Unit by the 17 October 2022. NIPSA’s position remains that pay lies at the centre of the problems facing HSC staff, HSC Staff continue to be subject to Pay Cuts resulting in ongoing problems around Recruitment and Retention which gives rise to Safe Staffing concerns read more

Royal College of Nursing

Scottish Government fails to address nurse staffing crisis with latest pay offer (21 Oct) – The Scottish government’s latest pay offer remains a real terms pay cut for the majority of nursing staff. The offer comes after discussions with the health trade unions, Cabinet Secretary, Deputy First Minister, Scottish government officials and employers ran late into last night (20 October) read more

RCN’s biggest ever strike ballot now open (6 Oct) – Fight for safe staffing and fair pay by voting ‘yes’ to strike action. More than 300,000 members will receive ballot papers in the post from today (6 October), launching the RCN’s biggest strike ballot in its 106-year history. You can make your mark on that history by voting “yes” to strike action. RCN General Secretary & Chief Executive Pat Cullen said: “We are understaffed, undervalued and underpaid. For years our profession has been pushed to the edge, and now patient safety is paying the price. We can’t stand by and watch our colleagues and patients suffer anymore. “Though strike action is a last resort, it is a powerful tool for change. And we must demand that change. Enough is enough. I urge you to vote ‘yes’ in this ballot” read more

Royal College of Midwives

Have your say on Northern Ireland pay says RCM to members as pay consultation opens (20 Oct) – The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) is calling on its members in Northern Ireland to make their voices heard over pay. The College is consulting its members in Northern Ireland on whether they are willing to take industrial action over their pay. The consultation opens today for RCM members working in the HSC in Northern Ireland and runs until 10 November. Midwives and maternity support workers (MSW) in Northern Ireland have no pay offer on the table because of the absence of a functioning executive and lack of a budget says the RCM. Health Minister Robin Swann has said he is willing to accept the NHS Pay Review Body’s (PRB) recommendations on pay. This equates to around a 4% pay award for staff at the top of Band 6 and Band 7, and a £1400 consolidated award for most others on the Agenda for Change pay structure. Inflation is now over 10% and predictions are it will rise even higher. The RCM says that even if the pay award is implemented the PRB recommendation is an insult, lags way behind the spiralling cost of living, and is effectively a pay cut read more

RCM announces date it will ballot members in England and Wales on industrial action (7 Oct) – The RCM is urging all members working in the NHS in England and Wales to vote yes to industrial action over pay as it announces the date its official ballot will open. After members in both countries overwhelmingly rejected their governments’ below-inflation pay award, the statutory ballot for midwives and maternity support workers will open on 11 November and run for four weeks. All members working as midwives or MSWs employed by the NHS in England and Wales are eligible to vote. For now, the RCM says it’s vital that every member ensures their postal addresses and employment details are up to date, so they do not miss out on their chance to vote provide all member data to Civica, the independent voting service read more

RCM recommends members vote YES to industrial action as ballot opens in Scotland (29 Sept) – ‘Stand by and get ready to vote on industrial action’ that’s the message from the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) in Scotland as it formally launches its ballot on industrial action today. The RCM is recommending that members vote yes to both strike action and action short of a strike and say they do not take this decision lightly and understand its members don’t either read more

BMA

BMA Junior Doctors have tweeted today (17 Oct): Starting around January 9 2023, we will ballot junior doctor members in England for industrial action. Keep up to date via @BMA_JuniorDocs on twitter

Government refuse to engage – We are deeply disappointed that despite ample opportunity, Ministers have ignored our calls to value junior doctors appropriately and duly restore their pay to 2008/09 levels. We requested official approval from BMA council, the union’s principal executive committee, to ballot members in England around the 9 January 2023 for industrial action. The last two years have been far from ordinary for anyone working in the NHS and junior doctors have made both an enormous contribution and a significant sacrifice. The effects on their wellbeing are likely to be felt for years to come whilst tackling the daunting backlog of treatment for patients. And yet none of this is recognised by the government, who by refusing an enhanced uplift, are simply further eroding junior doctors’ pay read more

NEU

NEU announces dates of formal ballots over pay (18 Oct) – NEU writes to employers with notification of intention to carry out national ballots. Today the National Education Union is writing to employers with notification of our intention to carry out national ballots of around 300,000 teacher and support staff members in England and Wales. These formal postal ballots will open on Friday 28 October 2022 and close on Friday 13 January 2023. Dates for potential strike action are yet to be decided, but likely to be from week commencing 30 January 2023. In our recent indicative ballots, which closed last week:-

– 62% of teacher members and 68% of support staff members in more than 23,000 schools voted;

– 98% of teacher members believe that all teachers should receive a fully funded, above-inflation pay rise;

– 86% of teacher members would be willing to take strike action to demand that rise;

– 92% of support staff reject the employers’ final pay offer for 2022/23;

– 78% of support staff would vote yes to strike action.

The formal ballots will ask members “Are you prepared to take strike action in furtherance of this dispute?” Each dispute is about the failure to give a commitment for a fully funded above-inflation pay rise (as measured by September 2022 RPI) read more

NASUWT

NASUWT to ballot members on industrial action over pay (14 Oct) – The NASUWT will be balloting its members for industrial action over the failure by Government and employers to guarantee teachers and headteachers a fully-funded real-terms pay award of 12%. The NASUWT is recommending that members vote Yes to taking strike action and Yes to support action short of strike action. The announcement comes after Ministers failed to engage in negotiations with the NASUWT, despite repeated calls to do so. Ballot papers will be issued to members from 27 October and the ballot will close on 9 January with the result to be announced immediately. The NASUWT’s campaign for a 12% pay award for teachers will include ballots of members in schools and sixth form colleges in England, Scotland and Wales read more

NASUWT to ballot members in Wales on industrial action over pay (14 Oct) – The NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union is today announcing it will be balloting its members for industrial action over the failure by the Welsh Government and employers to give teachers a fully-funded pay award of 12%. The NASUWT is recommending that members vote Yes to taking strike action and Yes to support action short of strike action. Today’s announcement comes after Ministers failed to engage in negotiations with the NASUWT, despite repeated calls to do so. Ballot papers will be issued to members from 27 October and the ballot will close on 9 January, with the result to be announced immediately read more

NASUWT to ballot members in Scotland on industrial action over pay (14 Oct) – The NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union will be balloting its members for industrial action over the failure by the Employers and Scottish Government to agree a fully funded pay award of 12% for teachers. The decision to ballot follows the refusal of employers’ body COSLA and the Scottish Government to improve on the existing 5% pay offer, despite repeated calls by NASUWT to do so. The NASUWT is recommending that members vote Yes to taking strike action and Yes to support action short of strike action. Today’s announcement comes after Ministers failed to engage in negotiations with the NASUWT, despite repeated calls to do so. Ballot papers will be issued to members from 26 October and the ballot will close on 21 November, with the result to be announced immediately read more

EIS

EIS Opens Strike Ballot over pay in all Council Areas Across Scotland (11 Oct) – The EIS has opened a statutory strike ballot over teachers’ pay in all 32 Council areas across Scotland. Postal ballot papers are now being issued to EIS members across Scotland, who will have until 8th November to use their vote. The EIS, which represents 8 out of 10 teachers in Scotland, is urging its members to vote Yes to strike action, in the continuing campaign for a fair pay settlement for teachers read more

Teacher pay: EIS Issues Formal Strike Ballot Notices to all 32 Local Authority Employers (5 Oct) – The EIS has announced that it has issued formal notices to all 32 Scottish local authorities confirming that the EIS will open a statutory strike ballot for teachers one week from today, on Wednesday 12 October. The move to a statutory ballot for strike action follows the overwhelming result in a recent consultative ballot, in which 91% of EIS members confirmed their willingness to move to strike action in pursuit of a fair pay settlement read more

EIS-ULA Opens Statutory Ballot (29 Sept) – The EIS has today (Thursday) opened a statutory ballot for industrial action for its members in the Higher Education Sector. Following a consultative ballot, which strongly indicated members of the EIS University Lecturers’ Association (EIS-ULA) wished to take action in the current pay dispute, the EIS-ULA Executive is recommending members vote yes to strike action read more

UCU

BREAKING NEWS!! University staff vote for UK-wide strike action in historic ballot (24 Oct) – Over 70,000 university staff at 150 universities could now strike after UCU members overwhelmingly voted ‘yes’ to strike action in two historic national ballots. The results in both ballots saw the union deliver momentous turnouts that beat the anti-union threshold. More than eight in ten of those who voted said ‘yes’ to strike action. The union now has a mandate to deliver strike action at practically every university in the UK and has called on vice chancellors to enter negotiations immediately and make improved offers in order to avoid disruption. Staff were balloted across two separate ballots: pay & working conditions, and cuts to pensions. In the pay and working condition ballot, the yes vote for strike action was 81.1% and the turnout was 57.8%. In the pension ballot, the yes vote for strike action was 84.9% and the turnout was 60.2%. Staff also voted yes overwhelmingly for action short of strike in both ballots. UCU said the result is a clear indication of the anger felt by university staff read more

Delays to level 2 course cuts are yet more evidence the cuts must be halted (19 Oct) – UCU slammed plans to scrap thousands of level 2 qualifications and said government delays to the cuts show the changes are ill thought through and should now be abandoned. The union was responding to news that the Department for Education has delayed plans to axe over 3,000 courses. Earlier this year the government also announced cuts to 160 level 3 courses without any evidence the changes would improve student outcomes read more

Cost-of-living college strikes enter fourth week (17 Oct) – Strike action continues tomorrow across England as staff walk out over low pay amid the cost of living crisis, confirmed UCU. Staff at 22 colleges are striking for three consecutive days. In every college outside of London, the strikes will be on the following days: Tuesday 18 October, Wednesday 19 October, Thursday 20 October. In London some colleges began their three day strike this morning. Staff will be picketing the entrances of all colleges every day of the strike action. This is the biggest wave of industrial action further education has ever seen. Overall, staff will walk out for up to 10 days in total in an action that started four weeks ago read more

Three day strike began this morning at five London Colleges (17 Oct) – UCU confirmed staff at five colleges across London are on picket lines this morning as they begin three consecutive days of strike action over low pay. The full strike days are: Monday 17 October, Tuesday 18 October, Wednesday 19 October. Staff at the colleges have already taken four days of strike action over the past two weeks in a dispute centred on low pay. The colleges are part of the same employer group, New City College. UCU is demanding it makes a pay offer that reflects the soaring cost of living. In June, employer representative the Association of Colleges made a pay recommendation of just 2.5%. RPI inflation is now at 12.3%. This week a further four colleges in London will join the strike action. Nationally, this is the fourth week of strike action in what is the biggest industrial action ever in English further education. Staff at dozens of colleges have been on strike over low pay for up to 10 days. So far the action has led to improved pay offers at a number of colleges, such as Croydon College read more

Plymouth City College warned that crunch talks are the last chance to avoid further strike action (14 Oct) – UCU today warned Plymouth City College that it has until crunch talks due to take place on Monday 17 October (2022) to make a meaningful pay offer to staff, or it will face three consecutive days of strike action starting the very next day. If the union fails to receive an offer, staff will strike on the following days: Tuesday 18 October, Wednesday 19 October, Thursday 20 October. Staff at the college have already taken seven days of strike action over the past three weeks in a dispute centred on low pay. UCU is demanding Plymouth makes a pay offer that reflects the soaring cost of living. In June, employer representative the Association of Colleges made a pay recommendation of just 2.5%. RPI inflation is now at 12.3%. Despite the three weeks of strike action, management has so far refused to meaningfully improve its offer to staff read more

Three day strike begins Monday at Falmouth University over 2-tier workforce (14 Oct) – UCU today confirmed staff at Falmouth University will be taking three consecutive days of strike action from Monday 17 October in a long running dispute over management’s introduction of a two tier workforce. The university has been employing all new academic staff through a subsidiary company on worse terms and conditions since September 2021. The full strike days are: Monday 17 October, Tuesday 18 October, Wednesday 19 October. Staff will be on picket lines every day of strike action from 8am and a series of teach outs and workshops will also take place. The strike comes after 90% of members who voted said yes to strike action to protect the terms and conditions of all academic staff at the university. The dispute centres on Falmouth University’s decision to employ all new academic staff through its subsidiary company Falmouth Staffing Ltd (FSL) read more

Prison educators vote to strike across England over low pay (6 Oct) – Over 400 staff working in education at 48 prisons and youth offender institutions across England could walk out after voting for strike action. Members voted overwhelmingly for strike action with 94.47% of those voting, voting ‘YES’ in a vote that surpassed the 50% turnout threshold imposed by Tory anti trade union legislation. The prison educators, who are employed by Novus, have seen their pay fall by more than 25% since 2009. Prison education is already one of the lowest paid sectors, as highlighted by the House of Commons Education Select Committee read more

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

UCU fighting fund: the link is here and donations to the fund are spent on supporting members involved in important disputes.

FBU

Fire Brigades Union statement after the resignation of the Prime Minister (Oct 20) – Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack has issued a statement following the resignation of Liz Truss, on behalf of the union:-

“As prime minister, Liz Truss has plunged the UK into further political and economic chaos. It will be working people who pay the price the longer this continues. Living standards are plummeting and there is currently no light at the end of the tunnel. This follows 12 years of attacks on workers’ wages, jobs and conditions and the wrecking of our public services. Truss had no mandate from the electorate and nor will anyone else foisted on the British people by the Tory party. There must be an immediate general election. We need a mass movement of protest to ensure we get one” read more

9,000 firefighters to receive nearly £4,000 in compensation in pensions win (Oct 20) – Nearly 9,000 firefighters are set to receive a pay out of at least £3,750 after a government pensions debacle caused “significant uncertainty with regards to firefighters’ financial futures”. The money is compensation for anxiety, distress and related feelings in relation to a pensions case which has involved firefighters receiving, or being set to receive, less money in their pensions than they should. Claimants with “additional reasons for being aggrieved” will receive £7,250 in total. The case arose after the government tried to bring in public sector pension reforms in 2015 and included provisions that protected only older firefighters. The Fire Brigades Union successfully argued that this amounted to age discrimination, with the eventual result ruled that the pre-2015 pension scheme applies to time served between 2015 and 31 March this year. Further to this ruling, pensions are in the process of being adjusted accordingly, with further legal disputes ongoing, but this compensation is separate from the pensions themselves and is compensation for the distress caused by the government’s debacle in 2015. The government agreed to settle the compensation case for firefighters with the Fire Brigades Union, which has represented firefighters throughout the process read more

Merseyside firefighters and control staff ballot for action short of strike (Oct 20) – Merseyside Fire Brigades Union members are being balloted for industrial action short of strike, in relation to a number of recent and long-standing issues pertaining to attacks on terms and condition service and an imposed reduction in the agreed minimum night-time staffing numbers in Fire Control. The imposed reduction in night-time staffing numbers in Fire Control in particular poses a potential risk to firefighters and members of the public alike. The ballot and any industrial action that would take place is entirely separate from the current national pay dispute. The Merseyside ballot will close on Friday 11th November and will ballot all FBU members on whether to stop undertaking any pre-arranged overtime, beginning no earlier than Thursday 1st December and potentially lasting for six months read more

Consultative pay ballot announced (Oct 18) – The union will hold a consultative ballot of members on the revised 5% pay offer from Monday 31 October to Monday 14 November in the next step of the pay campaign. The Executive Council is recommending that members reject the offer. Prior to the revised 5% offer, the union’s leadership had rejected a 2% offer following consultation with members and began preparing a ballot for strike action. This ballot is a consultative ballot on the pay offer itself, with rejection not automatically leading to strike action. Should members reject the offer, the union will move to formally ballot on strike action. In this consultative ballot, members can vote online or by post. Members will receive the consultative ballot via email, or via post where we don’t hold members’ email addresses read more

Massive step forward in fight to save Cornwall control (Oct 18) – FBU members in Cornwall are celebrating a huge step forward in a fight to save control in the county. In September the chief fire officer informed control staff that the entire control service would be shut. All staff were to be made redundant or redeployed. Fire control in the area was to be outsourced. However members in the area fought back with a campaign. This culminated in a mass lobby of the councillor meeting on the proposal. Councillors in the meeting did not approve the proposal and instead ordered an inquiry to be undertaken, looking at options that will keep control open and could even see it receive extra funding. Shutting control is not entirely off the table but local FBU officials are of the view that that possibility has taken a significant hit read more

FBU responds to government attack on transport strike rights (Oct 17) – Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack has responded to the government moving ahead with plans to undermine transport workers’ strikes with minimum service requirements. The requirements will aim to ensure that transport services cannot be completely shut down when workers strike. The move has implications for the wider trade union movement, with workers in other sectors including firefighters having previously been mentioned as candidates for this sort of restriction. Legislation is to be introduced, following Prime Minister Liz Truss’s commitment to bring in such a bill within her first 30 days of Parliament sitting read more

POA

Autumn of action – lobby and rally 2nd November 2022 – The TUC are currently finalising plans for the Lobby of Parliament and evening mass rally on Wednesday 2nd November 2022. Westminster Central Hall is booked as the base for the day and evening read more

Pension challenge – prison officer grades in England & Wales who completed the survey in 2017 – Circular 073/2022 provided an update on the process of settling the compensation claims for members following the discriminatory changes made to the civil service and NHS pension schemes in 2015 read more

Autumn of action – lobby and rally rescheduled to 2nd November 2022 – Due to the new TUC Congress dates (18th-20th October), the TUC have rescheduled the lobby of parliament and evening mass rally to Wednesday 2nd November 2022. Westminster Central Hall is still booked as the base for the day and evening. Before the TUC rescheduled the national lobby, over 320 people had registered to meet their MP. The TUC are contacting these people and supporting them to book in meetings with their MP on 2nd November 2022. 320 sign-ups is a good start but we need hundreds more union members to sign up to make their voice heard. It’s time for a new deal for working people. We need a real pay rise for every worker, starting with a £15 minimum wage as soon as possible, and more help with bills. It’s time to ban zero hours contracts and end fire and rehire read more

NAPO

Time’s up for ‘reckless and insulting’ Parole changes (20 Oct) – The decision by former Secretary of State Dominic Raab to strip probation officers of the right to make recommendations to the Parole Board endangers the public and further de-professionalises this vital public service. Probation officers have serious concerns that allowing Parole hearings to take place in public at the request of prisoners will put them in danger due to the personal and detailed information they provide – or will have the effect of preventing them from speaking freely. The Government now need to listen to the experts and reverse course or see the morale of the Probation Service workforce – still reeling from the reckless “Transforming Rehabilitation” failed privatisation experiment – sink even further read more

NUJ

NUJ members vote for industrial action in pay dispute with Al Jazeera (19 Oct) – After almost three years of no pay increase, NUJ members at Al Jazeera have voted 96.97 per cent in favour of industrial action and 100 per cent in favour of industrial action short of a strike. After months of negotiations, they rejected Al Jazeera’s offer of a 4.5 per cent increase for 2022 pay, which would not extend to 2023 and a subsequently a non-consolidated lump sum of £500 for anyone earning below £50,000 a year following a session with the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service. Bectu members, representing technicians and other staff, at the broadcaster have also balloted for strike action read more

Prospect

Prospect ballots members at AWE on industrial action over pay (19 Oct) – Prospect will ballot its members on industrial action over pay at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE). Headquartered in Aldermaston, Berkshire, AWE supports and maintains the UK nuclear deterrent. The ballot opens on 24th October and will run for two weeks. Unite union will also be balloting about the same issue read more

USDAW

Tesco and Usdaw agree improvements to the sickness absence policy to support staff dealing with the menopause (18 Oct) – Retail trade union Usdaw has welcomed Tesco’s agreement to a change to their sickness absence policy that will better support staff experiencing menopause symptoms, which is being launched today on World Menopause Day. This development follows on from the successful launch, in May this year, of a guide agreed with Usdaw to help more women working at Tesco to access menopause support read more

UVW

Domestic and sexual abuse charity counsellors are workers, judge rules (18 Oct) – “I am deeply grateful to my peers for sticking together and pursuing this claim, and for the enormous work that UVW has undertaken to support us through this claim” – Beth Stevens, UVW member. Counsellors working for domestic and sexual abuse charity Solace Women’s Aid have been misclassified as self-employed independent contractors for years but are indeed workers entitled to employment rights, a judge ruled yesterday. This legal victory is another blow to the ‘gig economy’ of bogus self-employment and erosion of workers rights. The charity’s choice of inappropriate status meant the counsellors, who are United Voices of the World (UVW) members, were denied basic working rights over years of service. The Solace workers are also bringing legal claims for backdated paid annual leave under the Working Time Regulations, in their fight for fair terms and conditions read more

IWGB

Leeds strike by delivery drivers at Deliveroo, UberEats and Just Eat over weekend follow IWGB & IWGB Couriers Branch on Twitter – @IWGBunion @IWGB_CLB

Security Staff at University College London to Strike over Pay as Part of Campaign Against Outsourcing (26 Sept) – Outsourced security staff working at University College London (UCL) from the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) have voted unanimously to take strike action over pay and union recognition. This follows the launch of an ongoing campaign in May by the majority-BAME and migrant outsourced workers demanding to be brought in-house, after years of subcontractor mismanagement. At the height of the cost of living crisis, security staff are demanding £15/hr, equivalent to the wage paid to security over two decades ago before outsourcing was introduced at UCL (and still paid to a small number of staff who have remained employed since that time and whose conditions are protected by TUPE). Outsourced workers are also demanding an end to exploitative outsourcing at the university read more

SIPTU (Ireland)

SIPTU members meet Minister for Health to demand Covid-19 payment for contract workers (24 Oct) – SIPTU worker representatives met with the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, this morning (Friday, 21st October) to demand that the Covid-19 recognition payment is paid to frontline healthcare workers employed by contract companies read more

SIPTU members ballot for industrial action in two health facilities in Clifden (20 Oct) – SIPTU members in Clifden District Hospital and St. Anne’s Community Nursing Unit in Clifden, county Galway, are to ballot on industrial action in a dispute resulting from unilateral changes to their conditions of employment including their sick leave scheme read more

Mandate (Ireland)

Liffey Valley Protest and Petition (20 Oct) – Mandate Trade Union are seeking your support for our members who work in various retail outlets across the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre. The centre management have decided to impose car parking charges on retail workers who need to use their cars to travel to work and at a time when the cost of living has soared. Despite ongoing requests made by Mandate Trade Union to meet with the centre management to resolve this issue, centre management have so far refused to engage with the workers. Please sign the petition to show your support for the retail workers to have the car parking charges scrapped. Please attend the protest to show your support for the workers in Liffey Valley read more

Other news

SHAC the Social Housing Action Campaign’ and other housing campaigners are demanding a freeze on social rents, shareholder rents, and service charges. The campaign is already moving government. In August, government announced a cap on around 5% (instead of the 10% that would have been likely under the previous formula). But we don’t believe that this is low enough or broad enough. We need urgent funding to pay for campaign materials and basic admin costs. We also need trade unions to help us get our message across. Please see here to find out more, download our model motions for unions, or make a donation to account name ‘The Social Housing Action Campaign’, account number 20434685, Sort Code 60-83-01

October is Black History Month – follow #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackHistoryMonth2022 #BHM #BHM2022 on twitter for events as well as visit union websites

50^th Anniversary of Building Workers Strike (hosted by Unite London & Eastern) – Friday 28^th October TUC Congress House, Great Russell Street, London WC18 3LS

Sign petition: Liz Truss, give a 10% pay rise and equal pay to all care workers and personal assistants from Disability Rights Action [email protected]

International News

Pakistan flooding disaster – Urgent appeal from the Sindh Workers’ Alliance read more and find details on how to donate

Solidarity protest last Friday 21 October 4pm to reinstate dismissed Marlboro workers in Turkey (called by SPOT – Solidarity with the People of Turkey) – Philip Morris Ltd, 10 Hammersmith Grove, London W6 7AP

Send messages of protest to union DiSK Gida-is – [email protected]

Send messages of protest to Philip Morris – [email protected]

4^th SPOT Conference – 10am-4.30pm Saturday 29 October NEU Head Office, Hamilton House, Mabledon Pl, London WC1H 9BD

Release arrested Iranian Trade Unionists and Worker Activists – Release all detained protesters and political prisoners in Iran

The Iranian regime is facing a new wave of widespread popular opposition sparked off by the death of 22 year old Jina Mahsa Amini’s death at the hands of the so-called ‘morality’ police. Since then over 200 people have been killed in the protests and thousands detained as protests have taken place across the whole of Iran. Strikes have and are taking place in support of the protests, something which terrifies the regime. As the below report from Iran shows arrests of workers have begun before declared strikes have started. In this situation solidarity and protest messages are very important both for the morale of the struggle and to help put pressure on the regime.

Report from Iran: Freedom for the arrested strikers – At 1am on the night of Sunday 09.10.2022 to Monday 10.10.2022 at Revolutionary Guards came to companies working in the Assaluyeh petrochemical complex and took away from their workrooms more than 100 workers who had announced a strike to start on the Monday. The companies hey worked for are Bushehr Petrochemical and Hengam Petrochemical. On 11 October 18 workers from the Sina Sanat Petrochemical Company, who had been on strike since October 9, were arrested on the street. Also that day Revolutionary Guard intelligence forces came to the Sina Sanat workshop with photos and videos on their phones and searched for people. They identified and arrested two people named Reza Najafi and Majed Ebadi. We tried to prevent them and there was a conflict, but unfortunately they took them. The security forces are currently using video reconnaissance as a regular method to identify and arrest striking workers in Iran. Some of those arrested are:

Reza Najafi

Majid Ebadi (Abadan)

Mohammad Heydari

Goderz Ebrahimi

Samad Rahnama

Ali Esmaili

Ahmed Esmati

Hossein Selahshur (welder, from Izeh)

Reza Kouravand (welder, from Izeh)

Rasoul Nowrozi (welder, from Izeh)

Omid Kouravand (Izeh)

Amin Alizadeh (Izeh)

Arman Kavossi (welder, Izeh)

Mehrdad Kavousi (fitter, Izeh)

Aslan Sawari (fitter, Izeh)

Hassan Ahmadi (Izeh)

Samad Rafiei (Sarkhon)

Nima Gholami (Sarkhon)

Ruhollah Masoumi (Yasuj)

Ali Biranvand (Bushehr site of the Farjoud Company)

We demand:

The immediate and unconditional release of all arrested strikers, protestors and all political prisoners.
The right to political and trade union organisation.
The acceptance of all demands of the strikers

Please send protests to the Iranian Embassy

Please send copies of protests and solidarity messages to the Tehran bus workers union [email protected]

Fight blacklisting and victimisation of union reps

QC appointed to lead the independent Unite inquiry into blacklisting – 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/blacklist-SG/

Blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog

Blacklist Support Group financial appeal: the Blacklist support group is desperately short of funds, to continue the incredible work we need more finance, would you please consider making a donation, raise it at your branches and trade councils. Please make cheques payable to Joint sites committee and send to 70 Darnay Rise Chelmsford Essex CM1 4XA. Please forward onto your contacts many thanks Steve Kelly (JSC Treasurer)

Blacklisted t-shirts available at: https://shop.hopenothate.org.uk/component/hikashop/product/78-blacklisted-t-shirt

Keep an eye out for other Facebook and social media groups and pages that are being created. 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

November

2 TUC Rally & Lobby of Parliament

5 People’s Assembly National Demonstration – London, Assemble Embankment, WC2N 6NS

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