The line-up of unions who are striking together on 15th March, the day that the Tories move their new Budget, is taking shape. It will be the single biggest day yet of the strike wave, with well over half a million workers striking together.
Striking together that day will be the NEU, PCS (with over 30,000 more members joining the action after winning their re-ballot), UCU, Prospect, RMT & ASLEF on London Underground, Junior Doctors in the BMA and HCSA, NUJ members at the BBC, as well as localised action such as the Coventry Amazon workers in the GMB, who will be on a week-long strike.
The day after the Budget on 16th March, a public sector-wide strike is due to take place in Northern Ireland and the RMT will be taking national action. Also, during March, NHS staff including ambulance workers will continue their action in Unite, GMB and Unison as will teachers in Scotland in the EIS and NASUWT. The NSSN sends solidarity to these workers and all those who are currently taking action and in dispute.
These actions show the determination of workers to fight for the pay rise we need and deserve in the face of the Tory cost of living squeeze and their planned new anti-union laws as well the bosses’ attacks on our hard-won terms and conditions. The joint action and the growing strike wave also show the potential for the unions to co-ordinate action to maximise the number of workers striking together.
This year’s NSSN Conference will be on Saturday 24th June in Conway Hall, London 11am-4.30pm
Sign the TUC petition to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak: Protect the right to strike! – Our right to strike is under attack. Rishi Sunak has just detailed his anti-union legislation and plans to introduce new laws in the coming weeks. It means that when workers democratically vote to strike, they could be forced to work and sacked if they don’t. That’s wrong, unworkable, and almost certainly illegal. These new laws are a direct attack on working people’s fundamental right to strike to defend their pay, terms and conditions
Enough is Enough launches campaign and petition to Defend the #RightToStrike – The right to strike is under threat. New legislation proposed by the Tory government intends to override a workers’ right to withdraw their labour, forcing them to work against their will. The right to strike is a fundamental democratic right. It underpins our ability to win dignity in the workplace and earn a decent standard of living. It is no accident that this right is under attack at the very moment the public is fighting back against the cost-of-living squeeze. This government is determined to force workers to pay the price for a crisis caused by the greed of the elite yet again. We won’t accept it. We, the undersigned, pledge to defend the right to strike and oppose this latest legislation #RightToStrike
Sign your workplace up to save the right to strike (supported by Strike Map, ASLEF – The UK Train Drivers’ Union, Bakers Food and Allied Workers Union – BFAWU, Campaign for Trade Union Freedom, Fire Brigades Union, The Morning Star, NHS Workers Say NO, People’s Assembly and the NSSN) – The government has launched an attack on our rights. Their actions will destroy our fundamental right to strike. We want to encourage workers, union reps and branch officers to sign their workplace up to reject these changes and pledge to fight to protect our right to strike. Add your workplace name to our collective letter action and share it with every one of your co-workers. When we fight as a collective together we win!
SOS NHS National Demonstration – OUR NHS: END THE CRISIS SUPPORT THE STRIKES 11 MARCH 2023 Central London – assemble midday opposite Warren St tube station, Tottenham Court Road NW1 3AA leaflet
Troublemakers at Work Conference 2023: Saturday 29 July 2023 at Friends Meeting House, Manchester – supported by Workers Can Win!, Strike Map and Organise Now!
Earthquake in Turkey & Syria – union donations
The NSSN sends our solidarity to all those affected by this disaster. Many will have relatives in this country. The NSSN is affiliated to ‘Support the People of Turkey’ who has launched an appeal, including for union branches and trades councils Turkey-Syria Earthquake Solidarity Appeal
Turkey Earthquake: A preliminary report from the ground
Unison: Turkey earthquake solidarity appeal
NUJ: IFJ launches solidarity call to support journalists in Turkey and Syria
NSSN news
This year’s NSSN Conference will be on Saturday 24th June in Conway Hall, London 11am-4.30pm
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 Katrine on [email protected]
The NSSN is developing a campaign pack for social care, which we hope to make available in the not-too-distant future for supporters to use in their localities. As part of this, communications officer Dave Gorton is keen to hear from supporters who:
(1) work in social care (either local authority, private or independently provided)
(2) represent social care workers for a trade union
(3) are in need of social care provision themselves or act as an (unpaid/underpaid) carer for a family member
Dave can be contacted in the first instance via [email protected]
Union News
You can receive this bulletin via email or you can choose to unsubscribe and stop receiving them. Like everyone else, the NSSN has to adhere to new data protection regulations. Therefore you must click here to subscribe/unsubscribe. Reports from unions do not necessarily reflect NSSN’s views.
RMT
BREAKING NEWS!! Avanti to end at seat catering in another blow for passengers (1 Mar) – Disgraced train operator Avanti will scrap at seat service catering from May 2023, the RMT can reveal. The cost cutting move will mean standard class passengers will not have the option of an at seat service, serving sandwiches, snacks and drinks. Instead, they will have to use online “click and collect” from the shop, penalising lone travellers and those with mobility issues. The company will also reduce catering services for first class passengers by removing the full breakfast option at weekends. Avanti was granted a temporary 6-month extension to its franchise following high levels of cancellations and multiple industrial disputes with its staff. The short-term extension will see Avanti continue to run services on West Coast mainline until 1 April 2023. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “Avanti has once again shown it is unfit to run a rail franchise with this needless cost cutting exercise…” read more
RMT tube strike to take place on 15th March (28 Feb) – Tube union, RMT will take strike action on March 15 in a row over pensions, job losses and contractual agreements. London Underground Ltd (LUL) have started to impose 600 station staff job losses and have refused to rule out attacks on pensions or ripping up agreements on conditions of work despite discussions with the union. TfL which ultimately are responsible for its subsidiary LUL, has had its funding cut by government. But instead of standing up to ministers, they have tried to implement cuts to make our members pay for their funding crisis. The deadline for the government and TfL to agree the details of the pension reform has been pushed back until March 17 read more
RMT calls for a new deal for seafarers (28 Feb) – Maritime union RMT, has called on the government to provide a new deal for seafarers after the latest statistics showed a big employment drop in the industry. According to the latest figures, the total number of seafarers employed in the UK shipping industry fell by over 21,000. Overall, the number of Ratings jobs fell by 28%, although there was a small increase in the number of UK Ratings. Figures are provided in large part by the Chamber of Shipping – an employers’ organisation. RMT has continually stated that such stats do not provide a consistent overview about how difficult the situation is for seafarers following the industrial vandalism carried out by P&O last year, when they sacked almost 800 seafarers without warning read more
RMT calls for public ownership of Caledonian Sleeper service (24 Feb) – Rail union RMT urged the Scottish government to take the Caledonian Sleeper into public ownership, ahead of a decision due next week. Private contractor Serco’s contract to run the service will be terminated in June. The Transport Minister is making an announcement next Thursday on the Caledonian Sleeper where confirmation is expected on who will own and run the Sleeper going forward. RMT has long campaigned for this piece of vital infrastructure to be in public ownership, for the good of rail workers and the travelling public. Earlier this year Serco Caledonian Sleeper published reported profits after tax of £7.5m read more
ISS workers to take strike action on DLR (23 Feb) – Contracted out staff working for ISS on the Docklands Light Railway will take 48 hours strike action from Friday. Cleaners, security, revenue protection and travel safe staff will walk out after rejecting an insulting pay offer of 1.8%. RMT which represents the workers have highlighted the fact ISS staff on the DLR are underpaid compared to others on TfL performing equivalent roles. On top of poor pay, ISS staff have so far not been told whether they will get access to the free travel facility. This is despite the fact London Mayor Sadiq Khan having already promised all contracted out staff would get free travel across TfL read more
Avanti cancels 17% of trains since new timetable (22 Feb) – Rail union, RMT has revealed the vast majority of Avanti cancellations are down to staff shortages and called for the company to be stripped of its franchise today. Updated Office for Rail and Road (ORR) data shows that Avanti West Coast has cancelled on average 17% of its planned trains since it brought in its new timetable on December 11th 2022. These figures represent cancellations on non-strike days and so in no way can they be attributed to industrial action read more
RMT criticises role of ORR in rail dispute (22 Feb) – Rail union RMT, has criticised the role of the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) ahead of a keynote speech by its Chief Inspector of Railways Ian Prosser read more
Engineering workers at Balfour Beatty to strike (18 Feb) – Engineering workers at Balfour Beatty will take three 48 hour strikes next month in a pay dispute. Over 100 workers will take the action after rejecting the company’s offer of 5.5pc increase in pay from April 2022. RMT members overwhelmingly rejected this and will now take strike action in March with a series of 48-hour stoppages on the following days:
- 22.00hrs on Friday 3rd March and 09.59hrs on Sunday 5th March 2023
- 22.00hrs on Friday 10th March and 09.59hrs on Sunday 12th March 2023
- 22.00hrs on Friday 17th March and 09.59hrs on Sunday 19th March 2023
Balfour Beatty made over 8bn pounds in revenue in 2022 and was the third most profitable UK construction company read more
Action called over Jubilee East, South and Centre Cover Group rosters (16 Feb) – defend jobs, pensions and agreements – London Underground – overtime and rest day working ban called. A resolution has been received from your RMT Jubilee South Branch, regarding the imposition of new rosters. The Company has taken no notice of your Reps advice that these rosters are unworkable, and members wish to fight back against the detrimental effect these cuts will have, including on your work/life balance. The National Executive Committee has thanked the Branch for its resolution and taken the decision to instruct:
All Station Grades members (Customer Service Assistants, Customer Service Supervisors, Customer Service Managers) on the Jubilee Centre, East and South Cover Groups (Canada Water Area, Westminster Area, Canary Wharf Area, Stratford Area, West Ham Area, London Bridge Area and Waterloo Area) not to work any overtime or rest day working from 00:01 hours on Sunday 12th March 2023 until 23:59 hours on Saturday 25th March 2023 read more
RMT announces further strikes and overtime ban in national rail dispute (15 Feb) – Rail union RMT, will take nationwide strike action across the railways on 16 March after employers refused to put any new offers on the table. The union which represents 40,000 workers across Network Rail and 14 train operators rejected offers from employers last week, as they did not meet the needs of members on pay, job security or working conditions. Rail workers will now launch a programme of strike action and Network Rail members will commence an overtime ban effecting maintenance and operations work. RMT is seeking an unconditional offer from rail operators and Network Rail. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “Rail employers are not being given a fresh mandate by the government to offer our members a new deal on pay, conditions and job security. “Therefore, our members will now take sustained and targeted industrial action over the next few months. The government can settle this dispute easily by unshackling the rail companies…” read more
The strike action details are as follows:-
RMT members working for the 14 train operating companies will take strike action on the following days:
– 00:01 hours and 23:59 hours on Thursday 16th March 2023
· 00:01 hours and 23:59 hours on Saturday 18th March 2023
· 00:01 hours and 23:59 hours on Thursday 30th March 2023
· 00:01 hours and 23:59 hours on Saturday 1st April 2023
Network Rail members will take strike action at:
- 02:00 hours on March 16th 2023 and 01:59 hours on March 17th 2023.
An overtime ban by Network Rail members will be in effect at the following times:
Maintenance:
· Seven days of overtime, rest day working ban and non-rostered Sunday working from 00:01 hours on Friday 17th March 2023 until 23:59 hours on Thursday 23rd March 2023
· Seven days of overtime, rest day working ban and non-rostered Sunday working from 00:01 hours on Friday 31st 2023 until 23:59 hours on Thursday 6th April 2023
· Seven days of overtime, rest day working ban and non-rostered Sunday working from 00:01 hours on Friday 14th April 2023 until 23:59 hours on Thursday 20th April 2023
Detrainment ballot closes on 2nd of March (20 Feb) – do not waste your vote – vote ‘yes’ for strike action & action short. Removal of detrainment staff – London Underground. The closing date for the ballot is Thursday 2nd March, so if you haven’t done so already, now is the time to vote. Due to balloting laws I cannot stress enough how important it is that you fill in your ballot paper and return it as quickly as possible. If you have not received your ballot paper or know of a colleague who has not received it, please call us on 0800 376 3706 or e-mail [email protected] as soon as possible read more
Reinstate Branch Secretary Jason Moriarty – A new newsletter has been produced as a part of our organising to get Jason Moriarty reinstated. Please download it to learn more. The RMT offers full support and solidarity with our comrade Jason Moriarty following his disclosure to his employer, London Underground, of a disability read more
ASLEF
Tube train drivers to strike in London (22 Feb) – ASLEF members on London Underground will strike for 24 hours on Wednesday 15 March. ASLEF members on London Underground will strike for 24 hours on Wednesday 15 March. Tube train drivers voted by 99% in favour of strike action [on a turnout out of 77%] in a dispute over management’s failure to accept that changes to our working arrangements and pensions should only happen by agreement. ASLEF members in other roles on the Underground – including Test Train and Engineering train drivers and those in management grades – also voted in favour of strikes by similar margins and will walk out on strike on the same day read more
They want to take our t&cs in return for a 20% pay cut (1 Feb) – Mick Whelan ASLEF General Secretary: By the time this hits your doorstep the latest act of bad faith bythe industry will have infuriated and alienated everyone. That’s the feedback I am getting from representatives, branches, individual conversations, emails, and resolutions, as well as from officers and executive committee interactions with you all read more
TSSA
BREAKING NEWS!! Statement – Greece train crash (1 Mar) – Rail union TSSA has sent its ‘heartfelt solidarity’ and ‘deepest sympathies’ to those affected by the head-on train crash in Greece overnight which left dozens dead and injured. The collision – between a passenger train and freight train travelling on the same track – happened at near the city of Larissa read more
TSSA accepts offers to end national rail dispute (24 Feb) – Members of the TSSA rail union have voted to accept offers made by the train companies in the long-running national rail dispute over pay, job security and conditions read more
Avanti West Coast Strike Mandate (17 Feb) – Members in Avanti West Coast stations grades have voted YES to strike action and YES to action short of strike…TSSA representatives will be discussing an industrial action strategy in the light of this unequivocally positive result read more
Unite
Unite leader, Sharon Graham, calls East Midlands summit to plan next phase of the jobs, pay and conditions battle (1 Mar) – This morning (Wednesday 1 March) 200 leading Unite activists will gather in Leicester. Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, will tell leading Unite reps from across the East Midlands that Unite is now completely focused on the fight for jobs, pay and conditions. The days of the union waiting on Westminster for the salvation of workers’ problems are over. Almost 200 union activists from across the East Midlands will attend the summit in Leicester, including activists from Rolls Royce, Toyota, Nottingham City Council, Siemens, Stagecoach, DHL and E.on UK Plc read more
BREAKING NEWS!! Strike action at Bidvest Noonan postponed after 11th hour offer (28 Feb) – Glasgow and Aberdeen bus depots to be balloted on new offer. Unite the union has confirmed today (Tuesday 28 February) that Bidvest Noonan workers, contracted to clean and refuel buses for First Bus in Glasgow and Aberdeen, have suspended their strike action due to begin tomorrow (1 March) whilst they ballot on a new pay offer made by the company. Over 100 cleaners, fuellers and shunters were set to strike after previously rejecting a two per cent pay offer. Unite was clear that this offer was unacceptable and when the company refused to improve it, workers balloted for strike action across the depots. However, an invite to fresh talks less than 48 hours before the first walkouts were set to begin has resulted in a new offer, which will be put to the membership in a ballot. If this offer is rejected, then Unite members will go on strike from Wednesday 8 March
Hovis workforce votes overwhelmingly for industrial action in pursuit of cost of living pay increase (28 Feb) – Unite confirms all out strike action will commence at Belfast Bakery from 6am on Sunday 5th March. Union warns strike is likely to impact bread supplies on shelves across Northern Ireland. Workers of Unite the union have voted by a margin of more than 95 percent for strike action in pursuit of a cost of living pay increase at Hovis, the leading Belfast Bakery. Unite has notified the employer that continuous (that is all-out) strike action will commence this Sunday 5th March with strike pickets going up at the Bakery at 6am that morning read more
Strike action looms over the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (28 Feb) – Poor pay and anti–union behaviour provokes strike ballot and legal action. Members of Unite employed by the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) are preparing for strike action in a dispute over “pitiful pay.” The College’s work includes raising awareness of the impact of low incomes on health outcomes but bosses have imposed a 2.5 per cent pay increase on its own staff which is a significant real terms pay cut. Anti-trade union tactics by the Royal College during pay talks have also forced Unite to lodge a claim at an employment tribunal for what the union believes is unlawful behaviour read more
Andy Burnham and Steve Rotherham pledge support for Unite’s campaign for safe transport for late-night workers (28 Feb) – Greater Manchester and Liverpool City metro mayors back Get Me Home Safely campaign – Unite’s ground-breaking campaign for free and safe late-night transport to be provided to workers. The Get Me Home Safely campaign calls for employers to provide safe and free transport home for all workers past 11pm read more
Workers at Newry, Mourne & Down District Council prepare to return to industrial action for fair treatment (27 Feb) – Workers in Newry, Mourne and Down District Council have lost trust and confidence in the NDMDC Chief Executive Marie Ward, and are commencing a new ballot for refreshed industrial action, up to and including strike action, after management at the Council have neglected to honour a deal agreed in 2022. Two meetings of Council staff were held last week in Newry and Downpatrick, hosted by the four trade unions representing workers of all grades – NIPSA, SIPTU, GMB and Unite. Firstly, it was decided to call for a vote of no confidence in the current Chief Executive. This vote was carried unanimously in both venues and must be seen as message to those in a position of influence, that this type of leader who cannot, or will not, honour negotiated agreements is not acceptable to our members or their staff. Secondly, it was decided to carry out a ballot for industrial action, to include both action short of a strike as well as strike action. To give some background, Council workers from all four unions took part in a number of successful industrial action campaigns in 2021 and 2022 read more
Ofgem and govt failing to protect communities over energy costs (27 Feb) – Responding to today’s announcement by the regulator Ofgem over changes to the energy price cap, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Ofgem’s latest manoeuvres on the energy price cap do next to nothing to ease the pressure on workers and communities already haunted by the arrival of their fuel bills. This out of touch government is clearly preparing to pull the plug on protecting consumers and is totally abdicating any responsibility for dealing with the runaway profiteering of energy companies read more
Roads Service maintenance workers in Unite commence one week strike action (26 Feb) – Road Workers demand productivity payment be integrated into payscales to remove potential mechanism for pay victimization. More than two hundreds Unite members employed by the Roads Service of Northern Ireland will be joining with colleagues in the GMB in taking strike action for a week commencing Monday 27th February. The industrial action follows a ballot of Unite members which returned a 95.30 percent vote for strike. The workers seek changes to their terms and conditions meaning the integration of a productivity bonus into their payscales. Roads Service workers’ pay is dependent on a productivity-based payment which is subject to the determination of managers. In the recent year roads workers at some hubs have taken strike action over allegations of bullying and harassment and are now seeking to close down a mechanism which potentially leaves them subject to victimization by managers. The strike pickets will be established at 8am on Monday 27 February and will last seven days and affect roads maintenance work across Northern Ireland. Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham pledged her union’s full support for the Roads Service workers read more
Unite secures paid leave for drillers on two flagship BP platforms the Clair and Clair Ridge (24 Feb) – An extra three weeks paid leave for drillers. Unite the union confirmed today (24 February) that nearly 100 offshore drillers working for Odfjell Technology (UK) Ltd on the BP Clair and Clair Ridge have secured three weeks paid time off work per year. Unite members have voted to accept a new working rotation following negotiations with the company. The extra three weeks leave secured is the equivalent to around a 11.5 per cent wage rise. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite is delighted to have negotiated an extra three weeks paid time off for our Odfjell drillers. It’s an excellent result for our members and this dispute was centred on securing a better working rotation. It’s a fantastic example of Unite winning better jobs, pay and conditions for our members in the offshore sector.” It brings to an end the scheduled industrial action for Odfjell Technology workers on the Clair and Clair Ridge platforms but widespread industrial action remains scheduled across other BP installations read more
Edrington workers balloted on strike action in dispute over shift patterns (24 Feb) – Drumchapel based distillers produce popular drink brands including Famous Grouse. Unite members based at Edrington Distillers are to be balloted on strike action in a dispute over new shift patterns and unsociable hours at the Drumchapel based company. Over 40 Unite members including engineers, electricians and boilermen are being balloted over new shift patterns and associated pay that were introduced in January 2023. The dispute centres of Unite members demanding a 5 per cent higher shift allowance for unsociable hours associated with the early shift and back shift in line with other unionised distillery plants. The shift pattern changes has meant some workers starting earlier at 5.30 a.m. instead of 7 a.m. Similar time changes have been applied to the back shift. Unite fully expects any strike action to bring production to a halt at the Drumchapel plant. Unite also believes it would not be safe to run the plant without the engineering support its members provide. The ballot opens 1 March and closes 22 March read more
Weekend strike action and protests resume over pay dispute at Diageo’s Leven plant (24 Feb) – Unite ‘actively’ exploring legal options amid claims workers could have been unlawfully induced to sign new contracts. Engineering workers based at Diageo’s plant in Leven are set to resume strike action tonight (24 February) and over the weekend in an increasingly bitter pay dispute with the drinks industry giant. The strike action will begin at 19:00 p.m. tonight and conclude on Monday (27 February) morning at 6 a.m. The strike action will directly impact on the engineering support for the bottling plant. Unite believes it is not safe to run the plant without the support its engineering members provide. Unite can also confirm that it will hold another protest on Saturday (25 February) at The Johnnie Walker Experience in Edinburgh from 12 noon to 2.30 p.m. There will be a further protest on Sunday (26 February) outside the bottling plant in Levenfrom 12 noon to 2.30 p.m. The protests are highlighting that some of Unite’s engineering members are set to lose around 6 per cent of their pay when moved to a proposed lower rate of pay read more
Blacklisting of workers and union infiltration by Spy Cops a dark stain on the police and ‘no stone must be left unturned’ in learning the full truth (23 Feb) – Unite, the UK’s leading union, is demanding that no stone is left unturned in discovering the full extent of the Special Demonstration Squad’s (Spy Cops) role in blacklisting workers and infiltrating trade unions. In the closing statements to the first tranche of the Mittings Inquiry into Undercover Policing, Dave Barr KC the counsel to the inquiry, for the first time accepted that information on individuals who were spied upon was frequently passed to employers and that spy cops infiltrated unions and spied on their members as part of their cover. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Finally it has been admitted what our members have always said. For decades not only were workers secretly spied upon by undercover police officers, for no good reason, but information was then frequently leaked to employers who used it to blacklist workers. Now the inquiry has finally accepted that blacklisting frequently occurred, no stone must be left unturned in discovering the true scale of blacklisting by the spy cops and reveal who in authority gave the green light for this. Equally there must be complete exposure of the infiltration of trade unions including answers as to why it happened and who considered it acceptable. This is the very minimum that workers and their families, who had the lives destroyed by blacklisting, deserve.” Read more
Drax Hydro workers vote to strike in pay dispute threatening power cuts (23 Feb) – Drax parent group profits up 50% as Unite accuses energy company of corporate greed. Unite the union confirmed today (23 February) that energy workers employed by Drax Hydro Limited who operate power stations across Scotland have voted for strike action in a dispute over pay. Around 50 Unite members covering Stonebyres (Lanark), Cruachan (Loch Awe) and Glenlee (Castle Douglas) power stations voted yes to strike action by 84.6 per cent on an 86.7 per cent turnout. The workers also voted by 92.3 per cent to take action short of a strike which would involve an overtime ban. The workers including engineers, plant controllers, as well as mechanical and electrical craft workers. The strike action days are expected to take place from mid-March with Unite making an official announcement next week. The vote for strike action, and action short of a strike, follows the rejection of an offer (8 per cent) which is significantly below the current rate of inflation at 13.4 per cent (RPI). Drax Hydro posted its latest accounts in July 2022 on Companies House indicating the company made profits totalling £2.3m for 2021. The trade union predicts the strike action in Scotland in conjunction with a separate pay dispute involving Unite members at the Drax power station in Yorkshire could lead to the UK facing power cuts. Unite has announced nine days of strike action at the Yorkshire plant from late February into April with strikes taking place on 20 and 27 February, then 6, 13, 20, 27 March and 4, 10 and 17 April read more
Doctors in Unite reject government plans to force the sick to work (23 Feb) – Government proposals to force GPs to sign fewer sick notes for workers have been rejected by Doctors in Unite, which represents GPs and doctors operating in the NHS. Detailed government proposals were first briefed to the media earlier this month, indicating that the chancellor could announce in next month’s budget changes to the sick note system, with the emphasis changing from whether the patient is ill to keeping people in work. Doctors in Unite believes that it is a fundamental duty of doctors to be allowed to record people as sick or able to work solely based on their medical condition and not on arbitrary government guidelines. Suggestions that quotas could be imposed on how many sick notes a doctor could issue is entirely at odds with medical ethics read more
Merseyside JLR supply chain workers to strike over job and pay attacks (23 Feb) – More than 150 workers employed at a Halewood factory producing dashboards for JLR have voted overwhelmingly to strike over job cuts and a 19 per cent attack on their pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union said today. The workers’ employer, IAC, is planning to slash 87 jobs and to remove shift premiums and reduce working hours for remaining staff. The workers recorded a 100 per cent yes vote in favour of industrial action on a turnout of over 90 per cent, underlining the anger the workforce has for the company’s proposals. American-owned IAC brings in billions of pounds per year. The company recorded global revenues of £2.4 billion in 2021, including £221 million from the UK. The workers are demanding that all redundancies are voluntary and that their pay is not reduced…The dates for strike action will be announced in the coming days read more
Protestors expose Morrisons’ anti-union tactics in Gibraltar (22 Feb) – Supermarket giant sits on millions but flew workers to Gibraltar to deny low-waged workers fair pay. Union stages protest at Morrisons’ Bradford HQ. Campaigners will stage a protest on Friday 24th February at the head office of Morrison’s in Bradford to expose shabby mistreatment and anti-trade union tactics directed against Unite members in Gibraltar. Morrisons’ workers in Gibraltar have been on strike since 30 January in a dispute over a paltry 2.4 per cent pay increase when the retailer’s underlying profits for last year were a massive £828 million. According to Unite, instead of negotiating to end the strike Morrisons wasted money by flying in UK workers to replace the roles of striking workers in Gibraltar – paying them £2 an hour more than workers on the Rock. This pay disparity is one of the main reasons for the dispute. Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham said: “If Morrisons think it can sneak strike-breaking tactics into Gibraltar then, it should think again…” read more
British Steel must come clean on its plans for Scunthorpe or face industrial action, warns Unite (22 Feb) – Union says workforce being failed by greedy employer and shambolic government. Unite demands books are opened as it vows to fight for jobs. Unite the union has vowed to fight to defend every job under threat at British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant. The union made its declaration today (Wednesday) after the company confirmed it intends to make approximately 300 workers redundant and close its coking ovens, which produce the fuel to power its blast furnaces. Unite believes that the proposed job losses are a direct result of the Jingye Group, the Chinese owners of British Steel, and its failure to make good on its commitment to make major investments in the plant and the government’s abject inability to produce a coherent industrial strategy to protect the UK’s steel making capability read more
Overwhelming 93 per cent vote for industrial action at Cargotec in ‘fake TUPE’ dispute (22 Feb) – Unite says it is determined to ensure workers’ pay and conditions do not come under attack. Action at Dundalk facility set to start on 10 March. Unite, which represents over 200 workers at the Cargotec (formerly Moffett Engineering) facility in Dundalk, today (Tuesday) announced that a ballot of members had returned an overwhelming 93 per cent vote in favour of industrial action, starting with a one-day stoppage on 10 March. The dispute follows the company’s refusal to engage meaningfully at the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court regarding their proposal to transfer workers under what Unite describes as a ‘fake TUPE’, meaning established jobs, pay and conditions could come under future attack read more
‘Sick joke’ government plan for NHS pay will accelerate strikes, Unite warns (21 Feb) – Dismissing the government’s 3.5 per cent proposal or NHS pay announced today (Tuesday) as a ‘sick joke’, Unite said this will accelerate a Spring of strikes across the health service. Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said “This has to be some sort of sick joke. On the day when figures show that the country can well afford to meet NHS workers’ pay expectations, the government is trying to force another year of wage cuts onto the NHS. This will only accelerate a Spring of NHS strikes…” read more
Unite calls two further days of strike action in Welsh Ambulance (21 Feb) – Unite has announced that its members within Welsh Ambulance will take two further days of strike action on Monday 6 March and Friday 10 March. The action is in addition to three days of strike currently taking place (20-22 February). As has been the case in previous strikes exemptions will be agreed in order to provide urgent life and limb cover read more
Unite announces 10 fresh strike dates as ambulance dispute escalates (20 Jan) – Unite, the UK’s leading union, has announced fresh dates in an escalation of the ambulance workers dispute. Members of Unite will stage ten further strikes over the coming weeks. Additional dates could be announced in the comings days. The announcement of fresh strike comes ahead of the latest day of industrial action with Unite’s ambulance workers set to walk out next Monday (23 January) read more
Imperial College strikes stretch into fourth month over ‘10.1% pay cut’ (21 Feb) – University sitting on £1.7bn in reserves and paid record-breaking vice chancellor salary. Pay strikes at London’s Imperial College will stretch into their fourth month, as more than 200 members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, prepare to walkout on Thursday (23 February). The workers are striking over the imposition of a 3.3 per cent pay offer for 2022/23 by Imperial College, which Unite says is a clear 10.1 per cent pay cut when the real rate of inflation, RPI, is running at 13.4 per cent. Imperial College’s latest financial figures shows it brought in an income of over £1.2 billion for 2021/22 and had cash reserves of £1.7 billion. Further, Imperial College is one for the best paying universities for senior leadership staff. Until July 2022, the university employed the UK’s highest paid vice chancellor with an annual pay package worth £714,000, a massive increase of 35.5 per cent on the previous year read more
East Lancashire biomedical scientists latest to join NHS pay strikes (21 Feb) – Unite says government is failing the country as NHS strikes spread. Around 70 biomedical scientists at the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust will strike at Royal Blackburn hospital from 0700 hrs to 1900 hrs on Wednesday (22 February). The workers’ union, Unite, says that more strikes will be scheduled if the government fails to address poor pay and unsafe staffing across the NHS. With more ambulance worker strikes also set for the coming weeks, Unite has again hit out at the prime minister for failing to get into the room to address chronic low pay and unsustainable workloads. These issues are driving a recruitment and retention crisis and devastating the NHS read more
Thousands of Unite health members to join Northern Ireland-wide strike in demand for fair wages and safe staffing (20 Feb) – Union warns of `existential crisis’ for health service as NI wages fall further behind. 4000 members of Unite the union will join strike action tomorrow (Tuesday) at health and social care workplaces, across Northern Ireland. Workers, including ambulance service workers, are fighting for a fair pay rise and urgent action to avert an `existential crisis’ in the service. Unite’s health and social care members will picket at hospitals across NI from 07:00 hours. The strike follows ballot across all five health trusts and the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service which returned an average 87 per cent vote in favour of strike action read more
New development in Hestia LIFE dispute. Poverty pay – some movement. – The Leader of Hounslow’s council has responded to pressure brought by Unite and he has finally agreed to speak with us regarding the dispute involving Serco employed Parking Attendants and Hestia LIFE employed support workers. Both groups of workers face poverty pay and anti-union bosses. This follows three separate periods of strike action at Hestia and a campaign aimed at encouraging Hounslow councillors to actively engage with striking workers at Hestia and Serco…Naturally we are pleased that the council leader has now responded to that pressure, but this is just a first step. We, as a trade movement, need to keep up the pressure to ensure that the council follows through on this initiative to ensure a successful end to both disputes which is why Unite have called a protest for next Tuesday 21st February outside the council cabinet meeting. We want that protest to be noisy, enthusiastic and pro-union. Please come along, bring your banners and family members to send a clear message to Hounslow Labour council – Workers need fair pay and decent conditions! read more
Month long strike will hit parking restrictions in Hounslow (3 Feb) – Month long strike will hit parking restrictions in Hounslow. The toxic combination of stubborn employers, poor pay and the cost of living crisis forces workers to strike from Monday 6 February until 5 March. Parking Enforcement Officers across Hounslow will step up strike action in their battle for fair pay. Hounslow Borough Council stands isolated after Ealing and Brent councils boosted their workers’ pay following strike action. The workers are directly employed by Serco which manages the contract for the London borough. The giant outsourcing company’s latest profits were £303.9 million. Together Hounslow council and Serco need to reach an agreement with Unite read more
Outsourced Harlow housing repair and grounds workers to strike over pay (17 Feb) – Over 300 staff responsible for Harlow council housing stock and cleaning and maintenance of council grounds and buildings will strike over pay in late February. The workers, members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, are employed by HTS, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Harlow district council. HTS’s workforce voted by 87 per cent for strike action over pay being less than workers doing the same jobs at other local authorities. The workers are demanding a cost-of-living payment and for their pay bands to be re-graded, so they are brought up to industry standards. The council’s latest financial report showed it had assets of £63 million on 31 March 2022, an increase of £19 million from the year before. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Harlow council is fooling nobody. It is using HTS to keep these workers on inferior pay, terms and conditions. Harlow council can well afford to give these workers a cost-of-living payment and Unite is determined to ensure that is what happens. Our members’ jobs, pay and conditions are this union’s top priority and the HTS workforce will receive Unite’s full support during these strikes.” The workers will strike on 21, 23 and 28 February during which housing repair and maintenance, street cleaning, grounds maintenance, cleaning and caretaking of council buildings and parks and gardening services will be severely disrupted. More strikes will be scheduled if the dispute is not resolved read more
Airports set to close across the Highlands and Islands as strike action begins at Dundee Airport (16 Feb) – Unite confirms overtime ban across 11 airports in the HIAL Group. Dundee Airport will be closed tomorrow (17 February) due to strike action as part of a pay dispute involving over 120 Unite members across the Highlands and Islands Airport Limited (HIAL) Group. Strike action will begin tomorrow at Dundee Airport, and then resumes on Monday (20 February). There will be a strike demonstration starting from 11 a.m. at Dundee Airport on both days of action in close proximity to the airport entrance. Several days of 24-hour strike action is scheduled across all HIAL’s 11 airports following the action in Dundee. Strike action will take place on 21, 22, and 23 February at the HIAL Group’s other airports: Barra Airport, Benbecula Airport, Campbeltown Airport, Inverness Airport, Islay Airport, Kirkwall Airport, Stornoway Airport, Sumburgh Airport, Tiree Airport, Wick Airport. Due to the scale of Unite’s industrial action the HIAL Group has now informed the public that a number of airports will be fully closed including Barra, Benbecula, Dundee, Stornoway, Sumburgh and Tiree. Kirkwall Airport will operate on a limited basis. The trade union predicts its industrial action will impact the remaining airports differently from mail not getting through to offshore workers not being able to mobilise to installations, and to return home. Unite has further confirmed that its members will take part in a discontinuous overtime ban across all 11 airports starting on 24 February and continuing each day up to and inclusive of 2 March read more
Royal Holloway University strikes intensify over 10% pay cut presented as rise (9 Feb) – Pay strikes will hit Royal Holloway University in February as a dispute over pay intensifies, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Thursday). Non-teaching staff, members of Unite, have rejected an imposed pay deal set by the University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) that amounts to three per cent for most workers. With the real rate of inflation, RPI, at 13.4 per cent, this is a real terms pay cut of 10.4 per cent. Meanwhile, the university’s latest financial report states it is in a strong financial position. It had total reserves of £293 million for the year ending 31 July 2022… The workers, who include cleaners, janitors, estates staff and technicians, will strike on 14, 15, 16, 21, 22 and 23 February in coordination with members of other higher education unions at Royal Holloway. More strikes will be scheduled if the dispute is not resolved read more
Petrofac workers resume 48-hour strike action (8 Feb) – New strike wave hits BP offshore installations. A fresh 48-hour strike is underway on BP Petrofac installations the UK’s largest offshore trade union, Unite, confirmed today (8 February). The 48-hour strike action which starts today at 06:01 involves around 80 workers, and it will conclude at 05:59 on 10 February. It is the latest round of strike action following no breakthrough in negotiations with Petrofac. The offshore contractor has failed to bring forward an acceptable offer to the workers with future rounds of strike action now scheduled to take place until 3 March read more
Strike action resumes at GSK pharmaceutical plant in Irvine (6 Feb) – Kaefer contractors begin week-long strike in dispute over bonus payments. Members of Unite employed in engineering construction roles at the GSK plant in Irvine will resume strike action today (6 February) in a dispute over bonus payments. Around 40 workers employed by contractor Kaefer Limited will take strike action from 07:30 a.m. on 6 February up to 07:29 a.m. on 13 February. A previous round of strike action took place from 9 to 23 January. The current round of strike action is in addition to an existing discontinuous overtime ban which ends on 2 April. The industrial action will directly impact on the maintenance of the plant. The dispute is based on Unite members seeking a bonus payment of £2.37 an hour, the maximum allowed under the relevant industrial agreement (National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry [NAECI]) read more
Wirral housing workers to strike over deadly asbestos fears (3 Feb) – Workers at social housing landlord Magenta Living are to take extensive strike action over fears that new working practices will expose them to asbestos. The 100 plus workers, who are members Unite, the UK’s leading union, are employed in repairs and maintenance roles for Magenta Living, which manages 13,000 properties mainly covering the Wirral. Magenta Living has imposed a change of policy when dealing with asbestos. Previously, the workforce was trained that when they identified asbestos to stop work. If it required removal, specialist contractors were employed. Under the new policy the workers are expected to work with asbestos read more
University of Leeds strikes intensify over 10% pay cut presented as rise (1 Feb) – More than 200 non-teaching staff striking over nationally imposed UCEA pay deal. Pay strikes will hit the University of Leeds in February as a dispute over pay intensifies, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Wednesday). The 200 non-teaching staff, members of Unite, have rejected an imposed pay deal set by the University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) that amounts to three per cent for most workers. With the real rate of inflation, RPI, at 13.4 per cent, this is a real terms pay cut of 10.4 per cent read more
Reinstate Radek (Radoslaw Worbel) sacked Unite London bus rep at RATP London United Fulwell bus garage – send a message of complaint to [email protected] and a message of support to to Radek via the Unite Bus Combine: [email protected]
West Midland’s National Express engineers to strike over pay (19 Jan) – 3,000 drivers also poised to join striking engineers who maintain vehicles for 93% of region’s bus network. Around 200 West Midland’s National Express engineers have voted by 93 per cent in a ballot with a turnout of 80 per cent to strike over pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Thursday). The engineers – responsible for maintaining 1,200 vehicles that cover 93 per cent of the region’s bus network – could be joined on strike by 3,000 bus drivers, who are also about to be balloted for industrial action. The engineers have rejected a pay offer of 10.1 per cent from National Express, which made £15.8 million in profits during the first half of 2022. With the real rate of inflation, RPI, at 13.4 per cent, this is a pay cut read more
Striking housing workers vote 99.5 percent on 93.5 percent turnout to reject inadequate NI Housing Executive pay offer (10 Jan) – As industrial action by housing workers enters its twenty-third week without resolution, Unite demands Department for Communities intervention. Thousands of social housing tenants are left without needed repair and maintenance work as a result of management intransigence. Unite the union has written to the Chief Executive of the Northern Ireland Housing Executive Grainia Long after its members overwhelmingly rejected a pay offer made by management at the Labour Relations Agency in December. The pay offer was for a one-off non-consolidated payment of one thousand pounds and a pay point increase for grades 1 to 3 which would have benefited only a small fraction of striking workers. The offer was rejected overwhelmingly in a ballot conducted on picket lines on turnout of 93.5 percent and rejection majority of 99.5 percent. The workers who are employed in North and West Belfast, Portadown, Coleraine and Derry/Londonderry will therefore continue their strike action in pursuit of a fair pay increase for the 2021-2022 year. Their strike is now into its twenty-third week and has led to ballooning impact on maintenance services for social housing units read more
Department for Infrastructure must show leadership on Rathlin Island ferry dispute (10 Jan) – Union says workers and Rathlin Island community treated as expendable in wrangle over outsourced service. Unite the union has demanded urgent action by the Department for Infrastructure to resolve an ongoing pay dispute and safeguard the ferry service to Rathlin island. The private sector operator of the ferry service to Northern Ireland’s largest offshore island, Rathlin Island Ferry Ltd, has indicated to the Department that the company could enter liquidation by the end of January. Unite members at the ferry operator are today striking for a third day after four days when there was no service to the island as a result of inclement conditions and strike action. Strike action is scheduled to proceed for four days a week (Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays) for the remainder of January. The strike follows a ballot of ferry workers who voted with a 85 per cent majority for industrial action in pursuit of a cost of living increase. Their vote came after workers’ endured three years of a pay freeze read more
Refuse workers and street cleaners to strike in Liverpool in pay dispute (10 Jan) – Members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, employed by Liverpool Streetscene Services Limited (LSSL), are set to undertake industrial action in a dispute over pay. The 80 plus workers are principally employed in refuse collection, street cleaning and parks and cemeteries. They will begin industrial action on Monday 23 January and it will end on Saturday 28 January read more
Northern Ireland Health and Social Care workers strike for improved pay (9 Jan) – Massive 87 per cent average vote for strike action across Northern Ireland trusts. 4000 Unite members to strike on 26 January, February 16 ,17 and 23, 24. Unite the union has confirmed that its members working across the health and social care sector in Northern Ireland will be participating in an industrial campaign involving all health trade unions after they voted overwhelmingly for strike action in pursuit of a cost of living pay increase. The announcement comes as talks as discussion with the UK health secretary failed to make any progress on the 2022/23 pay claim. In December, Unite members voted with an average 87 percent majority across all five health trusts and the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service for strike action read more
Coffin factory strike enters fourth month Co-op Funeralcare wastes £1 million instead of resolving dispute (5 Jan) – Coffin factory strike enters fourth month as Co-op Funeralcare wastes £1 million instead of resolving dispute. Unite members have resumed strike action at the Co-op Funeralcare coffin manufacturing factory based in Glasgow in a bitter dispute over pay which has now entered its fourth month. Strike action by Unite members began on Wednesday 4 January and will run continuously through to Monday 16 January, which will be the fourth consecutive week of strike action. Unite recently uncovered that the Cooperative Funeralcare spent over £1,000,000 last year on purchasing coffins from third party suppliers at a time when the dispute with their own workforce could have been successfully resolved for a fraction of this cost. Additionally, Co-op Funeralcare made an underlying profit of £12 million in 2021 read more
Construction giant Murphy protests in UK and Ireland over union busting – Demonstrations call for four sacked trade union members to be reinstated. Demonstrations will be held outside the offices of Murphy construction companies in Newbridge, County Kildare, Warrington, Stafford and London tomorrow (21 December) over union busting at the group. The protests form part of a campaign to secure the reinstatement of four Unite members, including a Unite shop steward, who were dismissed by the group’s Irish subsidiary, Murphy International. Unite believes the reasons for the sacking are spurious and linked to the workers’ trade union membership read more
Strikes stepped up at Fawley refinery as heavy-handed policing deepens tensions in dispute – Members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, employed in engineering construction roles at Fawley oil refinery in Hampshire will step up strike action in a dispute over bonus payments. The 130-strong workforce, who are employed by three contractors Altrad, Bilfinger and Enerveo, are seeking a bonus payment of £2.37 an hour, the maximum allowed under the relevant industrial agreement (National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry [NAECI]). The Fawley refinery is operated by ExxonMobil, which last month recorded a quarterly profit of £17.3 billion. Tensions in the dispute have dramatically increased due to intimidatory behaviour by Hampshire police and false allegations made the employer read more. Send messages of support to [email protected]
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
CWU
Support the CWU strikes in Royal Mail & Post Office – 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
Massive Royal Mail re-ballot vote!! – CWU members in Royal Mail Group have delivered the biggest ever return in a major national strike ballot. YES 95.9% TURNOUT 77.3%
CWU to Royal Mail bosses: ‘You picked a fight with the wrong union!’ (17 Feb) – After achieving a higher percentage turnout than any general election since 1992, CWU activists meet in determined mood to discuss the next steps. Following yesterday’s ballot result, it was back to business today, with hundreds of senior field officials and branch officials gathering in Manchester for a national briefing to update on the dispute with Royal Mail and debate ongoing strategy. General secretary Dave Ward opened the event by once again thanking branches and members for their efforts in delivering such a “remarkable result” in the ballot. A hugely impressive 95.9 per cent YES vote and 77.3 per cent turnout – a higher percentage of voters than the last general election and higher than any general election in the past three decades. This was “a victory for the power of ‘we’ over the power of ‘I’. It was a test of our members’ resolve and, after 18 days of strike action and in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, our members delivered a result that was incredible,” Dave continued, adding that it “would’ve given the whole of TU movement a lift – as well as our members. It’s staggering that, after all that’s happened, our members haven’t shifted an inch in their support for this union…” read more
Union urges Royal Mail PFSL members to ‘Vote YES’ as two-year deal goes out to ballot (27 Feb) – Ballot papers go out this week to around 1,400 Royal Mail Property & Facilities Solutions Limited (PFSL) cleaners, admin and building maintenance workers asking for their endorsement of a negotiated pay and associated issues agreement read more
Post Office hopes rise as national pay negotiations resume (20 Feb) – ‘Cautious optimism’ from reps as acting deputy general secretary postal heads into new talks with senior bosses. CWU reps and members expressed their support for Andy Furey and his negotiating team this morning as formal pay discussions restarted aimed at resolving the long-running dispute over pay. From May to December 2022, eight strikes took place among Post Office Crown and Admin members, while Supply Chain workers struck nine times and, from December, all Post Office members began action short of a strike (ASOS). In his message to members before today’s talks started, our acting deputy general secretary postal (A/DGSP) expressed once again his admiration for the strong and solid support members have shown over the course of the dispute and his thanks for their determination and their patience. He also explained that the ASOS was being paused in light of the new commitments received from the Post Office leadership to the negotiations read more
BT Estate cleaning review puts 127 housekeepers ‘at risk’ of redundancy (17 Feb) – Assurances and clarity are being urgently demanded for housekeepers across the BT Estate following ISS’s shock announcement this week of a major shake-up of cleaning activities that has been triggered, in part, by BT’s ongoing ‘Better Workplace’ site rationalisation programme. Tuesday’s bombshell – which threatens the jobs of 127 ‘static’ housekeepers who operate in fixed individual locations – represents the first major review of cleaning requirements following the disputed outsourcing of BT Facilities Service in April 2019 read more
Security review at BT HQ triggers nerve-wracking redundancy selection process for 17 (16 Feb) – Close tabs are being kept on a redundancy consultation involving 17 security officers based at BT’s One Braham headquarters following the decision to downsize their number by nearly half. The unexpected move, which was announced to impacted employees by outsourced guarding services provider ISS yesterday (Wednesday) , follows a review of the central London premises’ guarding requirements that had been driven by BT’s desire to cut costs and ‘rightsize’ security arrangements in the light of what the company believes are diminished risk factors. Operational reasons given for the change include the increase of CCTV coverage of One Braham’s perimeter, a new Security Forum and crime prevention initiatives in the Aldgate area and the perception that the area is becoming safer on account of increased footfall and increased engagement with local police. As such, ISS is proposing to reduce the overall hours for security cover from 1,488 hours a week to 866 – to be covered by nine security officers, eight fewer than at present read more
PCS
You can show your support to the strikes by PCS members by:
- Making donations to the PCS Fighting Fund Levy account, sort code: 60-83-01, account no. 20331490
- Sending solidarity messages to [email protected]
- Signing our petition to tell prime minister Rishi Sunak to intervene and hold meaningful talks to end the strikes.
- Support us on social media with the hashtags: #PCSonStrike #BlameTheGovt
- New E-action in support of PCS national pay and pensions campaign – The E-action calls on MPs to support our demands over pay, pensions, redundancy terms and job security read more
Land Registry strikes impact on property transactions (28 Feb) – Targeted strike action this week has closed the phone lines and will affect customer enquiries and property deals. HM Land Registry deals with registering the ownership of land and property in England and Wales. Staff deal with enquiries from the public and professionals and maintain and update records of ownership and interests affecting land and property. The Land Registry is therefore a very important part of the property market and wider economy. Members who work in the Customer Service Centres in Durham and Swansea and in the Customer Resolution Team in Birkenhead, Coventry, Croydon, Durham, Fylde, Gloucester, Hull, Leicester, Nottingham, Peterborough, Plymouth, Swansea, Telford and Weymouth are taking strike action this week as part of our targeted strike action read more
HMRC and VOA members in massive YES vote for action! (28 Feb) – HMRC and VOA members have voted overwhelmingly to strike, comfortably beating the government’s anti-union ‘turnout law’. This means that HMRC and VOA members will join the Budget Day strike on 15 March. The re-ballots for strike action, involving members in HMRC and VOA, have resulted in members not just voting for action, but doing so in enough numbers to comfortably overcome the government’s ‘minimum turnout law’; a law which cynically aims to obstruct unions from taking any form of industrial action read more
33,000 more members to join national dispute (28 Feb) – 100% of areas balloted have returned huge yes votes and crossed the 50% turnout threshold for action as part of our national campaign on pay, pensions, changes to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme and jobs following a number of re-ballots. PCS members in 9 more employers are now able to take strike action and members in 4 groups have also voted to take action short of strike read more
PCS condemns DWP’s latest attacks on Universal Credit claimants (27 Feb) – From today the DWP starts a pilot to force thousands of Universal Credit claimants to compulsorily attend jobcentres 10 times over a 2-week period, which PCS believes could increase the risk of poverty and make claiming benefits more difficult read more
PCS to launch new civil service ballots (24 Feb) – PCS is launching fresh strike ballots from 20 March of 124,125 in 186 employers across the civil service and public sector so our members can continue to fight for fair pay, pensions justice and job security as part of our national campaign. Our current 6-month legal mandate for strike action in 124 groups expires on 6 May, so to continue our industrial action campaign our national executive committee has today agreed we need to ballot members again. The new postal ballots run from 20 March until 9 May. The levy of members, which supports those taking strategic action, will remain in place for the duration of the dispute read more
March with PCS on strike day (23 Feb) – As part of the national PCS strike on 15 March we are organising a march through Whitehall and rally outside Downing Street. As well as our plan for 1000 picket lines on our national strike day on Wednesday, 15 March we are organising an event in London which all greater London-based members are encouraged to attend. We will march through Whitehall and hold a rally outside Downing Street. We will then continue the march to Trafalgar Square to join with members from the NEU (National Education Union) who will also be gathering there. 15 March is the day the government delivers the Budget read more
Strike dates announced in Ofsted and DVSA (20 Feb) – The action will impact on driving tests, school inspections and complaints. The strikes form part of our targeted strike action in our national campaign over pay, pensions, job security and redundancy terms. Ofsted members working in the Applications, Regulatory and Contact (ARC) team and Inspection Support Centre will take strike action in March. They will walk out from Monday to Wednesday on every week in March, starting from 6 March… In DVSA, there will be a rolling programme of strike action across the regions throughout March, resulting in a large-scale cancellation of driving tests read more
Land Registry members set to strike (13 Feb) – We are now asking PCS members working for the Land Registry to join our targeted strike action, part of our national campaign over pay, pensions, job security and redundancy terms. The following groups of members working for the Land Registry are set to take action on 27 and 28 February and 1, 2 and 3 March 2023:
- All Land Registry employees working in the Customer Service Centres in Durham and Swansea.
- All Land Registry employees working on the Customer Resolution Team in: Birkenhead, Coventry, Croydon, Durham, Fylde, Gloucester, Hull, Leicester, Nottingham, Peterborough, Plymouth, Swansea, Telford and Weymouth read more
Further DVLA strike dates announced as action further escalates (13 Feb) – We’re asking all DVLA members working in stores to take part in strike action on 27, 28 February and 1, 2, 3 March as part of our national campaign over pay, pensions, job security and redundancy terms read more
PCS National Campaign: Our chance to join the action! (8 Feb) – 100,000 PCS members will strike on Budget Day. A successful ballot will mean HMRC members can join the action. Following the highly successful day of action on 1 February, PCS has announced a further day of national action, involving groups comprising 100,000 members. The strike will take place on the day of the Budget, Wednesday 15 March. If more than half of HMRC members take part in our re-ballot, and we vote to act, we’ll be able to join them read more
Prospect
Prospect members in the Civil Service have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action (27 Feb) – Strike action will take place on 15 March. Prospect members working across the public sector have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action over pay, threats of job losses, and proposed cuts to redundancy terms read more
Letter to Minister for the Cabinet Office on public services industrial action (28 Feb) – Prospect has written to Jeremy Quin MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General with the results of our industrial action ballot read more
Prospect writes to Paymaster General in response to Treasury’s evidence to Pay Review Bodies (24 Feb) – Today, Prospect General Secretary Mike Clancy and Dave Penman from the FDA have written to Jeremy Quin MP, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General, in response to the Treasury’s evidence to the Pay Review Bodies. You can read the letter in full below read more
Strike action announced at Highlands and Islands Airport (23 Feb) – Prospect has confirmed that firefighters and security staff across 10 airports are to take strike action during March in a dispute over pay. The action comes after similar action by Unite members at HIAL in February, and will cause further disruption for rural communities across Scotland read more
GMB
Amazon strikers ready for ‘David and Goliath’ battle (27 Feb) – Amazon workers are ready for a ‘David and Goliath battle’ as they begin day two of the first ever strike the company has faced in the UK. More than 350 workers at Amazon’s Coventry warehouse are set to walk out today [Tuesday] in anger at a pay rise of just 50 pence. Amazon workers will also walk out on Thursday [2 March] and for five consecutive days from 13 – 17 March. Amazon Coventry staff made history on 25 January when they became the first in the UK to take strike action read more
Strike threat delivers bumper pay win at Gedling Borough Council (24 Feb) – GMB members at Gedling Borough Council have today announced an agreement has been reached to deliver a significant pay boost for staff at the Council. Staff across Environmental Services, including HGV Waste Drivers, Arborists, Street Cleaning Teams and Grave Diggers are all to receive significant boots to their pay after the campaign pushed key workers up Council pay scales. This is on top of agreements late last year to scrap ‘poverty pay bands’, those pay scales at the bottom end of the Council’s payment structures and deliver a local one-off cost of living payment for all contracted staff read more
GMB slams job cuts at Leicester school (23 Feb) – GMB Union has been notified by Thurmaston Junior School of its intention to sack three support staff and one teacher. If the school goes ahead with its plans this will mean less one to one support for Special Educational Needs children in classrooms and less support for other pupils in their day-to-day learning. The school is blaming budget pressures and says they cannot afford to retain these vital dedicated staff read more
South London hospital trust facing GMB strike ballot (23 Feb) – Our members have spoken and we have listened – now it’s time for ISS to listen to them too, says GMB union. GMB, the NHS union, is preparing to formally ballot its members employed by ISS across South London and Maudsley NHS Trust. The union has just completed an indicative ballot, in which over 97% of members voted in favour of action. The members work as domestics and hostesses across the trust’s hospital sites, which include Maudsley Hospital, Bethlem Royal Hospital, the Ladywell Unit at Lewisham Hospital and Lambeth Hospital. The dispute centres around pay, with the members having previously submitted a pay claim to which management are yet to formally respond read more
GMB responds to Department for Health PRB submission (21 Feb) – GMB Union has responded to evidence submitted to the PRB by the Department for Health today [Tuesday]. Rachel Harrison, GMB National Secretary, said: “Todays submission to the PRB shows this Government’s true colours. Ambulance workers – and others across the NHS including cleaners, porters and care workers – who are the backbone of the health service deserve better…” read more
More than 11,000 ambulance workers strike (21 Feb) – More than 11,000 ambulance workers will walk out in England and Wales today [20 February 2023]. Paramedics, Emergency Care Assistants, call handlers and other staff will stage more than 100 pickets across eight different trusts. Workers across the ambulance service voted to strike over the Government’s imposed real-terms wage cut and are furious over the Government’s refusal to talk to them about pay. In Wales, an extra 1.5 per cent consolidated pay and 1.5 per cent one off bonus was rejected by two thirds of members on Friday (17 February) read more
GMB Scotland members to vote on latest NHS pay offer (21 Feb) – Responding this afternoon (Monday 20 February) to the latest Scottish Government pay offer for NHS Scotland Agenda for Change (AfC) staff, which proposes a consolidated 6.5 per cent increase on the basic rate of pay for 2023-24 plus an additional non-consolidated payment equivalent to three months value backdated to January, GMB Scotland Senior Organiser for Public Services Keir Greenaway said: “GMB will put the offer before our members for consultation. During this time, our union remains in dispute with the Scottish Government and our legal strike mandates continue to be protected…) read more
GMB win for Deliveroo riders (21 Feb) – GMB, the union for restaurant couriers, has today announced a win in its campaign to stop unfair parking charges for restaurant couriers in Derby. After weeks of campaigning and negotiations with council bosses, couriers who hold a drivers’ permit will be able to use loading bays and double yellow lines for up to 30 minutes while they’re on the job. This will be good for couriers, local businesses and customers. Couriers organised a petition after a fine was issued to a GMB member who held the permit. Following the win, couriers are planning future campaigns to make their work better read more
Ambulance workers announce four more national strike dates (18 Jan) – More than 10,000 GMB Ambulance workers will stage four more national strike days, the union announced today. Paramedics, Emergency Care Assistants, call handlers and other staff are now set to walk out on 6 February, 20 February, 6 March and 20 March. The following trusts will be affected: South West Ambulance Service, South East Coast Ambulance Service, North West Ambulance Service, South Central Ambulance Service, North East Ambulance Service, East Midlands Ambulance Service, Welsh Ambulance Service, Yorkshire Ambulance Service. In addition, workers at West Midlands ambulance service will strike on January 23, with GMB members at North West Ambulance Service will strike on January 24 read more
Almost 300 Mersey Care workers to strike this week (17 Jan) – Almost 300 health care workers at Mersey Care will take strike action this week over pay. GMB members including nurses, health care assistants, support staff, cleaners and admin staff will walk out for 24 hours from 00:01 to 23.59 on 18 January 2023. Mersey Care workers voted to strike over the Government’s imposed 4 per cent pay award – another massive real terms pay cut read more
GMB union: ExxonMobil ‘throwing money’ at agencies rather than our members – GMB, the energy union, are preparing to name and shame companies who are providing strike-breakers in the midst of a trades dispute at Fawley oil refinery near Southampton. The union have been informed that agency workers have been retained on full pay until strike action recommenced, following a temporary suspension of action actioned by GMB and sister union Unite. Strike action at the refinery was suspended for Monday to Wednesday of this week to allow negotiations to take place, only for GMB to be told that talks would not be happening as there was “nothing to discuss.” 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 and was due to take place on November 16th but has been delayed again and will now take place on 24th March. This is an outrageous attack on the right of trade unions to strike, picket and protest. The NSSN sends our continued solidarity and support read more about Surrey strike
Unison
Donate to support striking workers – As UNISON members continue to take strike action, the union is asking for donations to its strike fund
Solo pay talks could have serious consequences for the NHS (27 Feb) – Attempting a deal with just one solves nothing. The government’s failure to hold pay talks with every organisation representing striking NHS workers in England is unacceptable, ill-considered, and has potentially perilous consequences, health unions warn today (Monday). The chair and secretary of the union side of the NHS staff council have written to Steve Barclay on behalf of health unions, raising concerns about the government’s handling of the pay dispute. The group of 13 unions includes four – UNISON, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, GMB and Unite – that are currently involved in industrial action over NHS pay, staffing and patient care. In the letter, the unions urge caution over the government’s decision to hold unilateral talks with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and say the approach risks prolonging the strikes. Worse still, the unions say, the solo talks move threatens the future of the Agenda for Change pay system covering all NHS staff, aside from doctors and dentists read more
Joint union statement: Acas higher education talks (24 Feb) – Talks via Acas will continue into next week on the terms of reference for negotiations on workload, contract types and equality pay gaps. Today (Friday 24 February) the five unions UCU, UNISON, Unite, EIS and GMB, representing staff working in UK higher education confirmed that talks via the conciliation service Acas will continue into next week. The joint unions have continued to push employers, represented by the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), on the issues of pay, workload, casualisation and equality pay gaps. Some progress has been made in establishing agreed terms of reference for negotiations on reviewing the higher education pay scales. Talks via Acas will continue into next week on the terms of reference for negotiations on workload, contract types and equality pay gaps. However, the unions are disappointed that UCEA has moved to instruct its members to impose the first element of the 2023/24 pay proposal. This is despite nothing yet having been agreed on pay. The unions will continue to make that clear in negotiations read more
Nurses, paramedics, blood collection workers and other NHS staff in new strike over pay (22 Feb) – Christina McAnea says 8 March strike is direct result of government’s failure to hold proper pay talks. Nurses will join blood collection workers, healthcare assistants, cleaners, porters and ambulance staff in a new day of walkouts over pay next month, says UNISON today (Wednesday). The union says the strike on Wednesday 8 March is a serious escalation of the dispute and a direct result of the government’s failure to hold proper pay talks with health unions. Health workers at NHS Blood and Transplant, Great Ormond Street Hospital, the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool Women’s Hospital and the Bridgewater Community Trust will now be among those now walking out for the first time. They’ll be joined by ambulance staff at four services in England – South Central, East of England, West Midlands and East Midlands, also now able to take action following their successful strike vote last week. This means staff will be on picket lines in all but one ambulance service in England in two weeks’ time. Colleagues working for ambulance services in London, Yorkshire, the North East, North West and South West – who have already taken action on four previous occasions – will also walk out on 8 March. Up to 32,000 NHS workers belonging to UNISON in England are now able to take strike action. This follows the re-balloting of ten NHS employers in England, where the strike vote fell just short of the legal threshold last year. NHS workers at two trusts in Liverpool (the Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the city’s Heart and Chest Hospital) will also join the 8 March strike read more
Third day of NHS strikes in Northern Ireland (21 Feb) – Thousands of UNISON members in the six arm’s length bodies of the health trust have walked out today, including staff at the NI ambulance service read more
Stop Hackney Council cutting library services read more about the campaign here – Hackney library staff have been taking strike action against cuts
NIPSA
Health Members Strike Action 21 February (28 Feb) – I congratulate all of you who again demonstrated your commitment and resolve to stand up for patients and clients in demanding a Health Service that is safe for all and one that rewards employees with a fair and proper pay rise. The demonstration of support at Rallies across Northern Ireland demonstrated not just solidarity for Education in their struggle but the growing movement of workers who shout enough is enough. Standing together we can send a clear message to Government and politicians both here and in England, that while we strive to serve those who need our services, we will not let them down and we will not be disrespected by wages that fail to keep up with inflation caused by their mismanagement. This is indeed a long-term dispute on Pay and Safe Staffing and NIPSA continues to work collaboratively with other Trade Unions to maximise the campaign of action. To this end I give notice to members that NIPSA along with colleagues in UNISON have extended all Action Short of Strike for March 2023 read more
Reminder: Industrial Action Ballot, Civil Service Pay (16 Feb) – NICS Pay: A reminder to Branches that a ballot for industrial action across all NI Civil Service Departments and Arms’ Length Bodies commenced on 9 February 2023 and will close on 2 March 2023. Branches are asked to do their best to encourage every member to exercise their right to vote in this important industrial action ballot read more
Health Strike Update (13 Jan) – Health Strike Action HSC: While I would like to begin with wishing you all a Happy New Year in 2023, the reality is that I must provide an update in relation to the ongoing Industrial Action Dispute regarding Pay, Safe Staffing and Travel Reimbursement. The current Crisis in Health will not be resolved quickly and likewise the current Industrial Action will also need to be a continuous and determined campaign to bring Government and Employers to negotiate meaningful resolutions. In regards to the current calendar of Industrial Action being undertaken by NIPSA that requires your ongoing support including Continuous Action Short of Strike (ASOS)…and Joint Trade Union action with Unison in regards to their Non Continuous Action Short of Strike (ASOS) 16 January to 29 January 2023 (inclusive). This will include mirroring work to rule action and Withdrawal from all union/management/department of health engagement except regional meetings on dispute resolution. All NIPSA Members are required to participate in Specific Continuous Industrial (ASOS) to highlight the issue of Travel Reimbursement on the 20 January 20 February and 20 March 2023 as follows; The action will consist of a 24 hour withdrawal of personal vehicles for work related use commencing at 12.01am on Friday 20 January 2023 until 23.59pm. This Industrial Action will be repeated on a monthly basis including the 20 February and 20 March 2023. All NIPSA members are also required to participate in joint Strike Action on the 26th January 2023 with attendance at Picket lines essential. NIPSA also wishes to give notice to members that it intends to take further Industrial Action specifically to highlight Safe Staffing issues in February 2023 with details to follow read more
Royal College of Nursing
RCN members in Wales reject Welsh government additional pay offer for 2022/23 (28 Feb) – RCN Wales has formally requested, in writing to the Minister for Health and Social Services, that negotiations recommence urgently to resolve our dispute. If the Minister doesn’t respond in five working days, the RCN Wales Board has agreed that RCN Wales will resume planning for further strike action and further dates will be announced in due course read more
Voting for RCN members opens on new NHS pay offer in Scotland (28 Feb) – RCN Scotland Board is recommending members vote to accept new pay offer. Eligible members have until 9am on Monday 20 March to have their say read more
RCN calls for ‘not fit for purpose’ anti-strike bill to be scrapped (22 Feb) – We continue to scrutinise the proposed legislation as an independent review has concluded the bill is lacking read more
UK government agrees to process of intensive talks with the RCN (21 Feb) – The RCN will pause strike action in England during these talks read more
A new NHS pay offer from Scottish Government (17 Feb) – RCN Scotland Board members are considering a new NHS pay offer from Scottish government. The pay offer was made today (17 February) following negotiations between the RCN and other health trade unions and the Scottish government and NHS employers. RCN Scotland Board will consider the details of the offer and decide the next steps. The talks began after the Scottish government put forward proposals in January as the basis for dispute resolution and negotiations. The RCN paused the announcement of strike dates in Scotland while negotiations took place read more
RCN cancels strikes in Wales following new NHS pay offer (3 Feb) – Pressure mounts on Prime Minister to start urgent talks in England to avert next week’s strikes read more
RCN opens donations to strike fund in response to public desire to support striking staff – We’ve launched a donation page for people to financially help nursing staff on strike read more
Royal College of Midwives
RCM moves to accept Welsh Government pay offer following member consultation (28 Feb) – Midwife and maternity support worker (MSW) members of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) have rejected the Welsh Government’s pay offer. The result comes in an RCM consultation on the offer that closed yesterday. In the two-week online consultation just under a third (32.3%) of eligible members voted, with 82% rejecting the offer and 17.79% accepting. The consultation followed a pause in planned strike action by RCM members that was set for 7 February. However, the collective response of the majority of trade unions that make up the Wales Partnership forum – including the RCM – is to accept the offer. The RCM will enter into further discussions with the Welsh Government for implementation of the offer and push to start pay discussions for 2023/24 read more
Our pay campaign for members in England continues says RCM giving evidence to NHS Pay Review Body (23 Feb) – Members of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) were in London yesterday giving oral evidence about the real, lived experience of midwives and maternity support workers (MSWs) to the NHS Pay Review Body (PRB). The PRB is due to give its recommendations for the 2023/24 pay award on 1 April. This was the same day that the Government’s evidence to the PRB was published – weeks late and containing a recommendation that 3.5% was an affordable pay rise for NHS staff. This would amount to another real terms pay cut for midwives and MSWs and would do nothing to address the workforce crisis in maternity services, says the RCM. The RCM made clear that it remains in dispute with the Westminster Government over the inadequate pay award for 2022/23, and that direct negotiations are required to resolve it. Yesterday’s announcement that the Government would enter pay talks with the RCN was a welcome sign that the Government is no longer ignoring the seriousness of the crisis in the NHS and the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on NHS staff. However, negotiation must be with all health unions read more
All health unions must be brought into pay negotiations says RCM (22 Feb) – The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) says that any negotiations around NHS pay must be with all health unions. The statement follows an announcement late yesterday that the Government are set to enter into pay negotiations with the Royal College of Nursing read more
RCM to consult its members on the latest Scottish Government pay offer (17 Feb) – The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) will be moving to consult its members on the latest Scottish Government pay offer announced today read more
RCM to consult its members on Welsh Government pay offer (13 Feb) – The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) is consulting its members in Wales on the Welsh Government’s pay offer. The online consultation opens today and closes on 27 February. It follows a pause on planned strike action by RCM midwife and maternity support worker (MSW) members that was set for 7 February. The RCM will be making no recommendations about whether its members should accept or reject the offer. The RCM says while the offer is not everything it has been asking for, it is a positive step forward and a deal its members should have their say on. It is the best offer that can be obtained through negotiation and without sustained industrial action says the RCM read more
RCM recommends its members vote yes as industrial action ballot opens in Northern Ireland (31 Jan) – The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) in Northern Ireland is recommending its midwife and maternity support worker (MSW) members vote for industrial action as it opens its formal ballot on pay today running until 7 March. The move to ballot staff working in Health and Social Care (HSC) is not a decision taken lightly says the RCM. It follows a consultation in November where over nine out of 10 RCM members who responded said they would be prepared to take industrial action if no pay award was agreed. The NHS Pay Review Body recommendation of a 4% pay award was imposed on HSC staff in December read more
CSP
NHS physio staff vote to accept improved pay offer in Wales (28 Feb) – CSP members have voted by a large majority to accept a new pay offer for NHS physiotherapy staff in Wales read more
Physiotherapy staff in England to strike 22 March. CSP escalates our pay dispute with a near-doubling of our next strike, with members in 56 employers called to action (27 Feb) – The biggest strike in our 2022/23 NHS pay campaign comes after the UK government refused to negotiate with health unions over NHS pay. Up to 4,500 CSP members will now take part in our March strike date. It follows two strikes on 26 January and 9 February in which physiotherapy staff at 30 and 33 trusts respectively walked out in an attempt to make the Government listen and deliver an improved pay deal. Progress has continued to be seen in Scotland and Wales with respective governments engaging in negotiations and offering physiotherapy staff a better pay deal, and as a result strike action has been averted. A similar deal had been hoped for in England, and this week we welcomed the UK government finally opening negotiations about NHS pay. However, we saw the government in Westminster initially using the divisive tactic of only speaking to the Royal College of Nursing. With the exception of doctors and dentists, all NHS staff share the same pay, grading, terms and conditions and any resolution must reflect that. In the absence of meaningful multi-union talks we are calling on members working in all remaining employers where we have a currently unused industrial action mandate to take strike action on 22 March read more
CSP to consult on 2023/24 pay offer from Scottish government (21 Feb) – Following early talks with the Scottish Government, the health unions now have an offer for next year’s pay for NHS staff. The offer will be put to members in the NHS in Scotland, with our member pay sub group recommending members accept the award read more
Strikes in Wales paused after breakthrough (3 Feb) – Strikes by members in Wales are on hold after further progress was made in talks with the Welsh Government, the CSP has announced read more
BMA
BMA announces dates for 72-hour walk out by Junior doctors in England, saying Health Secretary has left them, “with no choice” (24 Feb) – The BMA says the failure of the Health Secretary to come to the table and negotiate a reversal of pay cuts of more than 26%, has left junior doctors in England with no option but to take strike action for three days from Monday 13th March. Nearly 40,000 junior doctors voted to take industrial action in the recent ballot and hospital trusts and employers have now been notified that the 72-hour walk out will go ahead. Twice in the past week junior doctors have called upon Steve Barclay to meet with them urgently, but so far no date is forthcoming. A meeting with Department of Health Civil servants earlier this week yielded nothing in terms of meaningful progress; Steve Barclay refused to attend. The co-chairs of the BMA junior doctors’ committee, Dr Rob Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, said patients and public alike need to know the blame for the strike action lies squarely at the Government’s door read more
HCSA
HCSA hospital doctors add more dates to first strike in history – Junior Doctors in HCSA – the hospital doctors’ union has announced further walkout dates in March as part of the first strike in the union’s history. The period of action will now begin at 06:59 on the 13th March and end at 06:59 on the 16th of March. This follows an unprecedented 97% Yes vote for strike by members on 75% turnout read more
HCSA hospital doctors to strike for first time in history on 15th March – Junior Doctors in HCSA – the hospital doctors’ union will strike for the first time in the union’s history on Wednesday 15th March. This follows an unprecedented 97% Yes vote for strike by members on 75% turnout read more
NEU
Response to DfE talks conditions (24 Feb) – Response to Department for Education’s pre-condition on teacher pay talks. Commenting on the Department for Education’s latest statement regarding the NEU’s strike next week, Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said: “It is completely disingenuous to suggest that we are not willing to enter talks with Government. We are absolutely ready to come to talks. What we cannot accept are pre-conditions which require us to pause strike action before we have made any progress through negotiations to resolve this dispute. Let us be clear. The only reason Gillian Keegan has come to the table at all is because of the NEU’s successful ballot result…” read more
Formal talks with Government (22 Feb) – We are ready to begin negotiations now but ministers are intent on putting obstacles in the way read more
Northern Ireland: 21st February strike action (13 Feb) – NEU teacher members in Northern Ireland have voted in favour of strike action. Two thirds (66%) of NEU teacher members have voted in favour of strike action, and to join INTO, NASUWT and UTU on strike action starting on Tuesday 21 February. Watch our short film to find out why NEU Northern Ireland members are taking strike action. There will also be a number of rallies on the strike day and we encourage NEU members to attend their local rally read more
NEU Strike Action in England and Wales (1 Feb) – Teachers strike in pursuit of a fully-funded, above inflation pay rise. Commenting on today’s strike by National Education Union members in England and Wales, Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said: “Today, teachers in schools and sixth form college in England and Wales and support staff in Wales schools, took strike action in pursuit of a fully-funded, above inflation pay rise. The government has short-changed them for over a decade, with significant real-terms cuts to pay and persistently unfunded rises which schools cannot afford…” read more
The full list of projected strike days are as follows:-
Wednesday 1 February 2023: all eligible members in England and Wales.
Tuesday 28 February 2023: all eligible members in the following English regions: Northern, North West, Yorkshire & The Humber.
Wednesday 1 March 2023: all eligible members in the following English regions: East Midlands, West Midlands, Eastern.
Thursday 2 March 2023: all eligible members in Wales and the following English regions: London, South East, South West.
Wednesday 15 March 2023: all eligible members in England and Wales – includes national ‘Save Our Schools’ festival and demonstration. Assemble 12noon Hyde Park Speakers Corner for march to Trafalgar Square
Thursday 16 March 2023: all eligible members in England and Wales read more
NASUWT
NASUWT Scotland members take further strike action over pay (27 Feb) – Members of NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union in Scotland will be taking two further days of strike action tomorrow (Tuesday) and Wednesday in its ongoing dispute with the Scottish Government and employers over teachers’ pay. Tomorrow at 11am NASUWT members will be staging a lobby of employers outside COSLA’s headquarters in Edinburgh to call for a pay offer which represents a real-terms pay rise for teachers. Last week NASUWT members rejected the revised pay offer of 6% with effect from April 2022 and 5.5% with effect from April 2023. With the rate of inflation remaining at almost its 40-year high point this offer still represented a real terms pay cut. Alongside the strike action, NASUWT members are continuing to undertake ongoing action short of strike action. Members are refusing to cover for absent colleagues and are attending no more than one meeting per week outside pupil sessions. Members are continuing to teach, plan lessons, and assess pupils’ work read more
NASUWT members reject latest Scotland teachers’ pay offer (22 Feb) – NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union has rejected the revised pay offer tabled last week by the Scottish Government and COSLA. The Union has rejected the pay offer after consulting with its members, the overwhelming majority of whom rejected the latest pay offer. 75% of members responding to the Union’s consultation said that they were prepared to take further industrial action to secure improvement to their pay and conditions. Two further days of strike action already planned for next Tuesday (28th February) and Wednesday (1st March) will go ahead read more
NASUWT calls for talks with government to commence urgently (22 Feb) – Today the NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union is calling on the Department for Education to engage urgently in proper negotiations in the ongoing dispute on teachers’ pay read more
NASUWT members reject revised Wales teachers’ pay offer (22 Feb) – The NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union has rejected the revised pay offer tabled earlier this month by the Welsh Government. The Union has rejected the pay offer after consulting with members. 69% of respondents stated they wished to reject the offer. Two thirds (66%) said they felt the revised offer was unfair in the current circumstances read more
Northern Ireland teachers take strike action (20 Feb) – Members of the NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union in Northern Ireland are taking a half day of strike action tomorrow morning (Tuesday) in the ongoing industrial dispute over the pay of teachers. The strike action follows a concerted campaign of action short of strike action across all grant-aided schools. The NASUWT is calling for a fully funded 12% pay award for 2022/23. Teachers have already lost thousands of pounds as a result of year-on-year pay cuts and the failure of salaries to keep pace with inflation since 2010. For example, a teacher at the start of the classroom main pay scale M1 has lost £44,669, while a teacher at the top of the classroom main pay scale M6 has lost £65,288, and an experienced teacher at the top of the Upper Pay Scale UPS3 has lost £76,064. According to NASUWT research the last 13 years have seen cuts of 38% to teachers’ pay in real terms read more
Teachers at Coventry School Foundation strike over pay (13 Feb) – Members of the NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union at the Coventry School Foundation (BKHS Bablake Senior, BKHS Bablake Prep, BKHS King Henry VIII Senior and BKHS King Henry VIII Prep) are taking two days of strike action tomorrow (Tuesday) and Wednesday over pay. Following the imposition of a pay award for 2022/23 that was significantly below inflation, employers have now withdrawn a promised and improved pay award for 2023/24 read more
IOM teachers take further strike action (10 Jan) – Members of NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union in the Isle of Man will take two further days of strike action tomorrow (Wednesday) and Thursday in the ongoing dispute over pay, workload and working practices. The strike action, which follows two previous days of strikes on 30th November and 1st December, follows the imposition of a pay award which represents a real terms pay cut of 3% for most teachers and which follows a 30% real terms loss in pay since 2010. NASUWT members rejected the current pay award. The NASUWT is calling for a multi-year fully funded pay offer that begins to address the real-terms historic erosion of pay as part of a medium to long-term strategy for the sustainable delivery of high-quality education into the future read more
INTO
Northern Ireland teachers unite for fair pay (22 Feb) – In a long-running industrial action campaign in Northern Ireland, teachers withdrew their labour on Tuesday in a half-day strike designed to encourage the Department of Education to return to the negotiating table. Teachers and school leaders in Northern Ireland have waited for more than a year for a pay rise as they are subjected to an ongoing cost-of-living crisis. Teachers across the island of Ireland stood in solidarity with members in Northern Ireland, as they braved the cold weather to demonstrate their commitment to the campaign for fair pay read more
NAHT
Pay offer for school business leaders ‘unacceptable’ says NAHT (24 Feb) – Responding to the new pay offer for school business leaders, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: “Yet again, the pay offer put forward for support staff would leave school business leaders with one of the lowest pay awards across the education sector, and far below inflation, meaning another real-terms pay cut. It is completely unacceptable that some of the most experienced and senior leaders in our schools continue to be under-valued and under-paid…” read more
Ballot of Welsh school leaders put on hold as industrial action continues (17 Feb) – Today NAHT Cymru has confirmed that it will not go ahead with a planned ballot of members on a new offer from the Welsh Government due to a lack of detail and transparency. Last week the Welsh Government announced an improved pay offer, an agreement to reopen pay negotiations for 2023/24 and a commitment on workload in an effort to resolve the ongoing industrial dispute with education unions. While those discussions on workload have been positive, a lack of details on proposals, timescales and implementation, coupled with continued concerns over funding have stalled progress. At a meeting of the union’s membership, it was announced that the union’s executive officers would not be moving forward with a planned ballot at this time and industrial action would continue read more
EIS
National teacher strike action continues – most schools expected to be closed (28 Feb) – Members of the EIS will continue with their programme of industrial action on Tuesday and Wednesday. EIS members will walk out in primary and secondary schools across Scotland, as the campaign for a fair pay settlement for all of Scotland’s teaching professionals continues. It is anticipated that most schools across Scotland will be closed to pupils as a result of the ongoing strike action read more
Continuing Strong Turnout on Picket Lines as Targeted Strike Action Begins in Pay Dispute (22 Feb) – There has been a strong turnout from teachers on picket lines, as members of the EIS step up their ongoing programme of strike action in a dispute over pay. Teachers have started three days of targeted strike action, aimed at politicians in key decision-making positions, in Glasgow Southside (Nicola Sturgeon), Perthshire North (John Swinney), Dunfermline (Shirley-Anne Somerville), and Clydebank & Milngavie (Ross Greer) read more
New Teacher pay Offer Unanimously Rejected by EIS Salaries Committee (15 Feb) – A special meeting of the EIS Salaries Committee, held online, has unanimously rejected the latest revised pay offer from the Scottish Government and COSLA. The new offer, announced in the media yesterday before it was given to teaching unions, offers only a marginal improvement on previously rejected offers. As a result, the EIS will reject the offer and continue with its current programme of strike action until a more credible offer is put onto negotiating table read more
EIS Announces Additional 22 Days of Strike Action as Teacher Pay Dispute Escalates (13 Jan) – The EIS has announced 22 additional days of strike action in an escalation of the dispute over teachers’ pay. This is in addition to the previously announced 16-day programme of rolling strike action, set to begin in schools across the country next week. EIS members have previously taken three days of national strike action – one in November and two in January – in the continuing campaign for a fair pay settlement for the year 2022. The EIS Executive Committee met today and agreed a programme of additional strike action that will include two days of national strike action in all schools and sectors on 28 February and 1 March, followed by a rolling programme of strikes for 20 days between 13 March and 21 April. Over the rolling strike period, each local authority area will be impacted by three consecutive days of strike action, with one day of strike action in all schools bookended on either side by one-day strikes in primary and secondary schools read more
SSTA
SSTA statement to members – pay dispute (24 Feb) – Following a meeting of the SSTA Salaries and Conditions of Service Committee and National Executive this evening the following statement has been released. The SSTA conducted a consultative survey of all members in local authorities, to gauge members’ views and comments on the employers pay offer (14 February 2023). The committees would like to thank all members who contributed to the survey that had a 76% response. The SSTA position has been to build strike action, apply pressure on the Scottish Government and COSLA and to bring the pay dispute to settlement. The SSTA has embarked on a measured campaign that has led to a series of meetings of all sides. At each stage SSTA sought to increase opportunities for negotiation. Following the failure of the employers to present a new pay offer the SSTA Executive, at its meeting on 20 January, declared two further days of strike action to take place on 28 February and 1 March. Eventually, on the 14 February a new pay offer was received. The SSTA Executive made the decision to consult members on the latest offer, to gauge members’ views and help to give a steer as to the next steps in the pay campaign. The consultative survey responses contained a wide range of views and has highlighted the strong feelings of members, not only on teachers’ pay but the damaging impact teacher workload is having on members. The members survey returned a very marginal vote in favour of accepting the pay offer. However, the pay offer was rejected by the SNCT Teachers’ Side and therefore the pay offer of 14 February has fallen. Discussions within the SNCT are continuing for an improved offer to be brought forward. The SSTA National Executive has unanimously agreed in light of the members response in the survey to defer the industrial action planned on 28 February and 1 March in the expectation of an improved pay offer in the coming days. The SSTA will in conjunction with other teacher unions reinstate the industrial action should an improved pay offer not be forthcoming read more
UCU
UCU announces additional university strike day as talks continue (28 Feb) – UCU has served notice on employers for a further day of strike action to hit universities on March 15. The action was called by the union’s higher education committee which met last Friday. The union has called this date in addition to those set to take place on March 16, 17, 20, 21, and 22. UCU is currently in negotiations with employers via conciliation service Acas. As part of the process, employers had agreed not to impose a pay offer. However, part way through the talks, employer body UCEA instructed its member institutions to implement the first part of the pay offer, despite unions never agreeing to it. UCU is still in negotiations with UCEA at conciliation service Acas. General secretary Jo Grady confirmed that progress was being made across a range of non-pay areas. UCU is currently reballoting its members to extend the union’s mandate to take industrial action read more
Joint union statement: Acas higher education talks (24 Feb) – The five unions UCU, UNISON, Unite, EIS and GMB, representing staff working in UK higher education confirmed that talks via the conciliation service Acas will continue into next week read more
Staff strike at Havant and South Downs College over low pay (21 Feb) – Staff at Havant and South Downs College will strike for two consecutive days tomorrow and Thursday in a dispute over low pay amid the cost-of-living crisis. The strike comes after 76% of UCU members who voted said yes to strike action. The turnout was 53%, surpassing the 50% threshold imposed by Tory anti-trade union laws, despite the ballot only being open for two weeks. The National Education Union (NEU) also balloted members at the college with a similar result. 79% of NEU members voted for strike action with a 58% turnout and will be joining both days of strikes read more
Strike ballot opens at Bradford College over ‘huge real-terms pay cut’ (20 Feb) – Staff at Bradford College are being balloted to strike after college management recommended a pay award worth only 2.2% to 2.5% for most lecturers. The ballot will open on Thursday (23 February) and will run until Monday 27 March. The dispute centres on a pay award for 2021/22 of only £800, which is worth between just 2.2-2.5% for most UCU members. Inflation is currently 13.4% and UCU is demanding a pay award that meaningfully addresses the cost-of-living crisis its members are facing read more
Four days of strikes set to hit Sheffield College after ‘insulting’ 2.5% pay offer (18 Jan) – Over 200 staff at Sheffield College will be on strike Friday after receiving an ‘insulting’ pay offer of just 2.5% amid the cost-of-living scandal. Staff will then down tools for a further three days in January and February unless their demands are met, they will be on picket lines outside the college on each strike day. The full dates of strike action are: Friday 20 January, Monday 30 January, Tuesday 7 February, Thursday 9 February. Staff will also work to rule from Monday 23 January, which includes working strictly to their contracted hours, refusing to make up work lost as a result of strike action and refusing to cover for absent colleagues. The announcement comes after an overwhelming 87% of members who voted said yes to strike action in a turnout of 59% read more
Three days of strikes begin Monday at Sparsholt College over low pay (6 Jan) – Three consecutive days of strike action at Sparsholt College in Hampshire will begin Monday after management refused to make a realistic pay offer. Staff will be picketing the college every day of the action. They have already taken three days of strike action this academic year in the long running pay dispute and are demanding a pay rise that helps them meet the cost-of-living crisis. RPI inflation is currently at 14% and the college is based in one of the least affordable areas to live in the UK. Despite this, the college has only offered an £850 consolidated pay rise alongside one off payments totalling just £450 read more
UCU fighting fund: the link is here and donations to the fund are spent on supporting members involved in important disputes.
FBU
FBU members win reversal of frontline cuts in Nottinghamshire (Feb 23) – The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has won a reversal of £2m of cuts to the fire service in Nottingham. The cuts, announced in autumn 2022, would have seen West Bridgford fire station closed at night. London Road and Stockhill stations would also have lost firefighters and fire appliances. The U-turn will be confirmed at a meeting of the local fire authority on Friday 24 February read more
Launch of ‘life-saving’ first UK firefighter cancer monitoring study (Feb 22) – Life-saving firefighter cancer and health monitoring has now begun with the first samples carried out in Tyne and Wear, as part of a ground-breaking UK wide research project commissioned by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU). The research is being carried out by the University of Central Lancashire, led by world experts in fire chemistry and toxicology read more
Firefighters call on House of Lords to oppose ‘authoritarian’ anti strike legislation (Feb 21) – The House of Lords is scheduled to debate the Minimum Service Levels Bill at its second reading this afternoon. Trade unions from across the UK and Europe have condemned the bill as an attack on workers’ right to strike read more
FBU leadership recommends acceptance of revised pay offer (10 Feb) – Fire Brigades Union leadership unanimously recommends that members accept revised pay offer. Dates for ballot on offer set, with result expected in early March. Union leadership says it “will not sugar-coat” offer, which is below inflation in first year. The Executive Council of the Fire Brigades Union has today unanimously recommended that members accept a revised pay offer. On Wednesday evening, fire service employers agreed to a 7% pay rise backdated to July 2022 and a further 5% pay rise from July 2023. This is a significant shift. In June last year, firefighters were offered just 2%. In November, they overwhelmingly rejected 5% in a consultative ballot. It was only when firefighters voted in huge numbers for industrial action that employers finally moved. 88% of FBU members voted Yes to strike action on a 73% turnout, with 94% voting Yes in Northern Ireland. The FBU had already agreed not to name strike dates while members are consulted on the offer and has set out a timetable to consult members. A hybrid online and postal ballot will open on Monday 20 February and close on Monday 6 March at 2pm read more
Merseyside firefighters, control staff and Green Book staff vote for Action Short of Strike – Merseyside firefighters, control staff and green book staff (non-uniformed staff) have “overwhelmingly” voted to take action short of strike in relation to a host of issues in Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service. The percentage of those voting who voted “Yes” to Action Short of Strike is 88.06%. The action short of strike will consist of a refusal to undertake pre-arranged overtime, beginning no earlier than Thursday 1st December 2022 and potentially lasting for 6 months. The ballot comes after a serious break down in industrial relations between Merseyside Fire Brigades Union and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority and the failure to reach agreement on several issues read more
POA
POA Pay Submission (27 Feb) – Dear Colleagues, All submissions have been given to the PSPRB, as you know the POA submitted our written evidence within the timeframes as specified unfortunately HMPPS did not adhere to the deadline.All submissions have been given to the PSPRB, as you know the POA submitted our written evidence within the timeframes as specified unfortunately HMPPS did not adhere to the deadline read more
BFAWU
McDonalds Sexual Harassment Agreement with the EHRC (8 Feb) – Sarah Woolley BFAWU General Secretary: We have been aware of McDonald’s poor record on Sexual Harassment and their use of NDA’s to hide a problem which we believe is rife in the company. In July 2019 we worked with the Independent to produce this news piece: More than 1,000 reports of sexual abuse and harassment at UK McDonald’s, campaigners say | The Independent | The Independent. It is our understanding that the Equality and Human rights commission and McDonald’s are about to release a statement regarding an agreement. Although we do not fully understand the content of this agreement at this stage. We welcome the EHRCs intervention. However, we would encourage caution in celebrating such an agreement read more
Trade Union Coordinating Group “Fair Pay Now” pamphlet read more
Support the campaign to unionise Samworth Brothers – get organised, sign the petition read more
NUJ
Budget day coverage to be hit by BBC strike (28 Feb) – NUJ members working for BBC Local have overwhelmingly voted in favour of strike action over the corporation’s plans to cut local radio and have called a 24-hour strike starting at 11am on March 15, until the same time the following day, which will hit coverage of the Spring budget. A work to rule commencing at the close of the first strike action was also agreed. Further strike action will be announced in due course and options being considered are coverage of the local elections, Coronation and the Eurovision contest. The ballot of 1,000 members across BBC Local resulted in 83 per cent of members voting in favour of strike action and 92 per cent voting in favour of action short of a strike with a turnout of 69 per cent. Those striking will be journalists working for local radio, regional TV and online in England read more
NUJ members at the BBC call time on BBC Chair (23 Feb) – NUJ members working for the BBC say its chairman, Richard Sharp, must immediately resign for failing to disclose his role as a go-between for a loan to the then Prime Minister at a time when Sharp was applying for the corporation’s top job read more
Government announces new National Security Bill amendments (23 Feb) – NUJ calls for public interest defence and further changes to the bill to ensure sufficient protections for journalism read more
Gender pay gap means women work for free for two months of the year (23 Feb) – The average woman in paid employment effectively works for free for nearly two months of the year compared to the average man in paid employment, a TUC analysis has revealed read more
BBC journalists to vote on latest plans for local radio (19 Jan) – Following negotiations with the NUJ, the BBC has made concessions on the drastic cuts it had proposed. Members are now considering if they will be enough. BBC journalists are holding a consultative ballot following negotiations with the BBC over cuts to local radio read more
NUJ members vote for industrial action at STV (22 Dec) – There has been an overwhelming strike vote at the Scottish broadcaster. The results of the ballot were 85 per cent for strike action and 93 per cent for action short of a strike. STV’s original offer was £2,000 to each employee read more
FDA
FDA calls for investigation into ministerial bullying (27 Feb) – The FDA has asked the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to conduct an investigation into ministerial bullying in the civil service and the absence of an effective procedure to deal with it. Our report on ministerial bullying, submitted as evidence to the HSE, uses research from our survey of over 650 senior civil servants read more
FDA Fast Stream members vote to strike (17 Jan) – FDA members in the central Fast Stream have overwhelmingly voted to take strike action over pay. On a turnout of 60%, comfortably surpassing the legal threshold of 50%, 88% backed industrial action in the statutory postal ballot. FDA National Officer for the Fast Stream, Lauren Crowley, stated “our Fast Stream members have been absolutely clear – they will no longer put up with unfair pay. This result highlights the anger that our members are feeling, they are tired of empty promises when it comes to pay reform.” Read more
Community
British Steel’s plan to close its coke ovens is “catastrophic” (22 Feb) – Responding to British Steel’s announcement of its plan to close its coke ovens, Community’s National Officer Alun Davies said: “British Steel’s plan to close the coke ovens could have a catastrophic impact on jobs and steel production at Scunthorpe and the UK as a whole…” read more
Equity
Equity distributes over £1.4m royalties to performers (24 Feb) – The payments hit accounts this week for over 7,900 artists who were engaged on Equity contracts for film, television, radio and cast album productions made under Equity agreements. This month’s payment — made possible by collectively bargained Equity agreements with HBO, Disney, Sony, Really Useful Group, and others — brings the total paid out by Equity Distribution Services in the last five years to £67.5m read more
Equity and Mikron Theatre Company agree terms for performers (24 Feb) – We have reached a landmark deal with longstanding touring company Mikron Theatre Company on terms and conditions for performers read more
Hundreds turn out to Save Oldham Coliseum public meeting (22 Feb) – “Hands Off Oldham” chanted over 400 attendees at our Save Oldham Coliseum event on Tuesday night. Oldham Coliseum is a theatre that has been creating culture by, for and with the people of Oldham for 138 years. But last week it announceed it would be closing in the wake of Arts Council England cutting 100% of its NPO funding. Held at Oldham Coliseum itself, the meeting was an opportunity for members of Oldham’s community to call on Arts Council England (ACE) to reverse the decision to cut 100% of its funding to the theatre read more
Creative Scotland victory secured by Equity members (22 Feb) – The Scottish Government have this week announced a U-turn on proposed arts funding cuts following sustained pressure from our members and activists. Initially announced by Deputy First Minister, John Swinney, in December, the budget would have seen £7m million slashed from Creative Scotland, the public body which distributes funding from the Scottish Government to creative organisations across Scotland. Equity’s National Official for Scotland, Adam Adnyana, responded with a statement at the time demanding a rethink read more
Sign and share this petition to reinstate the English National Opera (ENO) funding and lobby your MP to back our industries and their workforce
USDAW
Protect the right to strike! Usdaw urges Peers to vote down the Government’s anti-union legislation (21 Feb) – Retail trade union Usdaw is calling on Members of the House of Lords to reject the Government’s Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, which has been timetabled for its second reading in the House of Lords today (Tuesday 21 February) read more
IWGB
SIPTU (Ireland)
SIPTU renews calls for Minister to intervene in ambulance service staffing crisis (22 Feb) – SIPTU members in the National Ambulance Service (NAS) have renewed their call for the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, to directly intervene to ensure the recommendations of an independent review are implemented as part of a solution to a worsening staffing crisis in the service read more
Other news
Hi All – Thanks for your continuing support for Trade Union Education at The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London (Conel). Please find attached some courses were have advertised for next term and beyond. All courses are advertised in the https://www.tuc.org.uk/TUCcoursesAs.
Couple of updates:-
- Employment law diploma is now full for Jan 2023.
- Cert in employment law have moved it to classroom.
Seasons Greetings
Best Regards
Jonathan Jeffries
PS If you need any ICT courses contact [email protected]. We also do bespoke courses for trade unions
Fight blacklisting and victimisation of union reps
#SPYCops Inquiry exposes state surveillance of workers movement
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
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. Also, check out Organise Now! – Support for new worker organising.
Diary
June
24 NSSN national conference 11am-4.30pm Conway Hall, London
CONTACT US
PHONE 07952 283 558
EMAIL mailto:[email protected]
TWITTER – https://twitter.com/NSSN_AntiCuts
FACEBOOK NSSN GROUP or STOP The CUTS Likes page
ADDRESS NSSN, PO Box 54498, London E10 9DE
