This week’s TUC Congress in Liverpool passed a composite motion that set out a fighting strategy to take on the latest Tory anti-union law, the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 (MSL). Workers will now want this strategy implemented, including the organising of a national demonstration and the convening of a Special TUC Congress ‘to explore options for non-compliance and resistance’.
The NSSN welcomes this decision. We lobbied the TUC Congress on Sunday with up to 150 trade union reps, members and activists. They listened to union general secretaries Sarah Woolley BFAWU, Steve Gillan POA, Mick Whelan ASLEF, Ian Lawrence NAPO and Unite National Lead Officer Onay Kasab deputising for the union’s general secretary Sharon Graham, who gave her support to the event. There was also an open mic, with rank and file speakers, including striking workers.
The Congress motion that was passed includes:-
Congress calls on the next Labour government to immediately repeal MSLs, the Trade Union Act 2016 and take urgent steps to remove other anti-union laws.
Congress pledges 100% solidarity with any trade unions attacked under these MSL laws.
Congress agrees we must use all means necessary to defeat the unjust MSLs laws and calls on the General Council to proactively seek to:
- resist any further restrictive trade union legislation and demand:
- the repeal of the Trade Union Act 2016 and all other anti-trade union legislation;
- stronger rights for unions to access workplaces, win recognition, and establish collective bargaining rights; and
- the right for trade union members to vote online during industrial action ballots, and statutory elections for executive committees and general secretaries.
- build coalitions to campaign for non-compliance and against further restrictive trade union legislation;
- build an appropriate industrial response to defend workers’ right to strike;
- implement a campaign alongside others defending the fundamental rights of working people to resist MSLs;
- legally challenge the Minimum Service Levels (MSLs) legislation;
- coordinate demands from affiliates and call on employers, devolved governments, mayors, fire authorities, local authorities and other public bodies to refuse to implement the MSLs legislation and issue work notices and work with the trade union movement to render MSLs inoperable;
- support demonstrations and hold a national march opposing the legislation and calling for repeal of the anti-union laws;
- mobilise support for any affiliate seeking assistance, whose union and members are sanctioned for non-compliance;
- organise a Special Congress, size to be determined, to explore options for non-compliance and resistance.
FBU: TUC backs campaign of non-compliance with new anti-strike laws (11 Sept) – The Trade Union Congress (TUC), which brings together 5.5 million workers in 48 trade unions across the UK economy, has today adopted a motion committing it to a strategy of resistance against the new anti-union laws. The Minimum Service Levels Act passed into law into law in July. Under it, employers in fire and rescue, health, education, transport, nuclear decommissioning, and border security will be able to require named workers to work on strike days – despite a democratic vote for strike action. The motion states: “We have no choice but to build mass opposition to the MSLs laws, up to and including a strategy of non-compliance and non-cooperation to make them unworkable, including industrial action.” A link to the full text is here. It passed overwhelmingly
The following supported lobbying the TUC. Send us details if your union also passes our modal motion and/or agreed to support our lobby of the TUC and we’ll include in this list:-
Nottinghamshire, Nottingham & Mansfield Trades Council, RMT Piccadilly and District West, Hounslow Unison, Hounslow TUC, Ealing TUC, RMT LU Engineering, Southwark Trades Council, Waltham Forest Trades Council, Unite LE/1228 Waltham Forest Council Branch, Unite Housing Workers LE1111, Free Our Unions, Liverpool Trades Council, Unite NW /540 Howden supply division Runcorn, Scotland CWU No2 branch, CWU Highland Amal, BFAWU Kernow, Surrey County Unison, Unite Community Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire branch, Southampton and South West Hampshire TUC, Cardiff Trades Council, Cardiff General Unite branch WA/1048, Unite WM/6050 Tom Mann branch, Birmingham TUC, Coventry TUC, Unite NW 127404 Branch, Unite WM/6030 South Birmingham branch, Coventry CWU Telecoms, Walsall TUC, Birmingham UCU, Hull Trades Council, Sheffield RMT, Sheffield TUC, Swansea Trades Council, Southern East Kent Trades Union Council, Bristol Trades Union Council, Leeds Trades Union Council, Stevenage & District TUC, Carmarthenshire Unison Local Government Branch, Basildon Unison Local Government Branch, Unison NCA Health, Knowsley Unison Local Government Branch, Caerphilly Trades Council, Wakefield Trades Council, Unison Mid Yorkshire Health Branch, Unite Merseyside Area Activist Committee, Unite Notts Area Activist Committee, Unite EM/NG32 Nottinghamshire Health Branch, Brighton Trades Council, Portsmouth Trades Council, Carlisle TUC, Winchester & Andover TUC, Hampshire County Associations of TUCs, Hackney Unison Local Government Branch, Hackney Trades Council, Plymouth Trades Council, Blackpool Fylde and Wyre TUC, Torbay TUC, Unite SW/008 Branch
Model Motion on Tory Minimum Service Levels Act
This conference/union/branch/trades council recognises the ‘Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act’ is a major attack on trade union rights. Sunak’s Conservative government are attempting draconian, undemocratic measures to curtail the right to strike.
Coming on the back of four decades of brutal Tory anti-union legislation, from that of Thatcher and Major through to Cameron, Johnson and now Sunak, it is clearly designed to cut across the strike wave across all sectors, rather than tackle the causes of the cost-of-living crisis. This is another crude attempt to shift the blame for inflation onto the working class whereas every worker knows it is the bosses and their class’s profiteering, which has created the crisis.
The Act allows employers to issue a notice to unions setting out who is required to work during a strike. This potentially leaves unions who refuse to comply open to serious financial penalties through sequestration of funds and removes workers’ protection from being dismissed for undertaking lawful industrial action.
We believe no individual union or member should be left isolated and the whole of the trade union movement must mobilise – collectively – in defence of workers’ rights.
We demand:
1. All unions and the TUC urgently call a national Saturday demonstration against the new law;
2. Keir Starmer pledges an incoming Labour government to reverse fines and other measures taken against any union under the terms of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act;
3. All employers refuse to use the provisions of the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act and that a lead in such non-compliance be given by any government, council, fire authority or other employer led by the Labour Party;
4. If any union is taken to court or worker threatened with dismissal, an emergency demonstration is called and an immediate meeting of the TUC General Council be convened to organise mass co-ordinated strike action, including a 24-hour general strike;
5. The repeal of all anti-union legislation.
NSSN news
NSSN Surrey Public Meeting: ‘How can trade unionists prepare for the battles ahead?’ – 2pm Sunday 8th October, The Guildford Institute, Ward St, Guilford GU1 4LH
Reading Trade Union Council Strike Rally – Saturday 14th October 1pm Assembling in Forbury Gardens Facebook event
Get your trade union branch or trades council to affiliate to the NSSN – it only costs £50. Already affiliated? Please think about renewing it and/or making an additional donation to help our work. Also, many of our supporters pay a few pounds a month via a standing order.
You can either pay online to ‘National Shop Stewards Network’, HSBC – sort code 40-06-41, account number 90143790.
Or you can pay by cheque to ‘National Shop Stewards Network’ and post to 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
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RMT
Rail Gourmet workers take strike action on TPE (15 Sept) – Contracted out caterers are on strike today over poor pay, pensions and sick pay. RMT members working for Rail Gourmet on TransPennine Express services get lower pay and poorer terms and conditions than colleagues directly employed by the train operator. Rail Gourmet made £1.4 million in profit last year but have refused to meet the expectations of members in terms of a pay offer. Despite negotiations, the company is still refusing to give timescales on when it will pay workers £15 an hour read more
Opposition to Ticket Office closures passed unanimously at TUC Congress (13 Sept) – Rail union RMT welcomed an emergency motion passed at the TUC, calling for an urgent meeting with the government to halt proposed ticket office closures. Following more than 680,000 responses to the public consultation – the largest ever of its kind – the passenger watchdogs have decided to extend the period to consider the public responses to 31 October. RMT is now seeking the following:-
– an urgent meeting before 31 October with the passenger watchdogs to make the case to keep all rail ticket offices open.
– a lobby of parliament to ensure the parliamentary debates take place before 31st October.
– coordination with affiliates to explore options for providing support to legal challenges to the closures.
– an urgent meeting with government demanding withdrawal of the closures and other threats to rail workers jobs and conditions which have caused the disputes with the rail unions.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “The record response from the consultation and all the feedback we are getting shows that the public do not want ticket offices closed read more
RMT welcomes new report by OECD (13 Sept) – Maritime union, RMT today welcomed a new report by the OECD’s International Transport Forum into maritime jobs and the role of European Governments. Mick Lynch, RMT General Secretary said, “Whilst shipowners were patting themselves on the back at London International Shipping Week, the maritime unions set TUC policy to combat the threat to seafarer jobs from flags of convenience in the wake of the P&O Ferries scandal. It is encouraging to see the recommendations in this new report, many of which are in line with long standing RMT policy…” read more
MV Derbyshire Anniversary (9 Sept) – SEAFARERS UNION RMT remembers the 44 victims of the MV Derbyshire tragedy on the 43rd anniversary of the sinking of the UK registered Bulk Carrier in the South China Sea on 9 September 1980 with the loss of all hands, including two wives of crew members. MV Derbyshire is the biggest British registered merchant ship ever to have been lost at sea read more
RMT calls for action after Network Rail fined for Carmont derailment (8 Sept) – RAIL UNION RMT calls for an end to continual cuts to rail maintenance and renewals after Network Rail was fined £6.7 million at the High Court in Aberdeen today (Friday, September 8) for safety failings which led to the Carmont disaster. The company in charge of rail infrastructure in Britain admitted to health and safety failings over the rail crash at Carmont near Stonehaven three years ago which claimed three lives read more
RMT statement ahead of Carmont disaster court hearing (7 Sept) – Mick Lynch, RMT general secretary said: “Network Rail need to face the full force of the law over the Carmont disaster near Stonehaven to give bereaved families some sense of justice…” read more
Operator of Last Resort (6 Sept) – RMT Press Office: Transport Select Committee September 6, 2023. At the Transport Select Committee, the government was pressed by Gavin Newlands MP and Mike Amesbury MP on whether it was going to re-privatise the contracts it’s taken over through the Operator of Last Resort. Rail Minister, Huw Merriman, confirmed that while it is the intention to do so, there were no immediate plans as ‘it will take some time’, and it admits it thinks the OLR is running its franchises very well: ‘the performance across their stable across every single one of their four operators has gone up if you look at June/July’s performance’ read more
Sign petition: Reinstate Anne Howie RMT Activist – Anne Howie RMT activist at Manchester Piccadilly is facing dismissal with no due process
ASLEF
ASLEF: Train drivers’ union announces industrial action and asks ‘Where’s Wally?’ (15 Sept) – ASLEF, the train drivers’ union, has today [Friday] announced another two days of strike action – on Saturday 30 September and Wednesday 4 October – and an overtime ban across the UK rail network on Friday 29 September and from Monday 2 to Friday 6 October. The strike will force the train operating companies to cancel all services and the ban on overtime will seriously disrupt the network as the privatised train companies have always failed to employ enough drivers to provide a proper service – the service they promise passengers, businesses, and the government they will deliver – without asking drivers to work their rest days. The 16 companies affected include: Avanti West Coast; Chiltern Railways; c2c; CrossCountry; East Midlands Railway; Greater Anglia; GTR Great Northern Thameslink; Great Western Railway; Island Line; LNER; Northern Trains; Southeastern; Southern/Gatwick Express; South Western Railway; TransPennine Express; and West Midlands Trains read more
TSSA
TSSA responds to Conservative backlash against ticket office closures (14 Sept) – Rail union TSSA rail has welcomed concerns raised by Conservative MPs over planned rail ticket office closures during a debate in Parliament in which several prominent Tories openly rebelled against the government’s plans read more
TUC Join Campaign To Save Ticket Offices (13 Sept) – TSSA union has welcomed an emergency motion passed at the TUC that condemns the Westminster government’s plans to close most railway ticket offices. The motion, which was seconded by TSSA and supported by other rail unions, called for urgent talks with the government to stop plans which would be disastrous for rail workers and passengers read more
TSSA celebrates as ticket office fight taken to Parliament (8 Sept) – A petition calling for ticket offices to remain open has reached enough signatures to be debated in parliament. Rail union TSSA today welcomed the news that a petition calling for ticket offices to remain open reached the 100,000 signatures needed for the matter to be debated in Parliament read more
TSSA welcomes Network Rail guilty plea over Carmont (7 Sept) – TSSA, today, welcomed news that Network Rail have admitted responsibility over the train derailment at Carmont which caused the death of three people read more
Unite
Unite rejects outright COSLA pay offer (15 Sept) – Three days of strike action in schools across 11 Scottish Councils to go ahead. Unite the union can confirm today (15 September) that its representative committee for local government workers rejected outright the new COSLA pay offer. Unite has slammed the local government body for taking twenty-three weeks to offer the lowest paid council workers an extra 38p per week or £20 per year. For those on the lowest pay, the revised offer represents an increase of only £0.01 per hour, effective from 1 January 2024. Coordinated action involving the joint trade unions will go ahead on 26, 27 and 28 September. Unite’s local government membership set to strike includes janitors, cleaners, caterers, classroom assistants and administrative staff. The councils affected are as follows: Clackmannanshire, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Dundee, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Fife, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, and Orkney (see notes to editor). Unite received a mandate from its members employed by Tayside Contracts who provide catering and janitorial services to schools across Angus, Dundee and Perth and Kinross councils. These members will also join the strike action read more
Unite mounts serious campaign to protect steel jobs and vows to fight proposed Tata job losses ‘tooth and nail’ (15 Sept) – Unite launches a serious and detailed campaign with steel town voters to demand that politicians reverse the decline in the steel industry and turn the UK into a world leader in steel production. Unite, the UK’s leading union, has described the plans laid out by government and Tata for Port Talbot’s steel works as ‘a disgrace’ and has said it will fight them tooth and nail. Under the plans, the government will invest a mere £500 million, with no job guarantees, to replace the two existing blast furnaces with one electric arc furnace at the Port Talbot steelworks – shedding thousands of jobs in the process. The plans follow a decades long path of UK steel industry shrinkage and substantial job losses. In response, Unite is launching a major ‘Workers’ Plan for Steel’ campaign in steel communities across the UK. Unite will campaign with voters to demands that politicians from all parties commit to real action to save the industry. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “These plans are disgraceful, short sighted and lack ambition. Steel is a foundation industry and the opportunity is being missed to make the UK a world leader in steel production. Unite will be fighting tooth and nail not only to save these jobs but to create more jobs in steel.” Read more
Offshore dispute at Wood Group ends after pay deal (15 Sept) – 120 workers gain 10 per cent increase worth up to £9,000. Unite the union announced today (15 September) that around 120 workers employed by the Wood Group have secured a substantial wage increase bringing the long-running dispute to an end. The offshore workers on a number of Shell installations overwhelmingly accepted an improved wage offer of six per cent, which is in addition to the four per cent awarded through the Energy Services Agreement. The deal brings the cumulative increase for the workers to 10 per cent which is worth a pay rise for the workers of between £8,000 – £9,000 read more
More than 4,000 Unite members working in the NHS in Northern Ireland to strike for fair pay and safe staffing (14 Sept) – Unite members will join Northern Ireland-wide strike action by health trade unions for 48 hours from 00.01 Thursday 21st September. Unite the union has served a seven-day notice of planned strike action by health and social care workers across Northern Ireland. The strike is the latest in an ongoing dispute for fair pay and safe staffing. NHS workers in Northern Ireland have been denied a pay increase provided to health workers in England and Wales. The strike will begin at 00.01am on Thursday 21st September and will continue for 48 hours. Unite’s striking members represent the full range of health service staff including paramedics, pharmacists, health visitors and community practitioners. Unite members are set to join other health trade unions in the biggest strike action in the NHS in Northern Ireland for many years read more
Pembroke refinery construction workers ballot for strike over pay (14 Sept) – Around 200 engineering construction workers at the Pembroke oil refinery are being balloted for strike action over pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Thursday). The workers are employed by contractors under the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI) and carry out essential repair and maintenance at the oil refinery. Strike action would cause significant disruption at the site. They are angry that the value of their pay has been progressively falling since the pandemic. During Covid, they agreed to a pay freeze even though they provided essential services throughout. In January 2022, they received a two year pay deal of 2.5 per cent for 2022 and again for 2023. Despite rocketing inflation and huge increases to the cost of living, the Engineering Construction Industry Association (ECIA), which negotiates NAECI with the trade unions, refused to reopen talks through 2022. After campaigning by Unite, the ECIA eventually agreed a non-consolidated supplement in February 2023, which ends in December…The ballot for strike action will close in mid-October, with strike action scheduled to start later that month read more
Council workers across Haringey, Southwark and Newham prepare for strike action (14 Sept) – Members of Unite across three London Boroughs are preparing for strike action in a dispute over pay. 105 refuse workers from Newham and 245 housing repair workers from Haringey and Southwark have rejected the national pay offer of a flat rate increase of £1,925. The offer is below the rate of inflation and amounts to a real terms pay cut. The workers in Newham will take continuous strike action between 25 September and 22 October. Workers at Haringey and Southwark will take a series of 24 hour strikes on 25 September and 2, 9, 16 October read more
Grangemouth refinery construction workers ballot for strike over pay (14 Sept) – Over 450 engineering construction workers at the Grangemouth oil refinery and petrochemicals complex are being balloted for strike action over pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Thursday). The workers are employed by contractors under the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI) and carry out essential repair and maintenance at the site. Strike action would cause significant disruption at Grangemouth. They are angry that the value of their pay has been progressively falling since the pandemic. During Covid, they agreed to a pay freeze even though they provided essential services throughout. In January 2022, they received a two year pay deal of 2.5 per cent for 2022 and again for 2023…The ballot for strike action will close in mid-October, with strike action scheduled to start later that month read more
Stanlow Essar refinery construction workers ballot for strike over pay (14 Sept) – Around 350 engineering construction workers at the Stanlow Essar oil refinery are being balloted for strike action over pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Thursday). The workers are employed by contractors under the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI) and carry out essential repair and maintenance at the oil refinery. Strike action would cause significant disruption at the site read more
Fawley Esso refinery construction workers ballot for strike over pay (14 Sept) – Around 300 engineering construction workers at the Fawley Esso oil refinery are being balloted for strike action over pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Thursday). The workers are employed by contractors under the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI) and carry out essential repair and maintenance at the oil refinery. Strike action would cause significant disruption at the site read more
UK oil refineries, power stations, chemical and pharma sites facing major strike disruption (7 Sept) – 3,000 engineering construction workers being balloted over pay. More than 3,000 engineering construction workers, operating under the National Agreement for Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI), are being balloted for strike action over pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Thursday) read more
150 First Bus engineers balloted on strike action (14 Sept) – Glasgow and West Central Scotland workers involved in brewing pay dispute. Unite, Scotland’s leading trade union confirmed today (14 September) that around 150 First Bus engineers will be balloted on strike action after the workers emphatically rejected a pay offer. Engineers across a number of major bus depots overwhelmingly rejected an offer put forward by First Glasgow (No1) and First Glasgow (No 2). Both companies are part of First Group PLC’s bus operations in Scotland. First Glasgow (No1) operates within Glasgow while First Glasgow (No 2) operates in West Central Scotland. The workers involved in the ballot are based in the following bus depots: Blantyre, Caledonia, Dumbarton, Overtown and Scotstoun. The ballot opens on 14 September and closes on 28 September. If the ballot for strike action is successful then action is expected to take place from the middle of October 2023 read more
Unite calls for urgent RAAC risk-register in NHS (13 Sept) – Risks across the health sector could be ‘substantial’ warns leading trade union. Unite, Britain’s leading trade union, has today (12 September 2023) called on all NHS organisations to urgently establish a risk register for reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC) that may have been used in buildings across the NHS estate. A similar risk-register already exists for asbestos and ensures that employers are monitored by their Health and Safety committees under the auspices of Unite health and safety representatives. Unite is asking for a RAAC risk-register to be established at every NHS site within the next 30 days read more
Sharon Graham’s response to GDP update (13 Sept) – Sharon Graham, general secretary, Unite the union: “Today’s news that the economy is contracting underlines the need for a major reboot of our failing economy. The deep issue is decades of under-investment in our industries, critical infrastructure, and public services. From the sewage in our water to the crumbling schools, everyone except our political leaders can see that the current market free-for-all isn’t working.” Read more
Heathrow baggage carousel workers to strike over poor pay offer (13 Sept) – 170 workers to walk out and bring baggage services to a halt. Unite, Britain’s leading trade union, has announced today (Tuesday 12 September) that its members at Vanderlande Industries are to strike over pay, bringing travel disruption to Heathrow Airport this autumn. Around 170 workers who conduct high-end maintenance and servicing of baggage carousels, ensuring passengers’ luggage is delivered into the terminal buildings safely and on time, are to walk out in October following a failure by the employer to improve their derisory pay offer. Vanderlande Industries has made two below-inflation pay offers of just five per cent and 2.5 per cent that have been roundly rejected by Unite members. Vanderlande is pleading poverty and yet their last accounts at Companies House show profits of £3.7 million. Its parent company has increased revenue by 32 per cent to €2.4 billion. Industrial action will take place in two waves on the following dates:-
- 17:30 on 6th October – 06:00 on 9th October
- 05:30 on 20th October – 06:00 on 30th October read more
Greencore strikes on hold following new pay offer (13 Sept) – Workers at sandwich factory to be balloted over improved pay deal. Industrial action has been suspended at Greencore, the high street sandwich manufacturer, Unite announced today (Tuesday 12 September). Over 500 workers, many earning as little as £10.53 an hour, are demanding increased pay during the current cost of living crisis. Following a successful ballot, workers were due to take to the picket line but a last-chance saloon offer from Greencore has seen them suspend strike action as a good-will gesture while the new offer is put to Unite members read more
Go North East drivers vote for strike action over poor pay (13 Sept) – North East bus network will see mass walkout by over a thousand workers following below-inflation offers. Unite, Britain’s leading trade union, warned today (Tuesday 12 September) that over thirteen hundred members are to strike and bring bus services in north-east England to a standstill after its members voted for industrial action over pay. The ballot was 98 per cent in favour of industrial action with nearly an 85 per cent turn out. Go North East drivers and engineers have been offered a derisory, below-inflation, pay offer that included cuts to terms and conditions. Additionally, administrative and clerical staff have not had any pay offer at all. Go North East can easily afford to increase pay offers given the latest accounts of its parent company, the Go-Ahead Group shows bus group profits of nearly £85million. Depots that will be affected by any industrial action are: Consett, Gateshead, Hexham, Percy Main (North Shields), Sunderland and Washington…Strike dates will be announced in due course read more
Unite launches international campaign to end union-busting at J Murphy and Sons (13 Sept) – Unite, the UK’s construction union, has launched an international campaign to end union busting at J Murphy and Sons Ltd and its subsidiaries. The dispute is a result of J Murphy and Sons Ltd’s, Irish subsidiary Murphy International Ltd, last year wrongfully sacking four Unite members (including a Unite rep), in an act of union busting. The workers who were undertaking work at a site in the Republic of Ireland were dismissed after organising a meeting of 15 workers to discuss Murphy’s non-payment of travel and subsistence payments. After a period of two months where all the workers were suspended without pay, the four workers were singled out and dismissed for not showing “remorse”. Despite pressure from Unite the company has refused to reinstate the workers read more
Further Strike Dates Announced in Welsh Local Authorities as Dispute Escalates (12 Sept) – Cardiff & Wrexham Local Authority Workers to strike for a further 3 weeks. Unite, the UK’s leading union, has announced that its members in Cardiff and Wrexham local authorities will strike for a further three weeks from 25th September to 15th October. Workers at the two councils are currently in the middle of their first round of industrial action which end on September 17th. In addition, workers at Gwynedd Council have today started one weeks continuous strike action which runs from September 11th to September 17th. Unite members have overwhelmingly rejected the local authority employers’ pay offer of just £1,925, a poorer offer than last year and a real terms pay cut read more
Unite tells government to bring forward contracts and safeguard Alstom jobs (12 Sept) – Unite, the UK’s leading union, is demanding that the government steps up to the plate and ensures that Alstom’s train building factory in Derby has sufficient work to guarantee its future. Alstom has secured the contract to build the new trains for the HS2 line but due to delays in the project the contract will not begin until 2026, while its current order book dries up at the end of the year. Alstom has been in talks with the Department for Transport asking for several refurbishment contracts for existing UK trains to be brought forward, allowing Alstom to bid for them and potentially bridge the gap in its order books. However, the government has refused to agree to this strategy read more
Unite responds to Barclays decision to cut over 450 staff (12 Sept) – Unite members at Barclays have today (Tuesday 12 September) been informed that the bank is cutting over 450 staff. Unite branded the decision “unnecessary and unjustified” which will leave staff gravely concerned about their job security and livelihoods read more
Unite secures double-digit pay increase for Brighton bus workers (12 Sept) – Strikes called off as employees at Brighton and Hove and Metrobus get ten per cent pay rise. Potential bus strikes in Brighton and Hove have been called off following an improved pay deal from the employer. Bus drivers, as well as cleaners and storekeepers, at Brighton and Hove bus company and Metrobus Crawley voted to accept a deal of ten per cent, backdated to 1 July, and with no reduction in any terms or conditions. Before a campaign from Unite, the employer had offered seven per cent, a further pay increase later in the year and a reduction in overtime rates. This was resolutely rejected by members. A ballot for industrial action was due to close on 12 September read more
GH London strikes at Luton Airport suspended for last minute talks (12 Sept) – Strike action involving ground handlers employed by GH London at Luton Airport due to take place tomorrow (Wednesday 13 September) has been called off to allow last minute peace talks to take place. The workers, members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, who undertake the ground handling functions at the airport for the airline Wizz, have already staged two days of strike action because of a complete breakdown in industrial relations at the company. However, following a last minute offer of talks by GH London, Unite has called off tomorrow’s industrial action, as an act of good faith read more
Luton Airport braced for co-ordinated strike action as employers fail to resolve pay and victimisation disputes (11 Sept) – Unite, the UK’s leading union, is escalating its industrial action at Luton Airport in a series of co-ordinated strikes concerning low pay and a break down in industrial relations. Airport passengers will be braced for disruption as over 100 workers employed by GH London, who undertake ground handling for Wizz Air at the airport, have announced a further four days of strikes beginning on Wednesday 20 September. This is in addition to the strike already announced to take place on 13 September read more
JLR facing interior shortages as Birmingham supply chain workers ballot to strike (11 Sept) – IAC Solihull workers paid poverty wages while company brings in billions. Nearly 250 workers at International Automotive Components (IAC) in Solihull are being balloted to strike over pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Monday). Most of the workers are paid the minimum wage. They have rejected a six per cent increase that will take their hourly rate to just £11.11. Other workers, who are paid little more for their roles, have also rejected staggered offers of six, seven and eight per cent. American-owned IAC brings in billions of pounds per year. The company brought in global revenues of £2.4 billion in 2021, including £221 million from the UK… The ballot for strike action opened today and closes on 25 September read more
Darlington Cepac print workers strikes intensify after jobs threat (11 Sept) – Unite, the UK’s leading union, has warned Darlington print company Cepac that it faces legal action if it follows through with redundancy threats at the plant because of ongoing industrial action. Unite members began eight weeks of strike action on Monday 14 August in a dispute over pay, because of the company failing to enter into meaningful negotiations. Rather than resolve the pay issue, the company has instead announced that it is considering making 61 redundancies as a result of a downturn of work due to industrial action. Unite has warned that if the company goes ahead with the job cuts, it will support workers with unfair dismissal claims. It has further warned that if the company attempts to pay redundancy pay at a lower rate than previously, this will result in a further legal challenge read more
100 DuPont workers strike in pay dispute (11 Sept) – Dumfries based plant to be hit by five stoppages. Unite the union has served notice on a series of stoppages to hit the Dumfries based DuPont Teijin Films (DTF) plant. Five rounds of 12-hour stoppages, involving around 100 Unite members, will take place on 20, 22, 24, 26 and 28 September. A continuous overtime ban has also been in place since July. DTF is a major supplier of polyester films for electrical, medical, photo, print and photovoltaic uses to UK supermarkets, as well as institutional catering for hospitals, schools and home-meals for the elderly. Unite has accused DTF management of by-passing the agreed collective bargaining procedures, and the workforce’s trade union representatives, to impose a 3.3 per cent wage offer in April. The broader rate of inflation (RPI) has remained stubbornly high throughout the year, and currently stands at 9 per cent read more
Manufacturing workers in Chesterfield to strike over parity pay and real terms pay cuts (8 Sept) – 100 per cent of the workforce voted for action. Skilled manufacturing workers based in Chesterfield undertaking repairs for companies ranging from British Steel to Thames Water will begin strike action this Monday in a dispute over pay. The action being taken at ERIKS Industrial Services will have a dramatic effect, causing delays for customers. 8 days of strikes will take place on Monday 11 and Tuesday 12 September, Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 September, Monday 25 and Tuesday 26 September and then on Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 October read more
Tower Hamlets council workers to strike in pay dispute (8 Sept) – Refuse workers and street cleaners prepare for strike action. Members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, employed by Tower Hamlets will begin strike action later this month in a dispute over pay. Over 200 workers made up of refuse and street cleaners have rejected the national pay offer of a flat rate increase of £1,925. The offer is below the rate of inflation and amounts to real terms pay cut. The workers will initially take strike action from Monday 18 September until Sunday 1 October read more
Stagecoach Warwickshire bus strikes off after Unite pay win (7 Sept) – Strikes by 350 Stagecoach bus drivers in Warwickshire have been cancelled after the workers accepted an improved pay offer, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Thursday). The workers voted in favour of a deal worth 12.4 per cent over two years, leading to the hourly rate increasing from £14 an hour to £15.79 over ten months. This year, pay will increase by 7.9 per cent backdated to 1 July with another 4.5 per cent from 1 May 2024 read more
Unite to hold protests at NHS London trusts during pay and staffing strikes (7 Sept) – Unite, the UK’s leading union, is undertaking a series of demonstrations and marches in London next week as part of its campaign to increase pay and end unsafe staffing afflicting NHS workers. The demonstrations and marches coincide with strike action being taken by over 2,800 Unite NHS workers employed in four NHS trusts read more The workers at the various trusts will be striking on different days: The Barts workers will be on strike from 13-14 September and then from 16 – 22 September. Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Trust workers will strike from 13-14 September. East London Foundation Trust workers will strike on 13 September and Guys and St Thomas’ workers on 13-14 September
Unite announces three days of strike action in schools across 11 Scottish Councils (7 Sept) – Trade union slams ‘ineptitude’ of COSLA and Scottish Government. Unite the union can confirm today (7 September) that thousands of key workers in schools and early years services across 11 Scottish Councils will take strike action on three consecutive days. Coordinated action involving the joint trade unions will take place on 26, 27 and 28 September. Unite’s local government membership set to strike includes janitors, cleaners, caterers, classroom assistants and administrative staff. The councils affected are follows: Clackmannanshire, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Dundee, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Fife, Glasgow City, Inverclyde, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, and Orkney. Unite received a mandate from its members employed by Tayside Contracts who provide catering and janitorial services to schools across Angus, Dundee and Perth and Kinross councils. These members will also join the strike action read more
First Manchester and GMAT bus strikes off after Unite pay victories (7 Sept) – Greater Manchester bus strikes by members of Unite employed at First Manchester and Greater Manchester Accessible Transport (GMAT) are off following improved pay deals. First Bus drivers in Oldham voted to accept a deal worth 18 per cent overall. This includes a £1,100 payment in lieu of backpay from April, a 14.8 per cent increase from 3 September and a further 3.2 per cent increase from 2 January. Bank holiday pay has also increased to £20 per hour. GMAT drivers balloted in favour of a 10 per cent increase backdated to April, a £350 one off payment for all staff and an extra day’s holiday per year. GMAT has also committed to signing up to the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter. This will improve terms and conditions, including improvements to sick pay, flexible working and maternity leave read more
Workers at Klarius in Stoke-on-Trent to strike over fire and rehire sick pay threats (7 Sept) – Members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, employed at Klarius Products Ltd in Stoke-on-Trent, will begin a series of strikes later this month in response to the company’s threats to fire and rehire them, drastically reducing sick pay for some of its most long serving and loyal workforce. The problems at the company are a result of the creation of a two-tier workforce. Workers on the traditional contracts receive a very fair company sick pay scheme, while workers on the inferior, newer contracts only receive statutory sick pay (SSP). Klarius’ solution is to introduce a new sick pay scheme but it would result in many workers experiencing sizeable cuts in their entitlement. Unite has tried to resolve the issue through consultation but Klarius has refused to improve its proposals and as a result is now threatening to fire and rehire many of its workforce, with some of those being forced onto inferior contracts from next month… Unite has announced an initial 16 days of strike action. The first strike will take place on Tuesday 12 September read more
Unite urges employer to pay a fair wage and avoid nuclear plant shutdown (6 Sept) – Electricians who certify tools for use in nuclear power stations are taking strike action. Unite, the country’s leading trade union, announced today (Wednesday 6 September) that its members at Altrad Babcock Ltd are taking strike action following a dismal pay offer from the employer. Electricians at Altrad Babcock, based in Tipton in the West Midlands, are responsible for certifying that electrical tools are safe to use in nuclear facilities across the country. Yet this safety-critical role is not being valued by the employer, with some members earning as little as £13.62 per hour. Members ensure that equipment including welding machines, compressors, winches and even site vehicles are certified as electrically safe to use in potentially hazardous environments. Failure to have such certification will mean that the tools and machinery cannot enter the nuclear plants to maintain the facility. Eventually, this could lead to nuclear power plants having to shut down. Strikes are likely to take place in waves across the autumn and into winter, just as demand for nuclear power stations increases. Dates are as follows: Wednesday the 20th /Thursday the 21st September at 08:00am until 16:00pm then Monday the 25th & Tuesday the 26th September followed by every Monday: October 2nd 9th 16th 23rd 30th, November 6th 13th 20th 27th, then December, 4th 11th and then on Tuesdays October, 3rd 10th 17th 24th 31st October, then November 7th 14th 21st 28th then December 5th 12th read more
Unite demands urgent review over £850,000 cut to ‘lifeline’ female Glasgow residential unit (6 Sept) – Turning Point 218 Service faces compulsory job losses and closure. Unite the union has today (6 September) demanded an urgent review over a £850,000 cut to funding for the Turning Point 218 Service which now threatens the existence of the ground-breaking programme. The trade union represents the majority of the thirty workers based in Glasgow city centre. The 218 Service provided by Turning Point Scotland and Glasgow Addiction Service helps address issues with substance use, physical and mental health and other social needs including housing and childcare initiatives that female offenders face read more
Unite Scotland responds to Programme for Government 2023 – 2024 (6 Sept) – Derek Thomson, Unite Scottish Secretary, said: “The First Minister’s speech outlined a long list of priorities but next to no detail on how they will be funded and delivered. You can only deliver improvements to public services by allocating resources. This includes awarding fair pay rises, yet we have an unacceptable 5 per cent pay offer on the table for local government workers.” Read more
Local government workers protest to lay bare the reality of a decade of pay cuts and mismanagement (6 Sept) – Local government workers protest (on 7th September) to lay bare the reality of a decade of pay cuts and mismanagement. 23 councils and local authority bodies in England and Wales to take strike action over pay. Workers have rejected a £1,925 pay offer. Unite members from across local government, who’ve voted for strike action, will meet with members of the Local Government Association (LGA) to lay bare the reality and impact of a decade of mismanagement and pay cuts for workers read more
Unite reaction to Birmingham council’s financial plight (5 Sept) – Unite the UK’s leading union, which represents hundreds of workers at Birmingham City Council has described the announcement that the council is effectively bankrupt, as being a direct consequence of its chronic financial mismanagement. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Birmingham City Council’s workers must not pay the price for the council’s or central government’s incompetence and financial mismanagement. Our members undertake vital frontline services that are essential for the communities they serve and they should not be impacted through no fault of their own. Unite always prioritises the jobs, pay and conditions of its members and will support those at Birmingham City Council to ensure they are not mistreated due to council and government failings.” Unite regional officer Lee Wiggetts-Clinton said: “Unite is seeking urgent meetings with the council to ensure that Birmingham’s loyal workforce are not made the scapegoats for the financial crisis, which is not of their making.” Read more
Westminster libraries workers to strike in pay dispute (4 Sept) – Members of Unite, employed by Westminster City Council across the borough’s libraries, will begin strike action this Wednesday (6 September) in a dispute over pay. The workers have rejected the national pay offer of a flat rate increase of £1,925. The offer is below the rate of inflation and amounts to a real terms pay cut. The workers will initially take four days of strike action on 6th, 8th, 13th, 15th September. Strike action will disrupt services across the borough read more
Pay strikes at Norwich hospital and Norfolk health centres intensify (1 Sept) – Pay strikes at hospitals and health centres across Norwich and Norfolk will intensify next week, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (1 September). There will be significant disruption impacting on patients, as workers employed by Norse Commercial Services take further strike action in the dispute over pay. The workers, who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, undertake critical maintenance duties for all Norfolk Community and Health Care Trusts’ hospitals and health centres. The workers have rejected a four per cent pay increase, which is a substantial real terms pay cut with the current true inflation rate (RPI) standing at nine per cent. Industrial relations have further deteriorated as Norse has imposed the four per cent increase and blamed the hospital trust for not being prepared to increase payments on the contract read more
Workers at Lincat Lincoln commercial kitchen maker to strike over pay (1 Sept) – Workers demand better offer from profitable firm after years of shrinking wages. More than 100 workers based at commercial kitchen manufacturer Lincat will begin pay strikes next week, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Friday). The low paid workers have rejected a split pay deal that would see wages increase by 5.5 per cent back paid from January until June this year and then a further six month pay deal of eight per cent from June. Higher paid workers have been offered tiered pay rises, none of which reached eight per cent. The deals offered to all workers are real terms pay cuts when the true rate of inflation, RPI, stands at nine per cent. Lincat’s skilled workforce have suffered years of erosion to the value of their wages. Hourly pay, which for most is £12.03, used to be substantially above the minimum wage but over successive years that gap has continued to shrink. According to its latest financial returns, Lincat raked in operating profits of £8.9 million for the year to January 2022. The company is part of the US-based Middleby corporation, which brought in revenues of over $1 billion in the second quarter of 2023 read more
Hull Citizens Advice strikes intensify as protests spread to Bridlington and Goole (30 Aug) – Wealthy charity ‘disgracefully’ refusing to award national pay deal after years of doing so. Strikes by over 60 Hull and East Riding Citizens Advice workers intensified this week, as protests spread to the bureau’s offices in Bridlington and Goole. Nine consecutive days of fresh strike action began this week, following four days of industrial action in late July and August. The workers voted for strike action after the charity refused to increase pay in line with National Joint Council (NJC) scales operated by local authorities, as has been the norm for the last 20 years. The NJC has recommended a consolidated payment of £1,925 for all grades for 2022. Citizens Advice in Hull and East Riding can afford to implement the payment and had cash reserves of £1,076,156 as of 31 March 2022, with that amount set to increase by the end of the year…The workers began strike action yesterday (29 August) and will continue striking on 31 August and 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 September. Citizens Advice services will not be available during this time. Industrial action will intensify if the dispute is not resolved. Protests will take place outside the Bridlington Citizens Advice office on Tuesday 5 September from 10:00 and the Goole Citizens Advice office on Wednesday 6 September from 10:00. A picket line outside the Hull office will be held on all other dates read more
North Tyneside council workers to strike in pay dispute (30 Aug) – Members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, employed by North Tyneside council will begin strike action next month in a dispute over pay. The 260 plus workers have rejected the national pay offer of a flat rate increase of £1,925. The offer is below the rate of inflation and amounts to a real terms pay cut. The workers will initially take strike action on Wednesday 6 and 13 September. Strike action will affect services across the council however, Unite members are predominantly in building trades, health visitors, school and nursery nurses, admin roles and bereavement services read more
Scottish university and college workers strike set to disrupt new academic term (29 Aug) – 1,000 Unite members set to walk-out for five days. Unite the union has today (29 August) confirmed that around 1,000 members employed in four universities and four colleges across Scotland are set to take strike action during the first weeks of the new academic term. The trade union recently confirmed it received industrial action mandates from its members at the University of Glasgow, Dundee University, Abertay University, Edinburgh Napier University and Strathclyde University. There will be five days of action over the course of two weeks involving staff at four universities, which are as follows: 13-15 September and 18-19 September. No date, as yet, has been announced for Edinburgh Napier, where Unite also has a mandate for strike action. Unite’s members involved in the pay dispute include technicians, cleaners, security officers, and janitors. The vast majority of Unite members have had a 5-6 per cent pay offer imposed on them. The pay imposition follows a derisory uplift of 3 per cent for the majority of members in 2022. The current dispute is part of a UK wide higher education pay dispute read more
180 workers at Browns meat factory to strike over poverty pay (28 Aug) – Dumfriesshire based company to face weeks of industrial action. Unite the union confirmed that around 180 members based at the Dumfriesshire food manufacturer Browns are starting strike action today (28 August) in a dispute over poverty pay. Unite’s production, distribution and maintenance members based in Kelloholm, Sanquhar, emphatically rejected a pay offer from the company which equals the real Living Wage of £10.90 an hour. The workers will participate in three days of industrial action over a period of three consecutive weeks. The first round begins today and ends on 31 August. An overtime ban is also in effect until 18 September (see notes to editor). The Dumfriesshire based firm specialises in the production and manufacturing of quality cooked and sliced meats for a large range of businesses, supermarkets and schools read more
Carey Glass must intervene to resolve Lurgan Vista Therm dispute (25 Aug) – Nenagh-based Carey group warned dispute may shatter ‘Best in Glass’ claim. Unite highlights reputational risks to group if dispute not resolved. Unite members in dispute with Vista Therm travelled to Nenagh, headquarters of the Carey Glass group of companies, today (Friday) to highlight Vista Therm’s refusal to talk to workers about a cost-of-living pay increase. Vista Therm workers set up stalls in Nenagh town centre and gathered signatures for a petition asking people to support the workers’ demands that management recognise their union Unite, negotiate a cost-of-living pay increase, and treat workers with dignity and respect. Unite is calling on Carey Glass to intervene and resolve the long-running dispute which has seen production at the Lurgan plant severely curtailed read more Sign the Vista Therm solidarity petition!
Freebridge housing workers to strike – Freebridge Community Housing paying poverty wages despite £3.6m surplus. Nearly 60 Freebridge Community Housing workers will strike over poverty pay Unite said today. Unite members in LE1111 housing workers branch send solidarity. Many of the workers, who perform a variety of roles, including in cleaning and maintenance, are paid little more than the national minimum wage and many are struggling to pay their bills. The workers will strike on 21, 29, 30 and 31 August and on 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 September. The strike action will severely impact Freebridge’s cleaning and maintenance services and will intensify if the dispute is not resolved read more
Chesterfield council housing workers strike over pay (25 Aug) – Over 100 housing maintenance workers employed by Chesterfield council will begin strike action next week in a dispute over pay. The workers who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, will take strike action next week on Tuesday 29 August and Wednesday 30 August. The dispute is a result of the workers not having received a pay rise for 15 years…The Chesterfield strike is part of a wider local authority dispute over pay, Unite has industrial action mandates for 23 councils across England and Wales. The union has rejected this year’s local government pay offer of £1,925 as it amounts to a real terms pay cut read more
Rail network facing signalling shortages as Unipart workers in Crewe strike over pay (25 Aug) – Unite, the UK’s leading union, has warned rail companies including Network Rail to be braced for a delay in the supply of signalling equipment as workers at Unipart Rail strike next week in a dispute over pay. The workers have rejected a 4.75 per cent pay increase, which is a sizeable real terms pay cut with the true rate of inflation (RPI) currently standing at nine per cent. The workers will take strike action beginning at 00:01hrs on Tuesday 29 August and continuing until 23:59 on Friday 1 September. An overtime ban will also be in place beginning today (Friday 25 August)and ending on Monday 4 September read more
A.G. Barr workers to resume strike action as Unite accuses soft-drinks giant of ‘anti-union’ tactics (24 Aug) – Unite says use of agency labour during strike action potentially illegal. Unite has today (24 August) claimed that A.G. Barr has potentially engaged in illegal activity during industrial action at the company’s production and distribution centre in Cumbernauld. The trade union can reveal that it has reported A.G. Barr and the contractors – Stobbart and Streamline – to the Department for Business and Trade. Unite is demanding an investigation into the soft-drinks giant for the potential use of agency labour through the contractors during previous rounds of strike action, and calling for any possible enforcement action to be taken. Unite represents trucker and shunter drivers who are essential to the supply of the company’s world-renowned products including Irn-Bru – one of the nation’s most popular soft drinks. The workers are scheduled to resume 24-hour strike action from midnight Friday 25 August in the increasingly bitter pay dispute read more
Drivers at Greater Manchester Accessible Transport forced to strike over ‘poverty pay’ (22 Aug) – Industrial action to take place over failure of company to improve pay offer or sign up to Good Employment Charter. Bus drivers in Greater Manchester who transport the elderly and disabled have been forced to take strike action over the low pay by Greater Manchester Accessible Transport (GMAT). Members of Unite, the country’s leading trade union, are paid just minimum wage to do a physically and mentally demanding job. They provide an invaluable service, transporting the elderly, infirm or disabled from their homes across Greater Manchester to vital medical appointments, for essential shopping or for leisure and entertainment. GMAT pays the lowest wages of all bus companies in the region and the registered charity has not signed up to the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter, despite being run by Transport for Greater Manchester and owned by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), both of whom are members of the charter. The charter aims to raise employment standards across Greater Manchester through factors like security of work and fair pay – including a commitment to the real living wage. Around 7000 users depend on the service and Unite has encouraged the employer to come back to the negotiating table with improved terms above the below-inflation offer made to-date. Currently drivers receive just £10.42 per hour. Following a successful industrial ballot, members will be taking strike action in the coming months with dates to be announced in due course read more
Strike action targets penny-pinching Porsche and Audi deliveries firm (16 Aug) – A miserable 3.2 per cent is to blame for months of strikes. Deliveries of VW vehicles including, Audi, Porsche and Skoda models will face significant delays for months to come unless the profitable GBA Group improves its miserable pay offer of just 3.2%. The strike will mean new VW car deliveries in the Southeast, London and beyond face significant delays as workers at Sheerness Docks prepare to strike for two weeks, beginning the 17 August and then in September and October read more
Tesco facing dirty Didcot depot as Atalian Servest caterers and cleaners strike over pay (14 Aug) – Workers based at Tesco’s depot in Didcot have been warned to be braced for a dirty depot and canteen closures as workers employed by Atalian Servest have announced strike action over pay. The dispute involves cleaning and catering staff employed on an outsourced contract and is a result of Atalian Servest refusing to even negotiate over a pay increase. The cleaners are on pay rates of as little as £11 an hour, which includes weekend and bank holiday work at no additional rate, they operate in the main Tesco warehouse which is only heated to one degree. Meanwhile the catering staff are paid the minimum wage of £10.42 an hour. The workers who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, have announced two initial 24 hour strikes beginning on Friday 1 September and Thursday 7 September, followed by a three day strike beginning on Friday 15 September and a further three day strike beginning on Thursday 21 September. Atalian Servest is very financially healthy; its latest accounts for 2021 reveal that it made gross profits of £84 million read more
Glasgow Parking wardens and Emirates Arena workers strike over poor pay (2 Aug) – Disruption set to impact Cycling World Championships and traffic enforcement across Scotland’s largest city. Around 70 Unite members employed by Glasgow Life at the Emirates Arena and City Parking are set to take strike action tomorrow (Thursday 3 August). Unite members will walk out across both organisations at 7.30am to begin 48-hour strike action over the current local government pay offer. There will be pickets held outside the Emirates Arena and Cadogan Square Car Park to coincide with the strike action. A rally involving both groups of workers is also being held at midday at the Donald Dewar statue on Buchanan Street read more
Kings Lynn Cooper Roller Bearings workers to strike over pay (2 Aug) – Profitable company offering strings attached deal that amounts to ‘pay cut’. More than 100 workers employed by Cooper Roller Bearings in Kings Lynn are to strike over pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Wednesday 2 August). The workers have rejected a 5.5 per cent pay offer. With the true rate of inflation, RPI, standing at 10.7 per cent, this is a real terms pay cut. The offer also comes with a ‘strings attached’ performance related bonus of up to six per cent. Cooper Roller Bearings made a profit before tax of more than £7 million in the year ending 31 December 2022…The workers will strike for one day on 21 August. After that a continuous overtime ban will commence, with strike days doubling every week until the dispute is resolved read more
Irish Water: Lack of engagement by employer representatives’ forces dispute escalation (1 Aug) – Unite the union seeks engagement with LGMA over shortcomings in proposed Framework. Pickets set for eight local authorities from 00.01 Wednesday [2nd August] to 23.59 Friday [4th August]. Unite members working in water delivery services for eight local authorities around the country will escalate their industrial action this week with a further three days of stoppages. Water workers will take strike action at Carlow County Council, Cork City Council, Cork County Council, Fingal County Council, Kerry County Council, South Dublin County Council, Tipperary County Council and Waterford County Council. The action is due to the continued refusal of local authorities and its representative body, the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA) to meaningfully engage with the union over its members’ concerns regarding shortcomings to the ‘Framework for the Future Delivery of Water Services’ document put forward by the Workplace Relations Commission last year. The Framework document was rejected overwhelmingly by Unite members employed in water services delivery as essential workers, as it failed to address their concerns read more
Choppy waters as Scotland’s lighthouse workers resume second wave of strike action (27 Jul) – Sea vessels anchored in long-running pay dispute. Unite the union confirmed that its Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) members will resume 24-hour strike action in a long-running dispute over pay. Around 40 Unite members including able seamen, base assistants, cooks and technicians will take 24-hour strike action beginning at noon on Thursday (27 July). The action ends the following day at noon. The latest strike action follows a previous 24-hour stoppage over 26 to 27 June. The workers maintain and operate Scotland’s lighthouses, beacons and buoys at sea ensuring that vessels and ships have safe passage through Scottish waters read more
Darchem Teesside pay strikes intensify with shut downs across July and August (6 Jul) – Formula One, Rolls Royce, BAE, Hinkley Point impacted after ‘hugely profitable’ firm offers ‘pay cut’. Pay strikes by nearly 300 workers employed by engineering firm Darchem in Stillington, Stockton-on-Tees, will intensify over the summer, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Thursday). The workers have already taken seven days of strike action over pay, with a further 15 days now scheduled to take place during July and August. This week, the workers rejected in a ballot by 92 per cent an offer of six per cent backdated to February, with a further four per cent in October. The offer removed a condition that the pay anniversary date be changed from February to October, which would have resulted in a 20-month pay deal being imposed. However, the workers believe that a split pay deal is still unreasonable given the company’s huge profits. Darchem, owned by the US-based TransDigm Group, is an extremely profitable company that makes a range of products for the automotive, aerospace, energy and shipbuilding industries. The company’s latest financial returns show it had a turnover of over £108 million in 2021. During the same year, operating profits increased by 53.3 per cent to £25.3 million…The strikes, which also involve members of the GMB union, will shut down Darchem’s Stillington factory. This will impact production for Darchem’s clients, including BAE, Formula One racing companies, Hinkley Point and Rolls Royce aerospace. The fresh strikes will take place from 18 to 21 July, 25 to 28 July, 1 to 4 August, 8 to 11 August and 15 to 18 August read more
Roads Service workers strike in dispute over productivity-based pay system (4 Jul) – Workers concerned that productivity unit bonus leaves workers subject to management victimisation and undermines health and safety. Strike action commenced at roads service depots in west yesterday [Monday 3rd July] and due at depots in east from Thursday 6th July. Roads Service workers in Unite the union have recommenced strike action in their industrial campaign to end pay being subject to manager’s discretion read more
Leicester aerospace engine bolt maker Howmet hit by pay strikes (27 Jun) – Highly profitable firm offers low paid workers inadequate ‘strings attached’ pay deal. More than 50 Leicester factory workers employed by aerospace engine bolt manufacturer Howmet are to strike later this month, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Tuesday). The workers, who earn as little as £11 per hour and an average of £12.50 an hour, have rejected a four per cent offer, plus purported pay incentives, that has more ‘strings attached than a grand piano’. Howmet Fastenings’ latest financial report shows it made UK profits of over £4 million for the year ending December 2021. US-based parent company Howmet Aerospace, meanwhile, reported that international revenue in the first quarter of 2023 increased by 21 per cent to $1.6 billion, with profits of $360 million. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Howmet may proclaim that it has put forward a generous pay offer but it is smoke and mirrors – the deal has more strings attached than a grand piano. Howmet’s workers are low paid and struggling with rising living costs, while the company brings in millions. Unite’s top priority is our members’ jobs, pay and conditions and these striking workers will receive the union’s full support until Howmet puts forward an acceptable pay offer.” Howmet’s Leicester factory supplies parts to Rolls Royce, Pratt and Whitney. The first day of strike action will take place on Thursday 29 June, followed by a continuous overtime ban and work to rule after the strike ends. If the dispute is not resolved further strike dates will be scheduled read more
St Helens NGF glass cord engineers strike over pay (23 Jun) – NGF workers angry pay offer less than colleagues received at sister company Pilkingtons sites. St Helen’s engineering and maintenance workers employed by NGF, which produces glass cord used in rubber and plastic products, will strike over pay. Unite, the UK’s leading union, said the workers are angry at being offered a 5.65 per cent pay rise plus an £800 bonus that is lower than offers received by their colleagues at nearby sites. NGF is a sister company to Pilkingtons UK, whose workers at a number of sites in the surrounding region have received pay rises 6.75 per cent plus £750 and 7.5 per cent. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our members are rightly angry they are being treated as second class employees compared to their colleagues at nearby Pilkingtons. Unite is now completely focused on protecting and improving our members’ jobs, pay and conditions and these workers will receive their union’s total support.” The workers will stage two 48 hours strikes on 2 July and 14 July. If the dispute is not resolved strike action will escalate. The dispute also involved members of the GMB union read more
CWU
Resounding ‘YES’ to BT Group pay deal (13 Sept) – Members across BT, Openreach and EE have voted by three-to-one to accept a CWU-brokered pay deal which delivers an additional 2.5% increase this year – on top of the £1,500 flat rate increase that was paid out in January – and a further across-the-board 4% increase that will apply from April 1 next year. The company’s final offer – thrashed out in negotiations that were initiated at the conclusion of last year’s bitter industrial dispute and are still ongoing with a view to resolving a raft of longstanding pay and grading disagreements – was ratified by 74% of those participating in a consultative ballot which closed yesterday (September 12). Strongly recommended for acceptance by Executive members on the union’s BT Committee, the settlement means that by April next year all CWU-represented grades will have received cumulative pay increases since January 2023 of between 10% and 14% read more
CWU wins unanimous support for ‘Co-ordinating our Movement’ motion (11 Sept) – A busy afternoon at Congress sees a big win for our union and massive backing for solidarity against anti-union laws. “The power is in this room, in every one of you,” said our general secretary Dave Ward as he moved the CWU’s successful motion on the need to co-ordinate the whole UK trade union movement at Congress this afternoon 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
Mitie to G4S (Security) – TUPE update (14 Sept) – Outstanding issues remain just two weeks before the transfer date of 1 October. There have only been three formal consultation meetings since the Government Property Agency (GPA) announced in May that G4S had been successful in winning the security contract for the ‘Affiliates’ cluster read more
Strike action in The Pensions Regulator continues to attract support (12 Sept) – PCS members who work for The Pensions Regulator in Brighton tell us how their two-week strike for fair pay is going. Over 250 PCS members working for The Pensions Regulator (TPR) are on strike until 18 September. Since 5 September, about fifty members have attended the picket line each day in Brighton to voice their anger over their employer’s continued refusal to fully implement government concessions on pay. PCS members at TPR are particularly angry because TPR has got a substantial bonus pot of £1.5 million which is set to be paid mainly to the highest-paid staff, with the lowest paid seeing very little of this money read more
Support Safe Passage for Refugees – email your MP today (10 Sept) – We are asking all PCS members to increase support for our campaign for a Safe Passage Visa scheme for refugees, by emailing your local MP read more
PCS responds to OCS scaremongering tactics over strike action (8 Sept) – OCS is putting pressure on PCS members not to take part in our lawful strike action.
OCS members working in courts as security officers will be taking strike action on 22, 25, 27 and 29 September read more
OCS security staff to strike for 4 days over pay (7 Sept) – The employer’s latest pay offer is only 38p above the national minimum wage. PCS members working as security officers on the OCS HMCTS security contract are to take four days strike action in September read more
Update on our campaign on pay, pensions, job security and redundancy terms (8 Sept) – Following the overwhelming vote to support our campaign strategy, the NEC has met to discuss next steps read more
Huge support this week for PCS strikers in ISS (8 Sept) – Five days of strike action by PCS members working in three major Whitehall departments was well supported by both members of the public and MPs. Cleaners, security guards and support staff working for the outsourced contractor ISS at the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, the Department for Business & Trade and Department for Science, and the Innovation & Technology took action this week after being offered an insulting below-inflation pay rise. At a time when inflation is running at 6.8%, members are angry at being offered a 2.2% rise, which represents a real-terms pay cut read more
Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime to strike over pay (7 Sept) – Nearly 100 PCS members working for MOPAC will take five days of strike action later this month. PCS members at the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) will strike on 20, 21, 22, 25 and 26 September after management refused to negotiate on their pay, pensions, job security and redundancy terms. MOPAC staff are responsible for the London equivalent of a regional Police and Crime Commission. They oversee financial scrutiny of the London Metropolitan Police and are directly accountable to the mayor, Sadiq Khan read more
Prospect
RAAC and the Government Estate (8 Sept) – In light of the recent news about reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC), Prospect is in touch with the government about the use of RAAC in the government estate. The health and safety of our members is paramount, and it is important that a proactive and risk-based approach is taken to ensure the safety of members and their working environment read more
Prospect to ballot members at AWE on industrial action (1 Sept) – Prospect union will ballot its members on industrial action in a dispute over pay at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE). Headquartered in Aldermaston, Berkshire, AWE supports and maintains the UK nuclear deterrent. The ballot opens on 1st September and will run for two weeks read more
GMB
Quarter of a million Nottinghamshire homes face bin disruption after strike threat (15 Sept) – GMB Trade Union – Quarter of a million Nottinghamshire homes face bin disruption after strike threat. Veolia Nottinghamshire are robbing from the poor to give to the rich, says GMB. GMB union has today announced a week-long strike of members at waste recycling plants in north Nottinghamshire. Strike action will impact refuse and recycling processing facilities in the county operated by Veolia under contract to Nottinghamshire County Council. Mansfield’s Materials Recycling Facility, Ashfield’s Welsh Croft Close site and Bassetlaw’s Claylands Avenue site will all be impacted by strike action. These plants process household waste and recycling for over 250,000 homes in north Nottinghamshire. The announcement comes as Veolia management refused to engage in negotiations over a pay rise for staff at the sites. Initial action will take place from Monday 25 September for one week with over 50 workers expected to down tools read more
‘Chaotic’ Croydon Council housing and homelessness restructure will cost lives, GMB warns (13 Sept) – Council seems to expect a shrinking pool of officers to do a lot more with a lot less, says GMB Union. A ‘chaotic’ housing and homelessness restructure being rolled out by Croydon Council will cost lives, GMB Union has warned. Frontline roles, including those in the homelessness services and payroll, are being merged and redundancies are expected. Council officers report they already hold caseloads of up to 150 people while plans are in motion to further reduce staffing read more
Swindon social workers strike suspended on safety grounds (12 Sept) – The dispute remains unresolved, and GMB is willing to talk to the council at any time, through ACAS, to find a resolution, says GMB. A strike by social workers has been suspended on safety grounds by GMB, due to Swindon Borough Council failing to provide adequate emergency cover during recent strike days. GMB members in the Emergency Duty Service, which provides emergency out of hours support for vulnerable adults and children, have made a reluctant decision to suspend their strike, because child protection calls were missed on strike days. A two week strike started on 31st August and was due to continue until 13th September, but social workers returned to the late and night shifts on 11th September read more
GMB warns vulnerable children and adults are being put at risk by Swindon Borough Council (8 Sept) – GMB have offered emergency cover several times to Swindon Borough Council officers, who are unfortunately just not interested in talking to us about it, says GMB Union. Swindon Borough Council is failing to provide emergency cover during social worker strike read more
Swindon social workers told of plan to unlawfully dock pay (6 Sept) – Swindon Borough Council managers have told GMB members that they will be deducting 7 days pay for the first week of the strike from all staff, even for those who are on holiday, off sick, or not on roster to work. Swindon Borough Council managers have told GMB members that they will be deducting 7 days pay for the first week of the strike from all staff, even for those who are on holiday, off sick, or not on roster to work read more
Canterbury refuse workers end 67 day strike after ‘bumper’ pay offer (7 Sept) – GMB Union members supported each other through massive strike and won a 12 per cent pay rise. Canterbury refuse workers have ended their 67 day strike after accepting a ‘bumper’ pay deal. GMB members who work for Canenco, Canterbury Council’s wholly owned contractor, today voted to accept an offer put forward by the company via ACAS. The deal will see the workers paid the going rate of £12 and £15 an hour from 1 November read more
GMB calls for settlement talks as Birmingham equal pay hearing set for November 2024 (7 Sept) – GMB Trade Union – GMB calls for settlement talks as Birmingham equal pay hearing set for November 2024. GMB union, Birmingham City Council’s largest staff union, has called for Birmingham City Council to immediately and meaningfully enter settlement talks with the union to resolve the city’s equal pay crisis. The demand comes after yesterday the West Midlands Employment Tribunal set a date of 25th November 2024 for a hearing to determine whether the city’s job evaluation scheme is valid read more
GMB response as Birmingham City Council issues S114 notice (5 Sept) – GMB Union, Birmingham City Council’s largest staff union, has responded to the announcement that the authority has issued a Section 114 notice. A Section 114 notice is issued when Council officials believe they do not have the resources available to meet their required expenditure for the year. It comes the day before Council representatives are expected to appear at the Employment Tribunal to attempt to defend their job evaluation scheme against thousands of equal pay claims submitted by GMB members employed by the council. Birmingham City Council Chief Executive Deborah Cadman told Councillors in June that the Council owed between £650 million and £760 million to its workers to settle its equal pay liability, adding that the figure was growing by between £5 million and £14 million every month. The council’s latest estimate places the liability at over £1 billion. GMB is the only union with live equal pay claims against the council read more
GMB Win: Mega pay deal sees Women workers benefit at Irvine GQ (7 Sept) – GMB Trade Union – GMB Win: Mega pay deal sees Women workers benefit at Irvine GQ. GMB members have won a 10% pay increase at the parachute developer. The award also sees hardship payments of £1,000 for every member earning below £35,000 struggling with the unprecedented cost of living crisis. The award has seen the lowest paid workers, the majority of whom are Women, see a pay increase of 10%, from £11.43 to £12.60 read more
North Bristol NHS maternity staff to take strike action (7 Sept) – Fed up with being treated and told that they are ‘second-class’ employees, GMB Midwifery support workers have voted for strike action. Maternity support staff in working in Southmead Hospital have voted unanimously for strike action. GMB members working in the Women’s and Children’s Division will walk out on September 14th and 15th for 2 days of strike action. The moves came after North Bristol NHS trust refused to provide Midwifery support workers, housekeepers and receptionists the same shift enhancements that their colleagues in the same department have been given. For 10 months GMB has been trying to seek a fair resolution, with the trust agreeing to pay enhancements back in June – only to then u-turn read more
Loughborough Uni freshers-week bin chaos averted as GMB announce inflation busting pay win (6 Sept) – GMB Trade Union – Loughborough Uni freshers-week bin chaos averted as GMB announce inflation busting pay win. The threat of rats on the streets has passed for now, says GMB. GMB union have today announced that refuse workers and street cleaning teams across Charnwood Borough have voted to accept a pay offer from service provider Serco. The news comes after over 90 per cent of GMB members voted for strike action, with strike dates expected to overlap with Loughborough University freshers week. Around 100 local refuse and street cleaning workers voted to accept a pay offer worth between 8 and 18 per cent for the lowest paid workers read more
Cleaners take strike action at Chessington school ( 5 Sept) – GMB union members working as cleaners at Lovelace Primary in Chessington to take strike action over plans to outsource their jobs. GMB, the union for school support staff, can announce that its members who work as cleaners at a school in the Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames are taking strike action as of this afternoon. The affected members at Lovelace Primary School in Chessington are in dispute over the school’s decision to outsource them to a private contractor, which GMB believes would result in the members being removed from NJC terms, conditions and pay. The cleaning team have offered to reduce their hours to term time only, representing a wage cut of almost a quarter, but management are insisting that a private company will make more savings than this. The members will be taking strike action from this afternoon until Friday 15 September and then again from Thursday 28 September until Sunday 1 October, with potentially further strike dates to come read more
GMB union calls on Thanet Council Chief Executive to attend ACAS talks (1 Sept) – GMB asks ACAS to arrange talks with Thanet Council to avert bin strike after Chief Executive says he will welcome discussions with the union. GMB, the union for refuse and recycling, has this morning reiterated to ACAS its willingness to meet Thanet Council Chief Executive Colin Carmichael to talks with a view to avoiding strike action scheduled to start on Monday 11 September. Members of the union who work in refuse collection and street cleaning are set to take two weeks of strike action in a dispute over pay. The union is clear that the strike is entirely avoidable if the council enters meaningful negotiations and so has contacted ACAS to act as arbiter in talks with availability to meet next week read more
Thanet next in line for GMB bin strike (30 Aug) – There is still over a week left before this strike begins however, which is more than enough time to sit down and enter negotiations, says GMB union. GMB members working as refuse collectors, street cleaners, drivers and loaders within Thanet District Council are set to take two weeks strike action from Monday 11 September. The members are employed by the council directly and are in dispute over pay. GMB, the union for refuse and recycling, is saying that the action is avoidable if the council agrees to pay a competitive wage in line with the market rate elsewhere in Kent and Sussex. The union is further extending an invitation to meet for negotiations with an eye that the dispute can be settled before any strike has taken place read more
Nottingham Goose Fair tram strike confirmed as over 90% back walkouts (31 Aug) – GMB Union has slammed Nottingham tram bosses for feathering their nests whilst tram workers struggle. GMB Union have today announced the outcome of the Nottingham tram workers strike ballot. The vote comes after Nottingham’s tram operator, Keolis, offered a real terms pay cut to staff. Around 300 drivers, mechanics, control room and ticket office staff are expected to join strike action, with 92% GMB members voting to back strike action. Union reps will agree and announce strike dates in the coming days read more
Durham aviation manufacturer strike hits sixth week (22 Aug) – A Durham factory that finishes parts for the aviation and automotive industries faces its sixth week of strike action. Dozens of GMB members will walk out on Thursday [24 August] and Friday [25 August] after turning down the company’s pay offer of 6.7 per cent and a one-off. The industrial action the first time workers at Nicholson’s Sealing Technologies, in Stanley, have walked out in the company’s 100 year history read more
Scotland school staff to walk out for two days (17 Aug) – Parents and pupils have been warned of disruption after GMB Scotland announced essential staff in schools and early years will strike for two days next month. The industrial action will affect almost a third of councils across Scotland and comes after local authority workers overwhelmingly rejected a pay offer. GMB members in Scotland’s councils voted to support industrial action after Cosla, representing local authorities, refused to revise the offer or ask the Scottish Government for support. The union, which represents more than 21,000 workers across Scotland’s 32 councils, today served notice on ten local authorities telling them staff in schools and early years working across catering, cleaning, pupil support, administration and janitorial services will strike next month. Industrial action involving the staff but not including teachers will take place on Wednesday 13 September and the following day, in Aberdeen, Clackmannanshire, Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar, Dundee, East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk, Glasgow, Orkney, Renfrewshire and South Ayrshire. Sister unions are also likely to call strikes in schools and early years in September with the members of one already voting for industrial action while another is currently balloting members. The ballot came after 94 per cent of the GMB Scotland’s members rejected the councils’ offer of 5.5% in April branding it unacceptable when inflation has surged triggering a cost-of-living crisis. The union said the Cosla offer would mean a rise for the lowest-paid workers in Scotland’s councils £700 less this year than that offered to colleagues in England and Wales read more
Amazon faces biggest day of industrial disruption in its history (27 Jul) – GMB Union has today [Thursday] announced strike dates at Amazon’s Coventry and Rugeley fulfilment centres. The strike dates come on the anniversary of the first historic walkouts at Amazon in the UK, after workers were offered a pay rise of just 35p. Workers will down tools in Rugeley on 3 and 4 August, with the Coventry fulfilment centre seeing strike action on 4 and 5 August. This will bring the total days lost to strike action at Amazon this year to 26 read more
Second Amazon warehouse joins strike (17 Jul) – Amazon workers will walk out at a second warehouse after GMB union today [Monday] announced the outcome of a strike ballot at the company’s Rugeley fulfilment centre. More than 100 workers at the West Midlands site are now set to walk out after 86 per cent of those who voted backed the strike. The news comes as GMB reached 1,000 members at the Coventry fulfilment centre after twenty two days of strike action in the dispute over pay and union rights. GMB members will now plan strike dates at what will be only the second Amazon site in the UK where workers have taken industrial action read more Donate to GMB Amazon strike fund
Welsh farm feed workers strike (24 Jul) – Dozens of agricultural feed workers in Camarthen are preparing for a 2 day stoppage on 27 and 28 July in a dispute to get the same pay as their English counterparts. A majority of 85 per cent of GMB Members at Forfarmers voted to take strike action after the company failed to make an offer that would see them put on an equal footing with their colleagues at sites in England. GMB members took strike action on Monday 3 of July and are looking at future dates unless the company fails to make a fair offer that negates the shortfall. Workers providing the same role as their counterparts in England are paid up to 30 per cent more by the company read more
Industrial action to hit social housing giant slammed for ‘poverty pay’ (20 Jul) – GMB Union have today announced industrial action at Grand Union Housing, provider of 13,000 social homes across Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, and Buckinghamshire. The industrial action will see maintenance staff work to rule for three months, meaning overtime and extra duties will be refused in the maintenance department across the company’s housing stock. The action comes after the company refused to negotiate on a pay offer to staff of just 2.1% read more
Strike at missile depot threatens MoD supplies (16 Jul) – A strike at a Ministry of Defence missile depot will threaten munitions supplies, GMB Union warned. More than 50 workers at the Defence Equipment & Support (DES) munitions depot in Beith, Scotland walked out tomorrow [Monday]. A majority of 93 per cent of GMB members at the depot voted for strike action over a dispute on retention bonuses. Managers and craft workers are in receipt of bonuses whilst non-craft workers do not, meaning non-craft workers get less than many supermarket workers. DES is an arm’s length body of the Ministry of Defence which delivers equipment and support services to the UK armed forces read more
Durham sewage and water tank workers strike (10 Jul) – Sewage and water treatment tank workers in Durham have begun a week-long strike over pay. GMB members at Premier Tech, in Peterlee, will down tools from Monday [10 July] to Friday [14 July] after a unanimous vote for industrial action. Workers want £12.50 per hour, which amounts to a 12 per cent pay increase. The company has only offered 7.9 per cent, with potential real terms pay cuts in subsequent years read more
Three weeks of refuse chaos as workers down tools in Leicestershire’s ‘low pay capital’ (7 Jul) – GMB Union has today announced a three-week strike action of refuse workers at Blaby District Council. Fifty refuse staff at the authority are anticipated to join the strike action after council top brass ignored union attempts to initiate negotiations in the dispute. Strike action will see as many at 50,000 households go without refuse collections on Tuesday 1st to Friday 18th August read more
Dartford bin workers vote for strike action (7 Jul) – GMB union members have voted to reject Urbaser’s pay offer, with action to take place at the end of the month. GMB, the union for refuse and recycling, can announce that Dartford will be the next local authority to be hit with a bin strike. Members of the union have voted to take action over pay and will be walking out at the end of July. The members are employed by Urbaser, Dartford Borough Council’s waste contractor as drivers, loaders and street sweepers read more
Unison
Donate to support striking workers – As UNISON members continue to take strike action, the union is asking for donations to its strike fund
Support Wirral NHS clinical support workers: Let’s stick together to win the proper pay for the job (12 Sept) – ‘Wirral NHS clinical support workers just want to be paid the proper rate for the work they do and the responsibilities they take’. Christina McAnea on the picket line with striking clinical support workers at Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. Across every UNISON region, we’ve got live campaigns to get health workers the fair pay they deserve. Dedicated staff have been regularly performing important duties above the level of responsibility their employers pay them for. This expectation has been put on them for years, but the salary they should be earning has been held back for years too. Today in Liverpool, clinical support workers went on strike at Arrowe Park Hospital read more
University staff to hold coordinated strikes over pay (7 Sept) – Workers to walk out at 21 universities in England and Scotland. Support staff at 21 universities in England and Scotland are to stage coordinated strike action for at least two days in their ongoing dispute about pay, says UNISON today (Thursday). More than 6,000 staff belonging to the union could take part as they escalate their demands for a fair wage rise after many years of below-inflation increases. In England, 17 universities will walk out on Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 October. A series of strikes will take place in Scotland later this month at four institutions – Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow School of Art, University of Dundee and University of Glasgow. This includes a strike involving all four on Wednesday 20 September. The new strike dates coincide with the start of term and follow industrial action at a number of universities earlier this year. Staff voted to reject a pay offer for 2023/24 – worth between 5% and 8% but well below the rate of inflation at the time – in a consultation conducted by UNISON earlier this year. In a union ballot that ended in July, workers at these 21 higher education institutions backed further strikes. The university workers represented by UNISON include cleaners, IT technicians, administrators, library staff and others supporting student learning read more
Clinical support workers set to strike for the first time in NHS history (30 Aug) – ‘We all love our jobs and are dedicated to our patients. But you have to stand up for what you believe in’. Over 400 health staff at Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (WUTH) will take strike action tomorrow. The strike will take place from 7am on Thursday 31 August through to 6:59am on Saturday 2 September after an overwhelming majority (99%) of clinical support workers voted to strike in a recent UNISON ballot. Clinical support workers (CSW) are some of the lowest paid workers in the NHS. As roles have evolved and hospitals have struggled with staffing, they have taken on more clinical responsibilities without the pay and recognition to match read more
Over 100 Camden traffic wardens take indefinite strike action (22 Aug) – UNISON members working for private company NSL have been on strike for a month in a dispute over pay. Over 100 London traffic wardens have been on an indefinite strike since 24 July, after a meagre pay offer of 4.5% from NSL, a company subcontracted by Camden Council. UNISON members unanimously voted for strike action, with more workers joining the picket as the weeks roll on. The wardens, who are mainly low-paid Black staff, work outdoors for 42.5 hours a week, in all weather, and were classified as key workers during the pandemic. They regularly receive racist abuse for carrying out their work. They are paid £12.70 an hour, and have called for an increase to £15.90 an hour. Signs on the picket line (pictured below) read ‘NSL: No Slave Labour’. Workers on picket line holding placards that read ‘pay rise now: no slave labour’ and ‘Camden council: no slave labour’. Employer NSL saw its profits almost double from £5.8m in 2021 to £9.2m in 2022. The company director received a 60% pay increase in this period, and is salaried at £412,000. UNISON has calculated that it would take one of the traffic wardens 16 years to earn the same amount the director receives in one year. The traffic wardens are determined to continue the strike until their demand for fair pay is met read more Messages of solidarity can be sent to [email protected]
Environment Agency staff set for out-of-hours ban (18 Aug) – Workers will refuse to volunteer for on-call cover outside contracted hours from this weekend until 19 September, in continuing action over pay. Thousands of Environment Agency (EA) workers in England will stop out-of-hours attendance at incidents such as floods, water pollution, spills, waste fires and fly-tipping this weekend, in their ongoing pay dispute. The industrial action, which starts at 9am tomorrow (Saturday), is set to continue for a month, with workers refusing to volunteer for on-call cover outside of contracted hours until 19 September. Officers will step in where there is a threat to life, from incidents such as a major flood, as emergency life and limb cover has been agreed by the union. This new wave of industrial action follows months of industrial action seeking an improved pay offer from the agency. Members have been taking last resort industrial action since December 2022, after the organisation failed to offer a fair pay rise in the face of soaring household bills and inflation. Staff have seen pay fall below inflation and incomes squeezed since 2011, meaning that staff effectively work one day a week for free read more
Autumn term strikes set to go ahead at 13 universities (4 Aug) – HE members have suffered a real-terms pay cut of around 25% over the last 14 years, due to year on year rises that were below inflation. The results are in for the higher education strike ballot that ran from 31 May to 31 July – and 13 higher education institutions have met the threshold for action. The current offer from the University and Colleges Employers’ Association (UCEA), a 5-8% pay rise depending on salary spinal point, equates to a real-terms pay cut given inflation was over 10% this year. Although some money was backdated to earlier this year, it’s still not enough for staff to live on with the ongoing cost of living crisis. HE members have suffered a real-terms pay cut of around 25% over the last 14 years, due to year on year uplifts that were below inflation. The 13 universities that have met the threshold for action are: University of Dundee, University of Gloucestershire, University of the West of England, Leeds Trinity University, University of Brighton, Glasgow School of Art, Solent University, Plymouth Marjon University, Arts University Bournemouth, University of Glasgow, City University, Glasgow Caledonian University and University of Chichester. Further details on strike action will be announced in due course read more
South Gloucestershire workers continue strike dispute (31 May) – Social workers and occupational therapists are taking their fourth and fifth days of strike action this week. Social workers and occupational therapists (OTs) working for South Gloucestershire council are to strike twice this week. Staff will walk out for two days of action, today (Tuesday) and again on Thursday (1 June) after voting overwhelmingly for industrial action in a dispute over pay. UNISON has been in dispute with the local authority since last summer. The new dates follow three days of strike action in April read more
Sign petition: Stop the closure of the Peak District National Park visitor centres! – The Peak District National Park Authority are considering closing all four of its visitor centres, making the staff redundant. Councillors will be asked to endorse the chief executive’s ill-thought out ‘money-saving plan’ which will not only affect staff but could very much harm the local economy. The visitor centres are not just shops. They are a key contributor to visitors being able to experience a safe and enjoyable time in the Peak District. This is especially the case with first-time or infrequent visitors. Far from being underused, the centres deal with around 400,000 visitors a year. Unless there is a public outcry, we will lose these centres from our national park, at a time when other national parks have rejected such ideas. Decisions will be taken from as early as May. Help Derbyshire UNISON stop them!
Protest as Hackney Unison chair amongst those handed compulsory redundancies in libraries shake-up – Council staff staged a protest on 17th May after several library staff, including Hackney Unison Branch Chair Brian Debus, have been handed compulsory redundancy notices. Hackney Unison have said it was “registering our disgust that three library workers including Hackney Unison Branch Chair Brian Debus are due to be made compulsorily redundant. This despite there being more than enough posts available in the restructured library service.” Read more on Hackney Citizen website
NIPSA
NICS Pay Strike: Friday 22 September (7 Sept) – As previously advised, the Civil Service Executive Committee met in June and agreed that if there was no progress on pay we should begin preparations for an escalation of our campaign in the Autumn. It was agreed that we should liaise with other trade unions and consider coordinated action and the BSC advised that unions affiliated to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions would meet in September to agree action. As a result of those discussions, the Civil Service Executive Committee has agreed that our members in the civil service and ALBs will join action with health workers and other civil service unions on Friday 22nd September. The unions that will be taking action on the day alongside NIPSA in the civil service are GMB and Unite. In health, the unions taking action alongside NIPSA are Unison, GMB, RCM, Unite, SOR and CSP. Some of those unions are taking action for longer than one day. Despite the fact that is still unclear if the Assembly will return in the near future, it was felt by all that we have no choice but to take action. It is clear members are angry that additional awards made to workers in Britain have not been made here. Civil servants will be aware that their counterparts in England and Wales have been offered a compensatory payment of £1,500 read more
Coordinated Industrial Action (24 Aug) – NIPSA met today with unions affiliated to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) to discuss coordinated industrial action in September/October in line with NIPSA policy. Unions representing workers across all employment areas are planning to coordinate action against derisory pay awards and against the cuts set out in the budget by the Secretary of State. The action is likely to involve workers in both the public and private sectors. There will be another meeting in early September to firm up the details of the action and further posts will follow. Below is a copy of the press release issued today by the Northern Ireland Committee of ICTU (NIC-ICTU)
Carmel Gates General Secretary read more
HSC Industrial Action Update: The Fight Continues! (26 Jul) – HSC Strike Action: An update to the ongoing Industrial Action Dispute in Health and ongoing Industrial Action around Pay, Safe Staffing and Travel read more
Royal College of Nursing
New pay award vote for members working for CQC (11 Sept) – Members are urged to review the award in full before voting online. RCN members employed by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have until Monday 25 September to vote on their 2023-2024 pay award. The award includes a 4.5% pay rise for grades A, B and C; a 6% pay rise for grades D, E and F; and a 4.5% increase to homeworking allowance, occupational car user allowance and London allowance. As part of this pay deal, CQC has also set out important commitments in other areas, such as work on pay scales and exploring the possibility of leaving the Civil Service Pay Remit, which limits CQC’s ability to negotiate pay. Before voting, members are urged to review the pay award in full. To vote, members will need to login to the RCN website. A link to the voting form has been sent directly to relevant members by emailread more
Royal College of Nursing members employed by the Care Plus Group vote for industrial strike action (27 Jul) – The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) balloted members employed by the Care Plus Group in July on whether they would be willing to take industrial strike action for better pay and parity with nursing staff employed by the NHS on Agenda for Change terms and conditions of employment. A majority of RCN members who responded to the ballot voted in favour of strike action with 93% of those who voted, voting ‘yes’ read more
Majority of Manx Care nurses vote to strike and reject latest pay offer (23 Jun) – Eighty per-cent (80%) of Royal College of Nursing (RCN) members who responded to the ballot for strike action, have voted in favour 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
CSP
Physiotherapy staff in Northern Ireland vote yes to strike action (12 Sept) – CSP members working for Health and Social Care Northern Ireland (HSCNI) have voted to take strike action in their first ever ballot on pay and retention issues. In the ballot which ran from 7 August to 11 September, 88 per cent of members voted yes to strike action. Turnout was 55 per cent. The CSP’s member-led council has reviewed our results, and is now calling on HSCNI staff to strike on Thursday 21 September from 8.30am – 12.30pm. The planned industrial action, called by CSP Council, follows the CSP achieving a mandate to strike across all seven employers in Northern Ireland read more
BMA
Support the Junior Doctors strike read more
Donate to support striking junior doctors
72-hour walkout looms (6 Sept) – If ballot succeeds all junior doctors will strike to ensure you all have your voices heard. Your chance to join the BMA Welsh junior doctors committee. If you want to play a crucial role in leading the fight for full pay restoration in Wales, consider applying for one of the committee roles available in our by-election. Nominations are now open. August saw significant developments for the campaign for full pay restoration in Wales and the rest of the UK. Just two weeks after rejecting the Welsh Government’s derisory 5% pay offer, the Welsh BMA junior doctors committee voted unanimously to ballot members on industrial action. The month also saw our appointment as the new co-chairs, the addition of over 400 new junior doctor members in Wales, the acceptance of a 12.4% pay uplift by junior doctors in Scotland and a resounding (98%) Yes vote – the highest mandate thus far – by junior doctors in England to continue industrial action. Even after five rounds of strike action, junior doctors in England have demonstrated their unwavering determination to secure full pay restoration, with an incredible 7,000+ more members voting in favour of continuing industrial action. This stunning show of resilience only spurs us on to work harder to get a fairer deal for members in Wales, one that reflects the extraordinary lengths you go to every day for your patients. Now, with formal approval from UK Council, the wheels are set in motion for us to ballot members in Wales on industrial action. We can now confirm, if our ballot succeeds, our strike action will commence with a full walkout of all junior doctors for 72 hours. This includes all evening, night, weekend and emergency cover. This form of strike action has consistently proven to be effective, impactful and safe. This strategy also ensures that every single one of you will have the chance to make your voice heard.
As with everything in this campaign, our strategy remains flexible. This means the nature of our strikes may evolve and we will escalate as necessary, based on the progress of our negotiations with Welsh Government read more
Junior doctors and consultants to strike on same days this autumn (31 Aug) – Joint industrial action announced as junior doctors vote to extend industrial action mandate. Junior doctors and consultants will undertake four days of joint industrial action in England this autumn after junior doctors voted overwhelmingly to extend their strike mandate in their campaign for full pay restoration. Across September and October, for the first time in the history of the NHS, there will be four days in which junior doctors and consultants coordinate their industrial action. This is in addition to other days on which just junior doctors or just consultants will be on strike, the BMA confirmed. The announcement comes as 98 per cent of junior doctors, from a turnout of 71 per cent, voted in favour of continuing industrial action. The re-ballot result has renewed their mandate for further six months, through to 29 February, 2024. Junior doctors have so far staged 19 days of strike action since March of this year. Following today’s reballot result, they have announced six further days, on 20, 21, 22 September, and 2, 3, 4 October. Consultants have staged four days of industrial action so far and have planned at least five more in the coming weeks, on 19 and 20 September and 2, 3 and 4 October. The four joint days of action in September and October will see ‘Christmas Day’ levels of staffing from both groups. A rally has been organised in Manchester, for both junior doctors and consultants, on 3 October – when the Conservative party conference is scheduled to be held in the city read more
Society of Radiographers
‘The Government gives us no choice but to strike again’ (8 Sept) – 24 hour strike action planned for 37 Trusts in England following unsuccessful talks with Government. Radiography professionals across England are preparing to take strike action for a second time, after talks between government ministers and the Society of Radiographers broke down, owing to the government’s unwillingness to alter its position. The Society will take strike action for 24 hours, from 8am on Tuesday 3 October to 8am on Wednesday 4 October, alongside junior doctors and consultants. Thousands of our members voted in favour of strike action earlier this summer, and participated in a 48-hour strike from 25 to 27 July. Our radiography professionals are responsible for a range of critical healthcare services, including carrying out X-rays, MRI and CT scans, ultrasounds and breast screening, as well as radiotherapy for cancer patients. Following the strikes in July, we were invited to discussions with Government ministers on 5 September read more
Northern Ireland: SoR to ballot members on strike action over pay (9 Aug) – Members urged to vote yes by 6 September to improve pay and help reduce waiting lists. The SoR is balloting almost 1,000 members in Northern Ireland on strike action in a bid to secure improvements to pay and conditions, increase recruitment and retention of radiography professionals – and thus cut waiting times for patients read more
New pay offer for radiographers in Wales – SoR members asked to vote now (8 Aug) – SoR recommends acceptance of improved offer following earlier strike threat. New pay talks with the Welsh government have resulted in a revised package around non-pay elements of the original offer to radiographers. SoR members in Wales had rejected that offer by an overwhelming number and called for a ballot on strike action. The Welsh government then agreed to re-open talks with the SoR on the proviso that the Society paused balloting. These talks have resulted in a new offer around non-pay elements of the original offer with the aim to improve Terms and Conditions of Service within the NHS in Wales and for radiographers read more
NEU
Six unions ask urgent questions of Gillian Keegan about RAAC-affected schools (7 Sept) – The general secretaries of six unions representing school workers, including heads, teachers and support staff – GMB, NAHT, NASUWT, NEU, UNISON and Unite – have written a joint letter to the Secretary of State for Education calling for an update on the extent of her Department’s research into RAAC-affected schools read more
NASUWT
Timetable needed for fixing RAAC crisis (12 Sept) – The NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union is calling on the Government to urgently publish a timetable for both the surveying of schools potentially containing RAAC, and for remedial work in any school found to contain the crumbling concrete. The Union is further asking the Government to commit to a public enquiry into how this crisis was allowed to happen so that lessons can be learned for the future. The NASUWT has condemned the Government’s handling of the RAAC crisis at TUC Congress in Liverpool today read more
Swansea schools to take strike action after council rejects offer (12 Sept) – Members of NASUWT – Teachers’ Union will take strike action at Swansea secondary schools tomorrow after a recent meeting with Swansea Officials failed to solve the dispute. In June, members of NASUWT across Swansea voted overwhelmingly to take industrial action over adverse employer practices, threats to job security and the failure of Swansea Council to comply with existing collective agreements. In the ballot, 92% of members voted to support strike action and 96% voted to support action short of strike, based on a turnout of 59%. On Monday, NASUWT officials made an offer to Swansea Council that would resolve the dispute and have no detrimental effect on the school at its centre. Unfortunately, Swansea have rejected that proposal and the second day of strike action takes place tomorrow read more
Resolve of NASUWT members leads to Jersey Government U-turn on pay (10 Sept) – Members of the NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union are set to receive a backdated pay award of 7.9% after the Jersey Government responded to pressure from the Union. NASUWT had balloted its members earlier this year following the failure of the Government to address the years of real terms pay erosion that teachers have suffered since 2008 or to address spiralling workloads. The threat of industrial action led to a 7.9% pay award, backdated to 1st January 2023 this year, being promised. But following an announcement this week by the NASUWT that members would take strike action in response, the Government has said it will pay teachers the backdated award, whilst acknowledging that the NASUWT remains in dispute over pay. The Government has also provided a firm commitment to negotiate a multi-year deal to address pay issues. The NASUWT has withdrawn strike action planned for 12th September. A decision about the two further days of strike action planned for 18th and 19th October will be taken in due course read more
Hutchesons’ Grammar School dispute over (9 Sept) – The NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union has reached a resolution in its dispute at Hutchesons’ Grammar School in Glasgow. It follows a commitment from the employer to the staged reintroduction of a 3% salary enhancement above recommended pay levels for members, and a 10-year guarantee on the level of employer contributions in a new pension scheme. NASUWT members took two days of strike action earlier this year after the school threatened to sack teachers if they did not agree to the transfer of their pensions to the new scheme. But the resolve of members and an ability to reach compromise from both sides has secured this resolution read more
Trade dispute – sixth form colleges (13 Jun) – In ballots of teachers in sixth form colleges, NASUWT – the Teachers’ Union, has today issued notice to the Education Secretary and employers of potential national industrial action, including strike action and action short of strike action across sixth form colleges in England. NASUWT members in 56 sixth form colleges secured ballot mandates with 87.6% of eligible members voting to support strike action and 93.7% voting in support of action short of strike action based on an overall turnout of 64.9% read more
NAHT
School leaders to strike for first time on Jersey (11 Sept) – School leaders’ union NAHT will join teachers in a day of strike action across Jersey’s schools tomorrow, Tuesday 12 September, after it said that revised proposals aimed at resolving the dispute were too little too late. Late last week, the States Employment Board (SEB) agreed to backdate its previous 7.9% pay offer, which NAHT members had overwhelmingly rejected in a ballot, to January. But NAHT said that was not enough and put its own proposals on the table on Friday designed to end the dispute. Today, the Government tabled alternative proposals which NAHT said fell well short of resolving the dispute read more
EIS
College in Crisis as Strike Action Continues (14 Sept) – Scotland’s college lecturers have continued a twelve-day rolling programme of strike action in pursuit of a fair pay award and job security. Members of the EIS-Further Education Lecturers Association (EIS-FELA) at Glasgow Kelvin College and North East Scotland College (NESCoL) are on strike today, before local branches at all of Scotland’s other further education colleges follow suit over the next two and a half weeks. Alongside national strike action, local strike campaigns also continue today at Edinburgh College and City of Glasgow College against compulsory redundancies at these public sector institutions. EIS-FELA have previously rejected a pay offer from College Employers Scotland that the employers themselves forecast to result in over 400 lecturing job losses across the further education sector. One week ago today, EIS-FELA members in all of Scotland’s colleges walked out in a national day of strike action, with hundreds gathering at a rally outside the Scottish parliament on the same day. The EIS is calling on the Scottish Government to act to provide a fully funded and fair pay award, for college lecturers, that does not result in job losses. Following the programme of rolling strike action, members of the EIS-FELA will undertake three days of targeted strike action in the constituencies of the First Minister, Deputy First Minister, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Minister for Further Education read more
College Lecturers call on College Employers Scotland & Scot Govt to show leadership & end dispute (12 Sept) – Scotland’s college lecturers have continued a twelve-day rolling programme of strike action in pursuit of a fair pay award and job security. Members of the EIS-Further Education Lecturers Association (EIS-FELA) at Glasgow Clyde College and Sabhal Mor Ostaig are on strike today, before local branches at all of Scotland’s other further education colleges follow suit over the next two and a half weeks read more
Scotland’s College Lecturers Begin Twelve Days of Rolling Strike Action (11 Sept) – Scotland’s college lecturers have begun a twelve-day rolling programme of strike action in pursuit of a fair pay award and job security. Members of the EIS-Further Education Lecturers’ Association (EIS-FELA) at New College Lanarkshire are taking strike action first, before local branches at all of Scotland’s other further education colleges follow suit over the next two and a half weeks read more
As Scotland’s colleges take strike action, programme for government highlights need for greater investment in education (7 Sept) – College lecturers have today (Thursday 7th September) begun a programme of sustained strike action, comprising of national, rolling and targeted strikes, in response to a pay offer that will result in significant job losses across Scotland’s further education sector read more
Hutchesons’ Grammar Dispute Settled, Strike Action to Cease (12 Sept) – Following four days of strike action at Hutchesons’ Grammar School, The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) dispute at the School is now settled on the basis of a 7-point agreement. The dispute began in January with the School’s proposal to withdraw teaching staff from the Scottish Teachers’ Pension Scheme and has been resolved through more beneficial changes to other terms and conditions read more
Strike action continues at City of Glasgow College over job and course cuts (4 Sept) – Members of the Educational Institute of Scotland – Further Education Lecturers’ Association (EIS-FELA) will continue their programme of strike action at City of Glasgow College this week. Picket lines will be in place at the college’s City and Riverside campuses from tomorrow (Tuesday) for the rest of the week, with additional strike days to follow over the subsequent weeks. Whilst EIS-FELA are on strike nationally in pursuit of a fair pay settlement from Colleges Scotland, members at City of Glasgow College are entering another four weeks of strike action in their local dispute. This comes after five weeks of strike action prior to the summer break, as well as continued action short of strike. The local dispute is about cuts to teaching time, increases in workload, the ending of fixed term contracts and compulsory redundancies read more
INTO
Industrial Action FAQs Updated: September 2023 (5 Sept) – Our industrial action FAQs have been updated in line with the current Action Short of Strike (ASOS). Please review these questions in conjunction with the latest NITC ASOS phase 4 guidance read more
UCU
UCU calls on Lord Wharton to stand down in response to a House of Lords report into the Office for Students (13 Sept) – The University and College Union (UCU) has today responded to a report from the House of Lords that calls on the Office for Students to ‘do better’ read more
Date set for university strike ballot (11 Sept) – Strike ballots will open at 143 universities across the UK from Tuesday 19 September in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions. The ballot will run until Friday 3 November and is aggregated. A successful ballot will renew the union’s existing strike mandate and allow staff at every university being balloted to take industrial action well into 2024. Staff at 140 universities are also striking for five days later this month. The strike and ballot come after employer body, the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) unilaterally imposed a pay award for 23/24 worth just 5% for most staff, even though it was overwhelmingly rejected by UCU members. UCU is also demanding action on gig-economy employment practices and high workloads. The upcoming ballot will be the third UK-wide higher education ballot over pay and conditions the union has run in the past year. The action UCU has already taken has pushed employers to negotiate over workloads and job security for the first time. UCU also ran two successful ballots over pension cuts in the past twelve months, resulting in employers agreeing to row back on a 35% cut to the industry’s pension scheme. UCU’s analysis of university finances shows the sector generated more money than ever last year while the proportion going to staff fell to a record low read more
Start of university term to be hit with five days of UK-wide strikes (6 Sept) – Staff at 140 universities across the UK will strike for five days later this month in a long-running dispute over pay and working conditions. At 136 of the 140 universities, UCU members will strike for five consecutive days from Monday 25 to Friday 29 September. Strikes will hit four Scottish universities on slightly different dates to coincide with local action by other unions. The dispute centres on low pay and working conditions read more
Strike to hit all further education colleges in Northern Ireland (11 Sept) – Staff at all six Further Education colleges across Northern Ireland will strike for five days next week and continuously for the next three months in a long-running dispute over pay and working conditions. UCU said it has been forced to take action after a decade of their members being subject to pay freeze, followed by pay restraint, which has seen lecturer pay awards limited to between 1 % and 2% per year read more
Four days of strikes set to hit Kirklees College in pay dispute (8 Sept) – Staff at Kirklees College will strike for four days beginning on Monday 11 September in a long running dispute over low pay, announced the University and College Union (UCU) today. The full strike days are:-
- Monday 11 September
- Tuesday 12 September
- Wednesday 20 September
- Thursday 21 September
The strikes will hit the first teaching week of the new academic year. Staff will be on picket lines at the Huddersfield Centre in Huddersfield and the Pioneer Higher Skills Centre in Dewsbury from 8am till 12pm on all four days. Staff at the college have already taken six days of strike action across May and June but management has refused to budge from a pay award for 22/23 of just 1% plus a £500 non-consolidated lump sum. To add insult to injury college management unilaterally imposed a ‘cost of living’ pay award of just 2.5% for 23/24 during pay talks for 22/23. The college’s financial accounts show it has over £10m cash in the bank yet is hiring teachers for as little as £25k (full time equivalent salary). UCU Branch Officers made themselves available over the summer break to meet with college management to find a way to resolve this dispute but management was not interested read more
College strike ballot opens as staff say low pay is impacting their mental health (5 Sept) – Strike ballots open at 89 college employers today as a UCU survey of further education employees shows a workforce in crisis. The survey of over 2,000 (2,003) workers from colleges across England shows almost all are struggling financially (96%) because of low wages with four in five survey respondents saying their financial situation is impacting their mental health (79%). Around half (46%) of survey respondents said their income does not cover the cost of living. Of these, almost two-thirds are heating their home less frequently (67%), a quarter are skipping meals (27%) and one in 20 (6%) are using foodbanks. Employer body, the Association of Colleges (AoC), has so far refused to make any pay recommendation for 2023/24 even though colleges will receive at least £700m more funding over the coming year (23/24) than three years ago read more
Strikes set for Liverpool John Moores University over pay docking (13 Jun) – Staff at Liverpool John Moores University will down tools on Friday in the first of eight days of strike action in response to the university’s enforcement of 50% wage deductions for staff taking part in the marking boycott. Friday’s strike will hit a key university open day, and staff will rally outside Metropolitan Cathedral, next to the university’s John Foster building from 1pm. The full days of strike action are:-
Week 1: Friday 16 June
Week 2: Thursday 17 and Friday 18 August
Week 3: Monday 18, Tuesday 19, Wednesday 20, Thursday 21 and Friday 22 September.
Management at John Moores has started docking the pay of staff who are boycotting marking by 50% despite the fact that staff continue to teach, support students, write references, provide pastoral care, undertake research and attend public events read more
Indefinite strike action to hit University of Leeds over 100% pay docking (2 Jun) – Over 1,800 staff at the University of Leeds will begin indefinite strike action from Thursday 15 June after management confirmed it will be deducting 100% of the pay of staff taking part in the marking boycott. The strike could continue for months unless management stop docking staff pay. UCU said pay deductions of up to 100% are utterly unacceptable as staff taking part in the marking and assessment boycott continue to teach, lecture and support students as normal read more
UCU fighting fund: the link is here and donations to the fund are spent on supporting members involved in important disputes.
FBU
Revealed: firefighters face £15,000 gap in maternity pay (14 Sept) – A new report into maternity pay and provisions in the fire service has been published by the Fire Brigades Union. Women firefighters are “systematically undervalued” by the current arrangements, the union says. Information gathered from fire and rescue services across England has uncovered vast inequality in maternity pay. FOI requests reveal that a firefighter in Cornwall receives £15,000 less than their counterpart in Staffordshire in maternity pay. The national minimum for maternity pay for firefighters provides only 90% pay for an initial 6 weeks, decreasing to 50% pay for 12 weeks, followed by statutory maternity pay. In some services, the FBU’s campaign has been able to secure superior maternity provision beyond this. However, this low minimum standard has created a postcode lottery. To address this disparity, the new report makes the case for twelve months of maternity leave on full pay for all UK firefighters. It cites research which has found that exposure to contaminants while firefighting impacts the health of pregnant firefighters, foetuses, and babies. The union argues that improving the provisions for maternity and caring responsibilities will also have a positive impact on the recruitment and retention of women in the fire and rescue service. At present, just one in ten firefighters are women read more
New TUC President Matt Wrack issues call for a “determined, mobilised trade union movement” (13 Sept) – Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, has today been elected as the new President of the Trades Union Congress (TUC). He will serve in the role for a year and preside over the TUC Congress in September 2024. He will also chair the TUC’s general council and executive committee. In a statement issued following his election, he attacked a “government for the billionaires which is relying on a toxic cocktail of authoritarianism, bigotry and attacks on our right to strike”. He also said that “austerity wearing a different colour rosette is still austerity”, warning politicians that “if they fail workers, they will face a determined, mobilised trade union movement”. Wrack’s election follows Monday’s vote at TUC congress for a strategy of non-compliance and non-cooperation against the government’s new anti-union laws read more
TUC backs campaign of non-compliance with new anti-strike laws (11 Sept) – The Trade Union Congress (TUC), which brings together 5.5 million workers in 48 trade unions across the UK economy, has today adopted a motion committing it to a strategy of resistance against the new anti-union laws. The Minimum Service Levels Act passed into law into law in July. Under it, employers in fire and rescue, health, education, transport, nuclear decommissioning, and border security will be able to require named workers to work on strike days – despite a democratic vote for strike action. The motion states: “We have no choice but to build mass opposition to the MSLs laws, up to and including a strategy of non-compliance and non-cooperation to make them unworkable, including industrial action.” A link to the full text is here. It passed overwhelmingly
Scottish firefighters participate in “ground-breaking” health trials (11 Sept) – A firefighter cancer monitoring project has been launched in Scotland today as part of a new UK wide research project commissioned by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU). The testing is being carried out by the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), led by a world expert in fire toxicity, Professor Anna Stec. Trials are taking place in Edinburgh from Monday 11th until Wednesday 13th September. Nearly 200 Scottish firefighters are participating by providing blood and urine samples. The results will be used to detect cancers and other diseases at the early stages, and to identify evidence linking occupational cancers with exposure to toxic fire chemicals read more
Merseyside fire control staff vote to strike as firefighters vote for continued industrial action (Aug 21) – Today, 21st August, results from ballots for industrial action in Merseyside fire service have gone live, with FBU members voting in response to a reduction in night-time staffing numbers in fire control, and attacks on terms and conditions. FBU members in Merseyside fire control have voted overwhelmingly for strike action, with 100% voting Yes on a 92% turnout. Fire control are the team who answer calls from those who need the fire and rescue service and make sure firefighters and appliances get to the right place read more
POA
National Chair Update August 2023 read more
NAPO
Victim Liaison Officers JES Update (8 Sept) – Members will be aware that we were recently informed of the outcome of the job evaluation (JES) for VLO staff. Disappointingly the outcome was for VLO’s to remain at Band 3 despite significant changes to the role in recent years. Earlier this week Napo held a briefing for VLO members as a follow up to last weeks staff briefing held by Jim Barton. It was clear from both meetings that members feel angry and upset about the outcome and that the documentation that was sent to the JES panel didn’t fully reflect their roles read more
BFAWU
Post Conference Foodworker 2023
BFAWU members at Allied Bakeries in Liverpool are out on Strike! (31 May) – Our members at Allied Bakeries in Liverpool have taken the difficult decision to withdraw their labour this week over a pay dispute, the picket line over the last 24 hours has had plenty of support from the membership and the public with lots of drivers beeping their horns and waving and passers by passing on their support! Read more Donate to the strike fund
Support the campaign to unionise Samworth Brothers – get organised, sign the petition read more
NUJ
Disability and equality concerns over BBC Local Radio cuts (12 Sept) – NUJ calls on BBC to conduct an equality impact assessment into staff redundancies, including on those from minority and disadvantaged backgrounds read more
National World NUJ members set to strike for three days (1 Sept) – NUJ members at National World, publisher of the Scotsman, Yorkshire Post and 100-plus regional titles, have voted to strike in a dispute over pay. More than 320 journalists at the company were balloted after talks hosted by the conciliation service Acas broke down in July, and the company imposed a real-terms pay cut. Ballot results showed 78 per cent of members were in favour of strike action on a turnout of almost 76 per cent. The National World NUJ Group Chapel met today (Friday 1 September) to discuss the results and next steps. Reps voted unanimously to serve notice on the company for three days of strike action, on Monday 18 September, Friday 22 September 22 and Monday 25 September. A work to rule will start from Tuesday 19 September read more
BBC journalists vote to renew their industrial action mandate over cuts to local radio (10 Aug) – The union now has a mandate for strike action, but will continue talks with management. Under the UK’s onerous and restrictive legislation governing industrial action, the NUJ was required to have another ballot to keep the action alive – members at BBC Local in England, in local radio, regional TV and online, have taken strike action on three occasions and are continuing to operate a work to rule. On a turnout of 64 per cent, 70 per cent said they were prepared to take part in strike action and 83 per cent said they were prepared to take part in industrial action short of a strike. This positive result was despite many members being away over August and means the work to rule will seamlessly roll on until a resolution is reached. The BBC’s plans will cut local content by almost half read more
Equity
Equity secures pension contributions on ADR session fees (8 Sept) – Equity has established that contributions are payable to members of the Equity Pension Scheme in respect of ADR session fees for PACT TV and film engagements, thereby securing these payments for members which would otherwise not have been paid read more
“One struggle, one fight!” Equity rallies in support of SAG-AFTRA (28 Jul) – Hundreds join Brian Cox, Rakie Ayola, Rob Delaney, John McDonnell MP and more to show solidarity with striking SAG-AFTRA members. Members and trade unionists show their solidarity with SAG-AFTRA. On Friday 21 July, around 400-500 people joined Brian Cox, Simon Pegg, Andy Serkis, Hayley Atwell, Imelda Staunton and more at Equity’s London rally in solidarity with striking SAG-AFTRA members. Organised by Equity, the rally took place in London’s Leicester Square gardens in front of a statue of William Shakespeare, and surrounded by cinemas, street performers and statues from the world of the arts and entertainment. Rally attendees included Equity members, actors, creatives, and members of the public, who chanted “One struggle, one fight, we support SAG-AFTRA’s strike” and “The luvvies united will never be defeated!”. They also held banners reading “Equity stands in solidarity with SAG-AFTRA”. Rally speakers gave moving, impassioned accounts of the collective threats actors face from exploitation by streaming services and AI, the need for solidarity across borders and across struggles, and the need for reform of the draconian trade union legislation in the UK read more
Community
Community vows to protect steelworkers from bad deal (15 Sept) – Community has responded to the announcement made by the UK Government and Tata Steel UK today (15 September 2023) on investment into the Port Talbot site for an electric arc furnace-only steel making model for the steelworks. The Government and Tata’s approach has been narrowminded and will be damaging for the economy and UK steelworkers read more
Strike action at Glen Dimplex to end (12 Sept) – Strike action at Glen Dimplex on Merseyside will conclude at midnight tonight after workers voted to accept an enhanced pay offer from the company – bringing an end to five weeks of industrial action at the firm’s Whiston factory. Community Union members at Glendimplex began their course of strike action over pay and conditions on August 7th, with a march taking place through nearby Prescot town centre in support of the union’s call for skilled pay for skilled work, and opposing the company’s initial plan to cut the working week to four days. That action will now end after workers at the home appliances company were balloted on an improved offer from the company this morning, which included a pay increase for staff and the retention of a five day (37 hour) working week pattern. Community Union members opted to accept the offer, with 80.6% voting in favour of the new terms. Glen Dimplex workers will now return to work on Wednesday 13th September read more
USDAW
TUC 2023 supports an emergency motion on the collapse of Wilko, which is backed by Usdaw with a call to save our shops (13 Sept) – Retail trade union Usdaw has today seconded a motion to the annual Trades Union Congress about the collapse of high street retailer Wilko. The motion calls for support for Wilko workers, along with a campaign for reform of company administration law and a viable future for the high street. It was proposed by the GMB trade union, who represent members working in Wilko and passed unanimously by Congress delegates read more
IWGB
RSA staff vote overwhelmingly for first ever strike in the organisation’s history (5 Sept) – Staff members at the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), represented by the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) have voted to go on strike for the first time in the charity’s 270 year history. With a 78.95% turnout and 93.33% vote in favour of striking, staff have given notice of strike action for Tuesday 19th and Thursday 21st of September, which will see the RSA host its president, Anne, Princess Royal, for its Design For Life awards ceremony, celebrating 100 years of the RSA Student Design Awards read more
SIPTU (Ireland)
Gas supply disruption warning as SIPTU members in GMC to strike (12 Sept) –
SIPTU representatives have today (Tuesday, 12th September) confirmed that last-ditch talks to avoid an all-out strike of members at GMC Civil and Mechanical Engineering have collapsed. This means that strike action will commence from tomorrow morning (Wednesday, 13th September) as planned read more
SIPTU members in GMC Engineering to begin nationwide strike (7 Sept) – SIPTU members at gas network infrastructure company, GMC Civil and Mechanical Engineering, will commence nationwide strike action next Wednesday (September 13th) following the company’s failure to implement recommendations arising from an agreed industrial relations process read more
Other news
HARTON AND WESTOE MINERS’ BANNER GROUP & WISECRACK PRODUCTIONS PRESENT the incredible story of…
THE CRAMLINGTON TRAIN WRECKERS
The trailer: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QAro-Fpj-VDHcpVE6vHNIdCmQ9BFoEl3/view?usp=sharing
During the 1926 General Strike, miners in Cramlington accidentally derailed the Flying Scotsman. No one was killed and only one person was slightly injured. Eight Northumberland miners were sentenced to 48 years’ penal servitude. One of them was Westoe-born William Muckle, who wrote a book about it called No Regrets.
Workers defending their jobs and communities or terrorists?
HARTON & WESTOE MINERS’ WELFARE
Low Lane, South Shields, NE34 0NA
Friday, September 29 @ 7.30pm
Illustrated talk by playwright Ed Waugh (Wor Bella, Hadaway Harry, Carrying David)
Recitations and songs by top actor Jamie Brown
Alan Mardghum, Durham Miners’ Association secretary, will speak
Tickets only £2 via eventbrite
Fight blacklisting and victimisation of union reps
UCU condemns ‘baffling’ dismissal of University of Sussex lecturer (25 Aug) – UCU has today condemned plans by the University of Sussex to make a member of teaching staff redundant after having advertised a new permanent post that includes all his current duties. Philosopher Lecturer James Furner has been employed at the university on consecutive fixed term part-time contracts since 2021, but on 22 August the university wrote to him to say that his employment will come to an end this month. Yet on July 7 it advertised a new full-time post of Lecturer in Philosophy stating that the post-holder ‘will be expected’ to teach the same four undergraduate modules that James taught in 2022-3. A petition has been launched in protest against the plans read more
Sign petition: Reinstate Anne Howie RMT Activist – Anne Howie RMT activist at Manchester Piccadilly is facing dismissal with no due process
UVW to sue LSE for disability discrimination and trade union victimisation after sacking strike leader (24 Aug) – “My condition has got something to do with it, but I think there’s more to it. I’ve always been at the forefront of the fight… because I consider myself a union leader” – Geovanny Moreno Buitrago, LSE cleaner and UVW member. UVW strike leader Geovanny Moreno Buitrago, a migrant cleaner from Colombia at the London School of Economics (LSE), was sacked after being off sick with a herniated disc as he tried to return to work. UVW is appealing and suing for his dismissal on grounds of disability discrimination and trade union victimisation. In spite of two expert medical opinions, Geovanny’s willingness to come back to work, his own recommendations on what he is capable of doing, and LSE’s own health policies, LSE sacked him read more
Support Lee Fowler – Another blacklisted construction worker sacked after making complaints about safety on site read more about Lee’s case
Support the ‘Murphy 4’ Campaign to reinstate sacked Unite members read more
Felixstowe 4’ protest demands justice at CK Hutchison AGM (18 May) read more
UK facing taps and pipes shortage as Warrington based GXO drivers strike over sacking of Unite rep (12 May) read more
Protest as Hackney Unison chair amongst those handed compulsory redundancies in libraries shake-up: 6pm Wednesday 17th May Hackney Town Hall Read more on Hackney Citizen website
#SPYCops Inquiry exposes state surveillance of workers movement
Construction blacklisting: Evidence sought in union officials’ collusion inquiry (11 Apr) – Unite, the UK’s leading union, is stepping up its search for information into the possible collusion by trade union officials into the blacklisting of construction workers. In April 2022 Unite established an independent inquiry into allegations that some union officials may have colluded with the blacklisting of construction workers. Unite has instructed a legal team of Nick Randall KC (Matrix Chambers), John Carl Townsend (33 Chancery Lane Chambers) and Paul Heron from (Public Interest Law Centre), to examine and investigate whether any union officials from Unite or its predecessor unions (T&G, UCATT, Amicus, AEEU or MSF), were involved in the blacklisting of construction workers. The inquiry is now entering its next stage and an online portal has been launched to allow anyone who has any information relating to the inquiry to submit information 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. You can catch up on disputes at Strike Map UK. Also, check out Organise Now! – Support for new worker organising.
International
USA: From the UAW website – THE STAND UP STRIKE BEGINS AT THE BIG THREE 15 Sept) – A few minutes ago, thousands of UAW members at Ford, GM, and Stellantis walked out, marking the beginning of the Stand Up Strike. This fight is our generation’s defining moment. Not just at the Big Three, but across the entire working class. We will stand up for ourselves. We will stand up for our families. We will stand up for our communities. Join us read more
Diary
September
23 Workers Summit 1pm Bishopsgate Institute, 230 Bishopsgate London EC2M 4QH details
October
1 Demonstrations at Tory Party Conference 12noon:-
- Peoples Assembly – Assemble on Oxford Road
- Stand Up To Racism – Assemble Central Manchester
3 BMA Junior Doctors & Consultants strike demonstration at Tory Party Conference in Manchester details
CONTACT US
PHONE 07952 283 558
EMAIL mailto:[email protected]
TWITTER – https://twitter.com/NSSN_AntiCuts
FACEBOOK NSSN GROUP or STOP The CUTS Likes page
ADDRESS NSSN, PO Box 54498, London E10 9DE