The full version of this week’s NSSN e-bulletin no.667 can be viewed HERE – this week’s highlights include news, protests, solidarity campaigns against victimisation, strikes and industrial action ballots as well as international reports plus much more. Reports from unions do not necessarily reflect NSSN’s views.
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NSSN 667: March this Saturday to #SaveOurSteel plus FBU slams Tory attack on their #RightToStrike
Join the fight to #SaveOurSteel – join the demonstrations that steel unions have called in Port Talbot and Newport on Saturday 17th February
Port Talbot – 1.15pm Port Talbot Civic Centre SA13 1PJ
Newport – 11am Gilligans Island NP20 2PA
Save Steelmaking at Port Talbot – nationalisation not devastation
The NSSN sends our solidarity to steelworkers and their unions as Tata Steel announce their intention to make 75% of the 4,000-strong workforce redundant. This would also result in thousands more losing their jobs at contracting companies, and threaten related jobs such as on the rails and the wider local economy.
As we did in 2016, when the steelworks were under the same threat, we continue to demand the works be nationalised to save jobs and communities. We will support and publicise all demonstrations, protests and industrial action called to save steel jobs and defend communities, in Port Talbot and in other steelmaking areas.
- Unite vows to fight for jobs as Tata warned to wait for Labour’s investment (2 Feb)
- Community: Labour commit to investment in steel industry (8 Feb)
- Community renews call on Tata to drop their broken plan for steel (8 Feb)
The NSSN stands in solidarity with the FBU as the Tory Government announces how their anti-union Minimum Service Levels legislation will apply to the Fire and Rescue Service. The 73% level is effectively a ban on the right to strike.
FBU: Union leader slams “attempt to ban strike action” in fire and rescue (9 Feb)
Responding to the government announcing minimum service levels for the fire and rescue service yesterday, Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack said:
“The Conservative government has announced regulations that amount to a draconian attempt to ban strike action in the fire and rescue service. This is a direct attack on the democratic rights of firefighters, control room staff and other fire service workers. These rules will baffle anyone who has worked in the fire sector. Firefighters will be left bemused by the threat that 73% of fire engines must be crewed during any strike action. A decade of cuts has left many fire engines sitting empty in stations every day. The government has refused to fund the fire and rescue service adequately, leaving fire stations closed, fire engines axed, and 1 in 5 firefighter jobs slashed. Conservative politicians have consistently ignored firefighters’ warnings that under-resourcing is putting lives at risk. This cynical attempt to attack firefighters’ pay and conditions reeks of hypocrisy and will do nothing for public safety.”
Firefighters’ union responds to “authoritarian” minimum service levels for fire and rescue (8 Feb) – The government has today announced Minimum Service Levels regulations for the fire and rescue sector. Employers will be able to impose ‘work notices’ to make staff come in on strike days. The announcement states that during any strike, fire and rescue services (FRSs) will be expected to crew 73% of fire engines and other vehicles.
Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary said: This is an outrageous and authoritarian plan to seek to ban strikes in the Fire and Rescue Service. The government wants this in place so that it can attack the pay and conditions of firefighters and other workers. It’s one of the worst assaults in the last century on the rights of working people to defend themselves. The Fire Brigades Union will resist this dictatorial legislation in every way possible.”
Fight the Tory attack on our #RightToStrike
About 5,000 trade unionists marched in Cheltenham on 27th January in opposition to the new Tory anti-union Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 (MSL), and to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Thatcher’s banning of union rights at GCHQ in the town.
It was just days after the U-turn by the state-owned LNER train operating company that was reported to have signalled its intention to have used the MSL against ASLEF. The union had reacted to this threat by putting in 5 additional strike days. This apparent retreat was a defeat not only for LNER bosses but for Sunak’s Tory Government.
It showed that workers’ action can smash this vicious Tory attack on our right to strike.
It is now vital that the statement that was passed at the Special TUC Congress in December – setting out a campaign of defiance and non-compliance – is implemented and built upon:-
- We will develop practical solidarity plans for unions actively engaged in strategies of non-compliance.
- Support any worker subject to a work notice, including with support from across the trade union movement, if their employer disciplines them in any way.
- Ensure that where any affiliate is facing significant risk of sanctions because of this legislation, we convene an emergency meeting of the Executive Committee to consider options for providing practical, industrial, financial and/or political backing to that union.
- Call on all employers and public bodies with oversight to oppose this counterproductive legislation. Employers and public bodies from across the public sector and the country have already signalled their opposition to the Strikes Act. All employers and public bodies must reject it
- Refuse to tell our members to cross a picket line.
- Call an urgent demonstration in the event a work notice is deployed and a union or worker is sanctioned in relation to a work notice.
This is the basis for the fighting strategy that workers and unions need and now needs to be enacted.
TUC: #HeartUnions Week 12-18 February – a week where the trade union movement celebrates unions and the good we do. There will be a whole number of local activities
Stop the attack on Gaza
Many NSSN supporters have joined marches and protests against the escalation of violence in the Middle East, particularly the invasion and bombardment of Gaza by the Israeli government
See Stop the War website for info on protests. The next national demo in Central London is Saturday 17th February – assemble at 12noon
#StandWithGaza London Trade Union Rally: Tues 6 Feb – 6.30pm, Mander Hall, Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, London WC1H 9BD
#STANDWITHGAZA Workplace day of action – Wednesday 7th February
A number of unions have issued statements on the situation in the Middle East, including: the TUC, FBU, RMT, NEU, Unite, Unison, PCS, ASLEF, TSSA, UCU, EIS, CWU, Equity, BMA, NUJ, UVW, GMB, SOR, RCM, RCN, IWGB, Prospect, CSP, INTO (Ireland), SIPTU (Ireland) and Mandate (Ireland)
NSSN news
Date for your diaries!! 2024 NSSN Conference – Saturday 22nd June, 11am-4.30pm, Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, Holborn, London WC1R 4RL
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
You can receive this bulletin via email or you can choose to unsubscribe and stop receiving them. Like everyone else, the NSSN has to adhere to new data protection regulations. Therefore you must click here to subscribe/unsubscribe. Reports from unions do not necessarily reflect NSSN’s views.
RMT
Avanti’s cashless plans designed to end onboard catering (9 Feb) – Rail union, RMT has heavily criticised Avanti’s decision to make its onboard catering cashless for passengers, claiming it will lead to job losses and the ending of the service. Avanti’s decision stands in stark contrast to ticket purchase where passengers will still be able to buy a ticket onboard with cash but will not be able to order food or drink in the same way. Back in November Avanti management claimed to have no plans for going cashless on their services read more
Hitachi Rail strike to go ahead (9 Feb) – RAIL UNION RMT announced today (Friday, February 9, 2024) that members working across East Coast mainline for Hitachi Rail will begin eight days of discontinuous strike action on Saturday. The stoppage will take place at Craigentinny, Bounds Green and Doncaster maintenance depots across the East Coast mainline and will conclude on February 24. More than 400 workers will be taking part in the action on Hitachi Rail which maintains the rolling stock and signalling for LNER. Members on the East Coast mainline will be joined by workers in London North Pole depot, which maintains the fleet for the Great Western mainline, in a vote closing next Tuesday on an offer made by Hitachi Rail which the union has deemed unacceptable and is urging its members to reject read more
Yeovil bus routes cut by First Group stranding passengers (8 Feb) – Bus workers union, RMT condemned First Bus for cutting vital bus routes in Yeovil, ahead of a demonstration against the plans on Saturday. The multi-million-pound company which is part of First Group, will stop running 54 and 58/58A services at the end of March. The bus company also plans to make cuts to the 25 and 28 services. Passenger groups had previously warned any such cuts with several elderly people expressing despair at being trapped in their own locality and not able to move freely across the town. Somerset Bus Partnership will be holding a rally in support of the 25, 28, 54 & 58 services at 11am on Saturday at The Borough bus stop, near 17 High Street, Cafe Nero, Yeovil read more
Network Rail jeopardises safety in cost cutting drive (7 Feb) – Rail union, RMT will hold a day of action against cuts to railway maintenance, infrastructure and renewals work on Thursday. Network Rail is planning £1.2bn of cuts over the next 5 years to track and infrastructure renewals work, following the government decision to axe the public company’s budget. If the cuts go ahead, there will be an increased risk to public safety, railway workers and overall efficiency of the service. Rail infrastructure includes signalling, drainage, earthworks, level crossings and track – all of which are critical to the safe and reliable running of trains on the network. Union activists are leafleting over 20 stations across the country on Thursday as part of RMT’s ‘Rail Cuts Cost Lives’ campaign, informing the public of the dangers posed by Network Rail’s plans read more
London Overground workers to strike over pay (30 Jan) – Staff working on London Overground will take strike action over pay after a below inflation offer. More than 300 workers will take action which includes strikes and action short of strike.
The action will take place at the following times:-
- 00:01 on Monday 19th February 2024 until 23:59 on Tuesday 20th February 2024
- 00:01 on Monday 4th March 2024 until 23:59 on Tuesday 5th March 2024
Among the workers taking action will be security, station, revenue and control staff.
Arriva Rail London (ARL) who has the contract on London Overground have offered a below inflation pay offer and RMT members overwhelmingly voted for action in response read more
Hitachi Rail workers to take five days strike action (26 Jan) – RMT members working across East Coast mainline for Hitachi Rail will begin five days of strike action on Saturday. The stoppage will take place at Craigentinny, Bounds Green & Doncaster maintenance depots across the East Coast mainline and will conclude on Thursday 1st February. More than 400 workers will be taking part in the action on Hitachi Rail which maintains the rolling stock and signalling for LNER. Hitachi Rail have refused to make an acceptable offer despite the company making over £100m in profit last year and paying out a whopping £260,179,000 in dividends. The union has carried out a risk assessment of the safety regime of Hitachi in the event of a strike and have found it is not up to standard and poses risks to the travelling public read more
ASLEF
They sold their souls for a mess of pottage (1 Feb) – Mick Whelan’s column:
Colleagues, we entered the new year announcing action across the train operating companies whose hands have been tied by the Tory government at Westminster. It is the bad faith shown by those companies in negotiations last year – and the determination of the Tories to turn this into a political dispute, rather than to allow individual TOCs to negotiate with us in the traditional way, using free collective bargaining – that caused us to have to take industrial action in furtherance of our pay and conditions protection. This should not have happened, ad does not need to happen, but has been forced upon us. Let us not forget the other bad actors in the process: the companies themselves who sold their mercenary souls for a mess of pottage, happy to crap on their drivers, and other grades, to keep their snouts in the trough. We cannot forget that it is coming up for five years – half a decade – for many drivers without a pay rise read more
TSSA
TSSA calls on government to grasp the nettle over HS2 future (7 Feb) – TSSA – the recognised union for HS2 staff – has called on the government to “grasp the nettle” over the high speed rail project in the light of a new report from MPs. The Public Accounts Committee has slammed Rishi Sunak and his Ministers for the decision to scrap HS2’s northern legs, leaving only the route from London to Birmingham read more
Unite
National Rank & File Construction AGM – 1pm Saturday 17th February Quakers Meeting House, 22 School Lane, Liverpool L1 3BT
Cornwall Imerys clay mine strikes off after Unite’s 8% pay victory (9 Feb) – Planned strikes by more than 400 Imerys staff, predominantly based at clay mines in Cornwall, have been called off after an improved eight per cent pay deal was secured by Unite, the UK’s leading union. The workforce had voted to strike over the refusal of the company to offer a pay rise that covered the whole of 2023. The issue has since been resolved without the need for industrial action and the workers will receive an eight per cent pay rise backdated to January 2023 read more
Staff at Barts NHS Trust escalate industrial action to seek lump-sum payment (8 Feb) – Unite members working as porters, cleaners and facilities staff at the largest NHS trust in the UK, are taking further strike action this month as they fight for a lump-sum payment owed to them. Workers at Barts NHS Trust and outsourcing company Synergy are to strike from 19-21 February in protest at the failure to pay them the lump-sum payment NHS workers were offered for working during the pandemic. Unite’s members at the time worked for another outsourcing company Serco before transferring back into the NHS just after the imposed deadline for staff to receive the payment. So far NHS bosses have rejected their demands and refused to ask the Treasury for additional funding to cover the payment read more
Unite members at 2Gether in East Kent NHS win COVID lump-sum payment (6 Feb) – Unite, Britain’s leading trade union, has secured a crucial victory in the industrial dispute with NHS outsourcing company 2Gether Support Solutions. Due to the actions of Unite members, 2Gether (a wholly owned subsidiary of the East Kent NHS Trust) will now pay hundreds of staff the lump sum payment – over £1,600 – for working during the pandemic. Unlike most NHS workers who received the Covid payment last year the workers at 2Gether had previously been denied the payment as they aren’t officially direct employees of the NHS. Unite members at 2Gether had been taking industrial action since before Christmas due to the failure of their employer to pay the lump sum payment. Staff at 2Gether are responsible for the Estates, Facilities, Domestics, Housekeepers, and Catering departments. Many of these staff are among the lowest paid in the NHS earning as little as £11.45 per hour. During the dispute, Unite recruited hundreds of more members who were determined to use the power of a union to help overcome an intransigent employer read more
Unite response to Labour green investment announcement (8 Feb) – Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Britain needs more not less investment and there is still much to do in order for Labour to gain the trust of workers impacted by net zero. If Labour keep getting scared off by Tory attacks, they will end up outsourcing their policy making to the Conservatives. This is the time to back Britain and make different choices read more
Unite: Labour’s green investment U-turn risks UK lagging behind (8 Feb)
Threat to Portadown site is completely unjustified while Glen Dimplex profits and dividends soar (8 Feb) – Announcement of proposed closure comes as a shocking blow to workforce. Unite the union has blasted today’s announcement by Glen Dimplex of plans to close its Portadown factory. Management issued a statement indicating that work on storage and panel heaters will move to Lithuania with production at the Portadown site ceasing in 2025. The union said shutting the site, which employs approximately 200 workers, makes no sense given the soaring profits and dividends reported by the group. The latest accounts of the Glen Dimplex Europe holding company show it paid out 3.8 million euros in dividends on 42.8 million euros of profits in the 2021-2022 financial year read more
Legal 500 sacked worker campaign intensifies as hostile and abusive manager messages revealed (8 Feb) – Legal reference publisher fired two workers on ‘bogus charges’ last November for organising for union recognition. Unite’s campaign against The Legal 500 for sacking two workers based at its London Fleet Street offices on ‘bogus charges’ for organising for union recognition has intensified. The sacked Legal 500 workers, who along with a number of their colleagues, had in their own time been organising staff to join Unite, were called into a meeting on 17 November last year. During the meeting, they were sacked on the spot by The Legal 500, part of the Legalease Group, for ‘underperformance’. Unite has now secured evidence of hostile and abusive communications about staff between Legal 500 managers. The managers, who Unite is not naming, wrote messages in an online messenger app visible to workers complaining about the quality of work from staff read more
Sullom Voe oil terminal workers unanimously back strike action (8 Feb) – Worley Services workers in fair pay and trade union recognition fight. Unite the union can confirm today (Thursday 8 February) that its members working for Worley Services based at Sullom Voe oil terminal in the Shetland Islands have unanimously backed strike action. Around 40 Unite members unanimously supported strike action and action short of a strike by 100 per cent on a 95 per cent turnout. The dispute centres on Unite members demanding a significant uplift in pay, and improvements to other terms and conditions. This includes the establishment of a trade union recognition agreement with Worley Services at the oil terminal in order to formally bargain on jobs, pay and conditions. The workers involved in the dispute includes technicians, electricians, pipefitters, and riggers read more
Birmingham council protest over cuts to city’s youth services (8 Feb) – Protesters will march with drums from the Library of Birmingham to a rally outside Council House on Tuesday (13 February) over plans to slash funding for the city’s youth services in half.
When: Meeting 0900 hrs 13 February at Birmingham Library to march to Council House arriving at 0930 hrs
Where: Birmingham Library (B3 3HQ) and Council House (B1 1BB)
Young people who use Birmingham Youth Services will hand in letters to the council describing how cutting £2.3 million from the service’s £4.8 million budget will impact them read more
Unite hails Church of England ‘wage’ increase after first ever clergy pay claim (8 Feb) – Unite, the UK’s union for faith workers, has hailed a seven per cent increase in the Church of England’s stipend after its clergy members submitted a pay claim for the first time in history. Church leaders originally proposed a rise of five per cent. Following campaigning by Unite’s Church of England Clergy & Employee Advocates (CEECA), a distinct part of Unite’s wider faith workers branch, the stipend has now been increased to a seven per cent uplift read more
Church of England attempt to cut clergy retirement housing stock slammed (6 Feb) – Church Commissioners created ‘needless’ funding crisis for retirement housing and must step in. Church of England leaders have been criticised by Unite for attempting to cut retirement housing provision for clergy, many of whom spend their working lives living in church-owned properties and cannot afford mortgages. Unite, which represents over 2,000 clergy and lay officers, said the church had created a ‘needless’ funding crisis in its provision of clergy retirement housing stock read more
Unite leader “horrified” by report into “disgraceful” sexual harassment in ambulance service (7 Feb) – Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has spoken of her disgust at a report published by Sky News today (Wednesday 7 February) that details widespread sexual harassment and abuse within the UK’s ambulance services. Commenting directly on the report, she said: “This report is absolutely horrific. Sky News should be thanked for spotlighting this toxic culture and Unite stands in solidarity with all the women directly and indirectly impacted by this. They are not alone. Any member of Unite facing workplace abuse can be assured that we will act immediately when concerns are brought to our attention.” Read more
Unite: Union power key to closing gender pension gap (7 Feb) – Commenting on the report by Now Pensions and the Pensions Policy Institute that women retire on average with pensions savings of £69,000, compared with £205,000 for men, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “More than 50 years after the Equal Pay Act was introduced, women still face too many unfair pay and employment gaps that are at the root cause of pension inequality…” read more
Unite hails offshore recognition agreement with Equinor (7 Feb) – Latest deal enhances jobs, pay and conditions of 70 Mariner workers. Unite, Scotland’s leading trade union, for the oil and gas industry, has signed a recognition deal with the offshore operator Equinor Production UK Limited. The voluntary agreement negotiated with the company covers around 70 workers on Equinor’s Mariner A and B platforms. The recognition agreement covers various jobs roles on the platforms including controllers along with electrical, mechanical, instrument and production technicians read more
Unite secures new pay deal for GXO Iceland workers in Swindon (6 Feb) – Unite, Britain’s leading trade union, has secured a hugely improved pay offer from GXO for its workers after a campaign of industrial action. Workers at cold food storage facilities in Swindon working on behalf of the Iceland supermarket chain have secured both backdated and ongoing pay increases to help address their pay concerns and tackle the cost of living crisis. Employees will receive a 6 per cent pay increase on basic pay, and associated rises in overtime and unsocial pay backdated to 1 March 2023. They are also receiving a further increase of 5.3 per cent on basic pay, overtime and unsocial shift pay backdated to 1 Jan 2024. There are also increases in incentives for working in the freezer section of the warehouse, chiller section and ambient sections. In addition, workers willing to work flexibly at the different storage sites in Swindon, will receive higher pay rates. Unite has also ensured backdated pay will be paid at the earliest opportunity read more
Transport workers in Northern Ireland to delay strikes to give Stormont space for a pay offer (5 Feb) – In absence of improved pay offer, bus and rail workers will take a three-day strike action at the end of the month. Public transport workers in Northern Ireland have deferred strike action to give political leaders at Stormont space to make an improved pay offer. Despite the re-establishment of power-sharing institutions, as yet the public transport unions (Unite, GMB and SIPTU) have received no offer of negotiations from Translink or indeed any offer of a pay increase. Given the potential for incoming Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd to move quickly and offer workers a pay increase, it was unanimously agreed by all three unions to reschedule the date of the next, planned strike action which was provisionally set for February 15 – until the end of the month. In the absence of a realistic offer the next scheduled strike action by bus and rail workers will be for a 72-hour period commencing on a staggered basis after midnight on 27 February and ending after midnight 29 February. Strike action would result in all bus and rail services in Northern Ireland being brought to a standstill read more
Unite vows to fight for jobs as Tata warned to wait for Labour’s investment (2 Feb) – Commenting on the formal HR1 notice of potential redundancies at Port Talbot issued by Tata today (Friday), Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite will leave no stone unturned in backing the fight for jobs at Port Talbot. Tata’s announced plans are short sighted and are not in the best interests of the company, the workforce or Britain. This consultation period must be used to take stock of where we are now…” read more
Gloucestershire Lucozade workers to strike over pay (2 Feb) – Over 180 members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, employed by Suntory Beverage & Food in Coleford, Gloucestershire, will begin a week of strike action on Monday 5 February after management failed to address the cost-of-living crisis. Workers received a two year pay deal effective from April 1 2022, with a commitment from the employer to review the second year’s increase, should inflation exceed five per cent between January to June 2023. The inflation rate far exceeded this but the one-billion-pound Suntory Beverage & Food, which produces household name drinks including Lucozade Energy, Lucozade Sport and Ribena, has not met expectations in relation to this commitment read more
Unite announces SQA industrial action lasting months (1 Feb) – Unite the union can confirm today (Thursday 1 February) that around 400 members at the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) will start a period of prolonged industrial action from this month in a dispute over pay. Unite members will initially hold two 24-hour stoppages on 23 and 29 February. The industrial action will also include an overtime ban, a ban on weekend working and a ban on accruing time-off in lieu beginning on 16 February and lasting until 10 May. The pay dispute centres on the SQA’s two-year pay offer for 2023 and 2024. For the majority of Unite’s members, the SQA offer equates to no more than 5.75 per cent in 2023, and 3.15 per cent in 2024. This amounts to a substantial real terms pay cut as the broader inflation (RPI) applicable to the pay award period hit 13.8 per cent in February last year, and regularly reached double digits throughout 2023 read more
DHL workers at East Midlands Airport to strike over poor pay offer (31 Jan) – Members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, employed by DHL Aviation at East Midlands Airport have announced strike action over a low pay offer. The 180 workers who undertake ramp duties, provide aircraft handling and oversee the tower at the airport, are paid as little as £10.96 an hour. Industrial action was called after the workers rejected a pay increase of 9.8 per cent, in effect a real terms pay cut – as the real rate of inflation (RPI) stood at 11.3 per cent in April 2023, when the increase was due. Strike action will begin on Friday 9 February and continue until Monday 19 February. The workers are particularly incensed as the pay offer is less than their counterparts at Bristol and Gatwick airports received- despite DHL Aviation reporting gross profits of £66 million last year read more
Security guards to strike at London’s Guys and St Thomas’ hospital (30 Jan) – Unite the union today (Tuesday) announced that 30 security workers at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital will take part in discontinuous industrial action from 07:00 Thursday 1 February after the NHS Foundation Trust refused to negotiate on several areas. The UK’s leading union said that its members will strike for a week until Thursday 8 February at 06:59 read more
Escalation in industrial action at Cambridge University (29 Jan) – Vital workers at Cambridge University are taking to the picket line in an escalation of strike action over the low pay they are receiving and the refusal to offer a fair increase. Despite being one of the world’s most prestigious institutes of learning, the university is trying to force through a real terms pay cut. Workers have only been offered an increase of between a five and six per cent increase. The pay award was due to come into effect in August last year when the real inflation rate (RPI) stood at nine per cent. Unite’s members, some of whom earn under £23,000 are demanding above inflation rises to cope with the cost of living in one of the most expensive parts of the UK outside London. 450 members working in the university library, the department of engineering, estate management, the Fitzwilliam Museum and information services will be taking strike action from Wednesday 31 January until Friday 2 February 2024 read more
Gillingham workers to picket at PHINIA over removal of paid lunch break (26 Jan) – Unite the union today has announced that 60 Gillingham-based PHINIA employees will take part in discontinuous industrial action from 07:30 on Monday 29 January, as the company plans to remove staff member’s paid lunch break. Unite, the UK’s leading union, will be fully supporting workers throughout industrial action with the first strike beginning on Monday 29 January and running throughout February, with a total of seven days of strikes already announced. PHINIA features on the New York Stock Exchange as PHIN and recently reported a net revenue of approximately $800 million. Now the fuel systems company is seeking to revoke a contractually binding paid lunch break that was secured as part of negotiations 20 years ago…In a deplorable development, PHINIA has threatened to fire and rehire the entire workforce to try to force through its planned change read more
Mid Ulster District Council Leisure workers to continue all-out strike for improved coaching payments (26 Jan) – Strike by leisure workers continues at both Cookstown and Greenvale Leisure Centres. Approximately 30 members of Unite the union employed at both Cookstown Leisure Centre and Greenvale Leisure Centre are taking strike action in demand of improved payments for coaching duties. The all-out (indefinite) strike commenced on Monday [22 January] and in the absence of movement by council management is set to continue into a second week. The industrial action follows a ballot of the workers which returned an 80 per cent mandate for strike action. The workers are seeking improved payments for coaching duties which are outside their standard contract of employment read more
Offshore working rota disputes widen to cover chemists, heating and ventilation engineers (23 Jan) – Unite the union confirmed today (Tuesday 23 January) that it is balloting over 50 members in the offshore sector including chemists, heating and ventilation engineers. The union is holding industrial action ballots at IES Callenberg and SGS UK Limited for the failure by both companies to improve the jobs, terms and conditions of the workforce. The IES Callenberg dispute involves over 40 offshore workers who provide heating, ventilation, and air conditioning services on offshore platforms operated by BP, TAQA, CNR, Repsol, Serica and CNOOC. Chemists who provide services to the offshore oil and gas industry employed by SGS UK Limited are also being balloted on industrial action. The dispute exclusively centres on chemists servicing BP’s platforms the Clair, Clair Ridge, ETAP and Glen Lyon. The ballots which are now open both close on 22 February read more
Kaefer contractors resume strike action at Mossmorran gas plant (22 Jan) – Around 90 Kaefer maintenance and repair contractors based at the Mossmorran Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) plant will resume strike action this week as part of an ongoing payment dispute. A 24 hour stoppage starts tomorrow (Tuesday 23 January) with a further round scheduled to start on Thursday (25 January) morning. There will then be further strikes next week and into February. Strike action took place between 27 November to 4 December last year in relation to the dispute. Picket lines will be held outside the Mossmorran plant from 07:00 on both mornings. The dispute centres on the contractor Kaefer not making a cost of living payment for 2023. Unite says its membership has been left with ‘no choice’ but to resume strike action. The union has taken aim at the operator Shell for the impasse stating it is refusing to support any negotiated deal with Kaefer at the Mossmorran plant read more
Bus controllers strike to bring chaos across London (16 Jan) – Bus company staff in London are to strike this week after rejecting a poor pay offer, Unite confirmed today (16 January 2024). Around 40 staff who work in the control rooms for Abellio buses and who control the bus routes, instruct drivers on traffic jams or accidents and ensure overall safety on the routes are to take six days of action beginning on Friday 19 January. Control room staff, who use high-tech satellite GPS systems to monitor bus routes across London, have been offered just a five per cent pay increase for 2023 by Abellio, a substantial real terms pay cut. They already earn approximately £10,000 per year less than similar staff at other bus companies and have been offered a smaller pay increase than that offered to members doing the same job at competitor companies… Controllers, managers and supervisors based at both Battersea bus garage and Twickenham bus garage are staging walkouts on the following dates: 19 and 26 January and 2, 9, 16 and 23 February… The routes that affected by industrial action are primarily in South and South West London and include: 24, 27, 111, 156, 159, 267, 285, 322, 344, 345, 415 , 490, 969, H20, H25, H26, R68, R70 read more
400 Unite members at bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis start two weeks of strikes (14 Jan) – Around 400 Unite members employed by Alexander Dennis will start a two week strike today (15 January) as part of a bitter pay dispute at the Falkirk based bus manufacturer. The strike action will continue until 29 January when the action will conclude. Unite represents coach builders and spray painters at the Camelon factory. The union’s members previously took two weeks of strike action between 4 to 17 December 2023… In December 2023 Alexander Dennis offered a penny-pinching additional 0.5 per cent on its original four per cent wage offer (4.5 per cent), and four per cent for 2024. The pay offer was emphatically rejected by the workforce read more
Long running Cardiff bin strike to extend into February (12 Jan) – Strike action by Unite members working within Cardiff council’s refuse and recycling department is being extended by a further four weeks. The current strike action which started on 28 December, was due to end on Thursday 25 January will now continue until Thursday 22 February. The fresh strike dates are in response to Cardiff council’s failure to make any progress in relation to Unite’s concerns on a number of local issues. The most prominent of these being the widespread bullying culture within the refuse and recycling department alongside the ingrained use of agency labour. Unite is concerned that Cardiff council are showing no desire to resolve the dispute, indeed the council leadership have disgracefully announced they intend to attack the annual leave accrual of striking workers read more
Drax canteen workers serve up more pay strikes (12 Jan) – Power station’s Baxter Storey food and drink facilities now at risk of ‘health hazard’. Strike action by Drax canteen workers employed by Baxter Storey has intensified, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Friday). The predominantly women workers began strike action in early December over poverty pay and a lack of union recognition. Since then, Baxter Storey has agreed to negotiate a voluntary recognition agreement and enter pay talks. The extremely profitable company’s offer of a one-off payment of £380, however, has been rejected as completely inadequate…The workers began their current round of industrial action on 8 January and will strike until 14 January. A further 14 days of strikes will begin on 22 January, with industrial action intensifying further if the dispute is not resolved read more
Bedford warehouse workers at Movianto head to picket line over trade union recognition (9 Jan) – Workers at Movianto, a specialised medical warehousing company in Bedford, are striking from Monday 8 January after their employer refused to recognise Unite for collective bargaining purposes. Over 85 Unite members have been campaigning for their union to be officially recognised but Movianto has strongly resisted such moves. Workers voted in favour of industrial action by nearly 80 per cent read more
Slough parking strikes suspended following new offer (22 Dec) – Planned strikes involving parking attendants in Slough have been suspended following an improved offer by the employer. Over 30 members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, employed by Saba Parking Services on the outsourced Slough council parking contract were set to walk out from 27 to 30 December in a dispute over low pay. However, following an improved offer by the employer and with further talks scheduled for the new year, the strikes were called off. If the talks fail to resolve the dispute then further industrial action could be announced next year read more
300 craft workers resume strike action in dispute with ‘Scrooge’ West Lothian Council (15 Dec) – Unite demands overdue payments and COSLA pay rise. Unite the union confirmed today (Friday 15 December) around 300 craft members employed by West Lothian Council will take several rounds of strike action in an increasingly bitter dispute over money owed to the workforce. Strike action will take place on 19, 20 and 21 December followed by a further two days of action on 3 and 4 January 2024. The membership supported strike action by 96.3 per cent, and previously took strike action from 17 until 19 October. The dispute centres on the 2007 agreement covering craft workers employed by local authorities and outsourced workplaces who maintain council buildings and housing. The agreement covers a range of trades including joiners, plasterers, bricklayers, labourers, painters, and electricians. West Lothian Council, to date, has refused to apply arrangements that ensure pay progression for craft workers who have undertaken, and continue to undertake, additional tasks which they entitled to under the terms of the agreement. Industrial action will directly impact housing services and council buildings. Council house repairs will be significantly delayed, and empty houses will remain unfit to be let out read more
West London Christmas bus misery as strikes intensify (11 Dec) – RATP-owned London Transit workers anger worsened by ‘insulting’ new offer. Christmas bus strikes in West London will now begin a day earlier following an insulting new offer from RATP-owned London Transit, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Monday). Strikes by the 350 drivers and engineers will now begin on 21 December, as well as on 22 and 23 December, as previously scheduled. Industrial action will intensify if the dispute is not resolved. The workers are striking after they rejected a 6.8 per cent pay offer. This is a significant real terms pay cut as the real rate of inflation, (RPI), stood at 11.4 per cent when the pay increase was supposed to be applied in April. The dispute is also over the company’s attempt to reduce terms and conditions, including removing a longstanding £500 meal relief payment and attacking arrangements for how workers take days off in lieu. The company’s latest offer only included extremely minor changes that did not include an increase in hourly pay. Furthering bad feeling at the company is the fact that it takes workers seven years to reach the full rate of pay, even though at most other bus companies it only takes three years of service read more
Maintenance workers at Crawley Borough Council to strike over pay (7 Dec) – Unite members who maintain and repair social housing for Crawley borough council will begin strike action this month as they step up their battle for better pay and conditions, it was announced today (Thursday 8 December). Twenty plumbers, electricians, gas engineers, painters and other craftworkers who are employed by two subcontractors – Mears and Liberty Gas – are requesting a 10 per cent pay increase on their hourly rates to reflect the rate of inflation over the last year and the ongoing cost of living crisis. Instead Mears has merely offered a lump sum payment that equates to just a five per cent, one-off increase, which is even below the seven per cent National Joint Council (NJC) local council workers offer. Liberty Gas have made no pay offer at all. Liberty Gas also gives fewer holidays to its employees than the other contractors and Unite is calling for harmonisation for all contracted workers. Given the reluctance of the contractors or Crawley Borough Council to improve the offer, workers will head to the picket line on Wednesday 11 December 2023 and 8 January 2024 read more
Iceland warehouse workers to walk out as South West face store shortages (4 Dec) – Warehouse workers in Swindon announce strike dates – threat of empty shelves at supermarket. Warehouse staff in Wiltshire working on behalf of the Iceland supermarket chain have announced dates for strike action, it was revealed today. Unite members employed by the logistics contractor, GXO, work in the cold storage warehouses that supply Iceland supermarkets across the South West of England. The majority earn the minimum wage and have rejected a below-inflation two-year pay deal offered by GXO. Despite further negotiations by Unite, GXO has refused to offer a fair pay rise to workers who endure sub-zero temperatures throughout their shifts. Close to 150 Unite members across two sites in Swindon will now walk out on the following dates: 14 December – 18 December and then 27 December – 30 December. The industrial action will cripple GXO’s ability to transport stock to Iceland supermarkets and could see a shortage on shelves and freezers in the run-up to Christmas read more
Striking Haringey council workers protest at cabinet meeting (4 Dec) – Striking housing repair workers will stage a protest on 5 December during the Haringey council cabinet meeting tomorrow, ahead of renewed industrial action over pay later this month. Haringey council’s leadership is falsely claiming it is not possible to open pay talks as rates are agreed nationally. While the national bargaining agreement for local government sets out minimum standards, local authorities can agree better terms and conditions for workers if they wish. Unite has already agreed deals with a number of local authorities including three other London councils (Newham, Southwark and Tower Hamlets) this year…The workers began striking in November, with the next phase of industrial action beginning on 18 December and ending on 24 December. More strike action will be scheduled if the dispute is not resolved read more
Strikes impacting Christmas Amazon, Cadbury and Direct Wines deliveries to intensify (4 Dec) – DS Smith drivers delivering cardboard packaging striking over pay. Strikes by a fleet of DS Smith LGV drivers delivering packaging cardboard and paper to major retailers, including Amazon, have escalated to cover the entire Christmas period, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today. The strikes will compromise the ability of DS Smith clients, which also include Direct Wines, Cadbury and Haribo, to package items for mail order delivery to customers during the festive season. The drivers, based in Launceston in Cornwall, Sittingbourne in Kent, Avonmouth in Bristol and Tuxford in Nottinghamshire, have rejected a five per cent pay offer. This is a significant real terms pay cut when the real rate of inflation, RPI, stood at 11.3 per cent when the pay rise should have been implemented in May. An initial seven days of strikes took place between 20 and 27 November. The next round of strike action begins on 11 December and lasts until 23 December read more
Warrington council loses High Court case against bin worker strikes (1 Dec) – Unite blasts Labour council for wasting taxpayers’ money as new strike dates confirmed. Warrington council has lost its High Court attempt to block industrial action by its refuse drivers. The council’s case was that the workers’ strike action was unlawful as the dispute was no longer about pay. The council tried to use the extra hurdles placed in the way of legitimate strike action by the Conservative’s Trade Union Act of 2016. The High Court ruling however confirmed that there was an “industrial reality” and the union had not, in seeking to find alternative and innovative ways to settle the dispute, breached the law. This means that the council workers who have been in dispute for many months have the right to continue their struggle to secure a fair pay settlement from their employer read more
CWU
CWU bid to save 300 local jobs at BT Enniskillen after shock announcement (9 Feb) – Northern Ireland Telecoms Branch to meet next week with national union leaders and local politicans to plan campaign against job losses. Communication Workers Union leaders and representatives reacted with shock and dismay to BT Group’s announcement this week, reported by the BBC, that it may close its customer-contact centre in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh, and transfer the work elsewhere. Deputy general secretary-elect Karen Rose and national officer Stephen Albon will meet members next week, as well as Enniskillen’s MP and Northern Ireland Assembly Members, to discuss the crisis and work together in a determined effort to save jobs read more
CWU persistence pay off over GXO pay disagreement (9 Feb) – A line has been drawn under a festering disagreement over GXO’s application of its 2023 pay award to ex-BT Supply Chain drivers – with decisive action now underway to ensure that a review of every case will be made where requested read more
VMO2 workers set for 4% 2024 pay boost (8 Feb) – Deal goes out to ballot next week, with CWU recommending YES vote. Thousands of CWU members working for communications company VMO2 at sites around the UK will start voting from next Monday on an agreement negotiated between the company and the union that raises pay by a minimum of 4 per cent this calendar year. Subject to approval in the ballot – which closes on 26th February – employees will receive pay rises of either 3.75 per cent or 4.25 per cent (depending on grade) with effect from 1st April. ‘Those receiving the 3.75 per cent will receive a minimum extra increase of 0.25 per cent from 1st October.’ 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]
Fujitsu members accept increased pay offer after successful dispute (9 Feb) – PCS members at IT company Fujitsu have voted to accept an improved pay offer following a successful industrial action campaign. Following strike action by PCS members employed by Fujitsu, the company has almost doubled its initial offer of 2-3% to 5% across the board for everyone with some of the lowest paid receiving up to a 15% increase in salary. On top of this, the company agreed to give all our members in the dispute an extra day of annual leave, and review out-of-hours rates which haven’t increased in years. This is the first industrial action that PCS has taken against Fujitsu read more
Update on ‘Return to Office’ talks in HMRC (9 Feb) – PCS continues to meet with HMRC over the government’s ‘return to office’ edict, amidst our concerns about available desk space. Additionally, PCS is issuing advice to members currently able to work from home for more than two days. PCS is continuing to meet with HMRC, to discuss the plans to increasingly restrict hybrid working by introducing a general restriction of two days per week working from home read more
New strike dates announced at the Pensions Regulator (8 Feb) – PCS members will take 12 more days of strike action this month and next in pursuit of our national campaign and as they continue to fight for fair pay following the imposition of an unacceptable pay deal. PCS members at The Pensions Regulator (TPR) have taken more than seven weeks of strike action since 5 September, finishing their most recent round on 1 February. Due to the continued intransigence of The Pensions Regulator, their imposition of a 3% pay settlement and their refusal to engage further with PCS to resolve the dispute, we have notified management that members will take an additional 12 days of action. Members are angry because TPR is only offering a pay rise of 3% while other civil service employers are paying a minimum of 4.5%, with an additional 0.5% of the overall pay pot to be targeted at the worst-paid staff. The new dates will be 28 and 29 February and 1, 4, 5, 6, 13, 14, 15, 18, 19, and 20 March read more
Flawed judgment could place many civil servants at increased risk (8 Feb) – PCS fears hundreds if thousands of civil servants could be placed at increased risk following a Court of Appeal decision that officials should not routinely have their names redacted from evidence papers read more
Further meetings dates – have your say on the 2024 Facilities Management Pay Claim (8 Feb) – We have added two further meeting dates on the 13 and 14 February to give PCS members employed in outsourced Facilities Management (FM) roles the opportunity to gives us your views on your 2024 pay demands read more
DVSA strike action suspended (6 Feb) – Following intensive talks with senior management at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency we have suspended our planned strike action which was due to take place from Thursday to Sunday (8-11 February). Following the negotiations which concluded yesterday, we are pleased to report that we have reached an improved proposal, presented as a full package, which meets the 8 demands PCS members were balloted on. These include members’ safety, terms and conditions and the standards of safety that driving tests require. Our members believe in the quality of the public service that they provide, that helps keep those using our roads as safe as possible. It is important to us that the integrity of that driving test, the safety of that driving test and of the service that we provide to the public is maintained. To allow us to fully consult members on these proposals, we have suspended the planned strike action. Members must now attend work on those dates. We will contact members shortly to outline the details of a consultative ballot on management’s proposals read more
National Museums Liverpool members to strike over pay (2 Feb) – The museum and gallery staff will walk out for eight weeks as their employer refuses to pay them the £1,500 cost-of-living payment. In a ballot that closed this week (31 January) PCS members at National Museums Liverpool voted by 94% to take strike action as part of our national campaign. Their employer has refused to pay the £1500 cost-of-living payment, one of the concessions made by the government as a result of our national campaign. NML is the only employer out of over 200 covered by the civil service pay remit guidance to withhold the £1,500 cost-of-living payment. PCS members working at seven museum and gallery sites across Merseyside will walk out from 17 February to 14 April. The action is likely to affect the Museum of Liverpool, the World Museum, the International Slavery Museum and the Maritime Museum, as well as the Walker Art Gallery, Sudley House and the Lady Lever Art Gallery read more
House of Commons security guards to vote on negotiated offer (29 Jan) – After voting for strike action, talks with management have achieved a successful outcome. Last year over 250 PCS members working as security guards in Westminster voted for strike action over changes to their shift patterns. PCS suspended the strike action to allow for negotiations to take place. A working party of reps and management was established at the end of last year and has worked through the shift rosters in detail. The PCS team has worked hard to achieve changes that would be acceptable to our members, and we have reached a satisfactory conclusion judged against our objectives. Members will now be balloted on the offer and reps are recommending acceptance. The ballot will be online and run from 29 January until 11 February. The branch will be holding drop-in sessions between now and the closing date of the ballot to answer any questions members might have read more
Prospect
Labour must prioritise an active industrial strategy to deliver good jobs at scale (8 Feb) – The Labour Party is announcing changes to its Green Prosperity plan and is expected to alter a previous pledge to invest £28bn annually on green energy read more
60% of women in the defence sector say they have been sexually harassed at work (8 Feb) – Trigger warning: this story discusses sexual assault and rape.
Nearly 60% of women surveyed by Prospect who work in the defence sector have experienced sexual harassment at work. This includes 61% of those working at the Ministry of Defence (MoD), 60% in MoD agencies or arm’s length bodies, and 47% in the private sector. Similar proportions have witnessed sexual harassment read more
Prospect moves to strike action over pay at AWE (10 Jan) – Prospect members at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) are moving to strike action after two months of action short of a strike have failed to produce any meaningful movement from the company read more
FDA
FDA calls on Senedd to implement “fully independent process for dealing with complaints of bullying, harassment and sexual harassment” (8 Feb) – FDA Cymru|Wales has called on the Senedd to “implement a fully independent process for dealing with complaints of bullying, harassment and sexual harassment” made against MSs. This call was included in FDA Cymru|Wales’s written evidence for the Standards of Conduct Committee’s ‘Inquiry into dignity and respect’, in which the union set out how the Senedd can better ensure unacceptable behaviour by elected officials does not go unpunished read more
Attacks on Scottish civil servants “having a corrosive effect on public trust” (7 Feb) – FDA National Officer for Scotland Allan Sampson has called on ministers in the Scottish Government to defend their civil servants, after they faced accusations of bias following evidence given to the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry. In a comment piece for the Times, Sampson championed “civil servants vital contribution to protecting the lives and wellbeing” of Scottish citizens during the pandemic read more
GMB
Asda workers set for two day midnight strike (8 Feb) – Asda workers will begin historic industrial action when they walk out for 48 hours tonight. More than 100 GMB members at the Gosport superstore will strike from 00.01 Friday 9 February until 23.59 Saturday 10 February in anger at a working environment they describe as ‘toxic’. Having voted to take action in December 2023, members of GMB, the union for Asda, agreed to suspend their action in order for talks to take place and eventually in order to be balloted on a management offer. The members at Asda’s Gosport Superstore rejected the company’s offer and voted a second time to take strike action read more
Two Brighton Asda superstores balloted over staff complaints (1 Feb) – GMB union members following in footsteps of colleagues at Gosport superstore. GMB, the union for Asda, is balloting two Asda superstores in Brighton with staff unhappy with how a litany of complaints have not been dealt with by managers read more
Asda workers balloted over cuts and bullying (26 Jan) – Wisbech Asda workers will vote in a ballot over cuts in hours and management bullying. More than 150 GMB members at ASDA Wisbech asked for the vote to address these issues, along with poor training and support, their equal pay claim dragging on for years, and health, safety and fire safety issues being ignored. The consultative ballot opens today [Friday 26 January] and closes on 9 February. If workers indicate they are ready for industrial action, a full strike ballot will launch shortly after. More than 100 GMB members at Asda’s Gosport superstore voted for industrial action last month – the first ever vote of its kind. The strike was suspended thanks to last ditch talks, which are still on going read more
Dates announced as Amazon workers begin fresh wave of Industrial Action (8 Feb) – Fresh industrial chaos will hit the retail giant next week. GMB union has today announced that workers at the company’s Coventry will down tools next week. Strike action will take place on Tuesday 13, Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15 February with over 1000 workers expected to take part. This marks the first three days in a fresh wave of industrial action after workers voted overwhelmingly to back an extension of strikes earlier this year. UK Amazon workers have now taken over 30 days of industrial action in their fight for £15 and union rights at the retail giant read more
Amazon workers vote for six more months of strikes (26 Jan) – Workers at Amazon Coventry have voted to back an extension of industrial action. The news comes as strike action spread to a third Amazon warehouse this week, with workers at Amazon Minworth downing tools and joining strike action. Amazon workers have already taken nearly 30 days of industrial action in their fight for £15 and union rights. Over 1000 Amazon workers are expected to join the upcoming action with strike dates set to be announced in the coming weeks read more
Charnwood faces ‘eye-watering’ £6.5 million bill for privatised bins (7 Feb) – Bringing the service back in house could save enough to pay for as many as four new play parks, says GMB. Charnwood residents face an ‘eye-watering’ £6.5 million bill for privatised bin services, GMB Union has revealed. A Freedom of Information request by the union shows Charnwood Borough Council budgeted more than £6.5 million for waste and refuse services for 2023/24 alone. Currently the authority outsources all refuse services to a private contractor, Serco, a company which has announced more than £200 million profits in recent years. Council bosses are due to begin the process of tendering for the service this year, which includes the option to bring Charnwood’s refuse services back under council control. Nearby Hinkley & Bosworth Council, with in-house council run services, budgeted almost £1 million less than Charnwood Borough Council for waste services in the same period read more
Northern Ireland transport strikes suspended (5 Feb) – Transport workers in Northern Ireland have suspended strike action. Translink staff are keen to give political leaders at Stormont space to make an improved pay offer. Despite the re-establishment of power-sharing institutions, as yet the public transport unions (GMB, Unite and SIPTU) have received no offer of negotiations from Translink or indeed any offer of a pay increase. Given the potential for incoming Infrastructure Minister John O’Dowd to move quickly and offer workers a pay increase, it was unanimously agreed by all three unions to reschedule the date of the next, planned strike action which was provisionally set for February 15 – until the end of the month. In the absence of a realistic offer the next scheduled strike action by bus and rail workers will be for a 72-hour period commencing on a staggered basis after midnight on 27 February and ending after midnight 29 February. Strike action would result in all bus and rail services in Northern Ireland being brought to a standstill read more
Swindon social workers set dates for strike action (31 Jan) – 19 social work managers in the borough will strike for 2 days a week for 2 months. GMB, the union for Swindon Borough Council, has announced the dates for the industrial action to be taken by social work managers within the borough. A total of 19 union members, employed as Assistant Team Managers and Independent Reviewing Officers (including the LADO child allegation experts) will take two days of strike action per week for two months, starting on Tuesday 27 February. The dispute is over pay, after a pay and grading review, described as ‘botched’ by GMB, has seen their pay and status undermined. The union are predicting that the strike, if allowed to take place, will jeopardise the council’s plan to recover from its Ofsted evaluation of ‘inadequate.’ Read more
Regent’s Park gardeners strike (31 Jan) – Regent’s Park gardeners are on strike over pay today. Workers, employed by private contractor Idverde, will walk on on Thursday 1 February for 24 hours in anger at the fact they received lower pay than gardeners at the other Royal Parks. Staff at Regent’s Park were handed the prestigious BALI (British Association of Landscape Industries) award for their work just last year read more
Wiltshire Social Workers announce 3 months of strike action (29 Jan) – Workers in the out of hours emergency service to strike every weekend until 19 May. Members of GMB, the union for Wiltshire Council, have today informed their employer that they will be taking strike action every weekend for three months. The dispute centres around a proposed pay cut by the council, which would see a contractual out-of-hours bonus removed, costing some staff up to 20 per cent of their annual salary. The strike is an escalation of a dispute by GMB members across the council which has been running for 2 years and has seen 11 days of strikes by traffic wardens read more
Defence manufacturing giant Rolls-Royce faces strike threat (23 Jan) – Rolls-Royce members working in the submarine sector will begin balloting for industrial action. The vote at the Derby-based company comes as workers rejected the latest offer in an ongoing dispute on pay. Rolls-Royce is a world leader in the field of submarine technology, as well as being the supplier to Britain’s domestic nuclear submarine fleet. In agreement with the company, any industrial action will not jeopardise the UK’s continuous at sea nuclear deterrent, safety of submarines or operational submarines at sea. Workers will begin balloting on Monday 29 January with a result expected after four weeks. GMB is Britain’s largest union in defence and nuclear manufacturing read more
South Tyneside faces third round of bin strikes (9 Jan) – Council needs to deal with bullying and release independent report. South Tyneside refuse workers will begin a third round of industrial action next week. Full strike action will be taken 9-12 January. Workers will put their concerns direct to councillors at the next full council meeting on 24 January read more
Northampton’s ‘jingle-smells’ festive bin strike suspended (20 Dec) – Last minute breakthrough saves Northampton from a stinky Christmas, says GMB. GMB Union has today announced that planned strike action by refuse workers in Northampton has been suspended. Around 80 refuse and street cleaning workers were expected to down tools between Christmas and new year, with an over time ban throughout the Christmas period. The news comes after a refuse workers voted to accept an offer to re-start stalled pay talks with refuse provider Veolia along with a Christmas bonus scheme for workers read more
Coventry care home faces strike disruption as union slams culture of ‘poverty pay’ (20 Dec) – Workers at Coventry’s Victoria Park care home begin strike vote this week, says GMB. GMB union has today announced that workers at Victoria Park care home in Coventry will begin balloting for strike action. The news comes after the union accused HC One of failing to listen to workers’ concerns. Workers are furious after a popular local care home manager was sacked from the home after raising safety concerns about the referral of hospital outpatients to Victoria Park. A recent UK wide survey of workers in HC One Care homes found that staff were feeling the pinch of poor working conditions, with 40% of staff considering leaving because they don’t earn enough to live. Around 20 workers at the home are expected to join the ballot which begins on Thursday 21 December with a result expected after 4 January read more
South Wales faces festive Flogas shortage (20 Dec) – GMB Union members at Flogas at Llandarcy have downed tools for two more weeks of strike action
The move by workers has led to shortages of Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) and Liquid Nitrogen Gas (LNG) shortages during the festive period across South West Wales, GMB has said. This is the second batch of action as nearly 20 workers at gas giant’s depot in South Wales downed tools back in November. After months of negotiation, workers voted to strike with a majority of more than 80 per cent. The following day, Flogas announced redundancies at the site read more
Strike threat hits Birmingham on eve of crunch budget meeting (11 Dec) – Thousands of workers could down tools across the city after council bosses announced further delays to ending the equal pay crisis. GMB Union, Birmingham City Council’s largest staff union, has today announced that thousands of workers across the council will begin a ballot for strike action. The news comes on the eve of crunch budget talks at the authority after council bosses announced a further delay to settling outstanding equal pay claims. GMB has called on council leaders to urgently announce a timetable for settling the authority’s £780 million equal pay liability, only for council representatives to respond that settlement talks would be pushed back. The ballot will begin on Tuesday 12 December and run until mid-January 2024 with more than 3,000 Birmingham City Council workers being asked to have their say on strike action 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
Decent NHS pay rise is crucial if both the workforce and the economy are to grow, say health unions (9 Feb) – Report sets out case for decent pay. Proper investment in NHS staff is essential for both the UK’s economic success and if there’s to be any hope of filling record staff vacancies, health unions say today (Friday). A new report, compiled on behalf of 14 unions representing more than a million health workers in England, makes clear rebuilding the NHS workforce will be impossible without the fair, sustained wage rises central to recruiting and hanging on to staff read more
Put pay right and start to solve the NHS’ many problems (9 Feb) – Wage talks rather than review body process are needed. A proper pay rise for NHS staff in England this year is essential if there is to be any hope of filling the huge vacancies hole and stopping waiting lists from spiralling, says UNISON today (Friday). The union – representing ambulance workers, nurses, cleaners, medical secretaries, occupational therapists, porters and a whole host of other NHS staff – has urged Victoria Atkins to convene pay talks. UNISON says this would be the best way to agree the wage rise due in April, improve the experience of patients and avoid a repeat of last year’s strike action. UNISON, which is the biggest union in the NHS, has this week written to the health secretary setting out the case for sustained investment in the workforce. UNISON has also notified the acting chair of the NHS pay review body (PRB) of its decision to do this rather than submitting evidence. This is because the union says the PRB process takes too long, and is neither sufficiently independent, nor fit for purpose read more
Pay is key to fixing staffing crisis and getting NHS waiting lists down (8 Feb) – If the prime minister wants to meet his pledge, he must act over pay. Commenting on the latest NHS England statistics regarding waiting lists and delays to be seen in A&E published today (Thursday), UNISON acting head of health Helga Pile said: “There may have been a slight dip in the number of people awaiting treatment, but the backlog is still enormous…” read more
Support Barnet UNISON Mental Health social workers – 27 days of strike action by Mental Health social workers: workers are now re-balloting to extend action read more
Send messages of support to [email protected]
Support Brighton & Hove & Barnet UNISON social worker strike
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
NIPSA continues to seek restoration of funding to councils from DAERA for animal welfare (8 Feb) – Following the restoration of the NI Executive, NIPSA has written to the newly appointed DAERA Minister to seek restoration of funding for Animal Welfare statutory duties currently undertaken by Councils read more
Royal College of Nursing
Almost half of GP nursing staff haven’t received promised pay rise, RCN survey reveals (8 Feb) – Government must fund pay increase for general practice nursing staff now. An RCN survey of nearly 1,500 GP nursing staff in England has revealed 44% received no pay rise at all for 2023/24. Overall, 77% didn’t receive the full 6% pay increase the UK government promised. The failure to fully fund last year’s award, backdated to April 2023, has left staff feeling undervalued, with some saying they’re considering leaving the profession. Of the small number who received a pay rise, nearly a fifth (19%) didn’t have their pay backdated to April 2023 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
Health unions call for above-inflation pay rise (9 Feb) – The CSP, along with other health unions, have jointly published The Case for NHS Pay calling for an above-inflation pay rise in 2024-25. It makes clear the economic arguments for investing in NHS pay and the need for a funding commitment to support the delivery of the NHS long-term workforce plan read more
Northern Ireland pay talks begin (8 Feb) – Trade unions today met with Northern Ireland health minister Robin Swann, Department of Health officials and health employers to start negotiations on outstanding issues of pay, terms and conditions read more
SOR
SoR and other NHS unions put forward economic case for staff investment (9 Feb) – The Society has helped publish an economic case document alongside other health unions for significant pay award and staff investment read more
Update from Society of Radiographers following meeting with NI health minister (9 Feb) – The SoR and other trade unions met with Robin Swann this week to begin negotiations. On Thursday 8 February, the Society of Radiographers, alongside other trade unions, met with health minister Robin Swann, Department of Health officials and health employers, to start negotiations on outstanding issues of pay, terms and conditions. Trade unions conveyed to officials their members’ expectation that pay justice will be achieved. Discussions are at an early stage and all sides are due to meet again next week read more
Scottish NHS pay deal still awaiting government sign-off (5 Feb) – Agenda for Change trade unions and professional bodies reached agreement with government early last year, but delays continue read more
BMA
Donate to support striking junior doctors
Junior doctors in England announce new strike dates after Government rejects ‘gesture of goodwill’ by the BMA (9 Feb) – The BMA’s junior doctors committee (JDC) has announced further strike dates in England, from the 24th February to 28th February, after the Government failed to meet the deadline to put an improved pay offer on the table. In a show of goodwill, the BMA provided the Health Secretary with an option to delay further strike action. She was asked to extend the current strike mandate for a short period – and thus allow talks to continue with the aim to achieve a resolution for this year’s dispute. Disappointingly, she declined to agree to extending the mandate. However, the junior doctors committee believes the forthcoming strikes can still be called off if a credible offer is made read more
Junior doctors in Wales announce new strike dates in fight to restore pay (5 Feb) – BMA Cymru Wales’ junior doctors committee has announced new strike dates as part of the dispute over pay. In the absence of a credible pay offer to form the basis of talks to end the dispute, junior doctors from across Wales will take part in two further walkouts in February and March this year. The first, a 72 hour full walkout will take place from Wednesday 21st February and the second a 96 hour full walkout from Monday 25th March. The new rounds of strike action follow a 72-hour full walkout by junior doctors in January. The committee decided to announce new dates after the Welsh Government failed to produce a credible offer to end the dispute read more
SAS doctors vote on pay offer (29 Jan) – After months of negotiation with the Government, SAS doctors in England are voting on whether to accept an offer to improve pay and conditions read more
Pay offer referendum results for consultants in England – Thank you to everyone who voted. The results are in and our members voted by a slim majority, 51%, to reject the offer. The vote demonstrates that consultants still have considerable concerns about the offer. From the feedback members have given us it was clear that they thought it did not go far enough and as a result they did not have confidence that pay would be restored over future years. They were also concerned both about the fairness of the deal and about potential changes to SPAs. The results have been discussed by consultants committee today and we have decided not to call strike action at the current time but instead enter discussions with Government to see whether we can secure improvement to address our members’ concerns. If, however, that is unsuccessful, consultants in England remain in dispute; as members demonstrated in the ballot before Christmas they remain committed to taking further strike action, should the need arise. We want this dispute resolved, but the ball is in the Government’s court to make a renewed offer that not only delivers for consultants, but crucially, for patients too, by retaining the NHS’s most experienced clinicians read more
‘I’m voting “yes” to restore our pay’ in Northern Ireland (18 Jan) – Junior doctor Marcus Hollyer blogs about why he will be voting yes for strike action in Northern Ireland read more
HCSA
HCSA junior doctors announce five-day strike in February (9 Feb) – Junior doctors from HCSA – the hospital doctors’ union will strike for five days across England in February in the latest step in their pay dispute. This follows the government’s ongoing failure to address pay erosion, which has seen junior doctors’ pay fall by more than a quarter since 2008. Junior doctors will walk out from 7am on Saturday 24th February until 7am on Thursday 29th February read more
HCSA SAS members have voted to REJECT the government offer in the England pay dispute (5 Feb) – It’s time for fresh talks to agree a deal that properly values NHS SAS doctors – and benefits the full SAS workforce read more on Twitter/X @HCSANews
Consultant reform package: ballot of consultants in England – It’s time for HCSA members to have their say on the consultant reform package. The electronic ballot is now open to all HCSA consultant members. It will ask whether you ACCEPT or REJECT the offer. Next steps will be guided by the vote of the membership. If members vote to accept the offer, this effectively closes the pay dispute for HCSA. If members vote to reject, HCSA executive will consider this carefully in light of the live strike mandate read more
NASUWT
NASUWT comments on RAAC rebuilds announcement (8 Feb) – Commenting on the announcement by the Government that 119 schools affected by RAAC will be rebuilt and 110 more will receive grants to fund its removal, Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union, said: “Schools affected by RAAC will no doubt welcome the news that they are to either be rebuilt or receive grants to remove the dangerous concrete. But it should never have come to this where so many schools have been left crumbling due to the Government’s refusal to invest what is needed to keep our schools safe…” read more
EIS
EIS Hits Out at Latest College Employers’ Anti-trade Union Bully Tactics (9 Feb) – The General Secretary of the EIS has hit out today at the threats issued by several college employers towards EIS-FELA members who will be carrying out lawful industrial action from this coming Monday in pursuit of a fair pay settlement. Despite college lecturers having achieved a legitimate mandate to commence industrial action short of strike (ASOS) in the form of a working to contract and withholding of results from Monday 12th February, several colleges have threatened staff with 100% pay deductions in a blatant attempt to stop workers from taking industrial action read more
Scotland’s College Lecturers Deliver Vote for Industrial Action on Pay (17 Jan) – College lecturers across Scotland have delivered a decisive vote in favour of industrial action on pay, as a long-running national dispute continues. The statutory ballot was organised by the EIS, and covers EIS Further Education Lecturers’ Association (EIS-FELA) members in colleges the length and breadth of Scotland. In the ballot, 85% of those voting supported Action Short of Strike (ASOS) in support of the campaign for a fair pay settlement, while 77% supported Strike Action. The ballot comfortably passed the restrictive threshold set by the UK government’s anti-trade union law, meaning that both strike action and ASOS may be implemented when the EIS decides to enact its renewed mandate for industrial action read more
INTO
NITC welcomes the reestablishment of the Stormont Executive (3 Feb) – The Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council welcomes the re-establishment of the Stormont Executive and the Northern Ireland Assembly this afternoon. NITC congratulates Paul Givan on their appointment as Education Minister at this critical time for the future of the children and young people in Northern Ireland read more
UCU
Aberdeen University staff overwhelmingly back industrial action in row over modern languages cuts and job losses (7 Feb) – Staff at the University of Aberdeen have today backed strikes in a dispute over plans to end single-honours degrees in modern languages and put 30 staff at risk of redundancy. In the ballot of UCU Scotland members, 80% of those who voted backed strike action on a turnout of 60%. On 30 November, the same day that the Scottish Government launched its Scottish languages bill, the university announced a consultation with proposals to end single honours degrees in French, Gaelic, German, and Spanish; to end both single and joint honours degrees; or to end all language degree programmes. At the time, amidst widespread criticism, UCU general secretary Jo Grady called the proposals ‘academic vandalism’ read more
Eight days of strike action begins today at London’s biggest college (16 Jan) – Staff at Capital City College Group (CCCG), London’s largest further education college group, begin eight days of strike action today in a long-running pay dispute. CCCG has campuses across London, including in Westminster, Camden and Enfield. Staff at CCCG have already taken three days of strike action in what began as a national dispute over low pay and poor working conditions. UCU has now settled disputes at 60 colleges with pay awards of up to 10%. The union said CCCG is an isolated employer and must look to other colleges and settle the dispute by making an acceptable offer read more
Strikes on tomorrow and Wednesday at five colleges across the North East (8 Jan) – UCU has confirmed staff at five colleges in Cleveland, Redcar and Stockton-on-Tees will strike tomorrow and Wednesday in a long-running dispute over low pay. The strikes are going ahead at Bede Sixth Form College, NETA Training Group, Stockton Riverside College, The Skills Academy, and Redcar and Cleveland College after employer body the Education Training Collective (ETC) refused to make an improved offer on pay. Staff will be on picket lines on both days of strike action from 7.30am to 9.30am. Tomorrow’s picket line will be at Redcar and Cleveland College and Wednesday’s picket line will be at Stockton Riverside College. UCU members at the colleges have overwhelmingly rejected an offer of 3% for 22/23, and have also voted to reject a further offer of an additional 1% – which was only to be paid for three months of that financial year. Staff have already taken four days of strike action since November (2023), but ETC has responded by offering two “wellbeing days” and nothing on pay read more
UCU fighting fund: the link is here and donations to the fund are spent on supporting members involved in important disputes.
FBU
FBU: Union leader slams “attempt to ban strike action” in fire and rescue (9 Feb) – Responding to the government announcing minimum service levels for the fire and rescue service yesterday, Fire Brigades Union general secretary Matt Wrack said: “The Conservative government has announced regulations that amount to a draconian attempt to ban strike action in the fire and rescue service. This is a direct attack on the democratic rights of firefighters, control room staff and other fire service workers. These rules will baffle anyone who has worked in the fire sector. Firefighters will be left bemused by the threat that 73% of fire engines must be crewed during any strike action. A decade of cuts has left many fire engines sitting empty in stations every day. The government has refused to fund the fire and rescue service adequately, leaving fire stations closed, fire engines axed, and 1 in 5 firefighter jobs slashed. Conservative politicians have consistently ignored firefighters’ warnings that under-resourcing is putting lives at risk. This cynical attempt to attack firefighters’ pay and conditions reeks of hypocrisy and will do nothing for public safety.”
Firefighters’ union responds to “authoritarian” minimum service levels for fire and rescue (8 Feb) – The government has today announced Minimum Service Levels regulations for the fire and rescue sector. Employers will be able to impose ‘work notices’ to make staff come in on strike days. The announcement states that during any strike, fire and rescue services (FRSs) will be expected to crew 73% of fire engines and other vehicles. Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary said: This is an outrageous and authoritarian plan to seek to ban strikes in the Fire and Rescue Service. The government wants this in place so that it can attack the pay and conditions of firefighters and other workers. It’s one of the worst assaults in the last century on the rights of working people to defend themselves. The Fire Brigades Union will resist this dictatorial legislation in every way possible.”
Fire Brigades Union launches plan to tackle sexual harassment (7 Feb) – The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has today announced a wide-reaching plan to tackle sexual harassment. At a meeting of the union’s Executive Council today, officials voted to endorse an ‘initial action plan’ on the subject, which will include mandatory training for all union officials on sexual harassment and ensuring safe spaces and an annual equalities audit, alongside other measures. A full plan is expected to be adopted by the summer, following discussions at FBU conference in May read more
POA
Video: Steve Gillan, POA General Secretary interviewed on Sky News regarding the rising violence against prison officers
Political News W/C 8th January read more
BFAWU
Support the campaign to unionise Samworth Brothers – get organised, sign the petition read more
NUJ
British government must act to ensure journalists’ safety in Israel-Gaza war (8 Feb) – NUJ co-signs letter to Rishi Sunak urging call for an immediate cessation of hostilities and an end to impunity enjoyed by Israel over IDF killing of journalists read more
NUJ statement on the BBC’s proposed new music stations (8 Feb) – The union asks why after making cuts in local radio, the corporation is spending on four new music stations which emulate those already in the commercial sector read more
Equity
Update: Equity’s discussions with The Globe on the casting of Richard III (9 Feb) – As a trade union, Equity’s interest in the casting process is not about individuals or artistic considerations, but of dignity at work and equality of opportunity for the collective read more
Musicians Union
MU Responds to Local Authority Funding Cuts to Nottingham Playhouse (8 Feb) – As part of Nottingham City Council’s budget cuts, it has completely reduced funding at the Playhouse Theatre from £433,000 to zero read more
MU Rejects Use of Recorded Music to Replace Live Orchestra at Northern Ballet (8 Feb) – Northern Ballet is replacing musicians in its orchestra with recorded music for some touring productions read more
Community
Labour commit to investment in steel industry (8 Feb) – Responding to this evening’s announcement from the Labour Party on future investment in the UK steel industry, Roy Rickhuss, General Secretary for the Steelworkers’ Union Community, said: “We welcome today’s announcement that Labour will secure the £3bn needed to greenify and rebuild our steel industry and Keir contacted me today to assure it would be delivered within the first Parliament of a Labour Government…” read more
Community renews call on Tata to drop their broken plan for steel (8 Feb) – Community has called on Tata Steel to drop its broken plan for Port Talbot steelworks and get back around the table to support the credible alternative Multi-Union Plan. This follows Shadow Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds meeting with Tata in Mumbai this week. During the meeting, Jonathan Reynolds pledged the Labour Party’s support for the Multi-Union position of retaining one blast furnace in Port Talbot until the 2030s, staving off thousands of job losses with a just transition to green steelmaking read more
USDAW
Usdaw seeks assurances for Tesco Bank members following announcement of sale to Barclays (9 Feb) – Usdaw, the trade union for Tesco Bank workers, will be engaging with the company after Tesco today announced they have agreed a deal to sell the majority of its Tesco Bank business to Barclays read more
Kellogg’s propose the closure of their Manchester manufacturing site – Usdaw to enter consultation talks (8 Feb) – Breakfast food manufacturer Kellogg’s has today announced that they propose to close their iconic Manchester site, based in Trafford Park. Usdaw represents production workers at the plant and will now enter into consultation talks over the proposed 2026 closure, which could impact 360 directly employed staff read more
Government’s cost of living payment is only a sticking plaster says Usdaw, we need a new deal for workers (6 Feb) – Retail trade union Usdaw has renewed their call for a new deal for workers and branded the Government’s cost of living payment as only a sticking plaster as rising prices continue to devalue wages. Eligible households are set to receive £299 between February 6 and 22, it is the final payment of three read more
UVW
Harrods’ hospitality workers ready to strike for third time if 2024 pay promise not kept (16 Jan) – Following two UVW victorious disputes for workers’ tips in 2017 and a huge 25 percent wage increase in December 2021, Harrods’s hospitality workers are ready for a third strike if Harrods doesn’t keep its 2024 pay rise promise. The London luxury store has offered them a pay review with an increase by 1 April 2024, following moves by UVW bar and kitchen staff. A majority of workers and UVW members voted positively in December over their willingness to declare a third pay dispute read more
“They don’t treat us cleaners like human beings, they treat us like rats”: cleaners at the Department of Education poised to strike for a living wage (20 Dec) – Exhausted cleaners, struggling to pay for the basics, working at the Department for Education (DfE)’s Sanctuary Buildings are asking to be paid a living wage, equal sick pay and annual leave with civil service workers, appropriate staffing levels and union recognition. Cleaners at the department took three days of strike action over the summer as part of a mass strike by UVW members demanding dignity, equality and respect. The DfE cleaners, who are members of United Voices of the World (UVW), have given their bosses at ISS UK Limited (ISS), until 8 January 2024 to reply. If there’s no reply, members have instructed UVW to declare a dispute and issue a notice of intention to ballot for industrial action read more
SIPTU (Ireland)
Bus and rail workers conduct sixth one-day strike action (1 Feb) – A further three strike dates in February are planned in campaign to secure a cost-of-living pay increase. More than 3,000 workers at Translink were on a 24-hour stoppage today in the cost of living pay dispute. Members of the transport unions, including SIPTU, brought all bus and rail services across Northern Ireland to a standstill read more
Other news
Strike Map: London launch of JT Murphy re-print of The Workers’ Committee with Manifesto Press – Friday 16th February 7.00pm at the Marx Memorial Library, London, EC1R 0DU, FREE/£5/£10 tickets
Affiliate with STAMMA – STAMMA’s Employment Support Service helps people who stammer as well as those who don’t around issues related to stammering in the workplace. Union branches and regions can affiliate with STAMMA to access a range of services and support at a reduced rate.
- £75 for branches and regions
- £125 for national unions with under 400,000 members
- £200 for national unions with 400,000+ members
Fight blacklisting and victimisation of union reps
Hazards urgently need our support
Many workers were blacklisted because they raised complaints about health and safety or took on the role of a union safety rep. So when our blacklisting campaign was first starting back in 2009, Hazards magazine set up the Blacklist Blog on their website. Alongside our FaceBook page it is the go to online resource for what our campaign has achieved over the past 13 years. www.hazards.org/blacklistblog
Hazards is now in financial difficulty and needs the support of the union movement. Its major funding stream has vanished almost overnight. The magazine and the Hazards centres around the country need union branches or official unions to take out a regular subscription to keep the union movement’s flagship safety magazine in operation. If you or your union committee can afford it, please support Hazards:
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
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
(From NUJ website) NUJ repeats its call for the release of Evan Gershkovich (31 Jan) – Russian authorities have extended pre-trial detention of the American journalist until 30 Marchread more
Solidarity with the striking textile workers at Ozak in Turkey – read more on Twitter of Solidarity with the People of Turkey @spotturkey
Diary
2024
June
22 NSSN Conference 2024 – 11am Conway Hall, Holborn, London
CONTACT US
PHONE 07952 283 558
EMAIL mailto:[email protected]
TWITTER – https://twitter.com/NSSN_AntiCuts
FACEBOOK NSSN GROUP or STOP The CUTS Likes page
ADDRESS NSSN, PO Box 54498, London E10 9DE
