After weeks of speculation, Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves has presented her Budget. While workers desperately need policies that reverse the attack on living standards of the last 15 years or so, instead the Budget effectively means ‘same again’.
The NSSN has been campaigning for a Budget that makes the rich pay not workers and working-class communities. But yet more austerity is what faces us.
We will continue to support workers taking action to resist the cost of living squeeze, while at the same time continuing to demand that the TUC calls a national weekend demonstration against Starmer’s austerity offensive. This action was passed at September’s TUC Congress and is now TUC policy. The TUC and the unions must now name the date!
- Unite budget response: Stealth taxes are workers paying the price, this is the wrong choice (26 Nov)
- Government must go ‘further and faster’ to fix the UK, says UNISON (26 Nov)
- NEU: Budget offers nothing to an education system running on empty (26 Nov)
- Labour “echoing Reform” with “regressive levy” on international students, says UCU (26 Nov)
- Community: Budget reaction (26 Nov)
- Usdaw welcomes the Chancellor’s focus on tackling child poverty (26 Nov)
Protest against Starmer & Reeves’ austerity Budget
- Join the Unite Community national day of action against cuts and sanctions on Budget Day Wednesday 26 November 2025 read more
Unite Community is calling a national day of action to protest against the ongoing cuts and sanctions to people’s benefits. It’s important to note that one in six claimants are currently working. This government has escalated benefit sanctions to a new high, issuing 611,000 sanctions in the last recorded period—the highest number under any government, including previous Labour governments
- From DPAC Wales protest around Budget day – 29th Nov. Swansea DPAC – 1pm Castle Square
Find out more about Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC)
- Keep an eye out for Budget Day protests in your local area – follow #BudgetDay & #BudgetDay2025 on social media
NSSN lobbies TUC General Council to #NameTheDate for a national demo against Starmer’s cuts
The NSSN lobbied the recent TUC General Council for them to enact the policy passed at TUC Congress last month to call a national demonstration. See video and photos on NSSN on X/Twitter @NSSN_AntiCuts
TUC Congress voted for motions from the TUC Disabled Workers Conference and Trades Councils Conference that set out a strategy to take on Starmer’s austerity offensive, specifically: “for the TUC to organise a weekend demonstration against Labour austerity as a launchpad for sustained trade union action in defence of workers and young people.”
The NSSN welcome that these motions were passed unanimously by Congress, and it is now official TUC policy to call a national Saturday demonstration. But the NSSN is now calling on union reps and members now to demand that the TUC name the date for this demonstration. The lobby of the TUC General Council was part of this campaign.
Consider taking this brief model motion to your next union meeting:-
- This union NEC/branch/union branch committee/trades council welcomes the unanimous vote at this year’s TUC Congress for the motions from the TUC Disabled Workers Conference and Trades Councils Conference.
- We fully support the demand in the motions: “for the TUC to organise a weekend demonstration against Labour austerity as a launchpad for sustained trade union action in defence of workers and young people.”
- We welcome that this is now official TUC policy and call on our union NEC to demand that the TUC name the date for such a demonstration.
Watch the videos of the NSSN TUC Congress rally speakers: Steve Gillan POA General Secretary, Sarah Woolley BFAWU General Secretary, Mick Whelan ASLEF General Secretary, Ian Lawrence NAPO General Secretary, Steve Wright FBU General Secretary, Danny Taylor Unite striking binworker from Birmingham & Joel Mayfield Unite striking binworker from Sheffield, Paula Peters DPAC, Matt Webb Brighton & Hove Trades Union Council and Rob Williams NSSN Chair.
Download and distribute our NSSN Workplace Report
Affiliate your union branch/trades council to NSSN (£50).
Renew/donate online (HSBC: 40-06-41, 90143790)
Cheque (NSSN, 16 Warren Rd, London E10 5QA).
Contact us: email – [email protected].
SAVE THE DATE!! 2026 NSSN Conference will be on Saturday 27th June 11am-4.30pm
FINISHING THE JOB: Demand an Employment Rights Bill #2 – Organised by : Campaign for Trade Union Freedom (CTUF) and Strike Map
As the Employment Rights Bill completes its parliamentary journey, all eyes are on the Tory and Liberal Democrat amendments made to the Bill in the House of Lords. Although these amendments have caused justifiable outrage amongst trade unionists, it is widely predicted that they will be rejected by the government wielding its majority in the House of Commons, and that the original terms of the Bill will be restored. Whilst we recognise the progress made in improving worker’s rights, we believe that a second employment rights bill is needed, one that strengthens the rights of all workers. This would include:-
1. An Immediate repeal of all anti-union laws.
2. A full ban on ‘fire and rehire’, enforceable by injunction.
3. End all zero-hours contracts .
4. A £15 per hour minimum wage with no age exemptions.
5. A statutory right to collective bargaining for all workers and a legal mechanism for creating sector-wide collective bargaining.
6. Amending our labour laws to comply with international standards.
7. Universal employment rights, including for workers on working visas, through a single worker status.
8. All workers to be entitled to all employment rights from day one.
9. A full trade union right to access workers on employers’ premises, enforceable by injunction.
10. End restrictions on industrial action and introduce a positive right to strike, including the right to take solidarity action.
- Sign this form to confirm your commitment to an employment rights bill #2. Please share this action.
Support the striking Birmingham binworkers! – Agency workers start striking: Join the Bin Strike Mass Rally on Monday 1st December
The workers have been on indefinite strike since March after being threatened with pay cuts of up to £8,000 a year, and are facing brutal strike-breaking measures by the Labour council, backed by Starmer’s Labour government. Solidarity is even more essential as the council effectively threatens to fire and rehire the workers. In her speech, Sharon exposed Starmer’s government for not just maintaining Tory ‘fire and rehire’ but actually making changes to its original proposals to open the door to all councils to use this brutal method of cutting the wages of local authority workers.
There is huge support for the binworkers, both in Birmingham and throughout the trade union movement.
- Job and Talent agency workers on the refuse contract will begin striking over bullying, harassment and the threat of blacklisting on 1 December – Support the Bin Strike Mass Rally – Monday 1st December 8.30am at Smithfield Depot, Pershore/Sherlock St B5 6HX
Fresh Birmingham agency bin worker bullying revealed as staff publicly ranked by driving mistakes at work (25 Nov) – League table of driver tachograph ‘performance’ contravenes GDPR and is reminder they have no job security. Birmingham bin drivers employed by the Job & Talent employment agency have been subjected to the ‘bullying tactic’ of having their driving ‘performances’ publicly ranked in a league table posted on their staff room wall. Tachographs are used to record driving time, speed, distance and other measures in order to monitor HGV drivers. The league table was posted at Smithfield depot ranking named drivers in order of their infringements according to their tachograph readings. It is a reminder that agency drivers have no job security and can be let go of at any moment. Some agency drivers have been at Birmingham council for more than a decade without a full-time contract. Unite has written to the council saying the table is a serious contravention of GDPR legislation, as the information contained is of a personal nature. The council has admitted that GDPR has been breached. Job and Talent agency workers on the refuse contract will begin striking over bullying, harassment and the threat of blacklisting on 1 December read more
Birmingham bin strike: Shabana Mahmood community event (20 Nov) – Unite to hold huge community event on 21st November in home secretary’s Birmingham Ladywood constituency in support of striking bin workers read more
Birmingham bin strikes escalate and set to continue beyond next year’s local elections (17 Nov) – Birmingham bin strikes could continue beyond May’s local elections, unless a deal is reached, after workers overwhelmingly voted to extend their strike action. In an unprecedented development, the workers who are directly employed by Birmingham council, will now be joined on picket lines by agency workers employed by Job & Talent on the refuse contract. A growing number of Job & Talent agency staff have been refusing to cross picket lines due to unsustainable workloads and the toxic and bullying workplace culture at the council’s refuse department. By voting for industrial action they will now be able to join official picket lines from Monday 1 December read more
Birmingham public and businesses support Unite’s call to restart bin talks (11 Nov) – Council has refused to engage in talks since July and is ignoring Unite’s calls to restart them. Nearly 6,000 households in Birmingham displaying posters or bin stickers in support of striking refuse workers are backing the call for the council to rejoin negotiations. More than 150 businesses, faith groups and community groups have also pledged support to Unite’s campaign calling for the council to enter new talks. Unite wrote to council leader John Cotton at the beginning of November, calling for fresh negotiations on ending the bin strike but has not received a response read more
- Sign petition to support binworkers
- Send a message of support to Unite and the binworkers
- Donate to the strike fund – Unite WM/7186 Branch, account: 20308397, sort code: 608301. Title donation: BCC Strike Donation
- Send a postcard to tell Birmingham Council’s leader to ‘Stop attacking your workers’ at https://supportbinworkers.unitetheunion.postbug.app/
- Watch Reel News video of the 20th September demonstration in Birmingham
Support the Unite Sheffield Bin Strike
New strike tactics at Sheffield waste depot aim to cause increased disruption (16 Oct) – Workers at Veolia will now return to work periodically to disrupt employer’s use of agency strike breakers. Striking workers taking part in a year-long dispute in Sheffield are set to cause greater disruption for their employer as new dates for action have been announced. Members of Unite working for Veolia at the Lumley Street depot have been on strike for over a year in their fight for union recognition. In a new tactic designed to disrupt Veolia’s use of agency staff in strike-breaking roles, workers will now periodically return to work before then heading back to the picket line. Workers will now walk out from 10-16 November, 24-30 November, 8-14 December, 22-28 December, 5-11 January, 19-25 January, 2-8 February, 16-22 February and 2-8 March read more
Donate to the strike fund – Unite NEYH, 60-83-01 20173962
Sign the Statement of Solidarity
Support the Unison Gloucestershire phlebotomists strike
Phlebotomists mark longest-running strike of NHS workers in history with Gloucester rally, says UNISON (17 Nov) – Settling dispute could be done for fraction of chief executive’s salary. Striking health workers will be joined by senior union leaders and supporters today (Monday) to highlight the longest-ever walkout by NHS employees as phlebotomists in Gloucestershire mark their 236th day of industrial action, says UNISON. The 36 specialist staff, who take and handle blood samples from patients, have been on strike since March in a dispute over their demand to be paid fairly for the skills and expertise needed for their roles, says the union. Putting them on to the right pay band would cost their employer, the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, approximately £60,000 per year, says UNISON. It would also recognise the valuable contribution the workers make to health services across the county, adds the union. UNISON has calculated that the cost of ensuring all the trust’s phlebotomists are on the correct wages is just a quarter of chief executive Kevin McNamara’s annual salary for 2024/25 of around £245,000 read more
Picketing and plan of action for week 36:
- Monday 24th: Joint picket Gloucester Royal Hospital 08.00 to 11.30.
- Tuesday 25th: Joint picket at Cheltenham General Hospital from 08.00 to 11.30.
- Wednesday 26th: Joint picket Gloucester Royal Hospital 08.00 to 11.30.
- Thursday 27th: Joint picket Cheltenham General Hospital 08.00 to 11.30.
- Friday 28th: Relaxed picket at both sites.
Donate to the strike fund:-
Please show phlebotomists your support and solidarity by donating to their strike hardship fund:
Make a donation via SumUp
UNISON Gloucestershire DHC Branch 21311
Sort code: 60-83-01
Account number: 20301750
Reference: strikefund
Also, you can donate to the strike fund by buying a ‘I Give a Phleb’ badge from Strike Fund
Workers unity against the far-right – The far-right are again trying to whip up racist division by scapegoating refugees and migrants. The NSSN calls for the unions to play a leading role in opposing this offensive, which will only weaken our movement in the interests of the employees. We call on the TUC to implement the policy passed at its 2018 Congress, to launch a campaign of ‘Jobs and homes NOT racism.’
- STUC: St Andrew’s Day Anti Racism March & Rally 2025 – Saturday, 29 November 2025 at 10:30am. Muster at 10:30am at Barrowlands Park (G1 5BG) where the march will begin and proceed to Adelaide Place (209 Bath St, Glasgow G2 4HZ) for an indoor rally at 12pm details
See info on counter-protests on union and trades councils social media and the Stand Up to Racism website.
Union News
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RMT
RMT warn of national ballot over assaults after EMR go into dispute on the issue (26 Nov) – Rail union RMT, have put employers on notice over increasing assaults, warning of a national strike ballot across all train companies, if action is not taken. The union has gone into dispute with East Midlands Railway (EMR) following two recent violent incidents at the company. Staff members have had hot water thrown at them and been attacked with a fire extinguisher while at the weekend, rival football fans engaged in a mass brawl on a train stopped at Derby. RMT members have raised repeated concerns about reduced British Transport Police presence, faulty or inadequate safety equipment and the company’s lack of meaningful engagement on these issues. Members say they have exhausted all internal company processes, but no effective action has been taken to address the daily risks they face read more
DLR sick pay dispute leads to four days strike action (24 Nov) – RMT members working as cleaners on the DLR will begin strike action on Thursday over a lack of sick pay. Bidvest Noonan the contractor at the centre of this storm, has failed to offer company sick pay to its staff despite the fact a fellow contractor Amulet did so on the DLR. Both contractors operate on DLR under KAD who is a company hired by TfL to run the service. RMT has tried repeatedly to engage with Bidvest Noonan over the issue but the contractor said it was “discussing the matter with TfL,” despite having had more than six months to respond to the union’s demand for contractual sick pay. With no progress and no sign of meaningful engagement from the employer, members have no choice but to take strike action read more
RMT announces strike action on CrossCountry (21 Nov) – RMT will take strike action on CrossCountry next month after the company failed to resolve long-running issues on pay, staffing and previously agreed commitments. The union has tried repeatedly for months to reach a negotiated settlement. But regretfully the company has failed to honour agreements on overtime payments, staff resourcing and wage discrepancies for different grades. With no credible progress being made, RMT members have no other option than to take strike action on the following days:-
• Saturday 6 December
• Saturday 13 December
• Saturday 20 December
• Saturday 27 December read more
Serious concerns raised over working conditions in Docks, Ports and Waterways (21 Nov) – RMT members on Docks, Ports and Waterways have revealed deep concerns about their pay, safety, and overall working conditions in a new survey. The results show a highly experienced workforce reporting persistent problems that employers have failed to resolve. Pay and the need for improved terms and conditions were the most frequently raised issues, with 34% of members citing inadequate wages. Health and safety concerns were raised by 28% of respondents, including risks linked to equipment standards and site conditions. A further 22% highlighted fatigue, long hours, and insufficient breaks as major problems. Workers rated the sector’s safety culture at just 5 out of 10, indicating widespread dissatisfaction with employer performance on core safety responsibilities. Additional complaints were raised about poor equipment and infrastructure, with around 10% of respondents reporting problems that impact operational safety and day-to-day working conditions read more
RMT opposes Driver Only Operation declaring it unsafe (19 Nov) – Rail union, RMT today laid bare the safety critical importance of a second person onboard train services after a dispute erupted on East West Rail. Chiltern have informed rail unions of their plans to introduce Driver Only Operation (DOO) on the new stretch of line, despite RMT’s long standing opposition to such a move. Media reports via anonymous leaks have incorrectly suggested the sole reason for the dispute is over which member of train crew opens and closes doors. There are a number of functions a second safety critical person performs onboard train services including, providing passenger assurance, deterring anti-social behaviour, coordinating responses to incidents, emergency evacuation and dealing with fires. Following the mass stabbing on the LNER service at Huntingdon station, the safety of railway workers and passengers has been brought into sharp focus read more
RMT protest London City Hall over outsourced cleaning contract tender (19 Nov) – Tube union RMT, will demonstrate outside City Hall tomorrow calling on the Mayor and Transport for London to stop the re-tendering of the London Underground cleaning contract and bring the workforce back in-house. More than 2,000 cleaners working across London Underground and the wider TfL estate are outsourced and denied the basic standards that directly employed staff receive read more
RMT warns of widespread welfare failures leaving women transport workers without safe toilet access (19 Nov) – RMT today exposed widespread failures in welfare provision for transport workers, with new survey evidence and frontline testimony showing that women in particular are being denied safe, clean and accessible toilet facilities, leaving employers in breach of basic dignity and clear legal duties. Coinciding with UN World Toilet Day, RMT is highlighting inadequate welfare for provision for bus workers, track workers on Network Rail, mobile ground staff in freight and workers in road logistics. A survey of overhead line patrol workers on the railways shows that only 3 percent always have access to a toilet within a reasonable distance and more than 72 percent rarely or never have access. These failures hit women hardest, and survey testimony shows they are unable to manage basic hygiene safely, often limit water intake to avoid needing a toilet, and are left without facilities suitable for a modern mixed workforce read more
RMT expresses condolences following loss of member aboard RFA Tidesurge (18 Nov) – Maritime union, RMT is deeply saddened to learn of the loss of one of our Royal Fleet Auxiliary members who was reported missing while serving onboard the RFA Tidesurge. The vessel was operating in the Irish Sea when the incident occurred. RMT General Secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “We are all deeply saddened to learn of the loss of a seafarer and union member on the RFA Tidesurge. The entire union expresses its heartfelt condolences to the crew member’s family, work colleagues and friends at this most difficult time…” read more
Carlisle Support Services must end pay freeze and return to meaningful talks as Northern revenue staff strike (14 Nov) – RMT heavily criticised Carlisle Support Services today for shutting down negotiations and refusing to make any pay offer, on the day contracted out Northern Trains revenue and gate line members take strike action read more
RMT expresses condolences following loss of member aboard RFA Tidesurge (18 Nov) – Maritime union, RMT is deeply saddened to learn of the loss of one of our Royal Fleet Auxiliary members who was reported missing while serving onboard the RFA Tidesurge. The vessel was operating in the Irish Sea when the incident occurred read more
RMT blasts big oil and gas for benefiting from Petrofac administration (12 Nov) – Offshore union, RMT has criticised North Sea operator Ithaca Energy for extracting huge profits and dividends while benefiting from job losses in the supply chain. Ithaca contracts major offshore services to Petrofac and Compass Group’s ESS division, covering production, maintenance, and catering across assets West of Shetland, and others including Alba and Captain platforms. RMT says Ithaca has a practical and moral duty to ensure work being carried out for their benefit is secure, directly employed and that offshore workers have decent wages and conditions. Ithaca stands to financially benefit from contractor cost cuts driven by the crises at Petrofac and Compass, even as thousands of offshore workers face job losses and vast dividends continue to flow from North Sea oil production read more
RMT slams Avanti West Coast over short staffing at stations and ticket offices (12 Nov) – Rail union RMT, has condemned Avanti West Coast for running stations with low staffing levels, warning that cuts and unfilled vacancies are putting both passengers and staff potentially at risk read more
RMT strike action at Cross Country suspended (30 Oct) – RAIL union RMT has suspended strike action planned for Saturday November 1, following talks with the company to resolve issues regarding the undermining of safety-critical roles and threats to safety and jobs. The company has provided proposals aimed at resolving the issues at the heart of the dispute which will require approval from the Department for Transport read more
RMT declares dispute with Network Rail over falling real wages despite rising productivity (16 Oct) – Rail union RMT, has gone into dispute with Network Rail over pay, after years of falling real-terms wages despite major productivity improvements delivered by staff across the railway. Since 2021, cumulative RPI inflation has risen by around 27%, while Network Rail pay awards over the same period total just 17%. That means staff are, on average, 10% worse off in real terms than they were four years ago. Depending on grade, individual losses amount to between £3,500 and £9,600 compared with inflation read more
RMT to ballot Eurostar staff for strike action (13 Oct) – Rail union RMT, will ballot Eurostar members for strike action in a row over safety and conditions at work. The ballot comes as staff face worsening working conditions with unreliable trains, poor service recovery and operational safety concerns piling pressure on the workforce. Eurostar posted revenues of €2 billion (£1.7bn) in 2024. However staff say that money is not being invested in improving fleet reliability or ensuring safe and secure conditions at stations read more
Strike ballot at First South West after poor pay offer (20 Sept) – Bus workers at First South West in Somerset and Cornwall will be balloted for strike action after the company refused to improve a penny-pinching pay offer. The company has made an offer which would see bus workers hourly pay rise by just 58p an hour. The offer includes no improvements to working conditions and has already been rejected by union members in a previous round of talks. RMT wants to see bus workers move closer to their modest goal of £15 an hour, in line with what other bus companies are paying across the South West. But First South West has so far refused to improve its offer. First South West is part of FirstGroup, whose bus division made £96 million in profit last year, with the group overall reporting profits of £223 million and increasing dividends to shareholders read more
Tube cleaners threaten strike action over wages and sick pay (4 Sept) – RMT has declared a formal dispute with outsourcing giant ABM after the company failed to improve on its derisory offer to cleaners working on the London Underground cleaning contract. Despite repeated calls for a fair pay settlement, ABM management have refused to go beyond the statutory London Living Wage uplift and have made no offer whatsoever on sick pay, leaving cleaners with no protection when they fall ill. Unless the company comes back to the table with a serious offer, RMT will move to ballot its members across the Underground cleaning contract for strike action. The potential strike comes against the backdrop of Mayor Sadiq Khan previously calling on TfL to assess its ability to bring cleaning services back in-house, improve sick pay and urging the government to fully implement Labour’s “New Deal for Working People,” which pledges the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation read more
Orkney Ferries seafarers to take industrial action (16 Aug) – Maritime union RMT, will begin industrial action on Orkney Ferries later this month, in a dispute over pay and conditions. From Thursday 28 August, RMT members will take action short of a strike by refusing to work any overtime until further notice. The move comes after the company failed to enter into meaningful negotiations with the union over the 2025 pay settlement. RMT is the largest trade union representing workers at Orkney Ferries and has consistently raised concerns about pay, working conditions and management’s lack of engagement read more
ASLEF
West Coast derailment – TSSA statement (3 Nov)
TSSA statement on LNER mass stabbing incident (2 Nov)
Train drivers strike in protest at witch hunt as company marks 25 years (25 Sept) – Train drivers who are members of ASLEF will strike on Friday 26th September in protest as the company celebrates 25 years in business. The open access operator, which is owned by FirstGroup – the rail and bus giant which also owns Avanti West Coast, Great Western, Lumo and London Tramlink – has unfairly sacked a driver with a completely clean safety record, who has done nothing wrong, in what has been described as a ‘witch hunt by management’. The action will force the company to slash services on the East Coast main line between London and the north read more
Train drivers to strike on CrossCountry (9 Sept) – Train drivers at CrossCountry will walk out on strike on Friday 3rd October and refuse to work non-contractual overtime from Sunday 21st September over the company’s persistent refusal to adhere to negotiated agreements read more
Rally for striking Hull Trains drivers (29 Aug) – from ASLEF Facebook page: Our solidarity rally started this morning with ASLEF Hull Trains Lead Officer Nigel Roebuck addressing those gathered to show solidarity. we also heard from David Pike, TUC North East, Yorkshire & Humber Regional Secretary, GMB officer Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, BFAWU General Secretary Sarah Wooley, FBU President Ian Murray who also informed us that the FBU have donated £2,000 to the strike fund and NEU Executive Member Hannah Scott.
ASLEF General Secretary Mick Whelan closed the rally:
“‘Thank you for coming today to show your support for a driver who has been sacked for doing nothing wrong. He is the victim of a witch hunt. He has a completely clean safety of the line record. The company are liars and have lied throughout this dispute. They think we will go away. Today shows that we are right and they are wrong”.
Thank you for your show of solidarity today don’t forget you can Support our members by telling Hull Trains to stop their attacks on union members via the following link https://actionnetwork.org/letters/write-to-hull-trains
#HullTrainsStrike
TSSA
Incident on East Midlands train raises further concerns about railway safety (19 Nov) – Rail union TSSA has said it is concerned after a violent incident on an East Midlands Railway (EMR) train travelling from Derby to London St Pancras early this morning. It’s understood a man travelling without a ticket became aggressive and began shouting, ran to the galley, threw hot water at staff and tried to attack them with a fire extinguisher which he then used to break a window on the train. EMR have confirmed that they are aware of the incident and are supporting a staff member who received minor injuries, while also working closely with the British Transport Police (BTP) read more
TSSA members to take industrial action at TransPennine Express (17 Nov) – TSSA rail union members working at TransPennine Express (TPE) as Operations Managers have voted unanimously in favour of both strike action and action short of strike, in a dispute over on call working arrangements. To date TPE has refused to offer an acceptable on-call, overtime and compensatory time off in lieu (TOIL) package to staff in the roles of Driver Managers, Operational Development Managers and Driver Operations Managers. Several dozen members at TPE responsible for safety issues and operational problems around the clock were balloted – and of those choosing to vote 100 per cent were in favour of strike action and action short of a strike read more
Unite
Protest: NO to union-busting at Sanctuary – 1pm Friday 28 November at Sanctuary Offices, 9a Kingsmead Way, London E9 5QG read more on Unite Housing Workers LE/1111 branch website
Bank of England security strike off as workers accept ‘excellent’ deal (26 Nov) – Strikes by security officers at the Bank of England this week have been called off after workers accepted an improved pay offer. The 40 Unite members involved in the dispute work for Amulet Security (Churchill Security Solutions) Limited, which took over the contract at the Bank from Mitie Security in February this year. After months of being strung along, they were initially told they would be offered no pay rise, then workers received an offer of 3.8 per cent in year one and three per cent in year two which was rejected. Workers were due to walk out on Monday (24 November) until Friday (28 November). However, strikes were cancelled when workers accepted an improved offer of four per cent backdated to 1 March 2025 and another four per cent from 1 March 2026. Workers have also been given an additional day of annual leave. As well as enhanced pay, Amulet has agreed to recognise Unite as the union for collective bargaining going forward read more
Bassetlaw ICU nurses strike over fire and rehire contract changes (26 Nov) – Forced rotation of nurses between Bassetlaw and Doncaster attempt to run down Bassetlaw’s ICU services. Intensive care nurses at Bassetlaw hospital will strike tomorrow over fire and rehire contract changes that will force them to rotate between Bassetlaw and Doncaster Royal Infirmary. The nurses fear the transfers are one more step towards Bassetlaw hospital losing its ICU permanently through ‘decommissioning by stealth’. Unite is considering legal challenges to Doncaster & Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust should it proceed with its plans to terminate the nurses’ current contracts and rehire them on new ones. The trust claims the rotation plans are to increase the nurses’ exposure to level three patients (those who are ventilated or have multiple organ failure). The Trust’s proposal, however, would not guarantee increased exposure to Level 3 patients. Unite believes the real reason behind the plans is to run down Bassetlaw’s ICU services. The nurses began action short of strike action through a ban on working on any ward or unit other than Bassetlaw ICU on 13 November. They will take strike action tomorrow (27 November) and Friday (28 November). Industrial action will intensify if the fire and rehire plans are not dropped read more
Leonardo workers achieve pay increase deal (25 Nov) – Workers at five sites across the UK see significant pay increase after taking strike action. Deal ends all industrial action. Thousands of workers at defence and aerospace company Leonardo have secured a significant pay increase. Staff based at sites in Yeovil, Edinburgh, Newcastle, Basildon and Luton manufacturer vital defence equipment for the UK armed forces, including helicopters and radar, have accepted a new offer from the company worth eight per cent over two years read more
Unite’s anger as Aer Lingus plans to close Manchester Airport base (24 Nov) – Unite has today (24 November) responded with anger to proposals by Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus to close its Manchester Airport base. The airline has issued a redundancy notice, which has put over 200 workers at risk including 150 cabin crew who are represented by Unite. Aer Lingus claims this is due to the base “underperforming’” but has failed to provide any information to support its claim. Last year, Aer Lingus recorded an operating profit of €205m and has projected profits of around £35 million from just two aircraft operating three long haul routes at Manchester Airport…Cabin crew at Aer Lingus, who work on the three routes to Barbados, New York JFK and Orlando operating out of Manchester Airport Terminal 2, have been involved in a pay dispute with their employer since last month and have walked out in several days of strike action. While Unite members have voted for further strike action, the union has offered to halt this in order to properly negotiate with Aer Lingus on the future of the Manchester base read more
Transport for Greater Manchester strikes increase after employer cancels talks (24 Nov) – In Manchester Good Employment Week TfGM acting as anything but good employer. Strikes by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) workers will go ahead tomorrow after the employer cancelled planned talks today (Monday). More than 200 Unite members, who undertake vital roles including ticketing, passenger assistance and information services for the bus network, began industrial action in October. TfGM is breaking the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter it signed up to by refusing to enter into talks with Unite to find a fair resolution to the dispute read more
Unite to lead new strategy for higher education technicians (24 Nov) – First ever survey of these workers shows widespread workplace issues. STEM and creative arts technicians across universities and colleges suffer poor pay and lack clear training or career pathways. Unite, one of the leading unions in the higher education sector, has announced a new strategy for technicians working across universities and colleges following a survey that has found widespread issues experienced by staff read more
Bosch Rexroth workers set for week-long strike action over detrimental contract changes (24 Nov) – Dispute based on Glenrothes workers losing up to £1000 per month. Unite has confirmed today (24 November) that its members working at Bosch Rexroth in Glenrothes have emphatically supported strike action over detrimental contract changes. Over 280 Unite members are now set for strike action after 95 per cent of Unite’s members backed strike action in a high turnout. Strike action will start at 06:00 on 8 December and ends at 05:59 on 15 December. The escalating dispute is a result of Bosch Rexroth workers overwhelmingly rejecting new contracts which are detrimental to existing terms and conditions. The company plans to impose short-time working without the negotiated agreement with Unite. Workers could lose up to 40 per cent of take home pay per month equivalent to a monthly loss of nearly £1,000. Bosch Rexroth also plan to impose an annualised hours system which could put workers up to 70 hours in debt. If a worker is paid for more hours than they have worked, an employer can recover the overpayment on a debt basis read more
Equal Pay Day: Unite calls for concerted action to tackle gender pay gap (24 Nov) – Today (22 November) Unite, the UK’s leading union, is marking Equal Pay Day with a call for action to close the gender pay gap. From today, known officially as Equal Pay Day, women stop getting paid in comparison to men, meaning they will spend the last 40 days of the year effectively working for free. The latest figures, released today by the Fawcett Society, also shows the mean gender pay gap now sits at 10.9 per cent for full-time workers, with women earning on average £637 less per month than their male counterparts. While the gender pay gap has halved in the last three decades, progress on closing this has stalled in the last five years meaning urgent change is needed to address this read more
Unite calls for government to “think again” on NHS England and ICB cuts (21 Nov) – Parliamentary committee report supports union position that scrapping health bodies is fundamental mistake. Unite, one of the UK’s leading health sector unions, has called for the government to pause fundamental NHS reforms and think again over the approach to abolishing NHS England and the large-scale cuts to Integrated Commissioning Boards (ICBs). The union’s comments echo those of the Public Accounts Select Committee (PAC) whose report, published this week, which stated that it was “concerned that the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England is still announcing major reforms without either delivery plans or secured funding.” Read more
Christmas delivery chaos as UPS workers ballot for strikes (21 Nov) – Consumers are facing major delays to Christmas and January sales parcel deliveries nationwide as Unite members working for UPS ballot for strike action. Over 2,000 Unite members at the firm, which is headquartered in Feltham, West London, are being balloted over industrial action in a dispute about pay and conditions. Workers including delivery drivers have rejected the company’s latest pay offer of a 2.8 per cent increase and 3.2 per cent increase for 2025 and 2026 respectively. The pay offer is less than the inflation rate (RPI) of 4.5 per cent and a real terms pay cut…The ballot opened this week and closes on 3 December. UPS has already attempted to interfere in the democratic process by putting up posters in its workplaces advising workers not to vote in the ballot. Action could begin in mid-December, hitting last-minute Christmas gift deliveries as well as purchases made during the popular Boxing Day and January sales read more
Energy Price Cap: No respite for homeowners, Unite (21 Nov) – In response to Ofgem’s announcement of the latest energy price cap, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “There is no comfort in today’s announcement for the millions of people struggling to heat their homes this winter. Unite has shown that £500 of every energy bill goes straight to energy company profits. If the government is serious about bringing down bills, it must tackle corporate profiteering. We need to bring back public ownership of our energy system, starting with the grid.” Read more
Manchester festive travel disruption as Metrolink tram workers to strike (21 Nov) – There will be major travel disruption in Manchester next month, as 320 tram drivers working for KeolisAmey Metrolink Limited have voted to strike. The drivers, members of Unite, work at the Warwick Road South and Queens Road depots in the city and operate trams on all routes in Greater Manchester. This dispute centres around fatigue. Currently, the drivers’ shift patterns mean they work 450 hours over a 12-week period. This results in some drivers working 50 hours on, followed by just two days off, then back into another 50-hour work pattern. They also have fewer rest days compared to colleagues in other operational departments such as engineering and customer support, meaning drivers have suffered from fatigue due to not having adequate breaks and are concerned about operating heavy passenger vehicles while exhausted. Unite has repeatedly raised the issue with management but has been told there is no funding available for improvements to working patterns…The KeolisAmey Metrolink tram system is the largest in the UK, handling a record 45 million journeys last year with four million of these taking place last December. It is part of Greater Manchester’s integrated transport network the Bee Network. Tram drivers will initially walk out from Friday 5 December to Sunday 7 December, impacting major events in the city, such as the world-famous Manchester Christmas markets, Ed Sheeran, Jamiroquai and Pete Tong concerts and the Manchester City vs Sunderland game on 6 December at the Etihad Stadium. It will also cause disruption to people socialising in hospitality venues in the run-up to Christmas read more
Government told to stop splitting families on World Children’s Day (20 Nov) – Health care assistants demand end to family reunification barriers. Union also seeking radical reform of ‘50/50 rule’. In a statement issued to mark World Children’s Day, trade union Unite today (Thursday) called on the government to abolish family reunification income limits and waiting times. Unite organises migrant health care assistants (HCAs) working in nursing homes and homecare settings throughout Ireland, as well as other workers from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) on employment permits. Unite members joined the ‘Rally for Family Reunion’ organised outside the Dáil at noon today by Migrant Rights Centre Ireland read more
Industrial action at Cockermouth based James Walker over as members secure improved deal (19 Nov) – A series of strikes at James Walker have been called off after workers have accepted a new pay deal. Workers at the sealant factory in Cockermouth, Cumbria, were due to walk out for 16 days from tomorrow (19 November). However, they have now voted to accept an improved pay offer from their employer of three per cent, as well as four days off over Christmas (worth an additional 1.7 per cent). The pay rise will be backdated earlier to 24 April 2025 instead of the pay anniversary date of 24 July 2025 read more
First Glasgow workers strike ballot to force buses off the road (19 Nov) – Dispute to hit Glasgow bus depots as workers demand better jobs, pay and conditions. Unite has confirmed today (Wednesday 19 November) that workers who clean and refuel buses for First Bus in Glasgow are being balloted over jobs, pay and conditions. Around 50 First Bus cleaners, fuellers and shunters at the Caledonia, Scotstoun, Blantyre and Overtown bus depots are involved in the dispute. The bus workers and cleaners are demanding that a proposed pay increase is brought into line with other bargaining groups including drivers, because they are the lowest paid within the First group. Without the cleaning, refuelling and re-charging of First Glasgow’s fleet then buses across Glasgow will have to be taken off the roads for safety, cleanliness and re-charging reasons… The ballot opens today (19 November) and closes on 16 December. If the ballot is successful, then strike action is expected to take place from late December read more
Unite launches strikes ballot over Edinburgh council tracking drivers (19 Nov) – Ballot opens on Friday 21 November and closes on 5 January 2026. Unite the union will ballot around 100 workers employed by the City of Edinburgh Council in a dispute over tracking drivers in housing services. The dispute is over the use of data collected by telematics in vehicles. In June 2025, Edinburgh council proposed introducing ‘exception reports’ which record each time a vehicle is used more than an hour before or after a shift. These reports are thereafter sent on to line manages.
Unions previously negotiated a telematics policy with the council so that it was based on the system improving driving standards and ensuring safety. It had protections against using the technology to intrude on members’ privacy. The policy was agreed to in May 2023. Under the policy, managers must request telematics data from Fleet Services and have legitimate reasons for accessing the data. The council is now trying to breach its own policy through exception reports. Unite’s housing services members are concerned about ‘overreach’ into their privacy, and the potential abuse of the telematics system by management to target workers which will lead to disciplinary triggers if a commute takes more than an hour. The union has raised repeated concerns with Edinburgh council to avoid an escalation in the industrial dispute, but management have continued to signal their intention to proceed with the exception reports… The ballot opens on Friday 21 November and closes on 5 January 2026. If the ballot for industrial action is successful, then industrial action in the new year by Unite’s members would lead to all housing services repairs and maintenance being cancelled for Edinburgh tenants. In a consultative ballot in August, Unite’s members across all housing services trades including electricians, joiners, heating engineers, and plumbers overwhelmingly backed strike action and action short of a strike read more
First Cymru strike action suspended (19 Nov) – Following an improved pay offer from First Cymru, proposed strike action planned to begin tomorrow (20 November) is now suspended. Workers had been due to strike due to anger over low rates of pay and because First were attempting to withhold back-pay. Unite members will now be balloted on the latest offer. The ballot will be conducted next week and will close on 28 November. In the event of a rejection, strike action will commence on Sunday 7 December and continue as previously announced throughout December until 21 January read more
World Toilet Day: UK bus drivers demand toilet dignity (19 Nov) – Research by Unite the union has found over half of UK bus routes have no toilets available for drivers. Unite undertook the research to mark World Toilet Day today (19 November). It looked at 420 routes operated by the following companies: FirstBus, Stagecoach, Arriva, Lothian Buses, National Express, Plymouth Buses, Translink, Coastliner and Go-Ahead. It found that 222 out of the 420 routes did not have any toilets during the route. Meanwhile, 138 have no bathroom facilities at the end of the route and 77 don’t have any at the beginning. On 155 routes there were no procedures in place for drivers who needed to access toilets on route. This is despite the fact under UK employment law, employers must provide ‘adequate’ toilet facilities for everyone in the workplace, including those with disabilities read more
Unite responds to planned closure of ExxonMobil Mossmorran plant in Fife (18 Nov) – Exxonmobil has confirmed today (18 November 2025) that it intends to close its ethylene plant on the Mossmorran oil and gas complex in Fife on 16 February 2026, putting hundreds of jobs at risk. This is despite the fact ExxonMobil recorded profits of £25 billion last year – its third best year on record. The company has claimed that it has been seeking a buyer for the site but any evidence for this is not obvious. Unite is calling on the company to withdraw the immediate threat of closure and to explore all options to safeguard jobs read more
Diligenta staff start national strike in pay dispute (18 Nov) – Unite members at five Diligenta sites walk out today over pay cut. Unite members employed by finance sector outsourcer Diligenta have today (Tuesday 18 November) started industrial action across five sites in a dispute over pay. Diligenta management have been told for months by Unite that the strike action could have been avoided if they had given its workforce an acceptable pay rise this year. The strike action will cause considerable disruption to Dilgenta’s many clients, but the company has only got itself to blame. Management have had every opportunity to make Unite members a fair pay offer but has refused to even take part in negotiations. Approximately 1,000 Unite members working at Diligenta sites in: Liverpool, Glasgow, Reading, Edinburgh and Stirling will hold an initial 24-hour strike on Tuesday 18 November from 00:01 until 23.59. The dispute is now set to escalate as further strikes have now been scheduled for Friday 28 November, Monday 1 December, and Monday 8 and Tuesday 9 December read more
Mental health unit workers in London escalate strike action in pay row (17 Nov) – Staff in Newham walking out for six weeks this winter to win liveable salary. Dozens of staff that keep a London mental health facility in a fit and proper state are striking from today over a failure by their employer to pay decent wages. Members of Unite will begin a further two weeks of industrial action from 17 November to 30 November, followed by an additional four-week strike over the Christmas and New Year period, running from 8 December to 5 January. This escalation comes after three previous rounds of industrial action causing disruption for patients, staff and the public over four weeks in September and October. Grosvenor Facilities Management (GFM), generate millions in profit from the taxpayer through NHS outsourcing and PFI contracts but it continues to refuse to cover the modest cost required to lift this small group of workers out of poverty pay and bring them in line with their NHS colleagues on NHS terms and conditions. Instead of engaging constructively, GFM has spent thousands of pounds bussing in staff from other sites and contracting expensive agency and catering companies to run a skeleton service read more
How You Can Support the Newham strike:-
- Donate to the strike fund: https://gofund.me/5a1a59672
- Model Motion: Solidarity with outsourced NHS workers at Newham Centre for Mental Health – Outsourced workers at Newham Centre for Mental Health are on strike demanding NHS equivalent pay, terms and conditions and union recognition. The domestics, chefs, porters, reception and maintenance workers are some of the lowest paid in London’s NHS. Their employer GFM provides “facilities management” services as part of a 30 year Private Finance Initiative contract worth over £213 million. While GFM and their PFI associates extract multi million pound profits from the NHS, the workers who actually run and maintain the hospital are paid poverty wages and denied basic rights like occupational sick pay and unsocial hours payments. GFM’s denial of occupational sick pay not only disadvantages individual workers but undermines hospital safety by driving sick and infectious workers into work. We resolve to support the GFM workers by making a donation of £___ to their strike fund. We demand the NHS is returned to full public ownership with outsourced workers brought back in-house on NHS pay, terms and conditions.We will send a solidarity message to the striking workers and publicise the GFM workers campaign to our members.
- Donations to strike fund can be made by bank transfer to the ELFT Unite branch LE7113/L. Contact [email protected] for details
Turners’ tanker drivers resume halt to fuel deliveries at nation’s largest airports (17 Nov) – New supply shock to Edinburgh and Glasgow airlines
Unite can confirm that Grangemouth based tanker drivers working for Turners (Soham) Limited are set to resume strike action today (17 November) in an escalating pay dispute impacting major airlines operating at Edinburgh and Glasgow airports. Strike action commences at 02:45 on Monday (17 November) concluding at 23:59 on 18 November. This will be followed by further strike action on 20 to 21 November over the same timeframe. The latest announcement follows an ongoing impasse in talks involving Unite and Turners through the auspices of the conciliation service Acas. The company has so far refused to improve upon its ‘miserly’ one per cent pay offer for 2025 and marginal improvements on working conditions and allowances. Turners has proposed a pay offer in the following year based on the CPI inflation rate in January 2026. The two-year offer was overwhelmingly rejected by Unite’s membership read more
Village Hotel Glasgow set for strike action over five weeks into the New Year (14 Nov) – Dispute over poverty pay and working conditions. Workers at the Glasgow-based Village Hotel are set to take strike action over five weeks, after members unanimously supported taking industrial action in a dispute over jobs, pay and conditions. The strike action starts at 00:01 hours on 28 November 2025 and will continue each day up to 2 January 2026 when the five weeks’ action will end at 23:59 hours. The imminent industrial action by dozens of Unite members follows three weeks of strike action in August at the Village Hotel in Govan, the action was the first hotel strike in Britain since 1979. Unite Hospitality members at Village Hotel Glasgow including those working in the Pub & Grill restaurant and the franchised Starbucks will go on strike for the real living wage (£12.60 an hour) for all workers, union recognition, and the failure of the hotel to cover taxi fares for those working late or unsociable shifts read more
Further bus strikes hit South West London as dispute escalates (14 Nov) – Drivers, engineers and stores workers to walk out over below inflation offer. Over 350 workers employed by London Transit bus company in West London are to take further strike action after rejecting the company’s latest pay offer. Workers have already walked out for four days earlier this autumn and are now heading to the picket line on 14, 17, 18, 26, 27 and 28 Nov. Drivers, engineers and stores workers based at the Westbourne Park depot are furious at the below inflation pay offer they have received from their parent company, First Bus read more
Further strikes at Bank of England as security officers walk out in pay row (14 Nov) – Security officers at the Bank of England unanimously voted to strike after their employer announced a pay freeze. Security officers at the Bank of England are escalating their industrial after Amulet sought to implement a real-terms pay cut on workers. Nearly 40 members of Unite work for outsourced firm Amulet Security (Churchill Security Solutions) Limited, which took over the contract at the Bank from Mitie Security in February this year. Previously, Unite has been able to negotiate pay, with talks starting in the summer and pay increases brought in from 1 March. However, Amulet has told Unite it can’t afford to fund a pay increase due to taking over the contract earlier this year, adding that any pay award would have to be funded by the Bank of England as the client. Yet after seven months of stringing workers along, the Bank of England only came forward with an eleventh hour pay offer of 3.8 per cent in year one and three per cent in year two. This is a substantial real-terms pay cut, with the current RPI inflation rate standing at 4.5 per cent. Unite members unanimously rejected the offer as strike action got underway yesterday (Thursday 13 Nov) for 24 hours…Workers began an initial 24 hour strike yesterday and will now walk out for an additional five days beginning on 24 November – 28 November with a picket line outside the Bank of England on London’s Threadneedle Street read more
SAS cabin crew balloted over potential strike action this Christmas (13 Nov) – Pay row means flights to Scandinavia under threat in festive season. Over 100 cabin crew working for SAS Crew Services, based out of Heathrow, are being balloted over potential strike action that would see festive flights to and from Scandinavia under threat. Members of the Unite union are furious at a lack of a decent pay offer from the company with the current offer below the rate of inflation and not being backdated to their pay anniversary date. SAS has only offered a 3.5 per cent pay increase which, with inflation currently at 4.5 per cent represents a real-terms pay cut for hard-working cabin crew staff… Cabin crew are vital to SAS’s UK operations and any industrial action would see widespread flight cancellations in the run up to Christmas. The ballot will open on 14 November and closes on 4 December. Industrial action could then be taken across the festive period read more
Strike action at BAE Systems escalates after High Court victory (13 Nov) – Workers furious with management behaviour and poor pay take further strikes. Workers at BAE Systems factories in Lancashire are escalating their strike action over pay following a dramatic victory in the High Court last week. Over 5200 Unite members voted in a strike ballot over a poor pay offer from the company but were nearly denied their human right to withdraw their labour after BAE chose to take the union to court and seek an injunction. Unite, the UK’s leading trade union in the defence and aerospace industry, won a famous victory that has meant initial strikes went ahead last week. Now, following a refusal by BAE management to negotiate it has imposed a pay increase that has been rejected by an overwhelming number of members several times. As a result, a select group of workers are taking further strike action that will see more production lines at Warton and Salmesbury grind to halt. Strike action will now take place from 26 November until 17 December dependent on exact worker designation and shift patterns read more
MCL Medics set to strike on Harbour Energy platforms (11 Nov) – Unite the union can confirm that over a dozen offshore medics employed by MCL Medics, who provide lifesaving services, are set for strike action. The medics work on the Armada, Britannia, Jasmine, Judy, Lomond, and North Everest assets owned by Harbour Energy. In a long-running dispute over pay levels and training allowances, MCL Medics have backed strike action, and unanimously rejected an unacceptable pay offer from the company. The medics are now set for three 24-hour stoppages over 21-22 November, 5-6 December and 19-20 December. A continuous ban on overtime will also start on 21 November read more
Imperial College union membership grows as strike escalates (11 Nov) – Dodgy pay figures used by hugely wealthy university driving anger amongst workers. There has been an increase in the number of Imperial College London workers taking industrial action over pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said as it announced further strikes. Unite membership at Imperial has increased by 10 per cent due to the dispute and is continuing to grow, with other unions also reporting an increase in new members at the university. Workers are angry that the university’s management is refusing to restart talks even after it was revealed that faulty benchmarking data was used to calculate an insulting two per cent pay deal it has imposed on the workforce. This imposed deal is in effect a substantial real-terms pay cut, as RPI inflation currently stands at 4.5 per cent. This equates to staff having to work for a week for free this year… Around 1,200 teaching and non-teaching workers are involved in the dispute, including around 250 Unite members. The workers took four days of strike action in October. They will walk out again on 13, 14, 25, 26, 27 and 28 November. Industrial action will intensify if the dispute is not resolved read more
VUE St Enoch’s workers balloted in first-ever Scottish cinema chain strike (10 Nov) – Unite cinema members join Village Hotel Glasgow in hospitality workers fight back. Workers at the most profitable VUE cinema in Scotland are being balloted by their union, Unite, over jobs, pay and conditions in what could lead to the first strike action at a Scottish cinema chain. Unite can confirm that dozens of workers at VUE’s St Enoch centre site are being balloted over efforts to secure the Real Living Wage, trade union recognition, and safe subsidised transport for workers at the end of shifts. Unite represents the overwhelming majority of the customer assistant and team leaders at the VUE St Enoch’s site…The ballot opens tomorrow (11 November) and closes on 25 November. VUE becomes the second Glasgow hospitality venue to hold an industrial action ballot in the past week with Village Hotels in Govan holding a ballot over jobs, pay and conditions read more
Strikes to hit GXO Logistics in Motherwell as drivers battle inferior pay (6 Nov) – Impact to supplies for major companies including Costco, Superdrug and Whyte & Mackay. Unite, Scotland’s leading union, has announced that its members employed by GXO Logistics based in Motherwell will begin strike action tomorrow (Friday) in an escalating dispute over ‘inferior’ pay. The initial strike action and a continuous overtime ban will start at 00.01am on 7 November and ends at 23.59 on 14 November. Unite has warned that if the company fails to come back to the negotiating table with an improved pay offer, then a series of strike dates will run through November, December and into January 2026 (see notes to editor). The drivers are demanding an improvement on the current pay offer and a rate which would bring them into line with other GXO drivers working on other contracts based out of Motherwell. The current wage gap between the drivers and others placed on different delivery contracts is estimated at around 10 per cent read more
Luton easyJet disruption looms for Christmas as DHL workers ballot for strike (6 Nov) – easyJet check in and baggage handling staff employed by DHL in strike vote over pay. Luton easyJet passengers are facing Christmas disruption as DHL check in and baggage handling staff ballot for strike action over pay. Around 200 workers are being balloted over an inadequate pay offer from DHL of 3.6 per cent from 1 October 2025 and a further 0.6 per cent from 1 January 2026. This offer is a real terms pay cut as the current RPI inflation rate stands at 4.5 per cent…The workers are balloting until 4 December. Strike action would severely impact easyJet’s Luton operations read more
Cambridgeshire facing bus standstill as Stagecoach workers ballot for strike action (4 Nov) – 350 Stagecoach drivers and engineers in strike vote over pay. Bus services across Cambridgeshire are facing a standstill as 350 Stagecoach workers ballot for strike action over pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today. The drivers and engineers, based at Cambridge, Peterborough and Fenstanton, have rejected a two year pay deal that does not reflect the rising cost of living and the demands of the job. Stagecoach made operating profits of £97.3 million in the year to April 2024 on sales of £1.6 billion read more
Leicestershire braced for winter bus disruption as Arriva workers ballot for strike (4 Nov) – 300 Arriva drivers, depot and office staff angry over inadequate pay offer. Leicester, Hinckley and Coalville are braced for winter bus disruption as 300 Arriva workers ballot for strike action over pay. The drivers, depot and office staff are angry over an inadequate pay offer from Arriva, which made pre-tax profits of €156m in 2024 read more
Newhaven workers to strike over pay and unreasonable behaviour by employer (30 Oct) – Veolia workers furious at company attitude to negotiations and poor pay offer. Workers at a Newhaven incinerator plant are to take strike action this winter due to the poor pay offer from their employer. Nearly 20 Unite members at the Veolia ERF (Energy Recovery Facility) in Newhaven, Sussex are exasperated by the company’s low-ball pay offer alongside their appalling approach to negotiations in Acas-mediated talks. Workers have been trying to negotiate a better pay deal since February, with a pay anniversary of 1 January, so are now close to being owed a full year of back pay. Veolia, who Unite have a long-running dispute with in Sheffield, are refusing to enter negotiations in good faith and will now see their ERF shutdown from 10-14 November, 15-19 December, 12-16 January and 9-13 February…Unite is currently involved in a long-running dispute with Veolia over trade union recognition at a Sheffield refuse site read more
GNI: Gas workers vote for industrial action (29 Oct) – Move follows company breach of collective agreement. Management must act to avoid escalation. Unite, which represents workers throughout the energy sector, said today (Wednesday) that members in Gas Networks Ireland (GNI) have voted overwhelmingly to take industrial action after the company breached collectively agreed procedures in relation to a member. Earlier this month, GNI attempted to convert a Unite member’s legitimate grievance into a disciplinary action while denying their right to be represented during the process, as required under long-standing collectively-agreed procedures read more
SSPCA workers’ strike action over real terms pay cut (28 Oct) – ‘Chronic’ low pay as millions sit in reserves and new executive earns bumper wage. Animals (SSPCA) will take strike action in a dispute over a real terms pay cut and years of ‘chronic low pay’. 24-hour strike action is set to take place on 5 November after no breakthrough in talks with the SSPCA. Unite members overwhelmingly backed strike action after rejecting a two year pay offer which amounts to a significant real terms pay cut. In 2025, the offer on average amounts to around 1.6 per cent with some members having their pay frozen. A one-off payment has been tabled worth around two per cent. In 2026, only a two per cent offer has been tabled. The broader cost of inflation has just hit 4.5 per cent in September. The SSPCA after just one year of being a living wage employer is also planning to end this development. The SSPCA has two main workplaces those being its headquarters in Dunfermline and at Cardonald, Glasgow. Unite’s members at the SSPCA look after the feeding, cleaning, and general health of animals. This includes the veterinary team, animal rescue workers, inspectors who deal with animal neglect and enforce entry to rescue animals, along with helpline workers who deal with calls from the public read more
Shelter workers balloting for strikes over pay and working conditions (28 Oct) – Workers at housing charity Shelter are being balloted for industrial action in a dispute over pay and working conditions. It comes as around 550 workers, members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, have been offered a below-inflation 1.5 per cent pay rise. Shelter’s management have refused to negotiate with Unite on pay. Shelter is a leading housing and homelessness charity, which was set up in 1966. One of its core aims is reducing poverty. Its latest financial report from earlier this year showed income totalled £81.33m in 2023/24. This is £7.67m, or 10 per cent, higher than the previous year due to a significant increase in donations read more
Further strike dates at Sellafield site over lack of progress in talks (23 Oct) – Workers demanding site-specific allowances like other nuclear sites. Workers at the Sellafield nuclear site are to take further strike action in the ongoing dispute over Sellafield-specific allowances. Other nuclear projects such as Hinkley Point C offer pay premiums that Sellafield employers have refused to match. In the latest development in the ongoing dispute, workers at 6 subcontractors are to walk out from 27 October to 2 November. This new phase of the escalation plan will cause widespread disruption due to targeting production more effectively in conjunction with an overtime ban read more
Disruption to Christmas shopping in East London as bus drivers ballot for strikes (23 Oct) – There is set to be festive travel chaos in north east London as over 350 bus drivers are being balloted for strike action over union-busting tactics. The workers – members of Unite – work for the Lea Interchange Bus Company (part of Stagecoach) at the Lea Interchange Bus Garage in Leyton, East London. Since a change in management, Unite representatives working at the depot have been the target of aggressive behaviour. The chair of the branch was suspended, dismissed then reinstated, while another rep has been suspended on trumped-up charges following an altercation with management. Unite believes the reps are being victimised and singled out for undertaking trade union activities, which goes against employment law in the UK…The ballot closes on 18 November. Strikes could begin in early December, hitting the key Christmas shopping period, especially as one affected route is the 97 which serves the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre. Other routes that will see delays and cancellations should strike action go ahead are 58, 86, 135, 236, 276, 308, 339, 488, D8, W13, W14 and 678 read more. Email messages of solidarity to [email protected]
Unite ballots thousands of HE staff over pay (21 Oct) – Staff at 47 higher education institutions to be balloted by Unite for strike action. Thousands of staff across the UK’s higher education institutions are being balloted for strike action after being offered an appalling real-terms pay cut by their employers. Members of the Unite, along with members of EIS, UCU and Unison, are being asked to take industrial action following a 1.4 per cent pay offer for 2025/26 from UCEA, the employer’s body. This is significantly below inflation and therefore represents a real-terms pay cut. To add insult to injury the real terms pay cut was imposed by universities on 1 August…The ballot opened on 20 October and runs until 1 December. If successful, industrial action could take place throughout the first half of 2026 read more
London Grosvenor Casinos workers ballot for strikes over Christmas party season (21 Oct) – The chips are down for Grosvenor Casinos this upcoming festive party season as almost 140 workers are being balloted over strike action. Licenced gaming staff are looking to take industrial action from the end of November until the New Year, disrupting their employer’s profitable holiday period, after rejecting the company’s offer of a below-inflation 2.5 per cent pay rise. The affected workers do jobs such as running the poker rooms and roulette tables – these are historically difficult roles to fill as they require specialist skills, rigorous training and a legal requirement for staff to hold a licence to work in the industry. The workers operate from the three biggest Grosvenor Casinos in the UK, all based in London. These are Rialto in Leicester Square, the Victoria on Edgware Road and the Gloucester, Gloucester Road. Grosvenor Casinos is a chain of over 50 casinos located in major towns and cities across the UK, owned by the highly profitable Rank Group which saw its profits surge 38 per cent to £63.7m in the year to 30 June 2025. During this period, Grosvenor revenues rose 14 per cent, with average weekly takings hitting £7.3m read more
ABP: Craigavon workers to commence all-out strike (17 Oct) – Over 150 workers to down tools in pursuit of decent pay. Workers at Anglo Beef Processors UK (ABP) Craigavon plant, where Unite represents over 150 meat packers, trimmers, distribution, kill line and boning workers, have voted overwhelmingly to take strike action. Unite is seeking a fair pay increase for its members who are paid a piece rate. Management’s offer of three per cent with a one-off cash payment of £100 and three per cent from April 2026, would amount to a real terms pay cut. The strike will see shortages in beef and lamb on the shelves of many supermarkets, including Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Aldi… Management at the site have been provided notice of planned all out strike action by workers which will commence from 00.01am on Monday 27 October read more
Sheffield Wednesday workers take action at multimillionaire owner’s failure to pay wages (9 Oct) – Non-football staff joining Unite to challenge ‘disgusting behaviour’ of owner Dejphon Chansiri. Unite, the UK’s leading union, has mobilised against Sheffield Wednesday owner Dejphon Chansiri for his repeated failure to pay the club’s non-football staff their full wages. Membership of Unite has rocketed at the club in recent weeks due to ongoing issues over unpaid wages read more
Health and social care workers in Northern Ireland in strike ballot (7 Oct) – Unite to ballot members following failure of department of health to deliver pay parity and safe staffing. Unite is to ballot over 4,500 workers in Northern Ireland’s health and social care system, for industrial action. This follows the failure of the department of health to deliver on pay parity and safe staffing. The union has members among professional and technical staff, including porters, as well as among paramedics in the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service read more
Disruption to London police as workers ballot for strikes on pay (7 Oct) – There is set to be major disruption to Metropolitan Police services on Fireworks Night – one of the busiest days of the year for the UK’s biggest force. Over 140 Unite members are currently being balloted for strike action in a dispute over pay, with the plan to walk out on 5 November. Unite members involved in the dispute work for Met CC as call centre staff who take calls when the general public report crimes, and also within the Met’s fleet services as technicians and office staff servicing and dispatching vehicles such as police cars and motorbikes read more
Strikes to hit Birmingham textiles company (24 Sept) – Workers at Johnson Workwear to walk out over real-terms pay cut. Over 50 Birmingham workers at leading workwear supplier, Johnsons, are taking strike action over the company’s latest pay offer. Members of the Unite union, Britain’s leading trade union, are furious at being offered just 2.8 per cent and overwhelmingly rejected this real terms pay cut. With inflation currently at 4.6 per cent, this offer would worsen the cost-of-living crisis where housing, food and utility prices are rising faster than wages. Johnson are the leading supplier of work wear and protective wear in the UK and provide luxury linen services to hotels, restaurants and the hospitality industry, are a hugely profitable company. Its latest accounts show profits of over £63 million. Strikes are taking place on 26 September, 3 October, 10 October and 17 October 2025. There is also a ban on all overtime that came into place on 18 September. Staff on the factory floor currently earn just £12.38 per hour, just 17 per cent an hour above the national minimum wage read more
Ambulance outsourcing dispute: Unite to ballot for industrial action (14 Sept) – Unite, which represents members working for the National Ambulance Service (NAS), today (Sunday) announced that it will be balloting members nationwide for industrial action following the unilateral decision to outsource inter-hospital ambulance transfers in the Greater Dublin area to a private operator. Earlier this week it emerged that NAS management had initiated a tendering process without consulting the relevant unions. This follows recent proposals, rejected by unions, to reduce minimum paramedic crewing levels in emergency ambulances read more
Tarmac strike in Derbyshire suspended as workers vote on new pay offer (11 Sept) – A strike next week at Tarmac’s Alfreton Blocks Plant in Derbyshire has been suspended after the company put forward an improved pay offer. Over 30 Unite members at the plant, who include maintenance workers, quality technicians and fitters who make aerated concrete blocks for construction projects and pack them on the production line, were set to walk out on Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 September then Monday 22 and Tuesday 23 September. They had overwhelmingly voted to reject a pay offer of four per cent, which workers do not believe goes far enough to address years of low pay. However, next week’s strike action has been suspended to allow workers to vote on the new deal…Depending on the outcome of this ballot, the following week’s industrial action could still go ahead read more
Home counties bus chaos as Arriva workers walk out (5 Sept) – Staff at garages in Beds, Bucks and Herts to strike over pay. Over 800 bus drivers, engineers, cleaners and shunters across the South-East of England are taking strike action over derisory pay offers. Members of the Unite union, Britain’s leading transport union, are walking out after their employer, Arriva, failed to make a decent pay offer. They are now set to strike for 16 days across September and October. The dispute covers workers across Arriva the Shires and Arriva Kent Thameside across five depots. These are Luton, Milton Keynes, (both the Arriva The Shires) and Stevenage, Ware and Hemel Hempstead (Arriva Kent Thameside). At the Shires, around 50 routes a day operate out of Milton Keynes and Luton while Kent Thameside operates approximately 30 routes a day out of Hemel Hempstead, Ware and Stevenage…Strikes are to take place on the following dates: Tuesday 23 September – Friday 26 September, Wednesday 1 October – Saturday 4 October, Thursday 9 October – Sunday 12 October, Tuesday 14 October – Friday 17 October read more
Unite announces SQA industrial action ballot as pay dispute escalates (5 Sept) – Pay increase five months overdue to hundreds of workers. Unite can confirm today (Friday 5 September) that around 400 members at the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) are being balloted on industrial action in an escalating dispute over pay. The pay dispute centres on the SQA’s pay offer of three per cent for 2025 just as the broader cost of inflation hit 4.8 per cent in July. Unite is highlighting that any pay increase for the workforce is now five months overdue as it was expected to take effect on 1 April. The union held a consultative ballot of its membership on the pay offer which indicated 97 per cent wanted to be balloted on industrial action if no movement was made by the SQA on the pay offer…The ballot on industrial action opens on Friday 5 September and closes on Thursday 25 September read more
CWU
CWU LIVE – Dealing With Difficult Weather in Our Work (20 Nov) – Let’s talk about the weather. Our members work in all conditions. Every single day. Tune in for this weeks CWU Live. We’re joined by CWU Health & Safety Policy Assistant, Jamie McGovern to talk about how the weather affects the jobs our outdoor workers do. Postal workers. Telecom engineers. Anyone who spends their day outside. We cover the practical challenges, the support in place from the union, and what more can be done read more
DHL workers voting on “significant” wage offer (8 Oct) – DHL workers are being recommended to vote for a “significant” wage rise offer. Communication Workers Union (CWU) members at the logistics giant are being encouraged to accept an improved deal negotiated by the CWU, after workers accepted the union’s recommendation to reject the initial offer. For warehouse operatives and van drivers, the new offer is a £1000 annual wage increase – a 33% rise from their previous offer of £750. Meanwhile, drivers on a 37- and 37.5-hour week will be offered an £1100 increase, with those on a 45-hour week gaining £1200 – an offer increased by 23.3% and 10.7% respectively. The offer is a substantial increase from previous offers by the company, and much higher in comparison to the standard DHL award, which stood at 2.5% in 2025. It will also be backdated from 1st April 2025, the sum of which will be included in pay at the earliest chance, should the deal be accepted by members read more
Support the Tik Tok workers – CWU UTAW branch (UTAW_uk on X/Twitter)
✊ Join us to demand fair redundancy packages for over 300 workers✊
Last week TikTok announced a mass redundancy putting over 300 of its London employees at risk. TikTok employees have known these cuts were coming and were a week away from voting on union recognition. TikTok has timed this to hurt our movement and avoid scrutiny and transparency on a sham redundancy.
💪 WE’RE DEMANDING A FAIR REDUNDANCY PACKAGE OR REDPLOYMENT FOR ALL
💪 WE’RE STANDING AGAINST TIKTOK’S UNION BUSTING
💪 WE’RE CALLING TIKTOK OUT FOR ITS RECKLESS ATTITUDE TO ONLINE SAFETY
Read more about TikTok’s union busting redundancies here
VM02 Capita workers condemn “heartless and destructive” offshoring redundancies (2 Sept) – The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has said that the strength of feeling among VM02 Capita workers is “unprecedented”, after the firm has announced “heartless and destructive” redundancies. Workers in Payment Management on the Capita contract on VM02 were told of new redundancies on 18th August, with management’s justification being operational changes and consistent financial losses. It is expected that the 150 jobs will be offshored to South Africa, which has already seen a steady stream of VM02 jobs over the years. The union has attacked the timing of the redundancies as unacceptable, with the redundancies being announced just 12 days after a separate redundancy consultation, affecting more than 200 workers, was completed. This means that the same workers who had been told they had retained their roles are immediately facing a fresh bout of uncertainty read more
CWU members in Santander need your support. They have faced outsourcing, offshoring and technology is being used to negatively impact our members futures. They are now fighting back with a joint campaign with Advance Union. All CWU members, family members, friends and the wider public can help us by signing and sharing this petition.
Every signature counts – https://cwu.eaction.org.uk/cwuadvancepetition
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]
Unions demand action on delayed Safe Leave law (26 Nov) – A trade union rally at Parliament Buildings in Belfast heard strong calls for the immediate introduction of the regulations needed to activate the Safe Leave Act. The law passed more than three years ago, yet it has not been brought into force. The act will give workers who are victims of domestic abuse 10 days paid safe leave to deal with matters linked to that abuse. Speakers told the crowd that since the act passed, 17 women have been murdered in domestic homicide cases in Northern Ireland. They said this should focus minds on the need to act now read more
Support PCS Tate strikers (25 Nov) – More than 150 members at Tate Galleries are taking seven consecutive days of strike action from tomorrow (26) until 2 December. Pickets will be taking place at Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, and Tate Modern – so please support them. The dispute centres on the Tate’s failure to offer an above-inflation pay rise for a second consecutive year – amounting to a real-terms pay cut. In an astounding result for PCS, a recent ballot returned a turnout of 87.7%, with an overwhelming 98% voting in favour of strike action. While pickets will only be taking place at three sites, the action involves members at Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool, Tate Modern, Tate St Ives, and Tate Stores. The first day of strike action is set to coincide with the autumn budget in the hope of drawing attention to how a reduction in grant-in-aid funding has negatively impacted cultural institutions across the country read more
DWP pay ballot to start in the new year (21 Nov) – The DWP group will be conducting a statutory ballot of members recommending that they vote yes for strike action on pay to begin in January. The GEC would like to thank DWP members for taking part in the consultative ballot which concluded on 10 October. Members were asked, if they were prepared to take industrial action on pay and have answered in their thousands – 80.5% being in favour of Industrial Action on a 52.3% turnout. This was a significant result for the group and exceeds the turnout required in a statutory ballot. This result clearly shows the strength of feeling amongst the DWP membership. Members made it clear that they are unhappy with the derisory offer from DWP, how DWP distributed the monies available under the treasury remit guidance and DWPs complete refusal to submit a pay flexibility case (business case) to increase spending on pay in the department. The DWP group executive committee has received approval from the national disputes committee to move to a statutory ballot on pay. The National Disputes committee has approved the request to run a statutory ballot across the DWP. It is anticipated that this ballot will run between 5 January and 16 February read more
British Library Revised Pay Offer Rejected (20 Nov) – PCS received a revised pay offer from the British Library which included a minimum pay increase of 3.8%, backdated to 1 August 2025 for all eligible staff. Members met yesterday and unanimously rejected this revised pay offer. While this offer, received on 13 November, is in line with the Civil Service Pay Remit, it falls short of PCS members’ expectations… It’s no surprise then that at a members’ meeting yesterday, members voted unanimously to reject the revised offer. PCS has written to the British Library asking for further improvements to the pay award by no later than noon on Monday (24 November). As always, PCS remains willing to work towards reaching a fair resolution. However, we will consider escalating the dispute if our demands are not met read more
Support members in VOA – Contact you MP about the hostile takeover
In April 2025 the then exchequer secretary to the Treasury James Murray MP announced that the Valuations Office Agency (VOA) would be integrated into Revenue and Customs (R&C) by April 2026 without any discussion with PCS read more
Westminster Security Staff To Strike On Budget Day (17 Nov) – PCS members in the parliamentary security department are striking on Budget Day (26 November) over attacks on their terms and conditions, including the loss of 6 days’ paid annual leave/rest days following the imposition of an extended shift pattern. Members affected had been contracted to work a shift pattern of 8 hours, but this was extended to 12 hours resulting in the loss, and without a new or revised contract being issued by the employer. The issue has been a bone of contention between PCS and the employer for a number of years, resulting in strike action in September after members voted massively in favour of industrial action. PCS referred the matter to the Arbitration, Conciliation Service (ACAS) for mediation following the strikes, but this concluded without agreement on 29 October because of the employer’s refusal to engage constructively with the process. This is in spite of PCS stopping all actions during the mediation period. PCS is committed to working towards a resolution but so far, the employer has not shown a willingness to do the same. The dispute has not been resolved and members will resume strike action on 26 November read more
Further Strike Action in DWP Lincoln announced (17 Nov) – Following the current two weeks of strike action, members will strike again from 1 December until 2 January 2026 against the closure of their office. Today marks the end of the first two-week period of strike action in Lincoln. Over 80 members of staff are currently at serious risk of redundancy as a result of the planned closure of the Service Centre in May 2026. The majority of staff are low paid AOs with very little prospect of being able to relocate into other DWP or other civil service jobs. Members have magnificently supported the strike action with vibrant picket lines which have been shown excellent solidarity by Jobcentre staff in the same building, local authority workers, with the PCS DWP GEC, reps from neighbouring branches, and other trade union activists from Lincoln supporting the picket line read more
Border Force Maritime workers to strike (13 Nov) – Over 120 PCS members who patrol UK waters, including the English Channel, will take strike action on 14 November. PCS members who work for Border Force Maritime will strike on Friday 14 November over frozen allowances and unresolved changes to terms and conditions read more
PCS enters dispute with FCDO over job cuts and performance pay (11 Nov) – The department has failed to meaningfully consult the unions on its restructuring and job cuts programme and has imposed a new and potentially discriminatory performance pay system. PCS has written to the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) to lodge a dispute with the department over FCDO’s failure to meaningfully consult with PCS on the planned major restructuring and job cuts programme. The programme is intended to affect 25%-30% of staff, and is scheduled to start on 12 November. A failure to meaningfully consult unions on potential job losses is a major breach of a national agreement between the Cabinet Office and the civil service trade unions. This national agreement known as the ‘protocols’ applies to all government departments planning changes which can or will lead to redundancy and job cuts. The other element of our dispute with FCDO is opposition to the potentially discriminatory performance pay system, which has also been imposed by the department read more
Met Police members in fantastic show of strength (7 Nov) – Hundreds of PCS Met Police members joined picket lines and a rally in support of their fight for better pay on a one-day strike. Our members working as civilian police staff in the Met were on strike on Wednesday as part of their dispute over their employer’s refusal to pay them a £1250 consolidated allowance to meet the cost of living in London, that was paid to police officers. They are also in dispute with management over a mandated return to offices. Strike day started early with members on the line as early as 6.30am in Bow, Lambeth, Sidcup, Hendon and New Scotland Yard. Flags, banners and placards were held high and strikers converged on New Scotland Yard for a rally addressed by PCS President Martin Cavanagh, and MPs John McDonnell and Richard Burgon read more
Members at MOPAC ballot for Industrial Action (29 Oct) – PCS members working at the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) are voting to strike over a derisory 2% pay offer. After months of negotiation and a series of inadequate pay offers, members working for the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) are voting on industrial action. The ballot opens on 3 November and closes on 1 December read more
MyCSP strike extended (27 Oct) – PCS members at MyCSP will continue their strike action until 28 November, when the current contract ends. PCS members at MyCSP have shown remarkable solidarity, with their ongoing strike action receiving strong support from the general public. Despite this, MyCSP has made little effort to resolve the dispute, and negotiations remain stalled. PCS is frustrated at the continued refusal of MyCSP’s CEO Duncan Watson to attend meetings, demonstrating a clear lack of respect and engagement with staff concerns. We also believe that financial services company Equiniti (which owns 75% of MyCSP) is involved in decision-making, further muddying accountability. PCS is also critical of MyCSP for hiding behind the claim that it will soon cease operations, rather than taking responsibility for resolving issues before the transfer of staff, and the contract, to Capita. At the same time, positive talks are ongoing with Capita about union recognition from day one of the TUPE transfer, which we welcome as a constructive step forward read more
Civil Service Pensions Finance staff vote for action against privatisation (23 Oct) – PCS members working in the Cabinet Office have voted to take strike action which could disrupt civil service pension payments and contributions in their campaign against their jobs and services being privatised. Our three members working for Civil Service Pensions Finance have voted unanimously for action in an industrial action ballot which ended today (23) over Cabinet Office plans to privatise the work they do and transfer them to outsourcing giant Capita on 1 December. Our members, who are based at Priestley House in Basingstoke, have over 60 years’ combined civil service experience, handle critical payment processing, employer liaison, and authorisations. Strike action could severely disrupt daily pension transactions, including quotes for redundancy and early retirement, and purchase order operations across government departments…We remain open to negotiations with the employer and hope management agrees to our members’ wishes to remain within the civil service read more
ONS members vote to renew industrial action mandate (30 Sept) – PCS members in the Office for National Statistics have again voted for industrial action in their dispute over a forced return to workplaces. In a ballot that closed on Monday (29 September), 69% of Office for National Statistics (ONS) members voted to take strike action, while 92% voted to take action short of a strike (ASOS), on a 65.5% turnout. Since May 2024, over 1100 PCS members working for the ONS in various locations (Newport in South Wales, Titchfield in Hampshire, London, Darlington, Manchester and Edinburgh) have been taking action short of a strike by refusing to comply with the new attendance policy, which requires them to spend at least 40% of their time in the office. This action has had no tangible impact on the ONS’s outputs, proving PCS’s argument that there was no need for a more restrictive attendance policy. To increase the pressure on the employer, members have also been working-to-rule since August 2024, refusing to work overtime, out of hours or out of grade. This dispute is symptomatic of wider failings in the organisation, which have attracted criticism from a parliamentary inquiry and the independent Devereaux Review, and are believed to have hastened the departure of the longstanding permanent secretary, Sir Ian Diamond. It is hoped that his recently appointed successor will demonstrate a greater commitment to resolving our dispute read more
Ofgem staff strike over pay inequality – take action now (29 Sept) – PCS members at the UK’s energy market regulator are taking strike action in response to a deepening crisis over pay inequality and they need your support. Despite the critical role they play in overseeing energy companies and protecting consumers, Ofgem workers are paid significantly less than their counterparts in government departments. In some cases, the gap is as wide as 20%. Even more concerning, the lowest-paid employees at Ofgem fall within the bottom 20% of earners nationally. This disparity is not just a matter of fairness it’s a threat to the integrity of energy regulation. Ofgem is struggling to retain experienced staff, and when skilled workers leave, the regulator loses the expertise it needs to hold powerful energy companies to account. That affects everyone. Without strong oversight, energy firms face less scrutiny, and ordinary people paying electricity and gas bills are left exposed to unfair practices and rising costs. PCS members at Ofgem have voted to strike, demanding a fair pay settlement that reflects the importance of their work. Their action is not just about wages it’s about ensuring that Ofgem can continue to function effectively in the public interest. The energy market is complex and volatile, and it requires regulators with deep knowledge and experience. Undervaluing these workers undermines the entire system. The union is calling on supporters to take part in our e-action campaign aimed at building political pressure. By emailing your MP, you can help urge the secretary of state for energy security and net zero to intervene and ensure Ofgem reaches a fair agreement with PCS. Every message sent adds weight to the campaign and helps amplify the voices of striking workers. Political pressure works. Government departments set the tone for public sector pay, and ministers have the power to influence decisions that affect workers across the civil service. By raising this issue with your MP, you’re not just supporting Ofgem staff you’re standing up for accountability, fairness, and the public good. The e-action takes just two minutes to complete, and it could make a real difference. PCS is encouraging all supporters, trade unionists, and concerned citizens to take part and share the campaign widely. Whether through social media, workplace conversations, or community networks, spreading the word helps build momentum and solidarity read more
- show your support on social media with the hashtags #LightsOut #OfgemStrike #PriceCapStrike
- donate to the strike fund: https://www.pcs.org.uk/donate
IOPC members show faith in ongoing negotiations (26 Sept) – Recent ballot results show that confidence is high that PCS reps will negotiate a satisfactory settlement in the ongoing dispute. PCS members at the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) have sent a clear message of confidence in their reps by choosing not to extend the industrial action mandate in a ballot that closed on 22 September. This decision reflects growing trust in the ongoing negotiations, which have already delivered meaningful improvements to working conditions. However the high “yes” vote (89% on a 40% turnout) does mean members are watching carefully that management follow through on commitments made read more
Support the MHCLG strikers taking action in London (12 Sept) – PCS members at the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government continue their industrial campaign with targeted action at the department’s London office on Tuesday (16). Our members hope Steve Reed, the new secretary of state, swiftly enters into negotiations to end the dispute over office closures, attendance polices and recruitment strategy. Earlier this month, our MHCLG members supported strike action with busy picket lines in Birmingham, Darlington, Edinburgh, Hemel Hempstead, London, Leeds and Manchester. And workers in Hemel walked out again on Wednesday. The action has now switched to targeted action which sees over 170 staff walk out until 25 September. Support the picket line in London on Tuesday (16) outside MHCLG London’s office in 2 Marsham Street, SW1P 4DF from 8-10:30am. Send messages of support to [email protected] read more
Revenue & Customs Pay 2025 (2 Sept) – PCS rejects the pay offer from Revenue and Customs as it falls way short of the union’s pay claim. Revenue & Customs have written to both PCS and ARC unions to confirm that the HMRC pay offer will be implemented in September salaries. PCS has already rejected the offer (equivalent to 3.25% of the pay bill with a further 0.5% for targeting specific issues including low pay), as way below the demands in our national pay claim. The offer also sees members on terms and conditions transferred on moves into R&C having their pay ranges frozen, except for where increases are required due to National Living Wage increases. Over 2,700 members attended branch meetings to discuss the offer with 58% of members either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the offer, compared to only 15% who were either satisfied or very satisfied. PCS will continue to campaign for the pay rises that members deserve following decades of pay restraint under successive governments. Branches across R&C will be holding members’ meetings with speakers from the union’s national executive committee to hear about discussions the union has held with the Cabinet Office on civil service pay and reward strategy as well as to discuss next steps in the campaign read more
Benton Park View strike rally attracts support from across the movement (9 June) – The strike rally at Benton Park View in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne drew support from across the labour and trade union movement. The rally on Friday marked over 5 months of strike action by employer services members on the site in defence of PCS reps Joel, Gordon and Rachel, dismissed by HMRC for trade union activity. Acting branch secretary Angie Foggett thanked members for their selfless support for the 3 reps. Joel and Gordon gave emotional accounts of the impact of the dismissals on their lives and those of their families… PCS HMRC Group will now meet to discuss the next steps in the campaign read more. Take action, show your support and send solidarity messages to the reps and branch, email HMRC group secretary Steve Swainston: [email protected] read more. Members can also support the campaign by donating to the fighting fund. Donations can be made to the PCS account with the reference ‘BPV Strikes’ –
- Account name: PCS Fighting Fund
- Levy account number: 20331490
- Sort code: 60-83-01
Get the PCS Samba Band to your protests and demonstrations – go to their Facebook page and on X/Twitter @PCS_Samba_Band
Prospect
Prospect urges Chancellor to fund regulators and cut planning delays (20 Nov) – Trade unions representing climate and regulatory workers have joined forces with climate groups to urge Chancellor Rachel Reeves to use her Budget to increase funding for environmental regulators in order to boost the economy. In a letter to the Chancellor Prospect, GMB, TUC, PCS, BFAWU, Green Alliance, E3G, Friends of the Earth and the Better Planning Coalition state that regulators are “builders not blockers” countering the repeated use of such language accusing regulators or stifling growth read more
British Library pay talks stall as members prepare for industrial action (7 Nov) – Prospect members at the British Library have expressed frustration at continued delays in resolving this year’s pay negotiations. Although the Library’s pay settlement date was in August, a formal offer was not made until October, and even then, the proposal fell short of expectations, offering a 2.4% increase and an £800 underpin. The Library has been waiting for confirmation of its settlement from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), which is not expected until December. In the meantime, staff have been left in limbo. Members have voted decisively to reject the pay offer, and despite positive recent discussions, there is still no improved offer on the table. Prospect is now seeking authorisation to hold a formal industrial action ballot should meaningful progress not be made soon read more
ONS take industrial action over hybrid working policy (5 Nov) – Prospect members at the Office for National Statistics (ONS) have vote to extend further industrial action short of strike in their ongoing dispute over the department’s handling of its return-to-office policy. The policy, announced in spring 2024 and implemented later that year, requires staff to attend the workplace at least 40% of the time. It was introduced without meaningful consultation and ignores successful flexible and hybrid working arrangements that have previously delivered strong results for both ONS and the public read more
GMB
Thousands of carers ‘sleep easy’ after visa u-turn (26 Nov) – Thousands of vital care workers ‘can sleep easy’ after HC-One reversed its visa policy following a GMB campaign. Around three thousand care workers were at risk of deportation after HC-One, the largest residential care provider in the UK, announced it would only sponsor staff considered to be ‘business critical’. But following a GMB campaign – which saw more than 700 people sign a petition against the policy – the care giant has now said it will sponsor any current worker as long as they meet the Government criteria read more
Fifty years on, GMB women fighting equal pay wrongs (24 Nov) – On Equal Pay Day, GMB women across the country are righting the wrongs of history, the union has said. Today, 22 November, is the day women effectively stop earning compared to men. GMB Union members have launched more than 25 equal pay claims at employers across the UK read more
Bromley Parking Wardens to stage march and strike demo (21 Nov) – GMB members to take strike action today and tomorrow and march to Bromley town centre tomorrow. GMB union members working for APCOA Parking in Bromley have overwhelmingly rejected a last-ditch pay offer from their employer and will be striking today and tomorrow. With an almost 100 per cent turnout, nearly 95 per cent of GMB members voted to reject the pay offer. As a result, the planned 48-hour strike action will go ahead read more
Asda £600 million sell off ‘yet more asset-stripping’ (20 Nov) – GMB has described Asda owner TDR capital’s decision to sell off almost £600 million worth of stores as ‘yet more asset-stripping’ read more
NHS pay rise of 2.5 per cent ‘not good enough’ (5 Nov) – GMB Union has responded to the Government’s recommendation to the NHS Pay Review Body that health workers should get a pay rise of 2.5 per cent read more
Local govt workers demand ‘significant’ pay rise (24 Oct) – The union – which represents around 150,000 council and education staff – will submit a pay claim at the end of November, along with other unions. In recent years the Local Government Association has maybe below inflation pay offers without even meeting unions to discuss read more
Teesside wind workers to strike over ‘pitiful’ pay (14 Oct) – More than 150 Teesside workers at Seah Wind will walk out on Wednesday [15 October] and every Wednesday for six weeks after rejecting imposed shift allowances and a 3.1 per cent pay offer that’s both below inflation and industry standards. Workers will also begin a continuous overtime ban after talks with conciliatory service Acas broke down today [Tuesday]. The company, which builds wind turbine monopiles in Middlesbrough, has received millions of pounds of Government money in subsidies to boost the production of green energy. Industrial action highlights the current gap between promises made by companies and the Government on well-paid jobs in renewables and the reality for many workers read more
Learning disability service workers begin strike vote (13 Oct) – Workers at a Leeds learning disability service have today [Monday] begun voting on strike action. More than 200 workers at Aspire will take part in the ballot after bosses imposed a new sick pay policy, which means staff receive no pay after just one month of illness. Workers have already cancelled essential surgery, while others fear they will be forced to work while ill – putting vulnerable service users in danger. The ballot closes on 27 October. Aspire, formerly part of Leeds City Council before being spun off into a Community Benefit Society in 2015, has refused to reconsider its position despite repeated efforts by the GMB Union to find a fair resolution read more
Teesside military paint workers vote to strike (8 Oct) – More than one hundred military paint workers have voted to strike in fury over ‘pittance’ pay. GMB members at PPG industries, in Shildon, voted to walk out after bosses hit them with a real terms pay cut. PPG produces defence level quality paint for companies, including Airbus and BAE, and GMB members make the military green paint used on army vehicles. The firm has official Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) status due to the dangerous chemicals the workforce use. The company already has an order back log and it’s anticipated that this action will result in significant production delays. Industrial action is now expected this autumn read more
Jobs at Tower Hamlets primary school at risk due to ‘fire and rehire’ proposal
Schools (7 Oct) – Bonner Primary School’s plans will see 11 staff members lose their jobs, while remaining staff will be expected to do more work for the same pay
GMB Union has slammed proposals that will see 20 Midday Meals Supervisors at Bonner Primary School in Tower Hamlets put at risk of redundancy in a ‘fire and rehire’ style restructure. The proposals will see 11 Midday Meals Supervisors lose their jobs altogether, while 9 others will be rehired in new Playworker roles. The new Playworker roles will be on the same pay as Midday Meals Supervisors but with more responsibilities. Teaching Assistants will also be expected to take on additional work to cover the 11 job losses, covering playtime and dining hall activities. GMB has raised concerns about the job losses, worse terms and conditions for staff, and the impact on the health and safety of children. A petition opposing the plans has already gained over 300 signatures read more
Newcastle wire rope workers stage further strike (17 Sept) – Almost 100 Newcastle rope workers are set to stage further strikes in a dispute over pay. Staff at Bridon International, in Wallsend, will stage three 24-hour strikes on 18 and 30 of September and 1 October. The dispute centres around a 2.5 per cent pay offer, a figure that represents a real-terms pay cut amid rising living costs and overwhelmingly rejected by staff. Workers are increasingly frustrated over the company’s refusal to return to the negotiating table read more
Europe’s largest quarry braced for strike action (9 Sept) – ‘Huge disruption’ as workers at Tarmac’s Mountsorrel Quarry down tools later this month. GMB Union has today announced that members at Mountsorrel Quarry in Leicestershire have voted to support strike action. The news comes after workers at the Tarmac operated site rejected a pay offer from company management. 90 per cent of votes supported industrial action, with one hundred workers at the quarry expected to join strike action later this month. Mountsorrel is Europe’s largest quarry, producing aggregate materials for construction, road and rail projects across the UK read more
Bacton Gas Terminal workers begin vote on strike action (4 Sept) – Altrad workers at the Shell Bacton Gas Terminal in Norfolk will today begin voting in an industrial action ballot. At the centre of the dispute is Altrad’s offer of a one-time 4 per cent pay uplift, which falls far short of the two-year deal of 11.3 per cent and 5.5 per cent proposed under the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry. A recent indicative ballot saw members vote 100 per cent in favour of strike action and if a strike were to go ahead, it would bring work at the site to a halt. Altrad staff at an adjacent site saw their pay increase following another recent GMB dispute. Workers at the Bacton site – who do identical work, including scaffolding, painting, and thermal insulation – are now seeking the same resolution. The ballot closes on Thursday 18th September 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
Stop the Council Cuts – Sign the petition: Save our Services – Nottingham City Unison
Three branches, one message: UNISON rejects below-inflation pay offer (21 Nov) – The offer was made five months after unions submitted a pay claim and three months after the pay rise was due. UNISON members holding signs on their picket line reading ‘no pay, no way’ and ‘fair pay now’. UNISON members across three transport employers have balloted for strike action, following a pay offer of just 3.2%. These workers include engineers, admin staff, project managers, transport planners, IT & environmental specialists, to name a few. They are essential operational support staff who keep bus, tram, rail and wider transport services running safely and efficiently. Their work ensures that thousands of passengers can rely on accessible, coordinated, and secure public transport every day – making them some of the most vital workers in the transport system. The 3.2% offer was made five months after unions submitted a pay claim and three months after the pay rise was due. It was rejected by a large majority. UNISON says that these frontline workers – already on low wages – continue to face rising living costs without a pay increase that reflects the value of their work or the financial pressures they experience…The Transport for Greater Manchester branch has taken full strike action on 30 Oct, 5 Nov, 7 Nov, 12 Nov and 14 November and is currently undertaking action short of strike from 15–24 November. It also has action planned for 25-28 November inclusive. The West Midlands Combined Authority branch took strike action on 14 November and began action short of strike on 15 November. The West Yorkshire Combined Authority strike dates are to be announced soon. All branches are currently planning additional industrial action dates, including further days of full strike action. If anyone would like to send a message of support to those on strike, please use the branch email addresses:-
- West Yorkshire Combined Authority & Transport branch: [email protected]
- West Midlands Combined Authority: [email protected]
- Transport for Greater Manchester: [email protected] read more
- NHS pay figure is an insult to staff (30 Oct) – Head of health Helga Pile responds to suggested NHS pay rise. Commenting on the government’s submission to the NHS Pay Review Body that it can afford only a 2.5% pay rise for healthcare staff in 2026/27, UNISON head of health Helga Pile said: “Yet again ministers are trying to get away with giving staff a way-below-inflation pay rise. This is an insult. It will go down badly right across the NHS, just as workers are bracing themselves for the challenges of winter. To make matters worse, the talks and additional funding to fix deep-rooted problems within NHS salary structures, promised by the government in 2024, have yet to materialise. It’s likely this amount won’t even be enough to ensure the NHS can comply with minimum wage laws when the rate goes up in April…” read more
Mining museum strike extended into new year as managers fail to make acceptable pay offer (24 Oct) – A long-running strike by more than 40 workers at the National Coal Mining Museum in Wakefield has been extended until the end of January 2026. Staff have been on a continuous strike since mid-August in a dispute over pay. The museum has failed to put forward an acceptable wage-rise to resolve the dispute. The workers feel they have no option but to extend the strike due to the museum management’s ongoing refusal to improve what’s on the table and backtracking on earlier promises. Employees rejected the latest offer last week* as the new terms would leave many staff worse off than a previous version that had already been turned down. UNISON says the extension of the strike is down to the museum’s unwillingness to pay workers what they deserve read more
Welsh Ambulance Service staff to vote on industrial action over NHS pay, says UNISON (23 Oct) – Put NHS Pay Right. Welsh Ambulance Service staff are to be balloted for industrial action over their below-inflation pay award, says UNISON Cymru today (Thursday). Workers represented by the union will be asked from Friday (24 October) if they wish to strike over their wage increase for 2025/26. The union says the settlement fails to recognise the rising cost of living and other pressures facing NHS staff. If employees vote for industrial action, walkouts could take place in Wales as early as Christmas or during the busiest winter months for the NHS. The dispute centres on the Welsh government’s decision earlier this year to simply implement the NHS Pay Review Body’s recommended 3.6% increase for those on the Agenda for Change pay scale, rather than hold talks on a fair pay rise. UNISON says the award is now below inflation – currently at 3.8% – leaving ambulance workers and other NHS staff struggling to make ends meet. Staff belonging to the union across Wales backed strike action in a consultation. Welsh Ambulance Service is the first employer to be targeted as part of an all-Wales campaign to ‘Put NHS pay right’. UNISON represents hundreds of workers across the Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust, including call handlers, emergency medical technicians, paramedics and non-emergency patient transport staff read more
University staff to begin strike vote on below-inflation pay offer (20 Oct) – University staff are the backbone of campus life, keeping institutions running. Support staff at more than 100 universities across the UK will begin voting today (Monday) on potential strike action following a below-inflation pay offer from senior managers, says UNISON. The national industrial action ballot closes on Friday 28 November. More than 90% of members who took part in a UNISON consultation in the summer rejected the 1.4% pay offer for 2025/26 from the Universities and Colleges Employers Association. For years university staff have seen their pay lose value while workloads have soared and job insecurity has increased as institutions cuts costs, says the union. The latest offer from employers amounts to a real-terms wage cut and falls well short of other pay awards in both the public and private sectors, UNISON adds. The union represents professional services staff at universities whose work keeps campuses running safely and effectively. They include administrators, technicians, librarians, student support teams and cleaners. Other unions representing university workers – UCU, Unite and EIS – are also holding ballots on the same offer read more
Support Camden Unison school support staff members at Richard Cobden school for fair pay and safe staffing levels Camden New Journal: School strike over cuts to support staff
NHS staff vote to strike in outsourcing row, says UNISON (25 Sept) – Government warned of widespread walkouts if ministers don’t clamp down on hospital trusts farming out support services. NHS staff vote to strike in outsourcing row, says UNISON. Health workers in Dorset have voted for strike action over plans that could see thousands of employees transferred out of the NHS, says UNISON today (Thursday). Just days ahead of the Labour Party Conference, the union warns there could be further walkouts by NHS staff up and down the country if the government doesn’t clamp down on hospital trusts farming out support services to subsidiary companies, known as SubCos. Low paid staff at three NHS trusts in Dorset have overwhelmingly backed industrial action. In the ballot that closed yesterday, 94% of workers, including porters, caterers and cleaners, backed strike action over their employers’ plans to move them from the NHS to a new company. The trusts – Dorset HealthCare University, Dorset County Hospital, and University Hospitals Dorset – want to move over 1,700 mainly low-paid support workers to a SubCoread more
NIPSA
HSC Pay Update (12 Nov) – NIPSA, along with the joint trade unions and Department of Health, held a negotiation meeting yesterday, Tuesday 11 November 2025. At the meeting the DoH representative outlined the pay offer as follows:-
- Implementation of full parity
- Backdated to 1 April 2025
- Fully consolidated
We pressed the DoH on the issue of low pay and are awaiting a response on that issue.
In addition, the DoH outlined the process for implementation of the pay award as follows:-
- Present a business case to the DoF
- Issue a Pay Circular
- BSO processes the award
- Payment
In the event that agreement is reached, the Department has indicated that they would seek to have payment made in February. When we receive the written pay offer it will be circulated to branches for consideration. In the meantime, Branches are asked to maintain preparations for industrial action.
Patrick Mulholland Deputy General Secretary read more
Royal College of Nursing
RCN condemns US plans to downgrade nursing profession (26 Nov) – Declassifying nursing as a professional degree devalues the workforce and threatens patient care read more
Almost 50,000 nursing staff could leave UK under proposed new visa rules, RCN warns (20 Nov) – We’re urging ministers to scrap plans to double the Indefinite Leave to Remain qualifying period, which could deepen the staffing crisis and put patient care at risk read more
Pay in Wales: RCN secures landmark pay increase for nursing support workers (19 Nov) – Thousands of health care support workers (HCSWs) across Wales are set to receive a pay increase following a historic agreement between trade unions, NHS employers and the Welsh Government 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
BMA
A reformed contract for resident doctors and our recommendation to vote ‘yes’ (24 Nov) – BMA Wales believes package makes progress towards pay restoration goals, improves terms and conditions and sets out a path to addressing medical unemployment read more
GPs back vote of no confidence in health minister (17 Nov) – LMCs conference in Northern Ireland hears doctors seek way of working outside NHS. GPs in Northern Ireland have sent a resounding message to health minister Mike Nesbitt by backing a vote of no confidence in him and the health department read more
Doctors in Scotland prepare to vote for better pay (31 Oct) – Resident doctors in Scotland ready themselves for ballot on whether to strike owing to remuneration deal. Resident doctors in Scotland are to vote on whether to take strike action on pay in a five-week ballot in the run up to Christmas, the BMA has announced. If they vote yes, resident doctors could go on strike – for the first time in Scotland – early next year. The ballot opens on Friday 14 November – the first day of the next scheduled strike by resident doctors in England, who are calling for pay restoration south of the border read more
BMA slams ‘indefensible’ pay offer (31 Oct) – Association says Government offering ‘neglect dressed up as restraint’. The BMA has said the Government’s suggestion it can only increase doctors’ pay by 2.5 per cent in 2026 is ‘indefensible’. In a document published on Thursday, the Department for Health and Social Care said it has ‘developed financial and delivery plans which currently allow for a pay uplift of 2.5 per cent without having to make trade-offs against headline government health commitments’. The BMA hit back today saying that Government – given current RPI inflation is at 4.5 per cent – is suggesting a real-terms pay cut for doctors. It calculated that newly qualified doctors, would see a rise of just 47p per hour based on these projections, with hourly pay increasing from £18.62 to £19.09. The association has been calling for the Government to agree a multi-year pay deal to help restore doctors’ pay to 2008 levels in real terms, as well as fix the specialty-training bottlenecks that are leaving many foundation year doctors at risk of un- or under-employment read more
BMA: Resident doctors set strike date (23 Oct) – Full walk out planned for 14 November in England unless health secretary returns to negotiate. Resident doctors in England are set to strike next month, following the Government’s failure to agree a credible plan for jobs and pay restoration. The BMA resident doctors committee England has announced doctors will stage full walk-out action from 7am on 14 November, while urging health secretary Wes Streeting to avert the action by returning to the negotiating table. The announcement comes after resident doctors leaders met with the health secretary on 13 October to find a way forward on addressing pay erosion and job shortages. RDC had hoped the dialogue would see the Government recognise doctors’ concerns by providing a mandate for a multi-year pay deal or by agreeing to targeted in-year improvements to resident doctors’ pay. In confirming the latest strike dates, RDC chair Jack Fletcher lamented the need for further industrial action, while stressing that the situation was ‘disappointing but not unredeemable’, and urging Mr Streeting to resume talks in good faith read more
GPs in England vote to re-enter dispute with Government (18 Sept) – Patient safety concerns over ‘unlimited’ online consultation requests. GPs in England have voted to re-enter dispute with Government over concerns that unlimited online consultation requests could become a ‘critical patient safety issue’. Members of the BMA GPs committee for England voted in favour of re-entering the dispute owing to ‘a lot of confusion and anger’ about the regulatory changes, which are due to come into effect from 1 October read more
Senior doctors prepared to strike (4 Sept) – Indicative ballot reveals consultants and SAS doctors are willing to take industrial action in struggle to achieve pay restoration read more
NEU
Teachers warn that high-stakes tests will worsen student engagement and fail to broaden curriculum – NEU survey (24 Nov) – A new online survey of members of the National Education Union reveals fears that the government’s commitment to keep in place all current primary tests, as well as adding a statutory reading test in Year 8, will narrow the curriculum and worsen student wellbeing read more
| Action Date Contact Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School / Coventry (conditions of service) 25-27 Nov Chris Denson [email protected] Colebourne Primary / Birmingham (pay) 27 Nov Shirley Perry [email protected] Haydon Bridge High School / Northumberland (conditions of service) 25 Nov Sean Kelly [email protected] St Saviours CofE Primary / Waltham Forest (conditions of service) 27 Nov Pablo Phillips [email protected] Mallainee Martin [email protected] Sensory Support Service / Ealing (unacceptable management style) 24-28 Nov Stefan Simms [email protected] Woodfield School / Brent (redundancies / restructuring / pay) 25-26 Nov Jenny Cooper [email protected] |
NASUWT
Far-right protestors must not be allowed to intimidate children and school staff (26 Nov) – Commenting on the news that Cauldeen Primary School in Inverness has cancelled its Christmas Show after it received racist and abusive messages online, Matt Wrack, General Secretary of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union said: “NASUWT is alarmed by the new phenomenon of anti-immigration protests being brought to the front of school gates across Scotland, alongside unacceptable online racist abuse being directed at some primary school staff in Inverness…” read more
Schools unsafe and taxpayer ripped off after PFI collapse (24 Nov) – Commenting on the news that the company behind the largest schools Private Finance Initiative contract in England is going into liquidation, Matt Wrack, General Secretary of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union said: “The collapse of Transform Stoke Schools Ltd exposes the shocking failure of the use of PFI contracts in education. Regrettably this underlines what NASUWT has consistently warned about for years…” read more
Ballot opens over Scottish class contact time dispute (19 Nov) – The Scottish Government is facing avoidable industrial action disruption in the new year unless it agrees to act with urgency to address teachers’ workloads, NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union has warned. The Union is opening its ballot of members in Scotland today (Wednesday) over class contact time. NASUWT teachers are being balloted for both strike action and action short of strike action over the Scottish Government’s failure to make significant progress on its manifesto commitment to reduce teachers’ maximum class contact time from 22.5 to 21 hours per week. The ballot will close on Wednesday 14th January read more
Teachers at Kettering school take strike action over inadequate management (3 Nov) – Members of NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union at Meadowside Primary School in Kettering will be taking the first of six planned days of strike action tomorrow (Tuesday) over adverse management practices which are affecting teachers’ health and working conditions. Teachers are facing excessive workload, a lack of transparency and effective communication and lack of career progression. NASUWT teachers also began an ongoing programme of action short of strike action last Wednesday (29th October) under which they have withdrawn from specific non-teaching activities which they believe are driving up their workloads and distracting them from focusing on teaching and learning read more
EIS
EIS Members at Craigclowan School to Take Strike Action to Protect Pensions (24 Nov) – EIS members will be taking strike action at Craigclowan School to protect their pensions. Craigclowan School has used ‘fire and rehire’ letters to force its teachers to give up their occupational teachers’ pension scheme (the STPS) and instead join a cheaper private pension scheme from January 2026 read more
SNCT Teachers’ Panel response to Class Contact Time announcement (21 Nov) – The Teachers’ Panel of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) has today met to consider the public announcement made by the Cabinet Secretary for Education yesterday, 20 November 2025, in relation to a miscellany of proposals pertaining to the terms and conditions of service of teachers read more
EIS Expresses ‘Deep Disappointment’ at Scottish Government Class Contact Time Announcement (20 Nov) – The EIS has announced its deep disappointment at the Scottish Government’s announcement of its proposals over the promised reduction in teachers’ class contact time. The Scottish Government plans have been shared with the media, and will be announced at a meeting of headteachers and depute headteachers, before they have been presented to the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT), the agreed tripartite negotiating forum for teachers’ terms and conditions read more
EIS Opens Statutory Industrial Action Ballot Over Teacher Workload (11 Nov) – The EIS has opened a statutory ballot for industrial action over teacher workload. The statutory ballot, held by post to comply with UK trade union law, will run until the 14th of January read more
EIS ULA Opens National Statutory Ballot for Strike Action Over Pitiful Pay Offer (20 Oct) – EIS ULA has opened a statutory ballot of its members for strike action over university employers failing to improve their full and final pay offer, which was tabled earlier this year. The EIS has opened this ballot after the results of their recent consultative ballot saw members overwhelmingly reject the full and final pay offer made by the University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) and vote in favour of taking strike action to pursue an improved pay uplift. UCU, UNISON and UNITE are also set to open statutory ballots on the joint national pay dispute with UCEA. The EIS ULA ballot will remain open for almost six weeks, closing on Friday 28th November read more
UCU
UCU Stop the Cuts campaign
Sign petition against the education cuts
4 days of strikes begin tomorrow at Imperial College London over real terms pay cuts (24 Nov) – Imperial College London staff will down tools tomorrow in a fight for a fair pay award, the University and College Union (UCU) confirmed today. Management misled staff over benchmarking used to justify pay levels whilst pushing ahead with £2bn of capital spending. Management offered more leave on full pay to fathers’ than to mothers, then took back the additional leave out of shared parental leave. Further strike action called for 1 – 12 December if management refuses to return to negotiations. The full strike days this week are from Tuesday 25 – Friday 28 November and pickets will take place on each day of the action at the South Kensington and White City campuses from 8.30am until 10.30am. If management continues to refuse to make a fair offer, the union has also called strike action on the following dates: Monday 1 – Friday 5 December; Monday 8 – Friday 12 December. UCU members have already taken six days of strike action this term over management’s refusal to increase its below-inflation 2% pay award, an offer that was rejected overwhelmingly by members of all three recognised unions (UCU, Unison and Unite) read more
Strikes off after union forces Lancaster University to withdraw compulsory redundancy threat (20 Nov) – Planned industrial action at Lancaster University has been suspended, after management agreed to halt all planned compulsory redundancies for academic staff until at least July 2026, UCU confirmed today. Strikes scheduled for Thursday 27 and Friday 28 November along with ongoing action short of strike, have now been called off following management’s U-turn. University management had planned to axe over 450 staff this academic year due to financial forecasts, but UCU said the employer was relying on overly pessimistic assumptions and seeking to save money by cutting jobs, rather than looking at other areas of expenditure, including unrestrained capital expenditure, overseas campus costs, and pursuit of surplus financial metrics. The union described the U-turn as a significant victory, as the employer had maintained throughout the dispute that job losses were needed to save £35m and that it was unable to rule out compulsory redundancies. The threat of strike action was sufficient to force the employer back to the negotiating table read more
Staff at 32 colleges vote to strike over low pay (18 Nov) – UCU called on college bosses to begin negotiating after its members voted to strike over low pay and poor working conditions. An overwhelming 90% of staff who voted in the England wide further education college ballot said they would back strike action. Ballots were held locally, and UCU beat the restrictive 50% turnout threshold at 32 colleges. UCU members at a further 17 colleges have voted to settle their disputes after winning pay awards worth up to 8.7%. The union’s further education committee will now meet on Friday (21 November) to decide next steps. UCU, alongside its sister unions NEU, GMB, UNISON and Unite is calling for a New Deal for FE, including pay parity with schoolteachers, national workload agreements and a binding national bargaining framework. Employer body, the Association of Colleges, has recommended a pay uplift of 4% but colleges do not have to follow it, and many have failed to do so in previous pay rounds. The average college teacher earns £9,000 less than their counterparts in schools read more
University of Sheffield staff to strike from this week in job cuts row (18 Nov) – Staff at the University of Sheffield began 14 days of strike action on Monday 17 November, the University and College Union (UCU) has announced. The full UCU strike dates are:-
- Monday 17, Tuesday 18, Wednesday 19, and Friday 21 November
- Monday 24 to Thursday 27 November
- Monday 1, Tuesday 2, Wednesday 4 and Friday 5 December
- Tuesday 9 to Friday 12 December
Pickets will take place at locations across the university on each morning of action, with the main picket at the Firth Court section of the Western Bank campus, where the vice-chancellor’s office is based read more
Edinburgh University three-day strike over cuts, ongoing job losses and threat of compulsory redundancies (17 Nov) – University and College Union (UCU) Scotland members at the University of Edinburgh today (Monday) begin three days of strike action in a dispute over £140million cuts and job losses, including the possible use of compulsory redundancies. As well as striking today, UCU members will also be on strike on Tuesday 18 and Wednesday 19 November. Future action could also see a marking and assessment boycott which would see members refuse to take part in marking and assessment duties, including work such as exam invigilation and the processing of marks, and would be an escalation of this dispute read more
University of Derby staff vote for strike action over threat of compulsory redundancies and course closures (13 Nov) – Staff at the University of Derby have voted overwhelmingly for strike action in a dispute over potential compulsory redundancies and course closures, UCU announced today. In the ballot, 82% of those that took part voted for strike action, with 93% backing action short of a strike (ASOS), on a 66% turnout. The dispute centres on the university’s refusal to rule out compulsory job losses and course closures for the 2025/26 academic year. This comes after two previous rounds of redundancies, which have already targeted research and managerial positions. Despite repeated attempts by the UCU branch to engage in constructive negotiations, senior management has refused to provide assurances that there will be no further job cuts. The union said the threat of redundancies is unjustified, particularly given the university’s significant recent spending, including £75 million on the Cavendish Building project. The union also said the dispute could be resolved immediately if the vice-chancellor and senior leadership commit to no compulsory redundancies and no course closures read more
Strike ballot looms at Northumbria University over attack on pay & pensions (13 Nov) – Staff at Northumbria University have taken steps towards a strike ballot over plans by the university to force staff from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), UCU announced today. The university has told staff that anyone refusing to move onto the new scheme will have their pay frozen, effectively punishing employees who wish to remain in TPS and locking them into years of real terms pay cuts. Northumbria’s management say that the move could save up to £11 million from staff pay & pensions. But UCU says the proposals amount to an attack on long-term retirement security and would leave many staff significantly worse off. At a packed meeting of almost 250 members this week, staff overwhelmingly voted (by over 99%) to declare a dispute over the pensions changes and pay freeze threat. The union has made it clear that a ballot for local industrial action is now imminent and the university could face disruption if it doesn’t withdraw the proposal read more
Strike dates set at Dundee University in long running dispute as employer announces further job cuts (3 Nov) – UCU members at the Dundee University will take five days of strike action next week beginning on Monday 10 November. As well as Monday, staff will also be striking during the rest of the week on Tuesday 11, Wednesday 12, Thursday 13 and Friday 14 November 2025. UCU members will also take part in action short of strike which will involve staff taking actions including working to contract, not covering for colleagues or undertaking voluntary activities at the university. The strike follows a re-ballot where 72% of those who voted backed strike action on a turnout 58% read more
Solent University threatens P&O-style ‘Fire & Rehire’ with pension cuts (22 Oct) – UCU today announced that it has entered a formal trade dispute with Southampton Solent University over plans to force all its staff onto inferior pension schemes, paving the way for a strike ballot if management refuses to resolve the dispute. On Wednesday 24 September Solent vice-chancellor Professor James Knowles announced in a video call with staff that the university intends to move all staff to wholly owned subsidiary company, Solent University Services Limited (SUSL). This will force them out of the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) and onto a second-rate defined contribution pension read more
Strike dates set at University of the Highlands and Islands in dispute over use of compulsory redundancies (21 Oct) – UCU members at the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) will take four days of strike action beginning on Thursday 30 October. As well as 30 October, staff will also strike on Wednesday 5, Monday 17 and Tuesday 18 November 2025. UCU members will also take part in action short of strike which will involve staff taking actions including working to contract, not covering for colleagues or undertaking voluntary activities at the university. The strike follows a ballot where 71% of those who voted backed strike action on a turnout of 82%. The dispute is over management pressing ahead with plans to make 16 jobs at the university’s executive office redundant as part of efforts to save £2million. University senior managers are using compulsory redundancies to implement the job cuts; a move the union says is unacceptable. The union also questioned the impact cuts would have on the remaining staff who will be left with unmanageable workloads and said that these new cuts followed multiple cuts and jobs losses in recent years. The union said that the hollowing out of the university’s executive office isn’t sustainable long term with a functioning university read more
UK wide university strike ballot opens (14 Oct) – Over 65,000 UCU members at universities across the UK will be balloted to take strike action in a fight to protect jobs, wages and working conditions, the union announced today. The ballot will open on Monday 20 October and run until Friday 28 November. It will be aggregated across 137 institutions, meaning a successful result will pave the way for strike action at all 137 campuses in the new year. The ballot comes after UCU and its sister unions GMB, Unite, Unison and EIS rejected a derisory a 1.4% pay offer from employer body the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA). UCU has also revealed university employers have tried to axe over 15,000 jobs read more
UCU general secretary Jo Grady to visit INTO Manchester picket on Tuesday as part of low pay dispute (29 Sept) – The University and College Union (UCU) today announced that Jo Grady will visit the INTO Manchester College picket line tomorrow as part of the dispute over low pay. UCU members at the private college for international students downed tools on Thursday 25 September and will do so again on Tuesday 30 September. Jo Grady will visit the picket line at the entrance to the college’s main building on Whitworth Street from 8.30am to 9.15am tomorrow and discuss the campaign with members. Despite the disruption and calls from the union to talk, the college has refused to budge from its pay offer of just a 2% rise, a significant real term cut against inflation. The strike comes after an overwhelming 97% of UCU members voted to take strike action in a ballot that saw a turnout of 83% read more
University of Bradford staff announce further strike dates job cuts row (18 Sept) – University of Bradford staff will down tools for 10 days in a fight to save jobs, UCU announced today. Staff will strike every weekday from Monday 22 September until Friday 3 October in their dispute over redundancies, disrupting the first two weeks of the new academic year read more
UCU fighting fund: the link is here and donations to the fund are spent on supporting members involved in important disputes.
FBU
Environmental groups urge Reeves to “fund frontline response to the climate crisis” (25 Nov) – As Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares to deliver her budget, environmental and tax justice groups have joined the Fire Brigades Union in calling for major investment in the fire and rescue service read more
Firefighters “stretched to the limit” as Storm Claudia triggers major flooding and widespread disruption (16 Nov) – The Fire Brigades Union has highlighted the immense pressure on fire and rescue services as Storm Claudia brings severe flooding to parts of Wales and England, with at least one major incident declared and crews responding to escalating demand. A major incident was declared in Monmouth in the early hours of Saturday after “severe and widespread” flooding affected the town and surrounding communities. Firefighters have carried out rescues, evacuations, and welfare checks since 01:30 GMT, with South Wales Fire and Rescue Service reporting 82 flood-related incidents overnight read more
New figures show extent of London’s fire engine crisis as pressure grows for mayor to intervene (14 Nov) – The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has today revealed stark figures showing that the London Fire Brigade (LFB) only managed to keep its full fleet of fire engines available for 5% of shifts during the year to date. Between 1 January and 8 November 2025, the full fleet was only available for 33 shifts as a result of cuts to crewing, amounting to 1 in 20 shifts. The last time that every LFB fire engine was available was 30 September read more
Firefighters union welcomes plans to scrap controversial police commissioners, calling for scrutiny (13 Nov) – The Fire Brigades Union has responded to reports that the government plans to scrap the controversial model of police and crime commissioners. Currently, four PCCs— in Cumbria, Essex, Northamptonshire, and Staffordshire— hold responsibility for fire and rescue services in addition to their duties for policing. They are referred to as Police, Fire and Crime Commissioners (PFCCs). Firefighters have called for an end to this model, which came under intense scrutiny following a series of scandals around then PFCC Stephen Mold in 2024 read more
Sign this petition: To Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire Authority and Chief Fire Officer – STOP, THINK & REASSESS Dangerous Cuts to Firefighter Numbers
POA
NEC minutes November 2025 read more
General Secretary update read more
National Chair update Oct 2025 read here
POA written pay submissions 2026/27 – Please find enclosed a copy of the POA Written Pay Submissions covering Public Sector Prisons in England and Wales for 2026/27. The remit group covers all POA members from Bands 2-5 and managers at grades 7-12. HMPPS written submissions can be accessed via the Prison Service Pay Review Body Website at this link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/690367515c84b1206832a866/HMPPS_Written_Evidence_to_PSPRB_-_2026-27_FINAL.pdf. The POA are due to give oral evidence to the Review Body on 13th November 2025 read more
Employment rights Bill 2 (25 Sept) – As the Employment Rights Bill completes its parliamentary journey, all eyes are on the Tory and Liberal Democrat amendments made to the Bill in the House of Lords. Although these amendments have caused justifiable outrage amongst trade unionists, it is widely predicted that they will be rejected by the government wielding its majority in the House of Commons, and that the original terms of the Bill will be restored. Whilst we recognise the progress made in improving workers’ rights, the POA believes that a second Employment Bights Bill is needed, one that strengthens the rights of all workers… The Campaign for Trade Union Freedom and Strike Map have arranged a petition, supported by 12 Trade Unions (including the POA) to call for an ‘Employment Rights Bill 2. Please sign the petition by adding your name at https://bit.ly/DemandERB2 read more
BFAWU
BFAWU Response to Scotland Food & Drink Announcement (19 Nov) – The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers’ Union welcomes this recognition of the importance of Scotland’s food and drink sector. But we want to make clear in a way that Food and Drink Scotland do not. The food industry is built on the hard work and skill of more than 123,000 workers across the country. The £19 billion turnover and £7 billion added in value announced, mask a far harsher reality for the people whose labour actually creates that wealth. Food workers remain on low pay, insecure contracts, and face chronic understaffing, long hours, unsafe conditions and are struggling to heat their homes, feed their families, and keep up with rising living costs because of low wages and insecure working conditions, at the same time as Food and Drink Scotland proclaims this record £19bn turnover. These realities for food workers are the direct result of a sector whose profits are too often built on squeezing workers rather than valuing them. Tragically, workers are not sharing in the success they create. Rising turnover means nothing if the very people producing Scotland’s food cannot afford the food they make. If the industry is serious about “sustainable growth” and “supporting businesses of all sizes”, then the most practical, achievable step it can take is ensuring workers are respected, paid a real living wage, and protected at work. That starts with union recognition and a commitment to collective bargaining across the sector read more
BFAWU Executive Council responds to the Home Secretary’s statement (18 Nov) – The BFAWU Executive Council is alarmed by the Home Secretary’s announcement yesterday, and by the direction it signals for the UK’s asylum system. The government’s statement that refugee status will become temporary, that the pathway to settlement will be significantly lengthened, and that support for people seeking safety may be withdrawn raises profound concerns about fairness, human rights, and the functioning of our economy. In her statement, Shabana Mahmood said the current system is “out of control” and that the UK must move to a “core protection” regime where leave to remain is reduced (from five years to around 30 months) and where permanent settlement will only be available after a much longer period (potentially up to 20 years). She also proposed removing the automatic duty to provide accommodation and financial support for some asylum seekers, particularly those who can work but choose not to, or who break rules. We welcome the government’s stated aim of reducing exploitation and safeguarding decent work but we strongly reject the notion that migrating workers, including those who arrived as asylum seekers, are a “problem” to be solved by shrinking their rights and pushing them into precarity read more
Support the campaign to unionise Samworth Brothers – get organised, sign the petition read more
Nautilus International
Strike action looms at Lloyd’s Register as Dutch employees threaten to bring critical services to standstill over pay dispute (26 Nov) – Nautilus International has issued an ultimatum to Lloyd’s Register EMEA and Lloyd’s Register Maritiem Nederland B.V. after the employer refused to negotiate with union members over pay and working conditions. The union has given the company until noon on Thursday 27 November to agree to demands including a 4.5% wage increase backdated to January 2025, or face escalating industrial action that will directly impact the Port of Rotterdam, offshore wind projects, and the oil and gas supply industry read more
NUJ
NUJ calls for clarity and transparency over BBC Editorial Guidelines and Standards Committee (26 Nov) – The NUJ has noted with concern that during Monday’s Culture Media and Sport Committee hearing, Sir Robbie Gibb stated that he has become involved in editorial matters read more
Israel: Government seeks to ban foreign media outlets permanently if deemed “a security threat” (24 Nov) – New bill raises concerns for media freedom. The NUJ joins the International Federation of Journalists in expressing its concern that over the passing of a bill that allows the Israeli government to shut down foreign media outlets alleged to “undermine national security”, without judicial oversight and regardless of the security situation read more
NUJ requests meeting with BBC leadership to discuss members’ concerns (21 Nov) – The NUJ has written to BBC leadership to arrange a meeting to address concerns raised by members and to highlight the union’s longstanding calls for improved conditions. In a letter to Samir Shah, BBC chair, and Tim Davie, outgoing director-general, the union voiced concerns about the continuing fallout from the Panorama edit of president Trump’s 2021 speech and the leaked memo from Michael Prescott, which alleged systemic issues around maintaining impartiality read more
Murder charge against Filipino community journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio dropped (20 Nov) – The NUJ has joined the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in calling for the immediate release of Frenchie Mae Cumpio and the cessation of all baseless charges against her read more
NUJ Highland chapel at BBC Scotland shows solidarity with STV colleagues (13 Nov) – The NUJ’s Highland chapel at BBC Scotland has passed a motion showing solidarity with STV colleagues in light of proposed cuts to jobs and programming read more
NUJ members at STV to be balloted for strike action over significant cuts (11 Nov) – Members of the National Union of Journalists working at STV are to be balloted for strike action over the proposed axing of the STV North edition of the News at 6, as well as associated compulsory redundancies read more
Journalists at The Mirror vote to strike (22 Oct) – NUJ members at The Mirror have voted yes in a ballot for strike action over compulsory redundancies, rotas and concerns about the impact of artificial intelligence on editorial quality. The vote comes after Reach, the commercial publisher that owns The Mirror, announced mass redundancies across the company in September. The Mirror is one of the titles worst affected by the cuts, losing around 40 writers and editors read more
Equity
Equity statement on Cambridge Shakespeare Festival ruling (25 Nov) – This week’s tribunal ruling that an Equity member engaged by Cambridge Shakespeare Festival was not a worker is both disappointing and contradicts a previous ruling read more
Positive Pride meeting with Manchester City Council (21 Nov) – Manchester City Council leader met with Equity to discuss payment and rebuilding trust with Pride performers read more
Musicians Union
MU Sends Open Letter to University of Nottingham on Music Course Cuts (25 Nov) – Music courses are being suspended for new students at the University of Nottingham while the university’s council decides whether to terminate the courses permanently. Read our open letter to the University’s Vice Chancellor read more
London Buskers Secure Campaign Support at Westminster Council Meeting (24 Nov) – Buskers went to Westminster Council to speak to their representatives about new viable, accessible pitches for the festive season and beyond read more
USDAW
Tetrosyl industrial action ballot opens and Usdaw calls on the company to withdraw their new contracts (14 Nov) – Usdaw, the trade union for staff working at car care products manufacturer Tetrosyl and Tetrosyl Express, has today commenced an industrial action ballot over a dispute about the company using ‘fire and rehire’ to reduce terms and conditions for staff at their Rochdale site. The ballot closes on 28 November read more
UVW
Migrant concierge & cleaners launch 10 day strike at luxury Paddington flats (22 Sept) – Concierge and cleaning staff at WEQ luxury apartments launch strike action today, running until 29th September, after management refused to award any pay rise in 2025 and following a serious breakdown in talks over inflation-proof pay, equal rights, and compassionate leave. The strike comes after eight hours of ACAS-mediated talks, where a pay deal had finally been secured. But in a last-minute move, management attempted to impose a sweeping contract, giving concierge and cleaners an ultimatum: keep their rights to collective bargaining or receive a 2025 pay rise — but not both… The full strike period will run from Friday 19th September to Monday 29th September, with action scheduled across multiple days and shifts read more
Solidarity Financial Appeal: UVW’s office was targeted in a break-in! – in January, laptops, essential equipment and other valuables worth several thousands of pounds were stolen, disrupting critical support for low-paid, migrant and precarious workers. This won’t stop our fight for justice. The theft comes as UVW leads critical campaigns with hundreds of workers taking strike action across London. Please support UVW during this critical time. Help replace stolen equipment and ensure campaigns for dignity and equality continue. Every donation makes a difference. Donate now: https://www.uvwunion.org.uk/donate. Read more on UVW Facebook page
IWGB
IWGB Issues Legal Claims Against Rockstar Over Unfair Dismissal of Staff (12 Nov) – The IWGB has issued claims against Rockstar Games for unfairly dismissing staff for union activity and blacklisting its members. This legal claim comes shortly after the announcement of the delay of Grand Theft Auto VI, which is expected to break records in sales upon its scheduled release in November 2026. The union believes that these dismissals amount to victimisation and collective dismissal linked to trade union activity. So far Rockstar has declined to meet with the IWGB, leading the union and barristers to issue formal legal claims on behalf of the Claimants read more
UCL Cleaners – Stop the Cuts! – In August 2025, UCL and Sodexo announced plans to make dramatic cuts to cleaning services at UCL and across students’ halls of residence. UCL say that these redundancies are part of a modernisation and cost-cutting agenda. At the same time, the university is in a very strong financial position, with student numbers up from 38,000 in 2015/16 to 52,000 last year. These changes come after cleaners have reported long standing issues with overwork, unsafe conditions and precarious contracts read more. More info on IWGB Facebook page
IWW/TEFL
Malvern House teachers on why they’re striking (15 Sept) – Teachers at Malvern House London are set to strike at the end of the month (Sept 29-30). Below, they lay out their reasons for taking this step. The decision to strike hasn’t come easily. It follows years of dedication, compromise, and repeated efforts from teachers to improve conditions at Malvern House. But despite our commitment, our voices have gone largely unheard. Teachers at Malvern House London have long asked for fair treatment, recognition, and stability. Many began on zero-hour contracts, waiting months—or even years—for permanent positions. Now, even those so-called permanent contracts are starting to resemble the insecure, unpredictable terms we thought we’d left behind read more
Security Industry Federation
Write to Simon Alderson CEO First Response Group (FRG) – stop the racism, bullying and homophobia at First Response Group more info
Mandate (Ireland)
Mandate Trade Union Calls for Respect and Fair Treatment for Retail Workers This Christmas Season (24 Nov) – Mandate Trade Union has today – with one month to go to Christmas Eve – called on retail employers and shoppers to show respect for retail workers as the Christmas period intensifies. Jim Fuery, Mandate AGS, explained that with busy trading hours, understaffing, and rising customer demand, retail staff continue to carry the burden of the sector read more
SIPTU (Ireland)
Further work stoppages at Carroll’s Cuisine following failure to engage with Union (17 Nov) – SIPTU members employed at Carroll’s Cuisine in Tullamore, County Offaly, will undertake two additional 12-hour work stoppages on Friday (21st November) and Saturday (22nd November), following the failure of management to engage in discussions on pay, working conditions and union recognition at the meat processing plant. The announcement comes after SIPTU members undertook initial 12-hour stoppages yesterday (Sunday, 16th November) and today (Monday, 17th November), with pickets placed at the facility in Tullamore read more
SIPTU to commence industrial action at Carroll Cuisine and warns of FAI strike (12 Nov) – SIPTU has called for support for its members in Carroll’s Cuisine in Tullamore, County Offaly, who will commence industrial action this week in an attempt to achieve the right to collectively bargain and warned of similar action in all workplaces where employers fail to engage meaningfully with the Union. Addressing more than 300 delegates at the SIPTU Biennial Delegate Conference in Galway, SIPTU Deputy General Secretary for the Private Sector, Greg Ennis, said: “Private sector workers, pay their taxes, have cost of living, health care, and housing challenges, but do not have the benefit of collective bargaining and are being discriminated against in my opinion. In an Ireland of 2025, this is unacceptable, and it should be a wake-up call for all trade unions.”…He said that the crisis-ridden FAI may be the next workplace to face industrial action in light of its management’s threat to implement widespread redundancies read more
SIPTU to ballot ambulance members for industrial action in outsourcing dispute (13 Sept) – SIPTU members in the National Ambulance Service (NAS) are to ballot for industrial action, up to and including strike action, in a dispute concerning attempts to outsource inter-hospital transfers in the Greater Dublin Area to the private sector read more
Dublin Fire Brigade to begin industrial action over safety concerns (1 Sept) – SIPTU members in Dublin Fire Brigade (DFB) have served notice of industrial action due to serious safety concerns over the introduction of a new call-out and dispatch system. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is attempting to impose this Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system onto DFB without consultation read more
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Other news
Trade union support for an independent PIP review
Dear Trade Union council, branch, organisation, or colleague,
I am writing about our campaign to tell the minister Stephen Timms that disabled people want an independent PIP review, with trade union involvement, and no more cuts. Disabled People Against Cuts Cymru (DPAC Cymru) were thrilled to see motion 38, disabled workers oppose welfare reforms, and motion 39, oppose disability benefit cuts emergency, pass unanimously at TUC conference 2025 last week. Disabled people are still fighting this battle without respite. The disability minister Stephen Timms was forced to promise parliament that further changes to PIP would only come after a review co-produced with disabled people. Timms has not kept his promise in the slightest.
An open letter initiated by DPAC Cymru demanding an independent review into the PIP benefit, to be led by disabled people and our organisations, has now received signatures from more than 600 people including representatives of more than 25 organisations.
That letter also says that “any review of welfare reform must also, in a process led by disabled people, involve trade unions as democratic organisations representing 1.4 million disabled workers as well as representing the workers responsible for the day-to-day delivery of services that disabled people rely on.”
I hope that you might consider signing our open letter in support of that demand. Signatures are being collected until the end of September.
With the government acting this way, I have also enclosed for your consideration a PDF leaflet about an upcoming trades council conference in Wales that aims to discuss the crisis of working-class political representation, with the Labour Party invited to defend their record. (eventbrite link here)
DPAC Cymru’s coordinating team recently voted unanimously to support that conference and ask if we could send observers. That conference is endorsed by Cardiff Trades Union Council, Swansea Trades Union Council, Newport Trades Union Council, Caerphilly Trades Union Council, Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, Cardiff Council Unite branch, Cardiff Rail RMT branch, GMB Wales Ambulance Service branch, Cardiff General Unite branch, Unite Community Cardiff & Area, PCS ARMs branch, and Disabled People Against Cuts Cymru.
Thank you to trade union colleagues, in particular trades council delegates, for offering your support, solidarity, and advice through months of protests. You are always warmly invited to send representatives to talk to DPAC Cymru members about your campaigns, and we are always honoured by any opportunity to send a speaker to branches or conferences.
In solidarity, Kind regards, Ben Golightly – Co-coordinator, Disabled People Against Cuts Cymru (DPAC Cymru)
Email [email protected]
Phone 07410 303 652
SHAC Conference report: Tenant conference agrees move towards a national union – “Our voice is not heard”
There was broad agreement among tenants meeting in London on Saturday that ‘our voice is not heard’ and there was a need to work with unions and community bodies to form a national union of tenants. The conference was hosted by SHAC and involved a wide range of tenants including private sector, council and leaseholders read more on Unite Housing Workers branch website
Townsend Theatre Productions presents: WE ARE THE LIONS, MR MANAGER!
– the story of Jayaben Desai and the Grunwick Strike
Written by Neil Gore Directed by Louise Townsend
We Are The Lions Mr Manager!” is the story of the Great Grunwick Film Processing Factory Strike of 1976-8, and the inspirational strike-leader Jayaben Desai, one of many newly arrived Gujarati women workers from East Africa.
Grunwick wasn’t a strike about wages – it was about something much more important than that: it was about dignity. Dignity at work. And, for the small band of Asian women strikers, who braved the sun, rain, and snow month-in and month-out on the picket lines, from August 1976 to July 1978, rights in the workplace and pride at work were far more important than any amount of money
- Tour dates and tickets here. Tickets: £15 and £7.50 concessions
General Strike Centenary & The Cramlington Train Wreckers 2026 – As you know, next year is a hugely important year for working history (centenary of the General Strike) .Following the success of The Cramlington Train Wreckers last November (4,000 people attended 7 venues) it is transferring to the 1200-seat Newcastle Theatre Royal next July. We are looking to touring it next year but would like feedback from unions re support. Can you circulate it among your affiliates, please? We also have an event at Glasshouse in May to mark the first full day of the centenary of the General Strike.
We are using both events to encourage a new layer of (young) trade union activists. It is an opportunity to draw in people We had a tremendous intervention in at Durham Miners’ Gala over the weekend. Any support would be appreciated.
The Cramlington Train Wreckers is transferring to Newcastle Theatre Royal after a sell out tour at 7 North East venues (4,000 attended!) last November.
www.cramlingtontrainwreckers.co.uk
www.wisecrackproductions.co.uk
Alan Hardman ‘Need not Greed’ – Alan Hardman’s razor-sharp political cartoons collected for the first time. Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of the Miners’ Strike, Need Not Greed is a career-spanning collection of visual art by one of Britain’s greatest unsung political cartoonists. Alongside Alan Hardman’s essential work, the book also includes a contribution from former President of the National Union of Mineworkers, Arthur Scargill, as well as a foreword by Jeremy Corbyn order a copy – £45 each
Affiliate with STAMMA – at this year’s NSSN Conference, Gary Clark retired CWU Royal Mail rep and a member of the NSSN Steering Committee spoke about 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
Sign this petition: To the Right Honourable Steve Barclay, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and The Right Honourable Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister – Make toxic landfills safe – Support ‘Zane’s Law’! Find out more about this campaign here
From Strike Map – Our final instalment of the ‘Industrial Unionism’ series with Manifesto Press is here. Building on this success of our other pamphlets- which has sold over 2,000 copies, our next pamphlet in our series is the infamous ‘A Manual of Industrial Unionism’ by William Z Foster. Click the button here to pre-order your copy for you and your organisation
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 Saturday demonstration in central London is 29th November at 12noon details
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, USDAW, BFAWU, CWU, Equity, BMA, NUJ, MU, UVW, GMB, SOR, RCM, RCN, IWGB, Prospect, CSP, NAPO, INTO (Ireland), SIPTU (Ireland) and Mandate (Ireland)
Palestine Cinema Days 2025 with Reel News: When I Saw You – This film festival, held in Palestine until the genocide made it impossible, is now held worldwide – with over 500 screenings this year – 7.30pm Monday November 3rd The Three Compasses, 99 Dalston Lane London E8 1NH more info
Oppose blacklisting & union victimisation
Spycops inquiry condemned as “fundamentally flawed” in statement by blacklisted workers – The SpyCops public inquiry that restarts evidence hearings this week is described as “fundamentally flawed” by the Blacklist Support Group (BSG). The comments appear in an opening statement for the inquiry’s Tranche 3 hearings. The statement opens with a section stating:
“Undercover police officers infiltrated and spied on trade unions. SDS reported on union meetings, union activists, union campaigns, and industrial disputes. For decades, police and security service records were used to blacklist trade union and leftwing political activists from employment. Through official and unofficial routes, the police intelligence was disseminated to government departments, major private sector employers and the unlawful blacklisting bodies; the Economic League and the Consulting Association”. The statement goes onto catalogue 10 years of missed opportunities and broken promises in relation to blacklisting, including highlighting how intelligence gathered by undercover police is used to provide state organised vetting for employers known as ‘List X companies’. One section of the statement reads: “The failure to fully investigate blacklisting is either a remarkable lack of curiosity, or an intentional self-imposed restriction of the Inquiry’s terms of reference. Either way it is against the public interest and is a failure to fulfil the Inquiry’s terms of reference as laid out by Parliament”.
BSG’s opening statement is published on the inquiry’s website as part of the submission by Imran Khan KC, who also represents Baroness Doreen Lawrence OBE, Suresh Grover and the Monitoring Group. Full statement in link below – BSG section starts at page 35.
Opening statement to the Undercover Policing Inquiry on behalf of:
Lois Austin, Richard Chessum, ‘Mary’, Dave Nellist, Hannah Sell, Youth against Racism in Europe read here
Blacklist Support Group
book: http://newint.org/books/politics/blacklisted-secret-war/
video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNcgrNs6pB8
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/blacklistSG/
blog: www.hazards.org/blacklistblog
Keep an eye out for other Facebook and social media groups and pages that are being created. You can catch up on disputes at Strike Map UK. Also, check out Organise Now! – Support for new worker organising.
International
USA: Support the Starbucks strike – read more on Starbucks Workers United website and follow @SBWorkersUnited on X/Twitter
Support Nigeria Solidarity
From Rob Williams NSSN Chair:-
At an international conference this summer, I had the privilege to meet Adaramoye Michael, National Coordinator of the Youth Rights Campaign in Nigeria. Michael is one of the Nigerian activists facing trial for treason, which can carry the death penalty, for the ‘crime’ of protesting against bad governance and poverty. The trial of Michael and other defendants has been delayed repeatedly but is now set for 9 October, 2025. Please show your support by asking your branch to pass the Nigeria Solidarity motion that can be found here: Union Motion – Nigeria Solidarity, sending protest letters to the Nigerian High Commission (template here: Letter to Embassy on #EndBadGovernance Protestors Repression – Google Docs), donating to the campaign if possible, and taking solidarity photos in the days before 9 October.
Further details on www.NigeriaSolidarity.com/Events.
Türkiye: No to union-busting at Digel read more
Diary
2026 NSSN Conference will be on Saturday 27th June 11am-4.30pm
