Starmer’s Labour government’s Employment Rights Act received royal assent on 18 December. The NSSN welcomes any improvements in the rights of workers and trade unions. But in the Government’s press briefings, there is nothing about the undemocratic 50% threshold in industrial action ballots, brought in by Cameron in 2016.
This raises yet further unacceptable delays, despite being an election promise by Starmer before being elected with a massive 160+ seat majority in the 2024 general election. It should have been scrapped on day one of the new Labour government. Workers have voted for action by huge majorities, only to fall foul of this outrageous attack on democratic union rights. Unions must now demand that the 50% is scrapped immediately.
The NSSN demands the repeal of all the Tory anti-union legislation, going back to Thatcher. We will continue this fight.
After Starmer & Reeves’s Budget and Starmer’s employment rights U-turn, TUC must call demo!
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 last September’s TUC Congress and is now TUC policy. The TUC and the unions must now name the date!
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.
Download and distribute our new NSSN Workplace Report - ‘We’re Struggling Down Here’
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 in Conway Hall in London
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.
- Campaigning for an Employment Rights bill #2 rally – NEU HQ, Hamilton House, London WC1H 9BD on March 21, 2026 at 11am (hosted by the Campaign for Trade Union Freedom and Strike Map) register here
Support the striking Birmingham binworkers as agency workers join the picket lines – Join the Brum Bin Strike MegaPicket 3-D, 30 January 2026 Facebook event
The NSSN salutes the heroic strike by the Birmingham binworkers, who have been taking indefinite action since March against the brutal fire & rehire by the Labour council, leading to the slashing of their wages by up to £8,000 a year. Outrageously, the council has used vicious strike-breaking measures, backed by Starmer’s government.
However, in an incredible and historic development, agency workers have joined the strike to fight against bullying, harassment and the threat of blacklisting.
We joined the strike rally late last year, of all the binworkers, on the first day of the agency workers’ action.
The long-running dispute is now at a pivotal stage, and a great victory can be won. All unions must now come to their aid. The NSSN will continue to help build solidarity – victory to the Birmingham binworkers!
- Join the Brum Bin Strike Megapicket 3-D, 30 January 2026
Start: Friday, January 30, 2026•06:00 AM
Location: 5 • picket sites, Birmingham and Coventry, See description GB
Host Contact Info: [email protected]
- Go to the Facebook pages of Unite the Union and Unite for a Workers Economy for videos and photos of last week’s strike rally, and keep an eye out on Reel News on X for videos of yesterday’s strike rally via @ReelNewsLondon
Unite: Birmingham council report on spending £33m to break bin strike still likely to underestimate costs by millions (19 Jan) – Report to be presented to council cabinet tomorrow shows resolving dispute fairly would cost a fraction of the price. Birmingham council report to be presented to its cabinet tomorrow showing that its attempts to break the bin strikes have cost a staggering £33.4 million is still likely to be an underestimation. The report, by director of finance Carol Culley, identifies the following costs: £4.2 million in lost income from bulky waste, commercial waste and paper, £4.4 million in lost income from green waste and £10.2 million in ‘street scene saving non-delivery’. The report also states that £14.6 million has been spent in direct costs, including “street cleansing, mobile household waste and recycling centres, security costs and additional support”. Around £19.4 million of the total costs are expected to be funded by the council cutting spending in other areas. Putting additional pressure on other under-funded services.
The report is likely to underestimate the true cost of the council’s colossal mishandling of the dispute, which is over fire and rehire pay cuts of up to £8,000 for drivers and former WRCOs (waste recycling and collection officers).
For example, it is not clear what “direct costs” in the report include. Council contract data shows it spent an extra £12.6 million in the first 11 months of 2025 on agency and contract staff (compared with the whole of 2024). If these costs are not already included, the total comes to £56 million.
In comparison, a fair deal for the bin workers would cost much less. The “ballpark deal” agreed at the conciliation service Acas in May last year and then reneged upon by the council, would cost just a fraction of the millions wasted.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “While council officials have been repeatedly refusing to engage in negotiations with Unite, the council has squandered millions of council taxpayers’ cash. Costs are mounting every day. The council now needs to get in the room because these strikes will not end until there is fair deal for Birmingham’s bin workers.”
The council claims it cannot honour the ballpark deal, involving fair compensation payments for downgraded drivers and former WRCOs, as it would create new equal pay liabilities. Unite has shared with the council its own expert legal advice comprehensively disproving this. The council, however, has refused to share its own legal advice on the matter either to the union or its own councillors.
Unite believes that the council is using equal pay as a smokescreen to break any opposition to the cuts it wants to inflict on bin workers and ultimately to other staff and services across the council read more
Directly employed bin workers have been on strike since January 2025 over pay cuts of up £8,000 for drivers and loaders. Agency workers employed by Job & Talent began strike action on 1 December over bullying and harassment.
- Birmingham council’s total spend on agency staff in 2024 was £6.4 million, averaging £533,000 a month. There was no spend on Tom White Waste or any equivalent outsourced contract. The total spend on agency staff (Job & Talent) between January and August 2025 was £8.4 million, with another £5 million spent on Tom White Waste – totalling £13.4 million or £1.675 million a month 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 2025 demonstration in Birmingham and keep an eye out on Reel News on X for videos of yesterday’s strike rally – @ReelNewsLondon
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
Support the striking Phlebotomists, the longest-running strike of NHS workers in history – 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
Picket plan week 45:
- Monday 19th: Joint picket Cheltenham General Hospital from 08.00 to 11.30.
- Tuesday 20th: Joint picket Gloucester Royal Hospital from 08.00 to 11.30.
- Wednesday 21st: Joint picket Cheltenham General Hospital from 08.00 to 11.30.
- Thursday 22nd: 300 days! Joint picket Gloucester Royal Hospital from 08.00 to 11.30.
- Friday 23rd: Relaxed picket at both sites.Strike Map have produced “I Give a Phleb” badges for the UNISON Gloucestershire Phlebotomists. Over £400 raised and sent already, is 1,000. Every penny to the strike fund. Grab your £1 badge using the following link: https://organiseandstrike.sumupstore.com/product/i-give-a-phleb-gloucestershire-phlebotomists-strike-support-badge-pre-sale
- 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
Launched this week: Workers’ Voices on Trade Union Education Survey 2026
The GFTU Educational Trust launches a workers’ survey on trade union education, in partnership with SOAS University of London. It is designed to better understand people’s experiences of trade unions, trade union education, and interest in political economy learning.
The survey is open to all workers in Britain and Ireland, regardless of:
- nationality or immigration status
- employment status (including those currently unemployed, self-employed, agency workers, freelancers, independent contractors, and workers without employee status)
- trade union membership (current, former, or never a member)
The survey takes approximately 3-7 minutes to complete.
Please feel free to share this survey with colleagues, friends, and networks — unionised or not.
Click here to complete the survey.
Union News
You can receive this bulletin via email or you can choose to unsubscribe and stop receiving them. Like everyone else, the NSSN has to adhere to new data protection regulations. Therefore you must click here to subscribe/unsubscribe. Reports from unions do not necessarily reflect NSSN’s views.
RMT
RMT expresses condolences following Spanish railway crash (19 Jan) – Rail union RMT, has expressed its deepest condolences and solidarity with rail workers and passengers killed and injured in the dreadful rail crash in southern Spain. Details are still emerging but initial reports suggest at least 39 people have been killed and dozens injured. RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said: “This is a deeply shocking event and my thoughts are with all those rail workers, passengers and families affected by this horrific crash. We express our solidarity with our sister trade unions and federations including, Sindicato Ferroviario (SF),SFF-CGT, SCF, SEMAF, and ALFERRO at this extremely difficult time.” Read more
RMT secures inflation proof pay deal on Network Rail (16 Jan) – Rail union RMT, has won an RPI inflation pay rise with a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies for its members on Network Rail. Over three quarters of members accepted the offer which includes no efficiency or productivity elements linked to the deal and a 3.8% pay rise read more
Protest: bring TfL cleaners in-house – Event date: Wednesday, 4th of February
- Insource TfL’s cleaners. End the corporate capture at TfL
- Protest outside the TfL Board meeting at City Hall – Wednesday 4th February 9.30am City Hall, Kamal Chunchie Way, London, E16 1ZE
Last week Transport for London announced that more than 2,000 cleaners working mainly on the Tube will work for outsourcing giant Mitie for the next five years, in spite of the Mayor saying he was in favour of insourcing them. Outsourced cleaners on the Docklands Light Railway have been taking strike action for decent sick pay after their company told them it was only for the terminally ill. The union will call on the Mayor to terminate the contract with Mitie and set out an urgent plan for the early insourcing of all TfL’s cleaners and also urgently mandate sick pay for the DLR’s cleaners. Underpinning this, RMT’s protest will draw attention to the way that TfL has been captured by private corporations. For example, as well as the privatisation of cleaning TfL also recently announced the re-privatisation of London Overground, giving an 8 year contract to FirstGroup read more
Passengers face filthy trains as DLR cleaners strike over sick pay refusal (30 Dec) – Cleaners on the Docklands Light Railway will strike on New Year’s Eve in a dispute over company sick pay. RMT members employed by contractor Bidvest Noonan will mount picket lines from 6am Wednesday 31 December through to Thursday 1 January, following earlier strike action in late November and early December. Bidvest Noonan has only been willing to discuss the limited possibility of one week’s full sick pay for certain serious or terminal diagnoses, which RMT has branded an insult to its members read more
DLR workers to strike New Year’s Eve in contractor pay dispute (17 Dec)
RMT members at Svitzer Terminals vote for strike action over sick pay (27 Nov) – RMT members employed by Svitzer Terminals at Fawley Esso Refinery have voted overwhelmingly for strike action following the company’s continued failure to resolve the long-running dispute over contractual sick pay. The dispute originates from the TUPE transfer of staff from Solent Towage to Svitzer Terminals, after the company failed to apply sick pay properly in line with long-standing practices. RMT has made multiple attempts over months to resolve the issue through talks but these have failed. This dispute affects all grades employed onboard the Svitzer tugs operating out of the refinery 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 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
ASLEF
Hull Trains drivers strike as row over ‘unfair sacking’ of colleague continues read more on Hull Live
TSSA
RfLI pay deal – 8.4% agreed (8 Jan) – TSSA agreed the pay deal at the end of last year, but we were waiting to confirm when it will be paid. The reps worked diligently to make the case for pay parity, bridging the gap with other similar roles in the industry. To this end we have built on the TfL offer of 3.4% and added another 5% for multi-skilled workers, including TMs, SIMs and a new multi-skilled grade for IRMs. This will be backdated from April 2025. Our deal is a two year deal, with the second year fully consolidated at February RPI, but no lower than 3%. This followed a successful strike ballot and pressure put on by members and reps to hold steady, finally voting on the deal in December. We also secured a First Aid payment for IRMs paid from April 2026 and have an agreement for the Special Spares scheme to remain in place until at least November 2026 read more
TSSA begins Amey strike ballot over pay (2 Dec) – Railway tracks with platform in view and lighting on. Early morning sky. Rail union TSSA is to ballot hundreds of members employed by Amey after the engineering company implemented a below-inflation pay offer amounting to a real-terms cut in wages. TSSA members employed by Amey across Scotland, Wales, North East, Midlands, London and all Southern regions will be asked to support strike action in the ballot which opens on Wednesday 3 December and closes at 12 noon on Monday 15 December. This action follows Amey’s decision to proceed with a pay offer of 2.2 per cent or £900 underpin, despite the offer being rejected by TSSA members. Industrial action would likely lead to delays and disruption in surveying and maintaining railway infrastructure which is key to a safe running network. Around three hundred TSSA members will be balloted 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
Strikes off as First Glasgow workers secure pay win (20 Jan) – Unite has confirmed today (Tuesday 20 January) that around 50 First Bus cleaners, fuellers and shunters in Glasgow have secured an inflation beating pay win after unanimously backing strike action. A last minute enhanced pay offer by First Bus amounting to five per cent led to strike action over 13 to 17 January being suspended to allow for a ballot on the offer which has now been overwhelmingly backed by Unite’s membership read more
More London bus turmoil as drivers back further strikes (19 Jan) – There will be further disruption to bus services in North East London as 350 bus drivers will continue to strike in a dispute over bullying and union busting. Workers at the Lea Interchange Bus Company (part of Stagecoach) have agreed to take further industrial action due to the absence of credible proposals to solve problems at the depot, which have included Unite representatives being bullied by management. Unite reps have been the target of aggressive behaviour, including being unfairly dismissed then reinstated and suspended on trumped-up charges. Unite believes the reps are being targeted for undertaking union activities, which goes against UK employment law…The drivers operate several routes across North East London from the Lea Interchange Bus Garage in Leyton, East London. These include the 97 which serves the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre and the 276 which goes to Newham Hospital. Drivers will strike on 6 and 7 February and 20 and 21 February, impacting weekend travel including shopping trips to Westfield as well as half term journeys. Previous industrial action on 12 and 13 December and 9 and 10 January saw cancellations of most services operating out of the Lea Interchange garage, with no buses leaving it at all during the December strikes read more.
- Email messages of solidarity to:-
branch secretary Faz – [email protected]
branch organiser Moe – [email protected]
- Donate to the strike fund: Unite LE/254 Lea Interchange branch; Unity Trust Bank; Sort Code 60-83-01, Account no. 20060855 (reference: enter your name/union branch/trades council/organisation)
Unite’s ballots hundreds of workers over Strathclyde university job cuts (19 Jan) – Over 400 hundred workers at the University of Strathclyde will be balloted over strike action. Unite can confirm that over 400 hundred workers at the University of Strathclyde will be balloted over strike action in response to proposed job cuts and a failure by the institution to consult on organisational change. In December, it was revealed that the university is set to slash 76 full-time posts, revealing it had a £35m funding gap. Unite has condemned the university’s failure to fully consult unions over the planned cuts to jobs and to rule out compulsory redundancies… Any strike action following a successful ballot would impact on cleaning and maintenance services along with the security of buildings and student residences. Trades staff taking any strike action would lead to a lack of joiners, electricians and plumbers who deal with leaks, lighting and gas issues in university buildings. Technicians involved in strike action would directly impact on student learning in labs. The ballot opened on 16 January and will close on 16 February read more
Staff at Glen Dimplex, Portadown end industrial dispute after vote to accept improved pay offer (15 Jan) – 18 month pay deal secured providing staff grades with between six and eight per cent pay improvement. Unite members employed in staff grades at Glen Dimplex in Portadown have voted overwhelmingly to accept a significantly improved pay offer from management. The decision ends an ongoing pay dispute which has seen workers take four days of strike action in recent weeks. The pay deal provides a consolidated uplift of £2,330 to all staff grades – worth between six and eight per cent to most workers – and will be paid over an 18 month period. This represents a considerable advance on the previous management offer of £1,825, worth between 4.5 and six per cent. Under the terms of the deal, workers paid below £30k a year will have a pay and grading review – with any increase arising backdated to the beginning of October 2025 read more
Unite secures significant win for Glenrothes based Bosch Rexroth workers (15 Jan) – Unite can confirm today (15 January) that over 280 Bosch Rexroth workers based in Glenrothes have secured a major victory over jobs, pay and conditions. The workers have accepted a four per cent pay increase alongside the threat of redundancies, fire and rehire practices and short term working being removed by Bosch Rexroth following strike action by the workers during the festive period. Bosch Rexroth workers had emphatically rejected moves by the company to drastically cut monthly pay by up to 40 per cent initially, and then by 22 per cent, through changes to short-term working patterns read more
Heathrow cabin crew at SAS airline win pay victory after strike action (15 Jan) – Workers at Scandinavian airline receive pay increase and improved terms and conditions. Following strike action that saw multiple flight cancellations, cabin crew based at Heathrow working for Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) have won a significant pay victory. Cabin crew have agreed to accept an eight per cent pay increase across all grades for the next 14 months. Crew will also see their overtime pay go from £79 up to a maximum of £240 as well as two additional days of annual leave. An additional pay grade is also being introduced to ensure staff are progressing appropriately along pay scales and management at SAS have agreed to attend a two-day workshop with staff to address issues with rostering and scheduling…Over 100 cabin crew took strike action across the Christmas and New Year periods causing significant disruption to the airlines’ operations read more
Unite wins recognition at Derby-based engineering firm Trescal (15 Jan) – Unite, the UK’s leading union, has signed a recognition agreement for workers at the engineering firm Trescal. Over 50 Trescal employees at the company, based in Derby Riverside Court, will now have bargaining rights for pay, terms and conditions as well as facility time for union reps. Unite members are now in the process of electing representatives, who will meet Trescal’s senior management once they are in place read more
Crane operators strike will see building sites across the UK shutdown (13 Jan) – Workers from Wolffkran cranes taking action over pay and conditions. Strikes by workers from Wolffkran tower cranes at building sites across the UK will see construction work grind to a halt this winter. Nearly 100 tower crane operators are taking strike action after not receiving a pay rise in three years. Unite members at Wolffkran are furious that the company is now also seeking to cut some of their additional benefits including standby payments. Given the importance of tower cranes on major construction projects, sites will see work halted when the crane operators walk out later this month. Wolffkran operates on some of the biggest construction sites in the UK including the Grenfell Tower deconstruction, the Cambridge Science Park and the new headquarters for the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts in Berkshire read more
London Metropolitan Police strike suspended as Unite members vote on new pay offer (13 Jan) – Upcoming strikes by Unite members working for the capital’s Metropolitan Police have been suspended after talks resulted in an improved pay offer. Unite members at the Met working in MetCC call centre and in the force’s fleet were due to walk out from 19 to 24 January in a dispute around pay. However, this has now been suspended to allow the Unite’s entire membership in the Met to vote on a new offer from the Met following talks between the force, Unite and the conciliatory service Acas. This consultative pay ballot will close on 28 January 2026 read more
Diligenta staff escalate strike action in pay dispute (12 Jan) – Unite members have today stepped-up strike action on five Diligenta sites over pay. Unite members employed by finance sector outsourcer Diligenta have today (Monday 12 January 2026) restarted industrial action across five sites in a dispute over pay. The Diligenta staff in the head office site in Peterborough will now also be balloted for industrial action. Diligenta management have failed to meaningfully negotiate with Unite on pay and this strike action follows five days of strike action which took place in November and December. Unite has made clear that further strike action could have been avoided if they had given its workforce an acceptable pay rise for 2025. The strike action will cause yet more disruption to Diligenta’s clients, Management have had every opportunity to make Unite members a fair pay offer but have refused to take part in meaningful negotiations on pay. Approximately 1,000 Unite members working at Diligenta sites in: Liverpool, Glasgow, Reading, Edinburgh and Stirling will hold an initial one-week strike on Monday 12 January from 00:01 until 23:59 on Sunday 18 January. Further action will also be announced shortly…Picket lines will be congregating from 7:00 on Monday 12 January. Picket line locations:-
- Liverpool 101 Old Hall Street L3 9BD
- Edinburgh 30 Lothian Road Edinburgh EH1 2DH
- Glasgow 125 West Regent Street Glasgow G2 2SD
- Kildean – Stirling 15 Central Way Kildean Business Park Stirling FK8 1FT
- Reading 3 Forbury Place 23 Forbury Road Reading Berkshire
Unite responds to Aer Lingus potential plans to close its Manchester Airport base (9 Jan) – Unite, the leading union representing workers in the civil air transport industry, has today (9 January) responded to Aer Lingus’s proposals to potentially close its Manchester Airport base. The Irish flag carrier currently operates three long haul routes from Manchester to Barbados, Orlando and New York JFK. In November, it announced it was considering scrapping these routes putting 200 jobs at risk including almost 130 cabin crew. While it has still not confirmed to Unite whether it will definitely close the base, Aer Lingus has said it will not be selling tickets for these routes beyond 31 March. This has left workers with no clarity on the future of their jobs. Aer Lingus is a very profitable airline. In 2025, it reported an operating profit of €135 million for the three months to June, up nearly 50 per cent compared to the same period last year. It also had projected profits of around £35 million from just two aircraft operating the three long haul routes at Manchester Airport. While the airline has admitted the Manchester base is profitable, it claims the base has underperformed compared to its Irish long-haul routes…Unite will also ballot members on taking industrial action over the proposals. The ballot closes on 26 January and strikes could begin in late February, causing major disruption to flights on the long-haul routes read more
No balls please! Tennis ball and snooker cloth makers go on strike over pay (9 Jan) – WSP Textiles in Gloucestershire make professional cloth and tennis ball material – shortages could affect tournaments. Workers at sports cloth manufacturer WSP Textiles are to take strike action for the first time in their history which will see snooker and tennis tournaments under threat due to a lack of baize and balls. Unite members at WSP are furious at the 2.35 per cent pay offer that the company has put forward given the current cost of living crisis. Most earn little more than the minimum wage and haven’t had an above-inflation pay rise in years. WSP workers at the factories in Stroud and Dursley, Gloucestershire, produce some of the most famous sporting cloth in the world. The tennis ball felt is used by manufacturers like Wilson, Slazenger and Dunlop and used at Wimbledon, the French and Australian Open. Their snooker baize is used to cover tables across the globe and used in World Snooker Tour tournaments in the UK, USA and China…Strikes are due to take place 12-20 January and 22-23 January and will see nearly 50 workers head to the picket line, bringing the factory to a standstill and orders going unfulfilled. Major tennis and snooker tournaments are set to be affected if the strikes continue throughout winter and spring read more
Disruption to Leeds council transport services as workers strike over safety fears (8 Jan) – There will be disruption to Leeds council passenger transport services beginning this month, as almost 80 Unite members will strike over safety fears from tomorrow. The workers involved in dispute include drivers who take service users, including children and older adults with learning difficulties, special needs and complex health problems, to locations such as schools, respite placements, medical appointments and community centres. Others involved in the dispute provide passenger assistance and office support for the service. Over the past 18 months, there has been a noticeable decline in the service due to funding cuts. The most pressing problems are workers having a lack of vital equipment such as restraints, inadequate first aid and no risk assessments. Due to this, there have been numerous occasions where both staff and service users have been hurt, including assaults on staff by service users and incidents involving service users harming one another…The strikes will take place on 9, 16, 23 and 24 and 29 and 30 Jan and 4 to 6, 11 to 13, 17 to 20 and 24 to 27 February read more
St Enoch VUE cinema workers continue strikes as dispute intensifies (7 Jan) – Entertainment cinema workers set for a further round of four weeks’ strike action. Dozens of VUE Entertainment cinema workers based at the St Enoch’s centre in Glasgow are set for a further round of four weeks’ strike action starting tomorrow (8 January) in a fight to secure better jobs, pay and conditions. In a historic first at a major Scottish cinema chain, Unite hospitality members have been taking strike action over four weeks during the festive period as part of the campaign to secure the real living wage for workers aged 18 and over, union recognition, and safe subsidised transport for workers at the end of shifts. The latest round of strike action will last for four weeks starting from 8 January 2026 and continuing each day up to 6 February 2026. Unite represents the overwhelming majority of the customer assistant and team leaders at the VUE St Enoch’s site read more
Sodexo workers at Sullom Voe terminal strike (7 Jan) – Shetland based members in dispute over company refusal to make acceptable pay offer. Unite can confirm that Sodexo workers resumed 24-hour strike action today (Wednesday 7 January) as part of an escalating pay dispute with the company. Around 30 members performing various roles including mechanics, cleaners, plant operators and electricians are set to take part in a series of stoppages on 7, 12, 14, 21, and 28 January. Unite members have rejected an unacceptable two-year pay offer by Sodexo which falls short of the workers’ pay aspirations after unanimously backing strike action. In 2024, Sodexo Remote Sites Scotland posted profits after tax amounting to £593,000. The Sodexo strike action at Sullom Voe terminal is in addition to the forthcoming strike action involving around 60 Altrad contractors on 12 and 26 January 2026 read more
Cambridge Stagecoach bus strikes escalate into the New Year (2 Jan) – Cambridge bus strikes will continue into the New Year as 200 Stagecoach workers escalate walk outs over pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today. The workers have rejected two inadequate pay offers from Stagecoach and are demanding a pay increase that reflects the extremely difficult demands of the job and the rising cost of living. They are also clear that any offer must not include reductions in their terms and conditions, such as overtime rates, that would see the company take with one hand and give with the other…Stagecoach made operating profits of £97.3 million in the year to April 2024 on sales of £1.6 billion. The workers, including drivers and engineers, began strike action in late December. Further 24-hour strikes will take place on 5, 10, 19 and 24 January. They will severely impact bus services across the city. Industrial action will escalate if the dispute is not resolved read more
Health visitors in Wales balloted for strikes due to losing thousands in pay (19 Dec) – Workers preparing to strike due to incorrect grading costing them up to £9000 a year. Health visitors working in South Wales are balloting for strikes in the new year, after their NHS employer refused to pay them the correct salary based on their qualifications which is costing them between £8000 to £9000 per year. A ballot for industrial action opened this week for Unite members who work as health visitors in Cwm Taf Morgannwg (CTM). The ballot closes on 26 January and should workers vote for strike action this could commence in February. Health visitors who do vital community outreach work for new mothers and families, are furious that they are graded as Band 6 workers. This is despite internal job grading now matching as a Band 7 requiring a masters qualification. The CTM University Health Board has refused to acknowledge their own job descriptions and pay health visitors accordingly. This deliberate act of downgrading is costing health visitors between £8000-9000 per year dependent on where workers are on their pay scale read more
Doncaster Cheswold Park secure mental health hospital strikes suspended after improved offer (18 Dec) – Strikes by around 120 Cheswold Park hospital workers have been suspended following an improved offer from South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Industrial action scheduled for 18, 19, 25 26 and 31 December and 1 January has been called off to allow the workers to ballot on the offer read more
British Airways cleaners at Heathrow to strike over low pay this Christmas (18 Dec) – Over 80 Unite members employed by facilities services firm OCS to clean British Airways offices and buildings across four terminals at Heathrow are taking industrial action this Christmas over low pay. Staff involved in the dispute are currently paid the minimum wage of £12.21 per hour. Since early last year, these workers have been asking for the London living wage of £13.85 per hour – calculated to match the high cost of living in the capital. Their counterparts on the Mitie contract at Heathrow, who do similar roles, are paid the London living wage…Strikes will take place from today (18) to 29 December. There will also be a demo outside Hatton Cross station today (18) and tomorrow (19) from 12-2pm both days…The workers involved in the dispute are employed under the OCS soft services contract. As well as offices including BA’s Waterside head office, they clean cargo and engineering hangars where planes are repaired read more
Yorkshire Airedale NHS microbiology workers strike over being underpaid and over worked (16 Dec) – Airedale NHS microbiology workers responsible for carrying out diagnostic tests are to strike over being underpaid and over worked. Airedale NHS Foundation Trust has failed to address the fact that the workers are on the pay band below what they should be for the work they carry out. The trust has also agreed to undertake extra work for another trust that the microbiology workers will have to carry out, increasing the number of call outs during nights and weekends. As a result, out of hours rotas have been changed without consultation or regard to current workloads…The workers will strike from 18 to 25 December, resulting in testing delays for Airedale General Hospitals and local GP services. Industrial action will intensify if the dispute is not resolved read more
New strikes at Sellafield as “union-busting” sees workers laid off (12 Dec) – Contractors exploiting legal loophole to lay off workers in Cumbria. A fresh wave of strike action is due to take place at the Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria this winter as workers walk out amid union-busting tactics from employers. Unite members will take part in industrial action from 15-19 December that will severely hamper operations at the site in a dispute over Sellafield-specific allowances that would see workers rewarded fairly for their work on a hazardous, nuclear site. In the latest development in the ongoing dispute, workers at five subcontractors are to walk out. This continued phase of the escalation plan is causing widespread disruption due to targeting production more effectively in conjunction with an overtime ban…The strikes come amid “union-busting” tactics from some employers who are exploiting a legal-loophole to allow them to lay off workers involved in the strike action. These layoffs (issued by Altrad, Enigma Industrial Services, Kaefer and William King Construction, PPS Electrical, ES Steel and Shepley Engineers) are taking place under a cover-story of a lack of work, but in reality are retribution for strike action…Unite remains committed to resolving the dispute. The union is calling on employers to enter into discussions with credible solutions that recognise the unique hazards and skills set required at Sellafield. Workers at the following contractors will be taking part in this action: Altrad, Enigma, Kaefer, Stobbarts Limited and Design Grid read more
Christmas chaos at Village Hotels in Leeds as workers walk out (12 Dec) – Staff at hotel join colleagues in Glasgow in taking strike action in dispute over jobs, pay and conditions. Workers at two Leeds hotels are to take strike action for the first time after members voted to walk out. Over 80 per cent of housekeeping staff who are Unite members at the Leeds North and Leeds South Village hotel will take strike action from 26-28 December. At this busy time of year for the hotel, customers will be faced with unmade beds and no cleaning services. Workers at a Village Hotel in Glasgow are already engaged in strike action due to the poor pay and conditions that workers are forced to endure. Unite Hospitality members at Village Hotels in Leeds will go on strike for equal pay, the real living wage and union recognition read more
London Grosvenor Casinos workers to strike over key festive party dates (12 Dec) – All bets are off for Grosvenor Casinos management this festive season, as licenced gaming staff as its three largest venues have voted to take industrial action. Around 140 workers, members of Unite, will walk out in two different 48-hour strikes after rejecting a below-inflation 2.5 per cent pay rise. Staff involved in the dispute 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. The Unite members involved in the dispute work in roles such as running the poker rooms and roulette tables. These are extremely specialist jobs, which require rigorous training and a legal requirement to hold a licence to be able to work in the industry. The strikes will take place on Boxing Day and 27 December followed by New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, historically very busy days for the casino chain read more
Rally in support of Bassetlaw ICU nurses striking against fire and rehire (12 Dec) – Dispute has escalated after trust tries to union bust by threatening to not pay nurses on days they are working. Protesters will rally in support of Bassetlaw nurses striking against fire and rehire contract changes on Monday. The nurses are striking 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’. They would also face overly long commutes before and after 13-hour shifts, with the risk of exhaustion putting themselves and patients at risk. In an attempt to union bust, the Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has written to the nurses and told them that they will not be paid if they take action short of strike action. 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. This week, the trust said it will class them as volunteers and not pay them if they continue to only work on the ICU as part of their industrial action…The nurses are striking from 15 December to 19 December. Industrial action will further intensify if the dispute is not resolved read more
Fresh bus strikes across West London as workers reject latest pay offer (11 Dec) – Staff at London Transit to walk out in run-up to Christmas. 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. Drivers and other workers have already taken part in industrial action this autumn and will now walk out on 12, 15, 22, 23 and 24 December. Strikes will cause widespread disruption across west London with Christmas markets and festivities in full flow. Drivers, engineers and stores workers based at the Westbourne Park depot are furious at the latest pay offer they received which included a new, lower paid starter grade for drivers read more
Transport for Greater Manchester workers join Metrolink Tram staff in December strikes (11 Dec) – TfGM and tram strikes to take place over busiest shopping period of the year. Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) workers begin a fresh round of strike action tomorrow over fair pay. 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. They are striking alongside their colleagues in the Unison union. The workers have rejected a below inflation 3.2 per cent pay rise and are demanding an increase that reflects the rising cost of living and the increased workloads they have taken on since the creation of the Bee Network. TfGM can well afford to improve its pay offer as it holds £2.1 billion in reserve…Fresh strikes will take place on 12, 13, 19 and 20 December, with disruption across the Bee bus and tram network read more
First Aberdeen drivers and staff celebrate early pay increase (11 Dec) – Over 300 bus drivers and staff at First Aberdeen have secured a new pay deal eight months ahead of schedule. Around 300 drivers achieved an inflation beating wage increase of 5.3 per cent in a one-year deal effective from December 2025 to December 2026. The original timeline for the new increase taking effect was scheduled for August 2026. The pay win lifts the drivers’ hourly wage from £14.28 per hour to £15.03 per hour…In addition to the drivers, a separately negotiated increase was also applied to around 30 workers in administrative, clerical, and service roles for First Aberdeen read more
Thirty workers targeted after speaking out about dangerous conditions at Royston site, where two colleagues have also tragically committed suicide (10 Dec) – Thirty workers targeted after speaking out about dangerous conditions at Royston site, where two colleagues have also tragically committed suicide. More than 30 workers have been suspended from the Johnson Matthey’s hydrogen gigafactory construction site in Hertfordshire for refusing to accept worsening dangerous conditions. Workers are also angry that contractors BGEN and Bilfinger are disregarding mental as well as physical health, following the companies’ inadequate response to two separate on site suicides. The safety breaches include: No running water or heating, no cold weather PPE and inadequate ventilation despite the grinding of paint containing carcinogens. The site was shutdown by the operators for two weeks due to the health and safety concerns; however the issues have not only not been resolved but are worsening. BGEN and Bilfinger are refusing to allow union access on site and two workplace reps have been suspended. Unite understands Johnson Matthey has instructed BGEN and Bilfinger to union bust, despite both companies being part of the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry. The £80 million government backed project will produce hydrogen battery components for electric vehicles when it is completed read more
Turners’ tanker drivers resume halt to fuel deliveries at nation’s largest airports (10 Dec) – New supply shock to Edinburgh and Glasgow airlines. Grangemouth based tanker drivers working for Turners (Soham) Limited will resume strike action this week in a long-running pay dispute impacting fuel supplies to major airlines operating at Edinburgh and Glasgow airports. The Turners drivers will strike for four days on December 11 and 12 and December 22 and 23. Previous strike action took place during October and November. The imminent strike action follows an ongoing impasse in talks involving Unite and Turners through the auspices of the conciliation service Acas. The company has refused to improve on a real terms pay cut amounting to one per cent for 2025 at a time when the broader inflation figure stands at 4.3 per cent read more
Christmas shortages of Guinness Zero as strikes at Diageo plant in Belfast back on after workers reject substandard pay offer (9 Dec) – Empty shelves could greet shoppers looking for Guinness Zero this Christmas after Unite members at Diageo in Belfast voted overwhelmingly to reject an inadequate pay offer from management and to take strike action. Around 90 workers will commence an eight-day strike from 7am on Friday 12 December continuing until the early hours of Saturday 19 December. A previous eight-day strike was due to commence on Friday 5 December but was suspended by workforce reps to allow consideration of the new pay offer made the day before. The strike will shut down the site which is the world’s largest producer of Guinness Zero. The workers are seeking a pay deal ending the pay gap with Diageo’s site in Runcorn, England. Earlier this year Diageo reported net profits of more than $2.5 billion globally and a key driver of that success is Guinness Zero – the UK’s best-selling alcohol-free beer read more
Christmas chaos at BAE Systems as workers escalate strike action (4 Dec) – Members of the Unite, the UK’s largest trade union in the defence and aerospace sector, are fighting against a real-terms pay cut being offered by BAE despite the company making over £3 billion in profits. Around 160 staff who work in safety critical roles will take further strike action at least until 24 December, that will see sites in Warton and Salmesbury severely affected. Previous strikes have seen managers without the same level of skills, and qualifications attempting to fill the roles done by experienced workers. Other staff will be taking action short of strikes including a refusal to travel, refusal of overtime and a refusal to take on additional work… Staff have already been on strike from 26 November until 17 December and this latest announcement will now see industrial action continue through until Christmas Eve read more
Bilfinger offshore workers to strike over pensions (2 Dec) – Unite has announced that over 400 offshore members employed by Bilfinger UK Limited have supported taking strike action in an escalating dispute over pensions. A majority of Bilfinger workers have emphatically backed strike action in a fight to secure a fairer pension deal. Unite members are demanding that Bilfinger move to a gross earnings pension scheme like many other private sector and offshore companies because workers are losing out on thousands of pounds in pension contributions due to their pattern of pay being weekly. The majority of Bilfinger workers are enrolled in a statutory minimum workplace pension scheme where the company pays a maximum three per cent of “qualifying earnings” contribution. The qualifying earnings income is between £6,240 and £50,270. Anything above or below that does not factor in pension contributions. It means Bilfinger’s annual pension contribution is capped at £1,320.90 per year irrespective of income. Unite estimates that around £2254 is being lost every year in employer pension contributions when compared with a gross salary pension scheme for a worker earning £59,580.36…If Bilfinger fails to act on the pensions issue then strikes will be called in the coming weeks read more
Council and school staff need a fair pay rise, say unions (2 Dec) – Unions representing 1.4 million council and school staff across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are calling for a wage rise of at least £3,000 to recognise soaring workloads and increasing household costs, they say today (Monday 1 December). Unite, UNISON and GMB have submitted their joint annual local government pay claim for 2026-27, demanding a substantial award from April after years of effective pay cuts, which have left staff struggling to keep up with rising household bills. The unions are warning pay for council and school staff continues to lag behind many other public services. In turn, low wages have led to a recruitment and retention crisis while demand for key services – such as social care, children’s services and housing support – has soared. Local authority employers gave a 3.2% uplift this year, but that has already been surpassed by inflation, which currently stands at 3.6%. The pay claim for 2026-27 calls for an increase of at least £3,000 or 10% (whichever is greater) for all staff, as well as a minimum hourly rate of £15. Unions say that since 2010, the real value of local government pay has fallen by more than 26%. That has left many workers finding it hard to keep pace with housing costs, food prices, transport fares and energy bills read more
Unite Hospitality Village Hotel Glasgow Strike Action (27 Nov) – Workers at the Village Hotel Glasgow, including staff in the Pub & Grill and the franchised Starbucks – have taken the bold step of launching five weeks of strike action from 28 November 2025 to 2 January 2026 read more
NO to union-busting at Sanctuary read more on Unite Housing Workers LE/1111 branch website
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
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
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
CWU
CWU LIVE – The Employment Rights Bill Has PASSED w/ General Secretary Dave Ward (18 Dec) – Final CWU Live episode of the year! A brilliant discussion with General Secretary, Dave Ward, on what the recently passed Employment Rights Bill means for members, how it strengthens trade unions, and why we’re continuing to campaign for sectoral collective bargaining watch video
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]
DWP strike ballot now open (19 Jan) – Vote now in the DWP strike ballot to send a message that you deserve fair pay, and attend this evening’s online ballot rally. From today (19) until 23 February, DWP members can vote in a statutory ballot to signal their willingness to take strike action over pay, after DWP refused to tackle chronic low pay and pay differentials with other departments in this year’s pay offer read more 50,000 DWP staff to ballot for strikes (16 Jan) DWP members to be balloted over pay (13 Jan)
Met Police staff suspend strike action (15 Jan) – An improved pay offer has been made in response to planned strike action. Met Police management has made a revised pay offer to staff in response to strike action planned by PCS members on 15 January. The planned strike was intended to repeat the successful industrial action on 5 November which closed nearly all custody suites and two thirds of 999 call handling units across the whole of London. Met Police met all four unions (PCS, FDA, Prospect and Unite) on Friday (9) with a new pay offer. PCS agreed to pause our planned strike action and will hold consultative meetings with members followed by a ballot. PCS now has over 6,800 members working in civilian roles for Met Police – a number which is growing rapidly, and adds to the negotiating power of the union read more
PCS strikers to rally outside City Hall (13 Jan) – Striking MOPAC staff will hold a rally at 9am on Thursday during the Mayor of London’s question time event. On Thursday 15 January, as the mayor of London meets with London Assembly members for his question time event, over 130 members at the London Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) will be taking their fourth day of strike action over their low pay offer, which amounts to a real-terms pay cut read more
Forestry Commission members support a shorter working week (9 Jan) – PCS members in the Forestry Commission have decisively indicated their support for a shorter working week in a recent survey. In the Forestry Commission, PCS put forward a survey to all members to establish the strength of feeling for a reduced working week with no loss of pay. A resounding 93% of members voted in favour read more
DWP members in Lincoln continue their strike action for a further two weeks (5 Jan) – DWP members in Lincoln Service Centre began a further two weeks of strike action today (5) to follow on from the 31 days of strike action they have already taken. Members who work in the service centre are absolutely determined to fight to keep their jobs in Lincoln. As low paid workers they cannot afford to travel long distances to remain working in the DWP and they have been clear that redundancy is not an option for them. DWP are refusing to back down on their announcement to close the Lincoln Service Centre, which could see over 80 members of staff face the risk of redundancy read more
FCDO restructure – Bargaining demands and Indicative ballot (23 Dec) – PCS is running an indicative online ballot of all members in FCDO and Wilton Park with a deadline of 2pm on Friday 9 January. Members are asked to tell us if you support our bargaining demands, and if you are prepared to take industrial action. While some progress has been made in dispute talks between PCS and FCDO, the department is still failing to consult PCS meaningfully on a range of key issues. Full details are in the Members’ Briefing issued on 22 December. At our dispute meeting with FCDO on 18 December, your PCS representatives again asked FCDO to pause the restructure until reviews into the work of the FCDO are completed and the organisation redesigned, based on those reviews. We said that PCS would pause our campaign opposing the job cuts in response. However, FCDO would not agree. Unfortunately, this gives us no choice but to press ahead with an indicative ballot on industrial action read more
Update on Tate Galleries dispute (22 Dec) – Since 30 September, PCS has been in dispute with Tate Galleries over the employer’s failure to offer an above-inflation pay award for a second consecutive year. PCS remains committed to working with the employer to resolve the dispute. Following a meeting between both parties on 4 December, Tate Galleries has agreed to produce a series of proposals on how to resolve the dispute. Tate has been clear they cannot afford a further increase to the 3% pay award for 2025/26 due to their financial position. The organisation’s accounts from 2024/26, for example, revealed a deficit of £5million. The organisation has blamed a reduction in grant-in-aid funding, Covid-19, and Brexit for a reduction in their revenue during Maria Balshaw’s tenure as director. However, concerns remain about financial mismanagement at Tate. Tate Galleries are due to put forward proposals for better terms and conditions to PCS by 9 January 2026. This will be followed by a meeting between PCS and Tate Galleries on 12 January. While PCS welcomes the move for better terms and conditions for workers, we are continuing to push for an inflation-proof pay rise with an element of restoration. Should the proposals put forward by Tate Galleries be rejected, PCS will consider further industrial action in the new year read more
British Library members asked to sacrifice terms and conditions for pay (22 Dec) – On 12 December, management approached PCS with a revised pay offer which involved scrapping employees’ health cash plans to subsidise a 4.2% pay award. As the majority of our members at the British Library are low-paid workers, they rely heavily on the health cash plan for routine health expenses such as eye tests, dental treatment, and prescriptions. As such, the revised offer was rejected by PCS on the basis that it would translate into a worse pay deal than any previous offers. Since then, the British Library (BL) has returned to its offer of 3.8%, with a £2,000 uplift for employees on the Grade C minimum, and the promise of a review of the alternative working pattern (AWP) allowance for security officers. The offer does not include restoration for last year’s shortfall when other public sector workers received 5% in line with the civil service pay remit but BL workers received only 3%. Almost half of Grade C staff would not be entitled to the £2,000 uplift, meaning the longest-serving members of staff would be earning the same as new starters. In addition, we are still awaiting a pay review that was promised three years ago. In a letter to PCS on 18 December, the British Library stated, “We have worked in good faith to address valid concerns raised only to have further demands made and conditions for ending industrial action changed.” This is incorrect. Our original pay claim in March contained seven asks, and we have since centred on three main demands in an attempt to settle the dispute:-
- Inflation-proof pay with restoration
- Addressing grade compression for Grade Cs
- AWP allowance for security officers.
PCS met with the British Library on 15 December to discuss alternatives to resolve the dispute, including multi-year pay awards, pay modernisation, and a joint approach with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Almost all proposals were rejected by the Library on the basis of affordability. This latest refusal comes off the back of repeated insults from the British Library, such as advising workers to ‘skip’ Christmas presents for the year to help with the cost-of-living crisis. Meanwhile, we have heard that the British Library has promoted eight senior members of staff to interim director posts, without transparency or interviews. The British Library has repeatedly claimed they are in dispute with a “minority of workers”. However PCS represents nearly 500 members across both British Library sites in St Pancras and Boston Spa, making us the largest trade union at the library. In negotiations with management, PCS has repeatedly highlighted the results of an earlier survey of unionised staff which revealed that 71% found their salary insufficient to meet basic needs such as groceries, bills, and transport costs…As of 19 December, the British Library has said there will be no further increases to the pay award for 2025/26. Both parties have agreed to meet with ACAS in an attempt to resolve the dispute read more
Palace of Westminster security staff to strike again on New Year’s Eve (19 Dec) – The security staff’s fourth day of strike action threatens to disrupt a planned event by Speaker of the Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle. Over 300 PCS members who work in security at the Palace of Westminster will strike on 31 December in their ongoing dispute over a loss of annual leave, pay and terms and conditions. The 24-hour strike follows previous action in September and November. The strike on 31 December has already led to the cancellation of the Commons Terrace New Year’s Eve event and is expected to force Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker of the House of Commons, to cancel another function, a charity event, that evening. As speaker of the House, Sir Lindsay is responsible for the parliamentary estate, but he has refused to intervene in the dispute or speak up for the strikers read more
More strike action announced at Border Force Maritime (27 Nov) – Following the success of their strike action on 14 November, which rendered several vessels non-operational, our Border Force Maritime members will strike again on 1 December over frozen allowances and unresolved changes to terms and conditions. More than 120 PCS members who patrol UK waters, including the English Channel, are striking from 6am to 6pm, across all Maritime staff. In a ballot which closed last month, 96% of members voted for strike action and 94.95% for action short of a strike, on a turnout of 80% read more
Get the PCS Samba Band to your protests and demonstrations – go to their Facebook page and on X/Twitter @PCS_Samba_Band
Prospect
AWE members to vote on industrial action over botched restructure (13 Jan) – Prospect members at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) are to vote on industrial action after a litany of errors and poor consultation from senior management at the organisation, which builds and maintains the UK’s nuclear deterrent read more
Civil service trade unions call for urgent action on pensions (13 Jan) – Prospect and the other members of the National Trade Union Committee have written to the Cabinet Office to demand urgent action to deal with serious problems with the administration of the civil service pension scheme read more
Workers at the Planning Inspectorate to take industrial action (15 Dec) – Prospect members working as planning inspectors and other professional staff within the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) are to take industrial action in a dispute over pay and job evaluation. Our members at the Planning Inspectorate play a vital role in helping to deliver the Government’s growth missions, whether for key national infrastructure, national housing targets, or smaller scale approvals and appeals. The industrial action short of strike will commence today (15 December) and could run until 23 May 2026 unless progress can be made to resolve the dispute. It comes after a ballot in which 79% voted in favour of taking action. The action will be continuous and consist of only working contracted hours and a voluntary overtime ban. The action is taking place after the imposition of a rejected pay deal which results in below inflation pay awards for significant numbers of members linked to a contested job evaluation exercise and the freezing or reducing of pay minima and maxima for some grades 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
FDA
FDA calls for rapid improvement following “unacceptable” pension administrator performance (13 Jan) – Following the transfer of administration of the civil service pension scheme from MyCSP to Capita at the end of last year, the FDA continue to hear from hundreds of current and retired members who are continuing to be impacted by service levels. Issues raised about the administrator include members who have just retired or are about to retire imminently, sometimes without clarity on what their pension will be or when it will be paid read more
GMB
More than 4,000 Doncaster Workers get pay rise worth millions (19 Jan) – More than 4,000 Doncaster Council workers are set for a pay rise worth millions after a GMB campaign win. From April 1 staff at the local authority will have their pay bumped up by 2.5 per cent – reversing a cut imposed on them during the Conservative led austerity years. Following a meeting with the Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones today [Monday] GMB Union can announce she has agreed to restore workers pay as part of her budget proposals and will recommend to the full council the funding package to support pay restoration. Councillors will vote on the pay restoration plans at the next Council Budget meeting on the 26 February 2026. Doncaster had been the only South Yorkshire council not to reverse the austerity cuts, leaving thousands in the city worse off for more than a decade read more
TB outbreak at Amazon Coventry (16 Jan) – A tuberculosis outbreak at an Amazon warehouse means the site should be temporarily closed, GMB has said. Multiple cases have been reported at the internet giant’s Coventry site, with NHS staff attended this week to perform blood tests on members of staff.
GMB has written to Amazon bosses calling for:-
– The site must be immediately closed and all staff sent home.
– workers be medically suspended on full pay while the situation is assessed and brought under control.
– The site must remain closed until appropriate infection control measures are implemented to prevent further spread of TB read more
Airedale hospital workers hand in 7,000 petition ahead of strike (16 Jan) – Striking Airedale Hospital workers will today [Friday, 16 January 2026] hand in 7,000 strong petition to bosses, days before they walk out for a week. More than 200 essential staff, including porters, domestic staff, catering teams, and security personnel, will strike from 20 January to 26 January, demanding NHS pensions for NHS work. Today GMB members will hand-deliver a petition with more than 7,000 signatures to Airedale NHS Foundation Trust Chief Executive, Foluke Ajayi. The affected staff were outsourced to AGH Solutions (AGHS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, in 2018. Since then, they have secured significant improvements to bring their terms and conditions closer to NHS standards. However, pension inequality remains unresolved read more
Manchester World War 2 Steel firm lays off 100 workers (14 Jan) – More than 100 workers at a Manchester steel firm which made Bailey bridges for allied troops during World War 2 have been laid off. Staff at Thomas Storey Fabrications Group, in Openshawe, face an uncertain future after being told they would not be given any hours in December and into January. Workers have not received updates from the company on what is happening, despite many having spent their entire careers with the company. GMB Union is calling on the company to be transparent with their workers. Thomas Storey Fabrications Group has faced financial difficulties in recent years, but six months ago the company was saved from administration by the TAL Group [1], who claimed to be committed to saving and developing UK engineering companies read more
Fat cat bosses’ pay passes average worker already (14 Jan) – FTSE 100 BOSSES PAY PASSES AVERAGE WORKER TODAY, EMPLOYMENT RIGHTS ACT VITAL – GMB. GMB Union has responded to research by the High Pay Centre showing FTSE 100 bosses’ pay will today [Tuesday] surpass that of an average worker read more
Dozens of Bromley Parking Wardens to protest outside council meeting (8 Dec) – Dozens of GMB members employed as parking wardens will protest outside the full council meeting of London Borough of Bromley tonight. The outsourced workers are employed by the council’s contractor APCOA, a multi-million pound, multi-national company. The members were taking a third day of action today, after no further pay offers were made by the company since their last strike read more
Strike at ‘frozen turkey capital’ this Christmas (2 Dec) – Workers at one of the UK’s largest frozen food facilities will walk out from today. Members of GMB Union have begun a two week walk-out at frozen food storage giant Magnavale Easton. The Lincolnshire based company employs nearly 100 people and is one of the areas largest storage facilities for frozen turkey products on the lead into Christmas. With customers including owners of the Bernard Matthews brand, the 2 Sister Food Group, concerns are mounting about the impact the strike action could have on operations at the site and availability of turkeys on the run up to Christmas. Strike action will take for two weeks place until Sunday 14 December read more
Christmas crisp shortage? Hula-Hoops workers vote to strike (28 Nov) – The UK faces a Christmas crips shortage as almost 50 workers making Hula-Hoops, McCoy’s, Pom-Bears and Discos vote to strike. A majority of 85 per cent of process operatives at KP Snacks in Billingham vote for industrial action after the company imposed additional duties and responsibilities without any increase in pay. Bosses have now halted all holiday requests while it evaluates the potential impact of industrial action, in what looks like a punitive measure. GMB Union is seeking legal advice on whether this decision is unlawful. Members will now meet to discuss strike dates read more
Salford chemical workers in rights fight (28 Nov) – Chemical workers at Luxfer MEL Technologies in Salford are taking action to protect their union recognition. Currently, the company recognises GMB Union to negotiate on pay, conditions, jobs and other key workplace issues. Bosses have now announced they will end the voluntary arrangement in January. In response, GMB will apply to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) for statutory recognition, a stronger, legally binding form of union recognition that cannot simply be removed by the company read more
Shell Bacton Gas Terminal workers begin strike action (20 Oct) – Altrad workers at the Shell Bacton Gas Terminal have today [20 October] started their strike in a row over pay. The strike ballot, held by GMB Union, saw 100 per cent of members backing strike action on a 96 per cent turnout. The dispute was triggered by Altrad’s offer of a one-time 4 per cent pay uplift, which is far below the two-year deal of 11.3 per cent and 5.5 per cent proposed under the National Agreement for the Engineering Construction Industry (NAECI). Altrad workers on the Perenco contract at an adjacent site doing the same type of work are being paid in line with the NAECI increase following another dispute resolved by GMB. This means workers at Shell site are now being paid less than their peers for the same work. Strikes will take place over three weeks in total, on 20th, 21st, 27th and 28th October, and 3rd and 4th November 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
Appeal for striking members at the National Coal Mining Museum (19 Jan) – 40 members have been on strike since 20 August 2025 over a pay rise which was offered, then retracted by their employer. Members of UNISON Wakefield branch who work at the National Coal Mining Museum – and who have been on strike for six months – are appealing for financial support. In June 2025, the National Coal Mining Museum for England in Wakefield made a pay offer to its workers of £1 per hour, or 5%, whichever was greater. UNISON agreed to ballot members with a recommendation to accept the offer. Ten days later, the employer withdrew the offer and replaced it with a reduced offer of 80p per hour, or 5%. When the strike action started last August, the National Coal Mining Museum further escalated matters. In October, it withdrew the 80p offer entirely and replaced it with an offer of just 62p per hour.
Branches or individual members can donate using the details below:-
Cheque payment – Please make cheques payable to ‘UNISON Wakefield’, mark payment as ‘MINING STRIKE on reverse of cheque and send to: Wakefield District UNSION, 18 Gills Yard, Wakefield WF1 3BZ.
BACS transfers –
Account Name: UNISON WAKEFIELD M.D 13351 BRANCH
Account number: 20320236
Sort Code: 608301
Please mark your payment as ‘MINING STRIKE’ read more
Sign this petition calling for the resignation of the board of trustees and chief executive Lynn Dunning
UNISON statement on Iranian protests (16 Jan) – Union stands in solidarity with workers and independent trade unions in Iran read more
Radical overhaul of university funding is vital, says UNISON (15 Jan) – ‘What is needed is a sustainable, long-term funding model based on free education, one that values higher education not just for economic output’ read more
Statement on the Palestine Action hunger strikers (14 Jan) – UNISON is extremely concerned about the deteriorating condition of the imprisoned hunger strikers accused of being associated with Palestine Action read more
Hospital staff in Leeds to strike this week in back pay row (15 Dec) – NHS staff who work in operating theatres in hospitals across Leeds are to strike for two days later this week in a dispute over money they are owed. Theatre assistants employed across four hospital sites run by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust* will walk out at 8am on Thursday (18 December) for 48 hours. The workers perform tasks such as inserting cannulas, collecting samples, and sterilising equipment, which the union says should have been paid at a higher rate. UNISON says staff should be moved to the correct grade and compensated fairly for the extra duties they’ve already carried out. Earlier this year, trust interim chief executive Brendan Brown oversaw a deal at Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust that saw staff given five years’ back pay. UNISON says the Leeds trust’s refusal to settle up is out of step with what is happening elsewhere in the region and around the country. Since 2021, more than 40,000 healthcare workers have been regraded and awarded back pay through deals with the union at over 60 NHS trusts across England and Wales read more
Stop the Council Cuts – Sign the petition: Save our Services – Nottingham City Unison
Sign open letter: Reinstate Tom Barker, UNISON rep at Ash Field Academy in Leicester
(Hosted by Leicester and District Trades Union Council).
To Paul Stone, Discovery Schools Academy Trust (DSAT)
Leader, and Richard Bettsworth, Chair of DSAT Trustees.
On October 20 2025, UNISON members at Ash Field Academy, a
special educational needs school in Leicester, voted to take industrial action
over inadequate staffing levels, excessive workload, and health and safety.
Staffing levels at Ash Field, which was taken over by Discovery Schools Academy
Trust (DSAT) in 2024, have been diminishing over the last year as DSAT sought
to make savings.Combined with a redundancy consultation that took place
shortly before the 2025 Summer break, this led to the loss of approximately 10%
of the school’s workforce, mostly from frontline workers. These cuts have
greatly increased the workload of the remaining staff, stretching them to the
point that their health and safety is at risk. The union, which represents around 100 members at the school, completed a formal industrial action ballot on October 20. 86% of members voted in favour of strike action, on a turnout of 60%.
Just three working days after the result of this ballot, UNISON’s lead steward at the school, Tom Barker, was suspended from his duties. Tom was given no prior warning of a complaint and was escorted from the
premises. This is a disgraceful act of trade union victimisation and
potentially places DSAT outside the relevant employment laws. Tom’s suspension
is a direct attempt to silence union members and victimise their rep who also
now sits on the UNISON’s National Executive Council (NEC) SIGN HERE
NHS staff need pay talks now, says UNISON (2 Dec) – Direct talks are the way to fix pay and avoid falling foul of minimum wage laws. The government must hold urgent talks with health unions to fix the NHS pay structure once and for all to avoid staff falling below the legal minimum wage each year, says UNISON today (Tuesday). Without action, tens of thousands of employees on the lowest wage bands will once again drop beneath the statutory minimum level when it rises by 50p an hour to £12.71 from April 2026. That’s also the date all NHS staff are due their annual pay rise. But UNISON says delays and a failure to tackle low earnings properly mean the government risks having to resort to a temporary top-up to avoid falling foul of the law read more
Council and school staff need a fair pay rise, say unions (1 Dec) – Failure to deliver a meaningful pay rise will make recruitment and retention problems worse. Unions representing 1.4 million council and school staff across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are calling for a wage rise of at least £3,000 to recognise soaring workloads and increasing household costs, they say today (Monday). UNISON, GMB and Unite have submitted their joint annual local government pay claim for 2026-27, demanding a substantial award from April after years of effective pay cuts, which have left staff struggling to keep up with rising household bills. The unions are warning pay for council and school staff continues to lag behind many other public services read more
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
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
NIPSA
Education Workers Take Action Against Education Cuts And School Meals Price Increase (1 Dec) – The joint trade unions (UNISON, NIPSA, Unite, GMB), representing support staff in education are urging the public to join a protest against proposed education cuts and the Education Authority’s proposal to increase the price of school meals on Wednesday, 3rd December at 12:30 PM on the steps of Stormont. Due to insufficient budgets and chronic underfunding, proposals have been made to cut services and increase fees across the education sector. One such proposal includes raising the cost of school meals by 50p. These measures unfairly place the burden of underfunding on children, education staff, parents, and families—while failing to address the root cause: a fundamental budget shortfall read more
Royal College of Nursing
‘Ashamed and angry’ nursing staff speak out on corridor care (15 Jan) – The RCN says the practice must end urgently, as testimony from our members shows its damaging effects 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
RCM
RCM warns women and babies are being failed as maternal deaths rise by 20% (14 Jan) – The Royal College of Midwives (RCM) has warned that women and babies are being failed by a maternity system under extreme pressure, after new data showed maternal deaths in the UK are 20% higher than they were over a decade ago despite repeated promises to reduce avoidable harm. The latest findings from MBRRACE-UK reveal that between 2022 and 2024, 252 women died during pregnancy or within six weeks of the end of their pregnancy. The national maternal mortality rate is now significantly higher than in 2009–11, with direct maternal deaths increasing by more than 50% read more
SOR
Members in Northern Ireland asked to contribute to 2025/26 pay award consultation (15 Dec) – With assurance from the Northern Ireland Minister of Health regarding pay parity in AfC banding, the updated award will now be prepared. A consultation for members of the SoR in Northern Ireland has opened, inviting radiographers in the region to participate in the 2025/26 pay award consultation. Opened on Wednesday 10 December, the consultation will run until midnight on Sunday 4 January, giving members a chance to confirm whether or not they accept the pay award, as recommended by the Pay Review Body, of 3.6 per cent for 2025/26. If not accepted, members will be asked if they are willing to undertake industrial action read more
BMA
Resident doctors in Scotland suspend strikes (9 Jan) – Further negotiations produce offer from Scottish government the BMA recommends doctors accept. Strikes by resident doctors in Scotland due to begin on Tuesday have been suspended following a new offer on pay and contract reform. The BMA Scottish resident doctors committee recommends members accept the offer, which is the equivalent of a 9.9 per cent end-of-year pay uplift for this year and 9.4 per cent for 2026-27 read more
Resident doctors reject offer (15 Dec) – Government revised proposal to avert strike knocked back via indicative vote. Strike action for resident doctors in England will go ahead this week after doctors resoundingly rejected a recently revised offer put forward by the Government. Resident doctors across England will stage another full five-day walk out from this Wednesday following a vote on whether to delay action in light of the new terms put forward by the Department of Health. The indicative poll, which closed today and saw a turnout of 65 per cent, saw 83 per cent of doctors vote to continue industrial action. The vote was called following the Government’s announcement last week of a new offer on measures aimed at addressing the unemployment crisis among resident doctors. Measures included increasing the number of new specialty training posts from 1,000 to 4,000 over the next three years, as well as a pledge to bring forward emergency legislation in the New Year to prioritise UK medical graduates for these posts. BMA resident doctors committee chair Jack Fletcher said the results of the indicative poll clearly demonstrated the Government’s proposals had simply not gone far enough to address doctors’ concerns with the job crisis read more
NEU
NEU members survey confirms that schools are ‘running on empty’ (16 Jan) – A new online survey of 2,000 teacher members of the National Education Union shows that:-
- 71 per cent of all respondents believe their school does not have enough funding to meet basic provision for pupils.
- Problems are more acute in primary and special schools, where over three quarters of respondents (78 per cent in both cases) told us their school cannot afford basic provision.
- A clear majority (72 per cent) told us that their school was ‘running on empty’.
- Most teachers responding to the survey (72 per cent) say the classes they teach are too large, and a large majority (81 per cent) say staff in their school have left without being replaced.
- Many respondents mention a lack of basic supplies in their school, such as glue sticks, pens and exercise books.
The snapshot survey was conducted between 8-9 January 2026 read more
- Support the strikes:-
| ACTION Find below details of forthcoming action*. You are encouraged to send messages of solidarity to the email addresses below: Action Date Contact Access Creative College / Tower Hamlets (Conditions of Service) 20-21 Jan Natasha Chaudhury [email protected] Arthur Terry Learning Partnership Schools (ATLP) /Birmingham 20-22 Jan Chris Denson [email protected] Belmont Park / Waltham Forest (Conditions of Service) 20, 22-23 Jan Pablo Phillips [email protected] Bideford College /Devon (Conditions of Service) 21 Jan Camilla Simpson [email protected] Bishop Ullathorne Catholic School / Coventry (Conditions of Service) 20-22 Jan Chris Denson [email protected] Colebourne Primary School / Birmingham (Pay Policy) 20 Jan Shirley Perry [email protected] Little Ilford School /Newham (Conditions of Service) 20-22 Jan Phil Lindsey [email protected] Sensory Support Service/Ealing (Unacceptable management style) 19-23 Jan Stefan Simms [email protected] Whitefield School / Waltham Forest (Conditions of Service) 22-23 Jan Pablo Phillips [email protected] Access Creative College / Tower Hamlets (Conditions of Service) 20-21 Jan Natasha Chaudhury [email protected] Arthur Terry Learning Partnership Schools (ATLP) /Birmingham 20-22 Jan Chris Denson [email protected] Belmont Park / Waltham Forest (Conditions of Service) 20, 22-23 Jan Pablo Phillips [email protected] |
NASUWT
Eight in ten parents trust education staff on AI as unions set out roadmap (16 Jan) – Ten unions representing teachers, school leaders, support staff and specialists across the UK have urgently called for educators and their unions to be involved “at every stage” of AI adoption in education. In a joint statement UNISON, Unite, UCU, NEU, NASUWT, NAHT, GMB, EIS, UCAC and AEP say: “Technology is not a panacea. It is a tool. The potential to enhance education for students, educators and society at large depends on the way these tools are designed, deployed, and evaluated. Meaningful educator involvement is needed throughout to ensure that the rapid roll out of AI in education is shaped by professionalism and sound pedagogy.” The statement is published as new polling reveals that the vast majority of parents want education staff to be central at every stage of AI adoption in education read more
SEND crisis cannot be fixed on the cheap (16 Jan) – Responding to the government’s announcement of £200m funding to train teachers to meet the needs of pupils with SEND, Matt Wrack, General Secretary of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union, said: “Let us be very clear: our SEND system needs major reform. While £200m to support teacher SEND training is very welcome, it is also barely a drop in the bucket of the funding necessary to make sustained and significant change. Teachers alone cannot avert the SEND crisis, no matter their levels of expertise…” read more
Culture of violence and intimidation prompts teacher strikes at two primary schools (5 Jan) – Teachers at Lily Lane Primary School in Manchester and Ravensfield Primary School in Tameside – part of Changing Lives in Collaboration (CLiC) Trust – will begin strike action on Tuesday 6th January. Members of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union at both schools report that pupil-on-teacher and pupil-on pupil-assaults have grown to untenable levels, and that leaders are refusing to acknowledge or resolve urgent issues around health and safety, safeguarding, or staff safety and wellbeing. In some cases, the schools’ culture of violence is causing pupils to be fearful of attending school read more
Further strike action at Kettering school over inadequate management (15 Dec) – Members of NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union at Meadowside Primary School in Kettering will be taking further strike action on 15th and 16th December over adverse management practices which are affecting teachers’ health and working conditions. NASUWT teachers at Meadowside took a day of strike action on 4th November, but agreed to withdraw a further five days of planned strike action as a gesture of goodwill after the employer offered further talks. However, since then the school management has failed to put in place any effective measures to address the issues of excessive workload, a lack of transparency and effective communication and lack of career progression. As a result, further strike action has become necessary read more
Hexham teachers strike over failure to address behaviour management (8 Dec) – Members of NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union at Haydon Bridge High School in Hexham will be taking the first of five planned days of strike action tomorrow (Tuesday) over the failure of school management to put in place an effective pupil behaviour management system. NASUWT withdrew the first two days of planned strike action on the 19th and 25th November as a gesture of goodwill after management agreed to act to address members’ concerns about a lack of action to deal with poor pupil behaviour. However, no effective actions have subsequently been put in place by school management, leaving NASUWT with no choice than to reinstate strike action 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
EIS
Workload Ballot Falls Foul of Soon-to-be Repealed Thresholds: EIS to Re-Ballot Members for Strike (16 Jan) – The EIS announced that its recent statutory industrial action ballot on teacher workload has become a victim of soon-to-be repealed elements of UK anti-trade union laws, having fallen short of the strict thresholds set in that Tory-era legislation. The EIS Executive Committee met yesterday to consider the result, and overwhelmingly agreed to move ahead with a re-ballot of members on industrial action on the matter of excessive teacher workload read more
Lecturers at Edinburgh Napier vote for strike action over job cuts (12 Jan) – Lecturers at Edinburgh Napier University have overwhelmingly voted in favour of strike action in a dispute over planned job cuts at the university. The ballot was arranged by the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS). 93% of those voting in the ballot backed the move to strike action in opposition to the planned job cuts, with 7% voting against. The result also exceeds current legal threshold for strike action, and provides the EIS University Lecturers’ Association (EIS-ULA) with a clear mandate to commence strike action at Edinburgh Napier…The EIS-ULA Executive will now consider the next steps to be taken in the dispute, and will issue further information in due course. The move towards strikes at Edinburgh Napier follows on from a continuing dispute over planned redundancies at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, where EIS members have already been engaging in a programme of strike action. These disputes highlight continuing concern over the funding of the Higher Education sector in Scotland, and the growing threat to jobs and courses in Scotland’s universities read more
Pensions strike action to continue at Craigclowan school as hypocrisy over senior staff pension provision is revealed (22 Dec) – Members of the EIS at Craigclowan School near Perth will take six further days of strike action in January, as a dispute over cuts to the staff pension scheme continues. The strike action is in opposition to the school’s use of ‘fire and rehire’ to force staff out of the Scottish Teachers’ Pension Scheme (STPS) and into a worse scheme that will cost less for the school. The School pays its teaching staff considerably less than staff in state schools – around 15% less as of December 2025. The teachers work tirelessly for the School and have been reluctant to strike. Ultimately, the school’s decision to cut its employer pension contributions from 26% to 14% meant that many staff felt that they had no choice but to defend their financial security read more
EIS opens formal ballot for industrial action at Lenzie Academy over serious Health & Safety concerns (15 Dec) – Following an overwhelming indicative ballot result at Lenzie Academy—where 95% of EIS members voted in favour of industrial action—the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) has now opened a statutory ballot for industrial action. The formal ballot opened last week and will close on Friday, 30 January. If the employer, East Dunbartonshire Council, fails to address the serious health and safety concerns raised by staff, EIS members have indicated a willingness to take strike action, with strike dates to be confirmed following the formal ballot process. EIS members have repeatedly raised urgent concerns about the safety of the school environment read more
INTO
Outcome of Member Survey on 2025-2026 Teachers’ Pay Offer (13 Jan) – INTO surveyed members in relation to the pay offer from the Management Side of the Teachers’ Negotiating Committee (TNC), dated 6 January 2026, between 9:00am on Thursday, 8 January 2026, and 5:00pm on Monday, 12 January 2026. The outcome of the survey indicated that 81% of those members who responded were in favour of accepting the offer. Following verification of the survey outcome, the Northern Committee and the Central Executive Committee of the INTO have considered the offer and the survey responses. They have agreed to accept the offer of a 4% consolidated pay award, applicable to all teacher salary scale points and to teaching and special needs allowances, with effect from 1 September 2025. This decision is made on behalf of the membership, as set out in Rule 121, Part E, within the INTO Rules and Constitution (2024). The Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council (NITC) has formally notified the Management Side of acceptance, bringing the 2025/26 pay round to a close read more
UCU
UCU Stop the Cuts campaign
Sign petition against the education cuts
Staff at 17 English college employers on strike from today for better pay and working conditions (14 Jan) – staff at 17 colleges across England will begin three days of strike action from today after bosses refused to make fair offers over pay and working conditions, the University and College Union (UCU) confirmed today read more
Strike ballot looms at Durham University over workloads and job insecurity (8 Jan) – Staff at Durham University are moving towards a strike ballot after senior management refused to engage constructively with the union over untenable workloads and worsening job insecurity, UCU announced today. The ballot, seeking a mandate for strike action and industrial action short of a strike (ASOS), is due to open on 15 January and run until 6 February read more
New Year strike ballots at four Scottish universities (5 Jan) – Strike ballots over job losses and the possible use of compulsory redundancies begin today (Monday) at four Scottish universities. The strike ballots will take place at Aberdeen, Heriot-Watt, Stirling and Strathclyde universities where members of the University and College Union (UCU) Scotland are being asked if they are willing to take strike action. As well as strike action, members are also being asked if they are willing to take action short of strike which can include actions such as working to contract; refusing to cover for absent colleagues or undertaking voluntary activities; and marking and assessment boycotts. The ballots at the four universities leave open the possibility of strikes and disruption on university campuses as universities enter their busy Spring terms when much of the teaching, examination and marking of students’ work takes place. If members vote for strike action, they will join UCU members at the University of Dundee where members have been taking strike action last year in a long running dispute over cuts and job losses. A dispute at the University of the Highlands and Islands was resolved before Christmas and significant progress was made at Edinburgh in a dispute there over job cuts. In the event of ‘yes’ votes in the four separate ballots, it will then be up to members to decide what action to take and how to pursue the dispute against their employer. The disputes share a common cause of principals seeking to make cuts and refusing to rule out the use of compulsory redundancies read more
University of Sheffield International College staff to strike over pay and conditions (23 Dec) – Staff at the University of Sheffield International College (USIC) have voted overwhelmingly for strike action in a dispute over pay and conditions, the University and College Union (UCU) announced today. In the ballot, 90% of those that took part voted for strike action, with 100% backing action short of a strike (ASOS). The turnout was 61% read more
Strike ballot opens at University of Essex in fight to save campus & jobs (15 Dec) – Staff at the University of Essex are being asked to back strike action over plans to close the university’s Southend campus and axe 400 jobs. Members of the University and College Union (UCU) will vote in the ballot, which opens today (Monday) and runs until Monday, 19 January, paving the way for potential strike action as soon as February. The university wrote to all 2,974 members of staff last week (Thursday 11 December), just as they were breaking up for the Christmas holidays, to tell them they were at risk of redundancy. Management intends to axe 200 academic staff and 200 professional services staff, meaning more than one in 10 of the workforce would lose their job. It wants to issue redundancy notices by May and mothball the Southend campus over the summer read more
Huge strike vote at Southampton Solent over brutal fire & rehire pension attack (15 Dec) – UCU members at Southampton Solent University have voted to strike after management forced hundreds of staff out of their preferred pension scheme and onto new contracts all while threatening to sack those who refused to be moved, the University and College Union (UCU) announced today. An overwhelming 93% of staff who voted backed strike action on a turnout of 72%, paving the way for disruption in the new year if management refuses to change course. Last Thursday (11 December), Solent moved 286 staff off of the university’s books and into a subsidiary company, Solent University Services Ltd (SUSL), forcing them out of the industry standard Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) and onto a scheme that allows Solent to get away with paying less into staff pensions, leaving them poorer. The preceding day (Wednesday 10 December), university management told the 286 staff to email HR by “close of business” if they “object to the transfer” and their employment would then cease immediately read more
Strike ballot launched at Northumbria University in pay and pensions row (5 Dec) – Staff at Northumbria University will be balloted for strike action in their fight against plans to pressure them to leave the Teachers’ Pension Scheme. The industrial action ballot will open on Monday 15 December and will close on Friday 23 January, with potential action in the new year when teaching takes place. It comes after UCU members overwhelmingly passed a motion of no confidence in the university executive team, including the vice-chancellor, in a packed branch meeting last month read more
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
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 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 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
UCU fighting fund: the link is here and donations to the fund are spent on supporting members involved in important disputes.
FBU
Scottish budget fails to provide funds to rebuild fire and rescue service (14 Jan) – FBU members holding large banner reading ‘cuts leave scars’ with FBU logo
The Fire Brigades Union has responded to the Scottish government’s latest budget, calling for urgent investment to rebuild following over a decade of cuts read more
FBU says industrial action on cards after Oxfordshire council pushes cuts consultation (9 Dec) – Around one hundred firefighters gathered at a rally outside Oxfordshire County Hall today, calling on the county council to drop plans to cut the fire and rescue service. Firefighters travelled from across the county to attend. Speaking at the rally, FBU general secretary Steve Wright said: “These proposals will not only affect firefighter safety, it will affect the communities that we’re here to protect. It is outrageous that they are now trying to close fire stations, limit the number of firefighters on the back of fire engines… We know that in Oxfordshire we take 2 minutes longer than the national average to arrive at incidents. Every second counts, and when we turn up delayed because of these decisions, firefighters and the public’s lives will be on the line.” The Fire Brigades Union has described plans to close five fire stations and remove six fire engines across Oxfordshire as putting residents across the county at risk. The council responded to today’s rally by confirming that a public consultation on the cuts will continue. The FBU says that firefighters are exploring the option of balloting for industrial action 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 December 2025 read more
General Secretary update read more
National Chair update Dec 2025 read here
NAPO
Members Anger Mounting over Probation Pay (9 Jan) – Branch Chairs express members mounting anger over Probation Pay. A meeting of Napo Probation Branch Chairs was held this week, where National Chair Ben Cockburn and General Secretary Ian Lawrence provided an update on the continuing absence of a pay offer from the employer. As we advised previously, the Probation Unions met with the Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy in November and were told to expect a pay offer before the Christmas break, but this has failed to materialise. Yet again, the excuse from the Ministers Office has been that the relevant government departments are still considering the merits of the ‘Flex’ case which is the application that HMPPS were obliged to make to seek additional funding over and above the government pay remit for 2025/2026. Napo are not alone in encountering a delay on this issue as a number of public sector trade unions are also awaiting a formal offer to their pay claims read more
BFAWU
BFAWU Welcomes Government Mediation Offer in McDonald’s Case (7 Jan) – The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers’ Union (BFAWU) welcomes the UK Government’s offer of mediation in a major sexual harassment complaint involving McDonald’s UK. The offer, made by the Department for Business and Trade under the OECD Guidelines, follows a complaint submitted by trade unions and the Corporate Justice Coalition highlighting serious and ongoing failures to protect workers from gender-based violence and harassment. BFAWU President Ian Hodson said: “We welcome this step and have accepted mediation in good faith. McDonald’s must now engage meaningfully with workers and their unions to deliver real change.” More than 700 current and former McDonald’s workers are reported to be taking legal action. If mediation is refused, the Government may proceed to a full examination and issue formal findings read more
Winter Foodworker 2025 read more
Support the campaign to unionise Samworth Brothers – get organised, sign the petition read more
Nautilus International
Nautilus Federation unions urge US Congress to mandate US-flagged shipping for Venezuelan oil (14 Jan) – Nautilus Federation affiliates in the United States have joined a broader coalition of American trade unions in urging Congress to require that any crude oil imported from Venezuela is carried exclusively on US-flagged vessels crewed by American seafarers read more
Lloyd’s Register threatens employees with 75% salary cut if they join industrial action (11 Dec) – Industrial action at Lloyd’s Register by members of Nautilus International is likely to escalate due to the intimidating way management is behaving towards its employees – including unprecedented threats to cut their pay by 75% if they participate in the action. Employees of Lloyd’s Register in the Netherlands began industrial action against their employer on 1 December 2025. The classification society’s management is refusing to give employees a fair wage rise that compensates for inflation, despite paying themselves a 20% bonus after the company registered significant profits read more
NUJ
NUJ reacts to Ofcom’s ‘astonishing’ embrace of damaging STV cuts (15 Jan) – The NUJ has blasted Ofcom after the regulator described proposals that include axing STV North News at 6 as the “best thing for audiences across Scotland.” Read more
MPs call for universal access and secure funding at BBC Charter Renewal debate (14 Jan) – MPs have urged the UK government to guarantee that the BBC is sustainably funded, politically independent and universally accessible, following the launch of its Charter Renewal green paper read more
Kerrang! journalists’ strike shows true metal (13 Jan) – In December freelance writers at music magazine Kerrang! showed the power of coordinated, collective action. After 16 freelance contributors withdrew their labour, the magazine’s management agreed to meet all their terms. These included the settlement of all outstanding invoices, some of which stretched back to the summer; the reversion of the 30-day payment timetable; and assurances on contributors being paid in full and on time in future read more
Iconic takeover of Alpha Media raises serious media diversity concerns, says NUJ (12 Jan) – The NUJ has expressed concern over the proposed acquisition of Alpha Media by Malcolm Denmark’s Iconic Media read more
STV strike round-up (7 Jan) – STV staff across Scotland went on strike on Wednesday (7 January), braving the cold weather and heavy snow to oppose damaging cuts planned by the company’s management. Around 50 staff members formed a picket line outside the Glasgow office, carrying “stop the cuts” and “save local news” placards. They were joined in solidarity by Laura Davison, NUJ general secretary, and Anas Sarwar, Scottish Labour leader read more
Picket lines for STV strike, January 2025 (6 Jan) – On 7 January NUJ members at STV will strike over damaging cuts to jobs and programming. In December members voted overwhelmingly for strike action over compulsory redundancies and the broadcaster’s plans to scrap the north edition of its News at 6 programme. Please share solidarity messages with [email protected] or join them in-person if safe to travel read more
Equity
Equity calls Manchester Pride asset sale “concerning” (13 Jan) – News that Manchester Pride assets are being sold to the highest bidder “concerning” as hundreds of performers remain unpaid from the 2025 event read more
Film & TV performers say they would be prepared to take industrial action over AI in LANDSLIDE 99% vote (18 Dec) – Results of Equity’s indicative ballot on AI protections for performers announced read more
Musicians Union
MU Responds to Scottish Budget 2026-27 (15 Jan) – While the Musicians’ Union welcomes the Scottish Government’s increase to Culture spend, we are concerned about the lack of funding for individual artists and those engaged by the National Performing Companies (NPCs) read more
Sign the Petition to Stop Education Cuts in Dumfries and Galloway (14 Jan) – Ahead of a final decision in February, our sister union, the EIS, has published a petition against education cuts in Dumfries and Galloway, including the proposed removal of the instrumental music service read more
MU Backs Petition to Stop Closure of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Music Department (12 Dec) – The MU is supporting members who have raised concerns and is currently involved in consultation with the RSC read more
USDAW
Tetrosyl strike – 30 January: Company’s failure to engage forces Usdaw to call another day of action in a ‘fire and rehire’ dispute (8 Jan) – Usdaw, the trade union for staff working at car care products manufacturer Tetrosyl and Tetrosyl Express, has given the company notice of a sixth day of industrial action from 6am on Friday 30 January, in a dispute over the company’s use of ‘fire and rehire’ to reduce terms and conditions for staff at their Rochdale site read more
UVW
Christmas strikes to hit West End Quay after luxury flats bosses enforce “Scrooge-style” pay freeze (10 Dec) – “None of us wants to spend Christmas on strike, but management has left us no choice. They froze our pay; they denied all the staff a pay rise for this year and walked back agreements we had reached, and even brought in agency staff during our strikes at a cost far higher than what we earn. We’ve even faced surveillance, yet all we’re asking for is the pay rise we had previously agreed to — one they had previously confirmed was affordable” – Francesco Lombardo, concierge and UVW member. UVW cleaner and concierge members at the luxury flat complex in Paddington, central London, where properties sell for millions- say they have been left with no choice but to take further action this Christmas, yet again. The new 12-day walkout, from 29th December till 2nd January, will mark the third strike in 2025 (and fifth overall at WEQ) in an escalating industrial dispute that has defined the entire year at WEQ. Bosses reneged on an ACAS-brokered agreement and imposed a year-long pay freeze on low-paid, non-managerial staff only. For the workers, who are overwhelmingly migrant and Black and brown, the bosses seem to be behaving like “the ultimate Scrooges”, squeezing the lowest-paid while some are believed to pocket eye-watering six-figure salaries 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
Mandate (Ireland)
Mandate Says Dunnes Stores’ 3% Pay Increase Is “Simply Not Good Enough” (16 Dec) – Mandate Trade Union has criticised Dunnes Stores’ announcement of a 3% pay increase, stating that it fails to keep pace with inflation, falls below trade union pay guidance, and does not address the wider issues facing Dunnes workers. The union was also highly critical of Dunnes Stores’ refusal to pay workers for maternity and paternity leave. Workers across Ireland continue to experience significant cost-of-living pressures, with rising prices for essentials such as food, energy, housing and childcare placing ongoing strain on household budgets. Against this backdrop, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has recommended private sector pay increases in the range of 4% to 7% to prevent workers from experiencing a real-terms cut in pay. Mandate says Dunnes Stores’ decision to limit the increase to 3% leaves many workers worse off in real termsread more
SIPTU (Ireland)
Home Support workers vote for strike action (12 Jan) – SIPTU members working as Health Care Assistants (HCAs) in the HSE Home Support Service across Donegal, Clare, Cork, Kerry and Limerick have voted overwhelmingly for strike action in a dispute arising from their employer’s failure to honour national agreements on terms and conditions. The ballot, counted today at Liberty Hall, Dublin 1, delivered a 95% mandate for industrial action, up to and including strike action read more
SIPTU Caredoc members defer industrial action to consider pay proposals (24 Dec) read more
Carroll’s Cuisine strike action suspended as management agree to talks (27 Nov) – Strike action at Carroll’s Cuisine in Tullamore, County Offaly, has been suspended following management’s agreement to enter negotiations with union representatives this week. These talks aim to secure a collective agreement that will deliver improvements in pay and conditions for workers at the meat-processing plant read more
Sign this petition: Take Action for Workers’ Rights!
Other news
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists – adapted by Neil Gore from the book by Robert Tressell, directed by Louise Townsend – Sands Film Studios, 82 Saint Marychurch St, London SE16 4HZ details
- Running time/interval – Act 1 40 min Act 2 30 min 20 min interval
- Age suitability – 11 plus
- Wednesday 25th February in person at 19.30 and also Broadcast online
- Thursday 26th February in person at 19.30 and also Broadcast online
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, this 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 Central London demonstration is on Saturday 31st January, assembling at 12noon.
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)
Oppose Trump’s attack on Venezuela
We oppose Trump’s brutal imperialist assault on Venezuela. We send solidarity greetings to the Venezuelan people, and support the protests taking place.
- Read statements from the following unions – RMT, Unite, PCS, BFAWU, UNISON, GMB, NUJ, Nautilus International
- For info about protests, go to the website of the Venezuela Solidarity Campaign
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.’
See info on counter-protests on union and trades councils social media and the Stand Up to Racism website.
- Keep racist UKIP out of Whitechapel – Saturday January 31st, 12pm, meet opposite Whitechapel Station
- National demonstration ‘in unity and against the far-right’ called by Together Alliance – Saturday 28th March in central London read more
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.
https://www.ucpi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/T3P1-Opening-Statement-Imran-Khan-Partners.pdf
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
Nigeria Solidarity: Victory At Last! #EndBadGovernance Activists ‘Treason’ Trial Cancelled – Pressure forces Nigerian Government to anabdon sham trial of Adaramoye Michael Lenin and 10 other #EndBadGovernance protestors charged with treason and terrorism
Today, December 10, 2025, Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court Abuja struck out the treason and terrorism charges against Adaramoye Michael Lenin and 10 others. In his ruling, Justice Emeka lamented that the prosecuting counsel had shown a lack of diligence and seriousness in the case they initiated against the protesters. Subsequently, Michael Lenin and his co-defendants, who were detained and put on trial over the August 2024 nationwide #EndBadGovenance protest against mass hunger, economic hardship and anti-poor policies of Bola Tinubu government, were acquitted. Other activists are Daniel Akande, Mosiu Sadiq Adeyemi Abiodun Abayomi, Angel Love Innocent, Bashir Bello, Nuradeen Khamis, Buhari Lawal, Opaluwa Eleojo Simeon, Suleiman Yakubu. Abdulsalam Zubairu read more
USA: Support the Starbucks strike – read more on Starbucks Workers United website and follow @SBWorkersUnited on X/Twitter
Türkiye: No to union-busting at Digel read more
Diary
2026 NSSN Conference will be on Saturday 27th June 11am-4.30pm
