NSSN 759: Health unions react to NHS pay imposition

Health unions have reacted angrily to the Government’s imposition of the NHS pay deal.

Unite “denounced the latest pay ‘deal’ imposed by government. Today’s announcement of 3.3 per cent comes after months of scoping out what pay talks might look like and publicly stating that the government’s preference was for a multi-year deal. With the RPI rate of inflation standing at 4.2 per cent, the pay increase amounts to substantial real terms pay cut. At a time when unions were calling for a restorative pay award to counteract years of below inflation increases, which has devalued roles and resulted in workers leaving the NHS in their thousands.”

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “It beggars belief that a Labour government should seek to ride roughshod over the health unions when deciding on NHS pay. For too long, NHS workers have been overworked, under paid and under valued.”

Unite national officer for health Richard Munn added: “We will be consulting with our members on this once as we have full details of the nursing pay band announcement and further information on the structural reform plans. It is clear that the mandated and promised structural reform of the pay scales needs to be well funded and address all the pay problems or else members will be left with little option other than industrial action.”

UNISON head of health Helga Pile said: “Hard-pressed NHS staff will be downright angry at another below-inflation pay award. Yet again, they’re expected to keep delivering more while effectively being given less, as pay slides behind living costs. Having an increase on time for once is only small comfort.”

Rachel Harrison, GMB National Secretary said: “GMB welcomes the efforts made to ensure NHS workers will receive their pay increase when it is due, in April. The first time this will have happened in years. But this award is just not enough to make up for more than a decade of pay cuts under the Tories. NHS workers deserve more and GMB will fight for that at the long overdue agenda for change structural talks we have now been promised. GMB reps will now meet to discuss the pay award and determine next steps.”

Kevin Kelly NIPSA Assistant Secretary: “If these stated desires, ambitions and promises are not converted into firm, written commitments including the delivery of the Real Living Wage from 1 April 2026 then our plans for industrial action will proceed with haste. Our members cannot wait any longer. They deserve certainty, dignity, and pay they can live on.”

Read the responses from the following health unions – Unite, Unison, GMB, POA, RCN, RCM, CSP, SOR, NIPSA

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SAVE THE DATE!! 2026 NSSN Conference will be on Saturday 27^th June 11am-4.30pm in Conway Hall in London

Support the striking Birmingham binworkers – Birmingham Labour Council moves to shut down solidarity

On Friday, 30^th January, along with many trade unions, we joined the MegaPicket, hosted by Strike Map, in support of the long-running Unite Birmingham Bin Strike. These workers started strike action a year ago against a brutal £8,000 slashing of their wages by the Labour Council, and they have been out indefinitely since last March. Agency workers employed by Job & Talent began strike action on 1 December over bullying and harassment.

Disgracefully, the Council has used vicious strike-breaking measures. There has been mass support for the binworkers and hundreds of union members stood in solidarity with them last Friday. The Council were forced to close the three bin depots.

But now, instead of looking to resolve the dispute, this Labour Council is shamefully seeking a ‘persons unknown’ legal injunction to stop solidarity protests, which threaten fines and even imprisonment. But no legal action will stop the trade union movement supporting the binworkers and their union, Unite.

This dispute can be won – victory to Unite and the binworkers.

Go to the Facebook pages of Unite the Union and Unite for a Workers Economy for videos and photos of the strike, and watch a video of the MegaPicket from Reel News on YouTube, X/Twitter, Instagram and Facebook
StrikeMap: [email protected]

Below are some posts from personal and organisation accounts:-

Birmingham bin workers vote to extend strikes past May elections and into September (10 Feb) – Council workers and Job & Talent workers more determined than ever to secure fair deal. Striking Birmingham bin workers have voted to extend their industrial action mandate past local elections in May and into September, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today. Council refuse workers are striking because Birmingham city council has fired and rehired both loaders (former WRCOs) and drivers onto contracts that reduce pay by up to £8,000. Job & Talent agency refuse workers are striking over bullying, harassment and the threat of blacklisting at the council’s refuse department. Both sets of workers have voted to extend their industrial action mandate.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our members are more determined than ever to achieve a fair settlement, and they have Unite’s unwavering support. The council needs to get back around the table now because strikes will not end until we have a fair deal for Birmingham’s bin workers.”

There have been no negotiations over ending the dispute since May last year, after the council reengaged on a “ballpark deal” agreed with council chief executive Joanne Roney. Unite remains fully open to return to negotiations to resolve the dispute, however the council refuses to even meet. Instead, the council took the decision to brutally fire and rehire the workers to force them onto lower pay rates. Meanwhile, it continues to waste millions trying unsuccessfully to break the strike 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/
Reel News night: Building solidarity for the Birmingram binworkers strike – Join Birmingham bin workers and supporters for this special event hosted by Reel News. They will be screening films documenting the strike’s story so far, alongside other classic rank-and-file struggles and then be planning some solidarity action. Tuesday 24 February from 7.00pm Free LARC, 62 Fieldgate Street, London E1 1ES. Tickets here

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 2025 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 49:

Monday 16th: Joint picket at Gloucester Royal Hospital from 08.00 to 11.30.
Tuesday 17th: Joint picket at Cheltenham General Hospital from 08.00 to 11.30.
Wednesday 18th: Joint picket at Gloucester Royal Hospital from 08.00 to 11.30.
Thursday 19th: Joint picket at Cheltenham General Hospital from 08.00 to 11.30.
Friday 20th: Relaxed picket at both sites.

Please see the article by Carmelo Garcia, local democracy reporter for BBC News: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c80198vdvl8o, who attended unveiling of the Gloucestershire Association banner and the rally outside Shire Hall during Gloucestershire County Council’s health overview and scrutiny committee meeting this week. The two offers made by the Trust deny the right for the phlebotomists to continue their jobs and push them into health care support roles.

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

Unions must demand Starmer scraps 50% strike ballot threshold now!

Starmer’s Labour government’s Employment Rights Act received royal ascent 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.

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.

FINISHING THE JOB: Demand an Employment Rights Bill #2 – Organised by : Campaign for Trade Union Freedom (CTUF) and Strike Map

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

Union News    

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RMT    

RMT National Dispute Fund     

DLR cleaners to strike and protest at TfL Board over ‘inhumane’ outsourcing (4 Feb) – Outsourced cleaners on the Docklands Light Railway will strike alongside a protest at Transport for London’s Board meeting today, intensifying pressure on London Mayor Sadiq Khan to honour his pledge to bring cleaners back in-house. The protest begins at 9.30am at City Hall, Kamal Chunchie Way, London E16 1ZE, which will see cleaners employed by contractor Bidvest Noonan continue their dispute over the denial of proper company sick pay and allegations of bullying behaviour from local management. The cruel reality of contracting out services has been laid bare today, after the union revealed there have been members who despite being hospitalised due to ill health have received no sick pay or support from their employer read more

Windrush line strike action over pay and conditions next month (23 Jan) – RMT members working on the Windrush line will take strike action in February after their employer refused to make a decent pay offer. Workers employed by Cleshar CS Ltd, including the vital signalling and telecoms team, have been offered just a 1.5 per cent pay rise, well below the current rate of RPI inflation. The dispute also involves ongoing problems with overtime and annual leave pay, and inferior terms and conditions compared with those in place under the previous contractor, Carillion. Strike action will take place on Thursday 26 February, Thursday 26 March and Thursday 23 April 2026, with each strike running for 24 hours. Signals and telecoms staff carry out safety-critical duties and without their important work, trains will not be able to run. The employer already relies heavily on overtime because of understaffing, highlighting how central the workforce is to the operation of the line. Cleshar CS Ltd made a profit of £991,915 in its most recent financial year and paid out more than £533,000 in dividends read more

RMT rejects inadequate 4.5% pay offer for RFA seafarers (21 Jan) – Maritime union, RMT has rejected a 4.5% pay offer for seafarers employed by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), describing it as wholly inadequate and failing to address years of below-inflation offers, minimum wage concerns and a growing retention crisis across the service. RMT says successive pay deals below RPI have significantly eroded earnings, with RFA management unable to demonstrate that pay rates comply with the legal minimum wage once the actual hours worked by seafarers are taken into account. Seafarers can routinely work up to 12 hours a day and there remains no clear or transparent formula setting out how pay is calculated against those hours. During previous industrial action, some of the lowest-paid RFA workers faced deductions of £87 for a single day, showing how little RFA management believed they were being paid read more

ASLEF  

Hull Trains drivers strike as row over ‘unfair sacking’ of colleague continues read more on Hull Live

TSSA

TSSA backs ScotRail fares freeze (12 Feb) – TSSA has backed a move by the Scottish Government to freeze fares across ScotRail but called for a “long-term drive to make Scotland railways affordable for the people of Scotland.” Scotland’s First Minister, John Swinney, made the announcement earlier today, with the freeze applying to all ScotRail tickets, including season tickets and Flexipass 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

Unite    

St Enoch VUE cinema workers resume strike action in long-running dispute (17 Feb) – Unite presents VUE with ‘World’s Worst Cinema’ award in run-up to Oscars. VUE cinema workers resume strike action today (Tuesday 17 February) in a long-running dispute over better jobs, pay and conditions at the St Enoch’s centre in Glasgow. Dozens of Unite hospitality members have been taking strike action since December as part of a campaign to secure the real living wage for workers aged 18 and over, union recognition, and safe subsidised transport home for workers at the end of late night shifts. Unite which represents the vast majority of the customer assistant and team leaders at the VUE St Enoch’s site will present management with a ‘World’s Worst Cinema’ award over the unfair and unequal way its workers are being treated as they resume strike action… Unite can also confirm that its membership at Village Hotels in Govan will continue their strike action after a fresh powerful mandate from the workers. Dozens of Village Hotel workers gave Unite a new mandate for industrial action with 96.5 per cent emphatically supporting strike action. Industrial action has been ongoing since late November in a similar dispute over jobs, pay and conditions read more

Bilfinger workers balloted on new offer as strikes suspended (16 Feb) – Dozens of offshore installations and operators affected by pension dispute. Unite can confirm that 48-hour strike action involving over 400 offshore members employed by Bilfinger UK Limited has been suspended following a new improved offer in a pension dispute. Due to the threat of strike action Bilfinger has returned to the negotiating table to make an offer which would increase the company’s contributions to the pension scheme. A consultative ballot on the new offer will close on 23 February 2026. Strike action had been scheduled to take place over 19 and 20 February read more

Transport for Greater Manchester strikes end as workers secure pay victory (16 Feb) – Low paid workers receive pay rises of between 6.4 and 11.1 per cent. Strikes by more than 200 Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) workers have ended with a pay victory, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today. The workers, who undertake vital roles including ticketing, passenger assistance and information services for the bus network, voted to accept the deal following intensive negotiations. The deal includes a pay uplift of at least 3.2 per cent backdated to April 2025 for all staff, plus a non-consolidated payment of £1,000. Workers on lower bands will see pay rise to at least £15.10 an hour, resulting in wages increases of between 6.4 and 11.1 per cent. Pay for all staff will increase again from April 2026 by least three per cent…The deal also sees increases in standby payments, shift pattern improvements and new recognition and facility time agreements. The workers began striking in October and took 18 days of industrial action in total read more

Local government craftworkers to ballot for strikes over pay (16 Feb) – Over a thousand local authority craft workers on the red book agreement will be balloted for strike action after receiving an unsatisfactory pay offer. The dispute comes after the Local Government Association, who handle local council workers’ pay, put forward a full and final below RPI offer of 3.2 per cent for 2025 without any negotiations. It also decided to remove apprentices from the national agreement and put a new entrant on the same pay scale as a craft operative, which is a qualified position. The LGA is also seeking to impose NJC job evaluation, which Unite is concerned could be used unfairly, will result in cuts in pay and dilute the level of service delivered to the public…Unite has made several attempts to negotiate with the LGA, which is refusing to honour the disputes process by constantly rejecting offers to come to the table including the union’s suggestion that Unite sits on a number of competency groups for craft workers; and would bring this knowledge and support to these discussions. The red book agreement covers local authority craftworkers who are primarily involved in housing maintenance work, such as plumbing and heating engineering. Workers at the following councils will be balloted initially over the issues: Durham, Leeds, Stoke, Dudley, Southwark, Newham and Bristol. Ballots will open from 19 February and close on 26 March. It is possible that more councils will follow. As red book craft workers are responsible for the upkeep of local authority housing, strike action will cause significant disruption to key services involved in maintaining people’s homes read more

Unite secures inflation beating pay rise for ICTS screeners at Glasgow airport (16 Feb) – Trade union delivers significant wage rises over recent years. Unite has secured an inflation beating pay rise for ICTS hold baggage screeners based at Glasgow airport, Scotland’s leading aviation trade union, confirmed today (Monday 16 February). Around 50 ICTS hold baggage screeners covered by the deal backdated to October will see their basic pay increase by seven per cent alongside overtime rates being increased to time and half. The latest deal follows a 9.8 per cent increase for the baggage screeners last year which was backdated to October 2024. The ICTS security agents perform tasks including the x-ray screening of hold baggage, document checks and the upkeep of the baggage system read more

Guinness workers in Belfast secure pay boost as strike threat ends (12 Feb) – Unite members employed by Diageo at the Guinness zero canning plant in Belfast have secured a large pay increase following strike action. The workers will see their pay increase by 15.5 per cent in a three-year deal. The deal will be paid in stages with the increase for the first year backdated to September 2024…The significantly increased pay offer was made by management following an eight-day strike in December which shut down the canning facility. The site is the main canning facility in the world for Diageo’s flagship Guinness Zero product…The vote means a planned, second eight-day strike will not now proceed read more

Unite outrage at NHS pay imposition (12 Feb) – Forcing PRB pay “deal” on staff will further deteriorate trust in Labour government. Unite, one of the UK’s leading trade unions in the healthcare sector, has denounced the latest pay “deal” imposed by government. Today’s announcement of 3.3 per cent comes after months of scoping out what pay talks might look like and publicly stating that the government’s preference was for a multi-year deal. With the RPI rate of inflation standing at 4.2 per cent, the pay increase amounts to substantial real terms pay cut. At a time when unions were calling for a restorative pay award to counteract years of below inflation increases, which has devalued roles and resulted in workers leaving the NHS in their thousands. Instead, in an act of political cowardice and financial betrayal of NHS workers, they have decided to revert to the discredited Pay Review Body (PRB) recommendation. Unite has a long-standing opposition to the PRB process and for the first time ever all but one of the other health unions joined Unite in entirely boycotting the process. Unite, and other major unions, are demanding an immediate return of direct negotiations over pay and conditions read more

NHS Pay: Low pay must end as thousands of workers require emergency increase, Unite (11 Feb) – Unite, the UK’s leading union, which represents tens of thousands of NHS workers, is calling on the government to ensure that all NHS workers are always paid above the minimum wage. The union made its call after it became apparent that due to the current lack of a pay deal for NHS staff for this year, an emergency pay increase has to be applied to the lowest paid in order to ensure that pay remains above the legal minimum read more

Unite: Night Time Economy Summit ignores the voices of hospitality workers (11 Feb) – Unite has criticised the Night Time Economy Summit for failing to include the voices of hospitality workers. The event, which is being held today (11 February) and tomorrow (12 February) in Liverpool by the Night Time Industries Association has brought together key players in the sector, but has failed to include workers in the industry or unions representing them. While there are panel discussions on issues that affect hospitality workers such as the future of the pub trade and night time safety, Unite is concerned that without actually involving staff in the industry themselves there will be little opportunity for meaningful improvements for workers read more

Apprenticeship charter for fair treatment of apprentices launched by Unite (11 Feb) – During Apprenticeship week, Unite is lobbying employers to sign up to minimum standards. Unite, the UK’s leading union, has launched an apprenticeship charter it will be lobbying employers to sign up to. The charter sets out minimum standards employers should abide by read more

Unite: SEND deficit write off a step in the right direction for local authority funding (10 Feb) – Unite has today (10 February) responded to the news that the government will cover special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) deficits – a significant write off for local councils worth £5billion. Rising demand for SEND support has left councils struggling to balance budgets and racking up large deficits. The government will now write off 90 per of these historic deficits up to 2025-26 read more

Imperial College strikes resume over wealthy university’s dodgy pay deal (10 Feb) – Hugely wealthy university used faulty pay calculations to implement real terms wage cuts. Pay strikes by Imperial College London workers will resume, Unite, the UK’s leading union, has announced. Around 1,200 workers, including more than 250 Unite members, have already taken part in 10 days of strikes between October and the end of November over the imposition of a two per cent pay rise. Not only is this a significant real-terms pay cut, with RPI inflation currently standing at 4.2 per cent, but it was calculated by the university using faulty benchmarking data… The workers will walk out again on 12, 16 and 24 February. Industrial action will intensify if the dispute is not resolved read more

Bilfinger offshore workers to strike in pension dispute (9 Feb) – Dozens of offshore installations and operators involved in 48-hour stoppage. Unite has announced that 48-hour strike action involving over 400 offshore members employed by Bilfinger UK Limited will take place in February in an escalating pension scheme dispute. Strike action starting at 00.01 hours on the 19 February will continue up to 20 February when the action concludes at 23.59 hours. A majority of Bilfinger workers previously emphatically backed strike action by 97.6 per cent in a fight to secure a fairer pension deal read more

Yorkshire Airedale NHS microbiology pay strikes escalate (9 Feb) – Strikes by Airedale NHS microbiology workers responsible for carrying out diagnostic tests will escalate, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today. 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 previously took strike action from 18 to 25 December. Fresh strikes will take place from 9 February to 11 February and from 18 February to 20 February, resulting in testing delays for Airedale general hospitals and local GP services. Industrial action will intensify if the dispute is not resolved read more

Health visitors in Wales to strike over unfair pay (6 Feb) – Workers at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board to take industrial action over wrong pay banding costing them thousands. Health visitors working in South Wales are to strike for four weeks 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. Health visitors who do vital community outreach work for new mothers and families, are furious that they are only being paid as band six workers. This is despite internal job grading now matching them as a band seven acknowledging 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. Health visitors will now take strike action from 23 February to 20 March read more

Strikes by East London workers at the Lea Interchange Bus Company halted (5 Feb) – Industrial action by around 350 bus drivers in East London tomorrow (6 February) and Saturday (7 February) has been called off. Workers at the company, part of Stagecoach, were due to walk out in a dispute around the victimisation and bullying of Unite reps. However, this has now been postponed to allow further discussions between Unite and the employer. Further strikes on 20 and 21 February have also been called off 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)

LR Solihull DHL workers ballot for strikes over pay (5 Feb) – Around 300 DHL logistics workers based at JLR Solihull are to be balloted for strike action over pay, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today. The workers, who take parts and cars to and from the factory, are balloting due to DHL’s failure to put forward a pay offer for 2026. The failure means that the annual pay rise for DHL workers, which is supposed to be implemented every January, has not gone ahead…The ballot will open on 18 February and closes 11 March. Industrial action would cause severe disruption to JLR’s Solihull operations read more

ASML: Dutch multinational refuses OECD mediation in recognition dispute (3 Feb) – OECD says Unite complaint warrants examination after company refuses to engage with union. Members to discuss options including industrial action. ASML reported nearly €33 billion in record sales last year. Trade union Unite, which organises workers at ASML in Maynooth, said today (Tuesday) that the Dutch semiconductor giant has refused an offer by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Dutch National Contact Point (NCP) to ‘use its good offices’ to mediate between Unite and the company. Unite has accepted the offer read more

Sports events under threat as snooker and tennis ball cloth workers take further strike action (2 Feb) – Workers at WSP textiles take further strikes. Snooker baize and tennis ball felt supplies at risk. Sporting tournaments like Wimbledon and the Snooker World Championships could be at risk as workers at the Gloucestershire factory which makes the balls and baize fabrics take further strike action. Workers at WSP textiles are striking due to the company refusing to make a fair pay offer. 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…Previous strikes dates have already seen the factories grind to a halt and given the lack of anew offer from WSP, workers have been left with little choice but to escalate industrial action. They began a new set of strikes today 2-7 February and 11-13 read more

Strikes back on at BAE Systems after employer refuses to negotiate in good faith (2 Feb) – Offers withdrawn and pay rates changed at last minute causes talks to fail. Hundreds to strike in Lancashire. Highly skilled aerospace workers across Lancashire are taking renewed strike action against their employer, BAE Systems, after bad faith negotiations over pay and conditions saw offers altered at the last minute or withdrawn entirely. Unite members had called off previous strikes to allow talks to take place as an act of good will but this has been thrown back in their faces by an employer seeking to play games and undermine negotiations. Following the first wave of industrial action from 5 November until 28 January another 550 workers were balloted and returned an overwhelming majority chose to strike to make their anger heard. Escalating strike action will see over 1,000 Unite members at Warton and Samlesbury take part in widespread industrial action and over 200 design team members taking part in strikes that will cripple the factory production. The new wave of strike action will begin on 2 February until at least 20 February read more

Disruption to East London buses as drivers ballot for strikes over fatigue (28 Jan) – There is set to be major disruption to East London bus services as over 300 drivers are being balloted for strike action in a dispute over scheduling and breaks. The workers, members of Unite, work for the East London Bus & Coach Company (part of Stagecoach). They are based at the Bow Bus Garage. Unite members involved in the dispute have raised concerns with the employer about problems with scheduling. Many of the bus journeys can take as long as an hour and a half, with drivers completing these several times during their shifts without adequate breaks, leading to fatigue. Bus drivers are also only having 10 hours of rest time between shifts, less than the European Time Directive mandate of at least 11 hours. Stagecoach is also requiring that bus drivers refuel their vehicles using remote electric charge points, which increases work demands and worsen the problem of fatigue. Meanwhile, it is also refusing to schedule meal relief breaks at the depot, leaving drivers without a suitable area to recover…The strike ballot closes on 11 February read more

Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS staff strike (27 Jan) – Workers walk out over imposed shift changes, loss of pay, bullying and outsourcing. Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust workers will strike in February, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today. The dispute involves both pathology and clinical engineering staff at the trust. Pathology staff will strike over plans to introduce a new shift system without meaningful consultation, which is expected to result in a loss of earnings for staff. Pay protection has been reduced from five years to two, further undermining financial security when working arrangements change. Staff have also suffered financial losses due to failures to reimburse mileage expenses and late-night taxi travel in line with local agreements. Pathology staff are also striking over the failure of the trust to tackle claims of bullying, harassment, and discrimination within the department, even after they were substantiated during an employment tribunal. As a result, these behaviours have been allowed to continue. In clinical engineering, staff strongly oppose the outsourcing of their department and the proposed transfer of roles to Siemens Healthineers. This would erode terms and conditions and would not benefit staff or patients…the workers will take strike action on 4, 5 and 6 February. Industrial action will intensify if the dispute is not resolved read more

Unite raises Village Hotel Glasgow illegal strike breaking with government (23 Jan) – Union highlights job agency adverts during strike action by hospitality workers. Unite has lodged a legal complaint concerning illegal strike-breaking by Village Hotels. The complaint focuses on the unlawful use of agency labour during industrial action by workers. Workers at the Glasgow-based hotel have participated in ongoing strike action since 28 November. Unite members unanimously supported taking industrial action in the dispute over jobs, pay and conditions. Unite has received job advert information which indicates that employment agency – Mint People – provided temporary workers to directly replace striking workers. This is clearly against the law. The union has requested that the department of business and trade urgently investigate and take enforcement action as appropriate. Village Hotels sought to recruit agency workers through the agency to undertake roles including pub and grill staff and night porters. Unite has further written to the managing director of Mint People Agency to put on record its concerns over the unlawful deployment of agency labour during industrial action read more

Leeds Passenger Transport strikes suspended after council puts forward improvement plans (22 Jan) – Strikes by around 80 Unite members at Leeds City Council Passenger Transport this week have been suspended after the employer came back with plans to tackle problems within the service. Workers involved in the dispute were due to walk out today (22 January) and tomorrow (23 January) as well as later this month. They include drivers who take service users such as children with learning difficulties to school as well as passenger assistants and office support staff. They have already taken industrial action after cuts to the service such as a lack of proper equipment and missing risk assessments had led to workers and those who use the service being harmed. However, strikes have been halted after negotiations. Leeds City Council has agreed improvements with Unite, including providing risk assessments and training and hiring an interim head of service to provide additional support. Unite has given Leeds City Council until 2 February to implement these changes. If this does not happen, strike action will restart from 4 February read more

Cambridge Stagecoach workers intensify strike action over pay disparities (21 Jan) – Cambridge one of UK’s most expensive cities but drivers paid £1.78 an hour less than Manchester colleagues. Cambridge Stagecoach workers will stage further strike action later this month and into February, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today. The 200 drivers and engineers are demanding a pay increase that reflects the difficulties and stresses of the job and the high cost of living in Cambridge, one of the most expensive cities in the UK. While Cambridge drivers are paid just £16.22 hour, drivers in Manchester are paid £18 an hour and Liverpool drivers are on £17.43. Stagecoach made operating profits of £97.3 million in the year to April 2024 on sales of £1.6 billion… The workers began strike action in late December. As well as striking on 24 January, fresh strikes have been scheduled for 26, 28 and 30 January and 9, 11 and 13 February. Industrial action will intensify if the dispute is not resolved read more

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

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… Tower crane operators will be taking the first day of strike action on Tuesday 27 January and will then take strike action every fortnight from then on. Exact days will be determined by members at each site based on what will cause the most disruption 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 take further strike action from Monday 26 – Friday 30 Jan (5 days) from 00:01 until 23:59 on Sunday 18 January. 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

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

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

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

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

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]

Please sign this and share it with everyone you know. Hundreds of redundancies planned in DfE – https://action.pcs.org.uk/page/186439/action/1

PCS welcomes High Court decision on unlawful ban of Palestine Action (13 Feb) – The High Court has ruled that the Home Office acted unlawfully in proscribing campaigning organisation Palestine Action under terrorism legislation. The Court’s judgement is a significant and damning rebuke of the government’s approach, making clear that activists from Palestine Action did not meet the “very high bar” required to designate an organisation as terrorist. The judgment vindicates the widespread concern across the trade union movement that the decision to proscribe Palestine Action was politically motivated and represented a dangerous overreach of counter‑terror legislation. Last September at TUC Congress, PCS called on the government to urgently “repeal the authoritarian proscription of Palestine Action under counter-terrorism laws” – a move that won the unanimous backing of the entire trade union movement. Today’s decision reaffirms what the union and many others have long argued, which is counter-terror powers must not be misused to silence protest or dissent. However, the existing ban will remain in place until at least the next hearing on 20 February, when the Court will consider next steps, including the possibility of a government appeal. PCS urges the government to respect the ruling, end the proscription without delay, and commit to upholding civil liberties and the right to protest read more

DWP ballot: Time is running out to have your say (13 Feb) – As we approach the final days of the DWP ballot, which closes on 23 February, our message to any member who hasn’t yet voted is simple: get your ballot paper in the post as soon as possible. Thousands of DWP members have already told us that they’ve voted in the pay ballot. Every single vote sends a strong message to your employer that you are willing to stand with your colleagues for the pay rise you deserve read more

Capita “Overwhelmed” by massive backlog (12 Feb) – Capita leaders have admitted they were “overwhelmed” by the scale of unresolved work they inherited when the company assumed responsibility for administering the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) in December read more

PCS demands halt to RCPS closure as Civil Service Pensions crisis deepens (11 Feb) – The closure of the Research Council Pension Scheme would plunge nearly 5000 people into the midst of the civil service pensions crisis. Earlier this week, PCS wrote to the Research Council Pension Scheme Project board and senior employer representatives demanding an immediate pause to the closure of the RCPS and the transfer of all active members into the civil service Alpha scheme on 1 October 2026. Since Capita took over civil service pension administration in December 2025, thousands of staff and pensioners have faced months‑long delays in receiving quotes and payments, leaving many in serious financial difficulty 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

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

Get the PCS Samba Band to your protests and demonstrations – go to their Facebook page and on X/Twitter @PCS_Samba_Band

Prospect

Prospect secures Welsh Government backing for new Twf Welsh Language Charter to boost the use of Welsh in the workplace (11 Feb) – Prospect trade union has secured Welsh Government backing for Twf, the Welsh Language at Work Charter, to strengthen the use of Welsh in workplaces across Wales. Prospect has led on this initiative, working with our colleagues in FDA and PCS to secure the adoption of the Charter in Welsh Government, ensuring it becomes a shared framework for fair and inclusive bilingual practice read more

AWE members vote overwhelmingly for industrial action over botched restructure (9 Feb) – Prospect members working at the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action, after a litany of errors and failure to consult from senior management during a restructure at the organisation that builds and maintains the UK’s nuclear deterrent read more

London Museum staff to take strike action on 19 February (5 Feb) – Prospect members working for London Museum are to take strike action during half-term on Thursday 19 February in a dispute over pay. The action will cover all workplaces at the museum. Action short of a strike, including an overtime ban and the refusal of voluntary duties will commence on Friday 20 February and will be continuous. This could impact preparations for the new building which is currently scheduled to open in the second half of the year 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

GMB 

Cumbria packaging workers in strike vote (16 Feb) – Workers at a Cumbria packaging firm will vote on strike action after rejecting an ‘insulting’ pay offer. More than 100 workers at Futamura, in Wigton, turned down the company’s 1.2 per cent pay offer by a majority of 94 per cent. GMB is demanding a 3.8 per cent pay increase, in line with inflation, to ensure members do not suffer yet another real-terms pay cut. The union has engaged with conciliatory service ACAS to help bring the company back to the table. Futamura makes cellulose film for packaging read more

NHS pay award timely, but just not enough (13 Feb) – GMB Union has responded to the Government’s announcement on NHS pay. The Health Secretary has confirmed he will accept the NHS Pay Review Body headline recommendations of 3.3 per cent for health workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland read more

Strike at Shard and Everton stadium steel firm (12 Feb) – More than 100 workers are set to strike at the UK’s largest structural steel contractor. Staff at Severfield Plc’s site in Bolton, will walk out after being offered a 0 per cent ‘pay rise’ by bosses. More than 90% of GMB members, working as welders, platers and machine operators, voted in favour of strike action at the company’s Lostock site. The company, which has provided the steel work for iconic projects like the Shard and the new Everton stadium, says it suffered a loss and won’t provide a pay rise. GMB members have been conducting an overtime ban this week, and will start with one full day of strike action on Monday 16 February, followed by two full days of strike action on Monday 23 February and Tuesday 24 February read more

Strike vote at Bridgend insulation firm (12 Feb) – Workers at a Bridgend insulation firm have begun voting on strike action. More than 100 workers at Rockwool Limited will take part in the ballot after bosses cut pay and forced staff to work on bank holidays. The ballot closes on 2 March 2026 read more

Final run for Jo Cox mark’s 10th anniversary (11 Feb) – The final ever Run for Jo Cox will take place this summer and is set to be the biggest evet yet read more

Merton school support staff balloted for strike action (9 Feb) – Staff are losing around a thousand pounds every year and are sick of waiting. GMB members working as school support staff within London Borough of Merton will be balloted for strike action over a long-standing pay discrepancy. TAs and school support staff within LB Merton receive London Weighting at the Outer London rate, while their teacher colleagues in the same schools receive the higher Inner London rate – a difference of £1400 per year on average. Despite members having submitted a petition of more than 500 signatures last year, discussions with the Labour local authority to find a resolution to this problem have now broken down. The ballot will open on 27 February with any action to take place in the run up to the upcoming local elections in May, in which Labour Councillors will be up for re-election read more

Hula-Hoops and Pom Bears workers vote to strike (6 Feb) – Workers making Hula Hoops, McCoy’s, Pom‑Bears and Discos have voted to strike. Dozens of staff at KP Snacks’ site in Billingham, Country Durham, voted to walk out in a dispute over additional duties imposed without extra pay or proper consultation. Bosses have cut process workers in crisps and snacks to a single break per shift. Workers have also raised concerns that operational changes have compromised safety, including leaving heat exchangers running during breaks without proper supervision. GMB Union will now meet with members to discuss strike dates – any industrial action could disrupt the supply of popular snack brands, including Hula Hoops, McCoy’s, Pom‑Bears and Discos read more

Hundreds of Barnsley Hospital workers ready to strike (5 Feb) – Hundreds of workers at Barnsley NHS Trust have said they are ready to strike after bosses threatened them with fire and rehire. More than 600 workers took part in a consultative ballot – with 97 per cent voting in favour to taking strike action, on a turnout of more than 76 per cent. The trust wants to impose new contracts upon thousands of staff, including nurses, technicians and clerical workers, removing their right to a paid twenty-minute shift break. GMB has now lodged a formal dispute with the trust and will meet with reps to discuss next steps – including a full strike ballot – if the trust does not back down read more

Bacton Gas Terminal workers stage pay parity protest at Shell HQ (4 Feb) – Dozens of workers employed by Altrad at the Shell Bacton Gas Terminal protested outside the Shell Centre today in a row over pay. The workers – who have garnered support from local MPs including Jess Asato and Alice Macdonald – have been taking part in rolling strikes since October 2025. They are asking to be paid the same as their colleagues doing equivalent work across the Bacton site 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

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

Unison    

Donate to support striking workers – As UNISON members continue to take strike action, the union is asking for donations to its strike fund   

Supporting Muslim staff during Ramadan (16 Feb) – As Ramadan begins, thoughtful workplace adjustments and open conversations can help Muslim employees balance faith, wellbeing and work read more

Employment Rights Act gives a ‘boost to all unions’ (16 Feb) – The latest tranche of changes, this week, will free unions from years of Tory red tape read more

Pregnant women feel unsafe at work despite legal protection (13 Feb) – Employers must work harder to ensure maternity rights are delivered in full. Pregnant women and new mothers working across public services are regularly exposed to health risks, bullying and violence at work because employers ignore laws or are unaware of staff rights, says UNISON today (Friday) read more

NHS pay award will leave staff angry, says UNISON (12 Feb) – Below-inflation rise means staff are expected to deliver more for less. Commenting on the 3.3% wage rise announced today (Thursday) for most NHS staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland for 2026/27, UNISON head of health Helga Pile said: “Hard-pressed NHS staff will be downright angry at another below-inflation pay award…” read more

Government migrant worker reforms risk another Windrush-style scandal, warns UNISON (11 Feb) – Ministers must pause these proposals immediately and properly investigate the effect of any reforms. The government must pause “reckless” reforms to the status of migrant workers if it’s to avoid another Windrush-style scandal, says UNISON today (Thursday) read more

Andrea Egan speaks at rally against university cuts in Southend: The job cuts in Southend are symptomatic of a “growing financial crisis across universities” (6 Feb) – General secretary Andrea Egan (pictured above) joined the crowds of union members at the University of Essex yesterday at a protest against job cuts and the closure of the university’s Southend campus. UNISON is one of three unions fighting back against the university’s plans to cut 400 jobs and close the Southend campus over the summer. It represents the cleaners, student support workers and other non-academic staff affected by the cuts and is in a formal dispute with the university read more

Special educational needs support staff to strike next week (21 Jan) – School staff supporting pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in Essex have announced a series of strikes over a lack of recognition and pay, UNISON says today. Teaching assistants, pastoral support workers and other support staff at three schools run by the Lift Schools multi-academy trust will walk out next Wednesday (28 January), and seven further days from 5 to 13 February. The specialist staff – at Columbus School & College in Chelmsford, Pioneer in Basildon and Lift Clacton’s The Key – say they should receive an additional allowance for their specialist roles read more

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

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

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

NIPSA Response To Statement By The Health Minister (13 Feb) – NIPSA notes with serious concern the statement by the Health Minister, Mike Nesbitt, regarding the pay recommendations from the NHS Pay Review Body. While the Minister’s statement references a 3.3% uplift and speaks of ambitions and desire, it falls far short of what is required for NIPSA members on low pay across health and social care. For staff struggling at the sharpest end of the cost-of-living crisis, this statement provides no certainty and no reassurance. Crucially, it does not deliver a clear, written commitment to the Real Living Wage from 1 April 2026. Without such a commitment, there is no basis on which NIPSA can withdraw its industrial action process. Warm words and aspirations are not enough for workers who are already at breaking point. Let us be clear, without a firm Real Living Wage commitment, many of our members will, from 1 April, be paid below the Statutory minimum wage of £12.71 unless they once again receive a last-minute legal compliance payment simply to keep their employer within the law. This is a disgrace. Workers who care for and support the most vulnerable people in our society should not have to rely on forced top-ups just to reach the minimum wage. There must be no more compliance top-up payments for health and social care staff in Northern Ireland. Our members deserve a decent wage not just this year, but every year. The Real Living Wage of £13.45 from April first must be the starting point to fixing this long-standing injustice. NIPSA must also be clear: if these stated desires, ambitions and promises are not converted into firm, written commitments including the delivery of the Real Living Wage from 1 April 2026 then our plans for industrial action will proceed with haste. Our members cannot wait any longer. They deserve certainty, dignity, and pay they can live on read more

Royal College of Nursing    

Westminster government announces Agenda for Change pay award in England (13 Feb) – The RCN says the government’s below-inflation 2026/27 NHS pay award is an insult read more

Pay Review Body recommends 3.3% pay award – but NI nursing staff still waiting (13 Feb) – The Pay Review Body (PRB) has recommended a 3.3% pay rise for nursing staff across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Governments in England and Wales have confirmed the award will be paid from April, but nursing staff in Northern Ireland are left with no clarity about when they will receive it read more

The Welsh government announces Agenda for Change pay award in Wales (12 Feb) – The RCN in Wales says the government’s below inflation 2026/27 NHS pay award is an insult read more

Government funding to improve nursing career progression in England (11 Feb) – After sustained RCN pressure, nursing staff will benefit from a package to tackle barriers to progression 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 says real-terms pay cut an “insult” to midwives working 100,000 unpaid hours weekly (12 Feb) – The Royal College of Midwives has responded to the Government’s announcement of a 3.3 % pay award for NHS midwives and maternity support workers read more

CSP

NHS pay award ‘makes absolutely no ground on restoration’ (12 Feb) – A pay award of 3.3 per cent per cent for NHS workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland is unacceptable, the CSP says read more

CSP welcomes starting salary increase, but questions funding (11 Feb) – The Department of Health and Social Care announced today that pay for all band 5 Agenda for Change NHS staff would rise ahead of negotiations over other changes to the contract read more

SOR

Government accepts ‘critical’ recommendations in NHS pay award from the SoR (13 Feb) – The Society of Radiographers was the only Agenda for Change union to submit evidence to the Pay Review Body last year. The government has announced a pay rise for Agenda for Change staff of 3.3 per cent. Whilst SoR welcomes the announcement of an earlier award, there is still concern that this award will do nothing to deal with pay restoration read more

BMA

Resident doctors accept pay deal (11 Feb) – 10 per cent pay hike in Scotland a ‘welcome substantial investment [which] continues progress towards reversing the pay erosion’. Resident doctors in Scotland have accepted a pay deal which will give them on average a pay hike of almost 10 per cent for the current financial year and 9.4 per cent for 2026/27. BMA Scotland said the results of a consultative online vote were overwhelmingly in favour of the offer, with 97.1 per cent backing it, on a turnout of 62.4 per cent. The Scottish Government made the offer a week before planned strike action by resident doctors last month, which was called off. BMA Scotland had recommended acceptance of the deal, which is worth £149m over two years read more

Resident doctors in England vote for six months more industrial action (2 Feb) – Resident doctors in England have overwhelmingly voted in favour of a mandate for industrial action for a further six months. This is in support of their ongoing campaign for more training posts and restoring the pay they have lost in real terms over the past 16 years. With 93% (or 26,696) of resident doctors voting yes on a turnout of 53% the resident doctors committee (RDC) is urging the Government to act immediately to prevent further strikes taking place in the coming months read more

NEU  

NEU welcomes government decision to write off local authorities’ SEND-related debts (10 Feb) – Commenting on the government’s commitment to write off 90 per cent of councils’ SEND deficits, Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “The NEU welcomes the government’s decision to write off the vast majority of local authorities’ accumulated SEND-related debts. This was a welcome recognition of the reality of the underlying situation. These debts were not going to be repaid and their existence threatened the stability of local government finances. Writing off the debts does not however address the underlying issue. There is a massive and growing gap between what is supposed to be spent on High Needs Budgets and what is actually being spent. The OBR estimates the gap will be over £6billion by 2028-29. Central government is taking this spending onto its books in 2028-29. It cannot land on the Department for Education’s Core Schools Budget without massive cuts being made to mainstream funding…” read more

NASUWT  

Estates strategy leaves pupils and staff in aging, asbestos-ridden buildings (13 Feb) – NASUWT – The Teachers’ Union has criticised the Government’s newly published 10‑year Education Estates Strategy, warning the plan leaves pupils and school staff at continued risk from crumbling buildings riddled with asbestos. The Department for Education has announced that just 250 additional schools will be rebuilt or refurbished by 2034–35. This follows the previous Conservative Government’s 2021 commitment to rebuild 518 schools over a decade – a programme the NASUWT criticised as nowhere near sufficient to meet the scale of need. With more than 22,500 schools in England, the announcement means that barely 1% of the school estate will be rebuilt under the Government’s plan read more

Tewkesbury teachers strike over failure to address abusive pupil behaviour (3 Feb) – Members of NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union at Tewkesbury Academy in Gloucestershire will be taking the first of five planned days of strike action tomorrow (Wednesday) over the failure of school management to address abusive and disruptive behaviour from a minority of students. The employer has failed to address the concerns of NASUWT teachers over unacceptable behaviour from a small minority of pupils which is affecting not only their ability to teach, but threatening the health and safety of both staff and pupils. Staff are being subjected to threats of violence, derogatory language and verbal abuse from these students, who also frequently truant and disrupt lessons that they are not part of 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

EIS  

Fighting Against Fife education cuts – Glenrothes Public Meeting this Wednesday (16 Feb) – Local and National officials of the EIS will address a campaign meeting in Glenrothes this Wednesday (18th February), as Fife parents and school staff continue to stand united against a planned programme of education cuts across the Fife local authority area. EIS national representatives and Fife local association officials will join with school staff, parents and other supporters of quality education at the Stop School Cuts public meeting at 7pm on Wednesday 18th February at Rothes Halls in Glenrothes to discuss the ongoing campaign to protect quality education in Fife’s schools read more

Teachers Send Valentine’s Day Reminder to Scottish Government and COSLA over Workload (13 Feb) – Scotland’s teachers have sent Valentine’s Day reminders to both the Scottish Government and COSLA, urging them to stay true to commitments that were made five years ago to reduce excessive teacher workload. A delegation from the EIS delivered Valentine’s cards and poems to both the Scottish Government and COSLA to remind them of the commitments that were made to tackle teacher workload, employ 3,500 additional teachers, and reduce teachers’ maximum class contact time to 21 hours per week. The EIS is currently running a statutory industrial action ballot of its members over the non-delivery of these commitments, and is urging its members to return their postal ballot papers before the deadline of the 4th of March read more

EIS ULA Members at Edinburgh Napier University Set to Strike Today against Job Cuts (10 Feb) – Members of the Educational Institute of Scotland University Lecturers’ Association (EIS ULA) at Edinburgh Napier University (ENU) will take strike action today, Tuesday, 10th February 2026. The industrial action is a direct response to the continued threat of compulsory redundancies at Edinburgh Napier University. The decision by EIS ULA members to take strike action is a last resort as they have been left with no alternative since the university has failed to resolve the redundancies dispute. At ENU, a recent ballot saw 92% of voting members back industrial action. This clear show of solidarity sends an unequivocal message to senior management that staff will not stand by while jobs are cut, and the academic provision of the university is eroded. The EIS fully supports its members in this difficult but necessary action to protect their jobs and the integrity of the higher education sector read more

EIS Opens New Statutory Industrial Action Ballot over Teacher Workload (2 Feb) – The EIS has opened a new statutory industrial action ballot over teacher workload. The ballot, which runs until the 4th of March, is asking teachers to vote for or against Strike action and/or Action Short of Strike (ASOS) over excessive teacher workload. As a result of current UK trade union law, the ballot is by post only. All eligible EIS members will receive a yellow voting pack by post over the next few days, and are being urged by the union to take part in the democratic process, cast their vote and return their ballot papers as soon as possible read more

EIS Members at Craigclowan School Continue with Programme of Strike Action to Protect Their Pensions (21 Jan) – EIS members at Craigclowan School near Perth will continue with their fifth day of strike action as a dispute over cuts to the staff pension scheme continues. Members are striking in order to protect their pension from being moved out of the Scottish Teachers’ Pension Scheme (STPS) and into an inferior scheme as part of a cost cutting measure 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

UCU    

UCU Stop the Cuts campaign

Sign petition against the education cuts 

Possible strikes at Aberdeen University as staff back industrial action (16 Feb) – Staff at the University of Aberdeen today (Monday 16 February 2026) voted to back industrial action in a dispute about cuts and the possible use of compulsory redundancies. The ballot of University and College Union (UCU) Scotland members at the university, saw 83% of those voting back strike action on a turnout of 60%. 90% also said they would take part in action short of strike. This can include working to contract, not covering for absent colleagues, or not undertaking voluntary activities. UCU members at Aberdeen will now decide the next steps in the dispute read more

Heriot-Watt University staff back industrial action (16 Feb) – Workers at Heriot-Watt University have today (Monday 16 February 2026) backed industrial action in a dispute about job cuts and the failure of management to rule out compulsory redundancies. In the ballot of University and College Union (UCU) Scotland members at the university, 74% of those voting backed strike action on a turnout of 70%. 87% also said they would be willing to take part in action short of strike which can include working to contract, not covering for absent colleagues, or undertaking voluntary activities. Following the results of the ballot, UCU members at the university will decide their next steps read more

Staff at New City College vote to strike over trade union victimisation (16 Feb) – Staff at Arbour Square and Tower Hamlets campuses of New City College in east London have overwhelmingly backed strike action in a dispute over the unfair dismissal of a long serving member of staff. An overwhelming 92% of those who voted backed strike action in a ballot with a turnout of 70%. The strike vote comes after Wojtek Dmochowski, a long-standing teacher and UCU branch rep, was unfairly dismissed just before Christmas (2025) after working at the college for over two decades. UCU is calling on the college to reinstate Wojtek and agree clear protocols for dealing with complaints or issues involving union representatives. A website and petition have been launched calling on the college to think again and reinstate Wojtek read more

UCU statement: High Court rules government’s proscription of Palestine Action unlawful (13 Feb) – The High Court has made it clear: the government’s proscription of Palestine Action was not just wrong, it was unlawful. Today’s ruling is a serious rebuke to Labour and a vindication for everyone who warned that using counter-terrorism powers to suppress protest would undermine fundamental democratic rights read more

Truro & Penwith College staff to strike over low pay & high workloads (11 Feb) – Staff at Truro and Penwith College will strike on Monday 23 February in an escalating dispute over low pay and poor working conditions. The union has already called three days of strike action since the start of the year (Wednesday 14 to Friday 16 January) after the college imposed a pay award of just 2%, only half that recommended by employer body the Association of Colleges. The college seems reluctant to engage in committing to agree to implement meaningful blocks of protected time to allow academic staff to properly plan, prepare and assess the work of their students. There was also a mass redundancy programme last year which has seen workloads rocket at a college that already has one of the highest weekly teaching allocations in the region read more

Strikes likely at Strathclyde University as staff vote for industrial action (9 Feb) – Staff at Strathclyde University have backed industrial action in a dispute about job cuts and the failure of management to rule out compulsory redundancies. In the ballot of UCU Scotland members at the university, 80% of those voting backed strike action on a turnout of 58%. 87% also said they would be willing to take part in action short of strike which can include working to contract, not covering for absent colleagues, or undertaking voluntary activities. Action short of strike could also include a marking an assessment boycott. Following the ballot for industrial action, UCU members at the university will now decide the next steps read more

Seven days of strikes over Essex Uni job cuts begin Thursday (9 Feb) – Staff at the University of Essex will begin seven days of strike action on Thursday 12 February in a fight over plans to axe 400 jobs and the resulting threat to student provision, UCU announced today. Staff at the university will down tools from Thursday 12 February until Thursday 19 February and will picket both Southend and Colchester campuses on every day of the strike. As well as cutting jobs, the university is planning to close its Southend Campus. There will be a rally at 12pm on Thursday 12 February on Colchester campus, where supporters will hear from TUC general secretary Paul Nowak. Last week staff and student held a rally at the Southend Campus, joined by UCU and Unison general secretaries Jo Grady and Andrea Egan. Staff will also begin action short of a strike on Thursday 12 February. This will consist of working strictly to contract, boycotting exam boards and open days and not covering for absent colleagues. The action comes after an overwhelming 85% of participating staff backed strikes, on a turnout of 60% read more

10 strike days begin this week at Northumbria University over pension ‘robbery’ (9 Feb) – Northumbria University will be hit with ten days of strike action from Thursday 12 February in a fight to save staff pensions, UCU announced today. Staff will down tools on:-

Week One: Thursday 12 and Friday 13 February
Week Two: Tuesday 17, Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 February
Week Three: Monday 2, Tuesday 3, Wednesday 4, Thursday 5 and Friday 6 March

Staff will be on picket lines each strike day will be across university campuses from 9am and will hold a rally each day at 11am outside the Sutherland Building. The action comes after 80% of UCU members who voted backed striking, on a turnout of 60%. The dispute is over management’s decision to force staff out of the post-92 university standard pension, the Teacher’s Pension Scheme, by freezing the pay of any staff member who tries to stay in it read more read more

Durham University staff vote to strike over “untenable” working conditions (9 Feb) – Staff at Durham University have backed strike action in a fight to protect working conditions and job security, announced UCU today. 63% of UCU members who participated in the ballot voted for strike action on a turnout of 54%. The vote comes after the university slashed hundreds of jobs to make £20m of budget cuts, refused to put in place any workload agreements for staff who remain, ran roughshod over the collective agreements that exist to resolve disputes, and rebuffed all attempts to negotiate over working conditions and job security. UCU is demanding management starts following the disputes resolution procedure that it has previously signed off and agreed to abide by, begin meaningful negotiations, and improve working conditions and job security read more

Southampton Solent strike begins next week in fight over fire & rehire pension attack (3 Feb) – Staff at Southampton Solent University will take two days of strike action beginning next week after management forced staff out of their preferred pension scheme, and threatened to sack all those who refused to exit it. Staff will down tools on Monday 9 February and Tuesday 17 February, with pickets planned at the Spark Building and Michael Andrews Building (both at East Park Terrace, Southampton, SO14 0YN) between 8am and 1pm on both days. An overwhelming 93% of those who voted in the ballot backed strike action on a turnout of 72%. In December (2025) 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 pay less into staff pensions, leaving them poorer. University management told the 286 staff to email HR by “close of business” if they “object to the transfer” and that their employment would then cease immediately. The university has now stated its intention is to also move academic staff out of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme by the end of this academic year read more

Union condemns London Met job cut plans and calls on supporters to attend rallies (27 Jan) – UCU has today condemned plans by London Metropolitan University (London Met) to slash the jobs of 120 academic staff.Although London Met made a loss last year, the union said there was still cash and current investments of over £60 million. For this year, they have committed £27 million for capital expenditure, which still leaves a healthy cash balance. Last year alone, 19 senior staff received between £105,000 and £295,000 with the vice-chancellor earning £341,000. The university is planning to cut jobs in the schools of Art, Architecture & Design, Business & Law, Built Environment, Computing & Digital Media, Health Sciences, and Social Science & Professions. Formal notice of redundancies for those to be sacked will be given in March 2026. Some schools have disproportionately targeted professors, readers, and associate teaching professors, with adverse consequences for research and teaching. London Met exists for people from non-traditional academic backgrounds, including women, people of colour and others with protected characteristics. It has a proud history of educating working class students, many from the local community and many who are the first in their family to go to university. But all this is at risk if these ill-considered plans go ahead. UCU says the cuts will result in fewer teaching staff, less academic support, less feedback and advice for students and fewer courses read more

Union condemns continued docking of staff pay following strike action at University of Sheffield (22 Jan) – UCU today condemned the lockout and withholding of staff pay at the University of Sheffield following lawful industrial action. Staff at the university took 16 days of strike action in November and December in a fight against job cuts in professional service staff and further plans to cut jobs in academic areas. The university has this week informed staff that if they do not reschedule any teaching lost during the strike (for which staff were not paid) wages would be withheld between 19 January and 6 February and any work undertaken regarded as voluntary. Over 900 students have this week signed an open letter to Sheffield’s vice-chancellor, Koen Lamberts, saying they have lost confidence in him and calling on him to resign read more

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

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

UCU fighting fund: the link is here and donations to the fund are spent on supporting members involved in important disputes.    

FBU  

Hundreds sign petition against cuts to Buckinghamshire fire and rescue service (23 Jan) – A petition protesting plans to cut the fire and rescue service in Buckinghamshire has gained over 500 signatures. Launched by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), the petition calls for Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority to stop plans to remove 7 fire engines and close 2 fire stations in the county. The FBU says that these proposals will lead to slower response times with fewer crews available and longer distances to travel to emergencies, reduced fire cover, and increased danger for residents and firefighters. The petition also calls for the fire authority to scrap plans to expand the chief fire officer’s operational independence, stating that this will reduce democratic oversight, transparency, and accountability at the top of the fire and rescue service 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 February 2026 read more

General Secretary update read more

National Chair update January 2026 read here 

NHS Pay Award (12 Feb) – The Government has accepted the recommendation of the Agenda for Change Pay Review Body in respect of pay as part of a package. The Pay Award will be 3.3% and the same has been accepted by Wales and Northern Ireland. The POA in conjunction with other trade unions will be entering into negotiations next week about the package read more

Pension Hardship – Temporary loans arrangements – England and Wales (12 Feb) – n response to representations from the POA and other Civil Service unions about this scandal the Government is implementing a temporary loan scheme to alleviate the hardship being felt by members of the pension scheme who have had payments delayed. A scheme has been established to support individuals experiencing financial hardship due to delays to their pension payments, as a result of the handover of Civil Service Pension administration from MYCSP to Capita. Former Employers such as HMPPS are now able to offer transitional help by way of a loan. The loan is to address the financial hardship individuals may experience and bridge the gap until pension is paid read more

NAPO

Facts Aren’t Myths (13 Feb) – This Wednesday saw the publication of an article on the HMPPS Intranet titled “Probation pay: myth busters”. This is our response:-

Fact no. 1: The Competency Based Framework (CBF) is separate from the pay offer. HMPPS seem to be confusing, either accidentally or on purpose, the fact that because the two “very separate” processes of incremental progression and a pay award are paid from the same pot of money they can spend on wages that they are the same thing. They’re simply not and Napo members and the wider workforce can see that they’re not. Incremental progression through the Competency Based Framework (CBF) is separate from the current pay offer, as it was to previous pay offers/awards. And it’s not just the trade unions saying that, HMPPS have said that too read more

Probation pay offer – it’s time for you to have your say! (3 Feb) – Napo’s Email Indicative Ballot opens tomorrow. In our previous mail outs, we have set out the reasons why we are asking you to vote to reject the 2025-2026 Probation Pay Offer. If you missed these they can be accessed at our dedicated page for the pay campaign – do keep returning here regularly as further information will be uploaded – https://www.napo.org.uk/respect-probation-pay-probation read more

Stand with Napo and please vote against this insulting offer (30 Jan) – This pay offer represents what HMPPS tell us were the results of discussions between HMPPS and other parts of Government (the Treasury and Cabinet Office), including the submission of a business case by the former to increase the total amount it would be allowed to spend on its wage bill. The trade unions were not involved in this process at all, which took place outside of the pay negotiations. While significant unanswered questions remain for all involved it is clear that this has produced a completely unsatisfactory outcome. Our members are faced with a pay offer that falls below the recorded inflation figure for all but one month of 2025. If Napo members resoundingly reject this pay offer the onus will be on the Government and employer to urgently return to meaningful negotiations and increase their offer to staff. It is welcome news that our sister union UNISON are also recommending rejection of this offer and are planning to consult their members on a similar timetable to our ballot 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

Why it pays to be a Nautilus member in the yacht industry (11 Feb) – Nautilus International recovered more than £1 million in unpaid wages for yacht crew during 2025, continuing the Union’s longstanding work to support members who face mistreatment in the superyacht sector read more

BALPA
National Apprenticeship Week: Aspiring pilots need a pathway, not a paywall (13 Feb) – As the UK marks National Apprenticeship Week this week, it’s hard to ignore the fact that one of our most vital professions still sits stubbornly outside the world of accessible, affordable training read more

NUJ  

Northamptonshire branch relaunched with strong stance on journalists’ safety (16 Feb) – The Northamptonshire branch is officially back up and running, marking its relaunch with a commitment to the safety of journalists across the county read more

NUJ ‘deeply concerned’ by further cost-cutting at BBC (12 Feb) – The NUJ has responded to the announcement of significant additional cuts to the BBC’s operating costs over the coming years and the impact this could have read more

NUJ celebrates recognition at The Lancet and Cell Press (12 Feb) – NUJ members at The Lancet and Cell Press have secured recognition with the publisher Elsevier following a tenacious, determined campaign. The collective bargaining agreement comes after Elsevier’s parent company RELX derecognised the NUJ at LexisNexis and LexisNexis Risk Solutions in October 2024. Inspired by a pay dispute at Springer Nature in 2024, NUJ members at Elsevier built two thriving chapels (Cell Press and The Lancet) within a year, with both chapels subsequently achieving statutory recognition through the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) read more

NUJ gives evidence to Joint Oireachtas Committee on AI and copyright (12 Feb) – Séamus Dooley, NUJ Irish secretary, called for a tech tax and stronger legislation to protect journalism and democracy while giving evidence to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on AI and copyright read more

NUJ responds to order for deletion of large court reporting archive (11 Feb) – The NUJ has responded to the government’s order for the deletion of a large database of criminal court records, which many journalists use to track cases. Courtsdesk, an online service established in 2021 to help improve coverage of the courts by the news media, will have to wipe its records following concerns around a significant data protection breach read more

NUJ urges government to provide urgent funding security for BBC World Service (10 Feb) – The NUJ has urged the UK government to act swiftly to safeguard the future of the BBC World Service after the corporation warned that the service is on a financial cliff edge. The BBC’s outgoing director general, Tim Davie, said the World Service will run out of funding in just seven weeks and that no future deal with the government is currently in place. Most of the World Service’s £400m annual budget comes from the licence fee, with around a third coming from government funding 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

Equity

Firearms Legislation Update: Surrender of Prohibited Blank Fires (11 Feb) – Following recent changes to firearms legislation, Equity is alerting members to several blank-firing models that are now prohibited and under amnesty throughout February read more

Musicians Union

Musical Instrument Certificates to Remain Free of Charge (10 Feb) – Following results from a recent consultation by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Musical Instrument Certificates will remain free of charge for musicians travelling with instruments containing endangered materials 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

Eddie Stobart dispute – Usdaw launches a strike ballot at the Morrisons Bridgwater distribution centre over the 2025 pay review (16 Feb) – Retail distribution trade union Usdaw has issued Eddie Stobart Limited with notice of a strike ballot of around 100 drivers and transport clerical staff who operate a Morrisons contract at the Bridgwater distribution centre in Somerset. The ballot opened on 16 February and will close at noon on 2 March 2026 read more

Tetrosyl recognition dispute (6 Feb) – Usdaw applies for a statutory agreement after the Rochdale based company fails to enter into talks. Usdaw is the trade union for staff working at car care products manufacturer Tetrosyl and Tetrosyl Express based in Rochdale. The union has been seeking talks with the company about a recognition agreement since late last year. Management has failed to engage, which has forced Usdaw to use the statutory process by applying to the Central Arbitration Committee read more

UVW  

After historic hotel strike win, Radisson Blu housekeepers take trade union recognition fight to CAC tribunal (16 Feb) – “Union recognition means that when they try to do things like they did before, when they cut our hours or increased our workload, we have a way to fight back against it earlier and make them sit down with us” – Housekeeper at Euston Square Radisson Blu hotel. Housekeepers outsourced to WGC Ltd at two Radisson Blu hotels — Canary Wharf and Euston Square — have submitted applications for statutory recognition at the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) read more

Domestic Violence Advisors Take Solace Charity to CAC Tribunal in Union Recognition Fight (12 Feb) – “While we advocate every day for survivors of abuse, we feel our own voices continue to be disregarded”. Domestic Violence Advisors at Solace Women’s Aid in Tower Hamlets have formally applied to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC) for statutory recognition of their union, United Voices of the World (UVW), after months of delays and unfulfilled commitments by management. Twice in 2025 — in January and July — Tower Hamlets staff, members of UVW, issued statutory notices of industrial action following successful ballots. The indefinite strike planned for February 2025, the first by any domestic abuse charity, was called off after an intense public campaign compelled the borough to intervene and halt draconian redundancies that threatened the service read more

Moving the Goal Posts: Children shouldn’t wait a decade for settled status in the UK (10 Feb) – UVW statement on proposed “earned settlement” plans and delays to settled status for children. The United Voices of the World (UVW) union has raised serious concerns about government proposals to introduce so-called “earned settlement” routes, warning the plans risk trapping hundreds of thousands of children and working families in prolonged insecurity. UVW is deeply alarmed by reports, highlighted in a new Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) report, that up to 300,000 children — nearly a quarter of the 1.35 million people already on routes to settlement — could be forced to wait up to 10 years to secure settled status. For workers in below-graduate level jobs, including care workers, the wait could be extended to as long as 15 years read more

Draughts Games bar Kitchen Worker Dismissed After Strike Ballot Notice Takes Case to Tribunal (10 Feb) – “I had so many plans for my life when I was working at Draughts, and my dismissal has been devastating” – Awed, dismissed kitchen workers and UVW member. A migrant kitchen worker at the trendy London board-game bar Draughts will face his employer at an employment tribunal this week after being summarily dismissed shortly after a union strike ballot was announced. Last summer, workers at Draughts organised with United Voices of the World union (UVW) over insecure work and worsening conditions. When UVW formally notified the company of a strike ballot, one worker — employed at the Stratford branch on a zero-hour contract — was dismissed the very next day read more

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 2025, 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 Private Hire Drivers Statement on TfL’s ‘Goodwill’ Payment for License Delays (26 Jan) – If Transport for London believes its announcement of a £500 “Goodwill” payment will be met with anything other than contempt by the drivers whose lives were torn apart by TfL’s prolonged incompetence, it is profoundly mistaken 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

SIPTU (Ireland)  

SIPTU FAI members say safety concerns should rule out Israel fixtures (13 Feb) – SIPTU members employed by the FAI have raised serious safety concerns regarding any proposed Nations League match between Ireland and Israel, calling on the organisation to show consistency in its approach by withdrawing from the fixtures read more

SIPTU Donegal HSE Health Care Assistants’ industrial action postponed pending talks (12 Feb) – A 24-hour strike involving Health Care Assistants (HCAs) in Home Support in Donegal, set for tomorrow (Friday, 13th February), has been suspended after progress was made between HSE and SIPTU representatives regarding key dispute issues read more

SIPTU and Sofina Foods confirm union recognition at Carroll’s Cuisine (5 Feb) – SIPTU and Sofina Foods have jointly confirmed the formal recognition of SIPTU as the representative trade union for employees at the Carroll’s Cuisine site in Tullamore, County Offaly. SIPTU Manufacturing Divisional Organiser, Neil McGowan, said the agreement represents a major step forward for workers and for industrial relations at the site read more

HSE Home Support HCAs announce regional strike action dates (22 Jan) – SIPTU members working as Health Care Assistants (HCAs) in the HSE Home Support Service across counties Donegal, Clare, Limerick, Cork and Kerry will engage in strike action during February, on a regional basis, in a dispute arising from their employer’s failure to honour national agreements on terms and conditions. HCAs in the HSE Home Support Service will implement 24-hour work stoppages in County Donegal on 13th and 20th February; in counties Cork and Kerry on 19th and 26th February; and in counties Limerick and Clare on 17th and 24th February read more

SIPTU Caredoc members defer industrial action to consider pay proposals (24 Dec) read more

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

www.worbella.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

STAMMA website    

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.

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.

Workers Against the Far Right SUTR & TUC Organising Conference – Saturday, Feb 21 from 11 am to 4:30 pm Birkbeck University, central London read more
National demonstration ‘in unity and against the far-right’ called by Together Alliance – Saturday 28^th 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    

USA: NSSN stands with workers, their unions and communities against ICE

We send our solidarity to the family of nurse Alex Jeffrey Pretti who was killed in Minneapolis on 24^th January. His union American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) has issued this statement.

We also send our support and solidarity to all those who took part in the mass strike and shutdown in Minneapolis last Friday and have protested there and across the USA.

NSSN Chair Rob Williams sent this message of support

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 27^th June 11am-4.30pm
NSSN lobby of TUC Congress will be from 1pm on Sunday 13th September in Brighton