hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
Worth mentioning that there's now a mandate for action at Liverpool as well. Wonder what proportion of... everything really, but particularly food, goes through those two?
Strike!
- Thread starter smokedout
- Start date
moochedit
I'm not feeding seagulls
BBC News - Criminal barristers in England and Wales vote to go on all-out strike
Criminal barristers in England and Wales vote to go on all-out strike
An indefinite, uninterrupted strike over pay will begin in England and Wales next month.
www.bbc.co.uk
ska invita
back on the other side
I wonder if the "indefinite" barristers strike counts as one strike event?
hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
Comedy benefit for striking bin workers in Edinburgh on Wednesday:
Also, four UNISON HE branches now have mandates:
Not a huge amount but apparently they only balloted in seven places.
On the UCU side of things, they've now done their campaign launch:
www.ucu.org.uk
But checking their FAQs to see what's actually happening, they just say:
"What is the balloting timetable?
The union will be in a position to finalise the ballot timetable very soon."
So no clearer as to when they'll actually be balloting then.
Also, four UNISON HE branches now have mandates:
Not a huge amount but apparently they only balloted in seven places.
On the UCU side of things, they've now done their campaign launch:
UCU rising
UCU members in higher education are rising up and saying enough is enough.
"What is the balloting timetable?
The union will be in a position to finalise the ballot timetable very soon."
So no clearer as to when they'll actually be balloting then.
Brainaddict
slight system overdrive
Feeling a bit pessimistic today. With an 80 seat Tory majority and a new right wing leader eager to prove themselves the new Thatcher, I feel like this strike wave wave is likely to end with more anti-strike legislation on the books that will be difficult to shift. And probably very few concessions to workers.
LDC
On est tous des pangolins
I think that is coming, but I think the answer is the unions go for broke and disobey it now. The only other option is to basically completely give up on the unions to take any effective industrial action and just become vehicles for individual/small scale casework and member benefits.
teqniq
DisMembered
This is really going to fuck things up for victims and defendants alike:
www.theguardian.com
also saw this the other day:
Criminal barristers in England and Wales vote to go on indefinite strike
Industrial action will begin on 5 September with barristers asking for a 25% pay rise for legal aid work
also saw this the other day:
hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
Printable window/door poster from CWU (if you don't mind using up a lot of pink ink):
MickiQ
In My Defence I was left Unsupervised
Not interested, I'm waiting for them to start advertising temp train drivers. Quite fancy being a scab train driver. I mean how hard can it be? the damn things run on tracks it's not like you can miss a turning or anything.
Serge Forward
Just enjoyin' my coffee.
Ballots out 7th September.
hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
Oh yeah, they've just announced that today:
Date set for strike ballots at UK universities over pay, conditions & pensions
Strike ballots will open at UK universities on Tuesday 6 September. UCU will run two ballots: one over pay and working conditions and the second over pension cuts.
How are people feeling about it? The aggregate vote thing sounds like quite a gamble, earlier this year I was very very pessimistic about the chances of them getting over the line nationally but I suppose everything that's going on at the moment should help to drive turnout up a bit. And the Unison results for non-Scottish unis will be out by then, so hopefully you'll get a boost from the huge numbers of Unison branches that have active mandates. Maybe.
Smokeandsteam
Working Class First
More on the docks strike. The importance of cost of living disputes spreading to the private sector - and the distribution sector in particular- cannot be overstated. A win here inspires others and the ball is already starting to roll as the article suggests:
novaramedia.com
Port Workers in Felixstowe Are Striking at the Heart of the UK’s Supply Chains | Novara Media
“Just-in-time” logistics have increased bosses’ profits, but also given small numbers of workers a great deal of power. Polly Smythe reports from Felixstowe.
novaramedia.com
hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
Sounds like trouble brewing at the construction site of the new Everton stadium:
www.liverpoolecho.co.uk
Also, big new article on the Amazon strikes:
notesfrombelow.org
Demonstration held outside site of new Everton stadium
Union members attended the Bramley-Moore dock site on Friday morning
Also, big new article on the Amazon strikes:
Mapping the Amazon Strikes
by Callum Cant // New data on the wildcat action at Amazon
notesfrombelow.org
Is there a rise in union membership? My lad recently joined a Union - and has put in a request for a local union rep to come and talk to his workmates (mostly retail/warehousing but a couple of fabricators). This interest would have been hard to imagine, a few years ago.
hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
I've not seen any statistics about it, but anecdotally yes - it's hard to say how much is general national stuff and how much is specific local factors, but my branch was running at an average of one new person joining per day for quite a while over July/August, which is a lot better than usual.
Fwiw, here's what google trends shows for people searching "join a union" in the UK.
Lord Camomile
Yipchaa!
We've had a huge increase in membership over the past 5 years or so, mostly due to local stuff as hitmouse suggests, but we've certainly seen a further uptick over the course of the two ballots, as well.
There's obviously a bit of a concern about just what the expectations are of these new members, who may not have much grounding in union tradition/theory, for the branch and for their own participation, but feels like that means part of our job then becomes to help fill in any gaps and encourage them to become active members.
There's obviously a bit of a concern about just what the expectations are of these new members, who may not have much grounding in union tradition/theory, for the branch and for their own participation, but feels like that means part of our job then becomes to help fill in any gaps and encourage them to become active members.
Miss-Shelf
I'll meet you further on up the road
I'm in a facebook group of childcare workers which is for people to work out qualifications and such like
Childcare is a hard sector to organise because it's really fragmented in who owns settings and who delivers the care, it's also a care orientated workforce which can make people strike cautious and it's not clear who to strike against as many mangers/nursery owners make little or no profit or draw down big wages themselves and there is little budget to offer bigger wages without massively increasing the already exorbitant fees to families
The real issue is the lack of real subsidy from the government
But in the last two weeks there's been lots of discussion about joining unions, striking, lots of admiration for RMT and CWU action and talk about how to put pressure on the government
I'm not suggesting that the workforce is going to mount an effective strike action in the next month but for a traditionally apolitical workforce, this political analysis is remarkable
Childcare is a hard sector to organise because it's really fragmented in who owns settings and who delivers the care, it's also a care orientated workforce which can make people strike cautious and it's not clear who to strike against as many mangers/nursery owners make little or no profit or draw down big wages themselves and there is little budget to offer bigger wages without massively increasing the already exorbitant fees to families
The real issue is the lack of real subsidy from the government
But in the last two weeks there's been lots of discussion about joining unions, striking, lots of admiration for RMT and CWU action and talk about how to put pressure on the government
I'm not suggesting that the workforce is going to mount an effective strike action in the next month but for a traditionally apolitical workforce, this political analysis is remarkable
hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
Obligatory plug reply:
IWGB have done some impressive stuff organising with foster carers, and have acheived some real wins:
Latest News - Foster Care Workers Union
fosteriwgb.co.uk
Early years and nurseries | Who we represent | UNISON National
COVID-19 advice UNISON has produced a range of guidance for staff in schools and early years. Go to the advice page UNISON is the largest union in early
www.unison.org.uk
JimW
支那暗杀团
Drivers striking over rota changes at one of the bigger local factories back home: Muller drivers set to strike over rota changes | Stroud Times Broken agreements from the company, Muller of yoghurt fame.
I read that as mullet drivers and was wondering whether they should be supported or marched to the nearest barbers. Or both.
Miss-Shelf
I'll meet you further on up the road
Thank you that's good to knowObligatory plug reply:
IWGB have done some impressive stuff organising with foster carers, and have acheived some real wins:
Unison might also be worth looking into for people in the sector:Latest News - Foster Care Workers Union
Early years and nurseries | Who we represent | UNISON National
COVID-19 advice UNISON has produced a range of guidance for staff in schools and early years. Go to the advice page UNISON is the largest union in early
UVW union has also started a childcare workers branch: I went to some of their open meetings last about covid safety
UVW have the model of taking on a strike to be a test case in one setting in a particular sector
Are IWGB similar?
Action against a for profit childcare outfit might be a good place to start this pressure
I should have already posted these. A couple of pretty decent ACG articles on the strike wave :
www.anarchistcommunism.org
www.anarchistcommunism.org
Wildcat strikes: A very basic introduction. - Anarchist Communist Group
Photo: Wildcat Strikes in Bangladesh 2019 A number of wildcat strikes broke out in the UK during August.The wave of wildcat action kicked off at Cranswick Continental Foods in Pilsworth. Next, wildcat strikes broke out at several Amazon warehouses including Tilbury, Rugeley, Coventry...
www.anarchistcommunism.org
Class anger, class struggle, class unity! - Anarchist Communist Group
The discontent in British society is moving from simmering to boiling as more and workers go into action, either in official strikes or in unofficial wildcat strikes.The conditions created by Brexit and then by the Covid lockdown pushed workers to agitate around pay demands. This situation was...
www.anarchistcommunism.org
hitmouse
so defeated, thinks it's funny
Oh yeah, UVW and IWGB are fairly similar, I'd forgotten or didn't know about them being active in the sector but they sound like a good bet!
Also, here's a listing of CWU pickets for tomorrow, LDC won't be keen on the colour scheme they've chosen though. Is giant but you should be able to ctrl+f for your town/city:
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