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Strike!

Found something giving a bit more detail about what the Go North West settlement is:

The strikers have put up a tremendous fight and can be immensely proud of what they have achieved by their actions, including:
  • Stopping fire & rehire
  • Stopping contract changes allowing future changes without negotiation
  • Winning back nearly all their sick pay
  • Reinstatement of 2 sacked workers and disciplinaries dropped against 37 more
  • Winning back nearly all the time allowances Go NW removed
But there are concessions too, such as:
  • Unpaid meal breaks
  • A longer working day, leading to job cuts
  • Compulsory overtime if a bus runs late
There will be battles to come when the workers return, and potentially big battles in two years time when bus franchising finally arrives and Unite has pledged to help the strikers claw back the concessions.
There is never shame in making concessions when you've put up a real fight. But we should learn from the strike too.
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Dunno what the detail of this deal is, but it sounds like good news:
Breakthrough for Thurrock Council workers

Unite members who provided essential services during the height of the pandemic have voted to suspend their six week strike after ongoing talks with Thurrock Council delivered a breakthrough.

Around 90 workers in the waste and recycling department at Thurrock Council have been on strike since the 13 April 2021.

The workers faced losing between £1200 and £3800 a year but the Council has now made positive changes to the original proposal which means members will not have a reduction to their pay.


The workers will return to work on Monday 24 May.


Unite regional officer Michelle Cook said: "This deal is a victory for the workers who stood firm for six weeks in a strike to defend their pay. The workers and the residents of Thurrock will be pleased that the council have amended their plans, and services can get back to normal.

"These essential workers, who were applauded for their work through the pandemic, now deserve to be applauded for the solidarity and determination they showed. When workers organise, workers win."
Click to expand...
Must be a relief for Thurrock residents, at any rate.
 
MadeInBedlam said:
Any updates on industrial disputes in the care industry
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Just seen that there's a national network called Care and Support Workers Organise. Interview with one of them here, has some good info about what's going on in the sector.

Also, Ian Allinson has a new article up about the outcome of the Manchester bus strike - has a long video of interviews with strikers I've not watched yet, but here's his take on the deal:
Strikers are rightly proud of their epic fight – the longest bus strike in British history. The strikers achieved a lot. Not just fighting off fire and rehire for themselves, but winning a commitment from the whole Go Ahead group never to use it again. They won the reinstatement of two sacked workers and disciplinary threats against 37 more. They won an above-inflation pay deal for two years. They were almost entirely successful in stopping attacks on their sick pay and time allowances. They prevented the employer being able to unilaterally make future changes.

All the strikers recognise that this wasn’t an unqualified victory. Most accepted the logic that they had to make concessions to ensure the viability of their employer, an issue discussed in my previous article about the strike. The workers had agreed to offer major concessions on unpaid meal breaks and a longer working day, on a temporary basis for two years until bus franchising comes in. Go Ahead refused to make any commitment to give back these concessions. Everyone involved recognises that there will be battles to come, particularly when bus franchising starts in two years’ time.

The concessions led to Go North West needing fewer staff and Unite reps worried that cuts would be made by firing people on the flimsiest of pretexts. This led them to agree a severance programme to cut staff.

There were steps that could have been taken to put more pressure on Go Ahead, as discussed in the previous article. But the Unite apparatus discouraged strikers from visiting other bus depots to build solidarity. Last week, when Unite officers tried to push members into balloting on the offer, there was strong opposition, forcing the ballot to be delayed while rostering concerns were addressed in further talks.

Pie with Vote No decorations
Pie in the catering tent on the picket line last week
Even this week, there was 21.5% ‘No’ vote. There was huge pressure from the Unite apparatus to accept the deal, leaving strikers unconfident that they would get the support they needed if they fought on and most concluding that this was the best deal they could achieve.

Even strikers who are critical of the Unite leadership are clear that they won, even if they had won less than they should. There’s no shame for workers in making compromises or concessions after putting up such a hard fight. The strikers are going back to work having shown that workers can beat fire and rehire, having successfully fought off the worst of Go Ahead’s attacks, feeling their strength, and having made powerful bonds between themselves and rejuvenated the networks of activists who provided solidarity. They are an inspiration and they are right to be proud.
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Some brief articles from the ACG on recent strike developments:

www.anarchistcommunism.org

Manchester Bus Workers, Not a Famous Victory - Anarchist Communist Group

We’ve previously carried reports on the ACG website on the long strike of Manchester bus workers employed by Go North West. This has now ended after 85 days of a continuous strike. But have workers won? Whilst Go North West’s plans to install fire and rehire were withdrawn, two sacked workers...
www.anarchistcommunism.org www.anarchistcommunism.org

www.anarchistcommunism.org

Thurrock Refuse Workers: Victory! - Anarchist Communist Group

We’ve recently reported on this website about the Thurrock bin workers. They have been on strike for six weeks over cuts to their pay of as much as £3,800. This involved reduction of bank holiday triple pay to double pay, the loss of extra payments for vehicle inspections and greater flexibility...
www.anarchistcommunism.org www.anarchistcommunism.org

www.anarchistcommunism.org

Fire and rehire at Douwe Egberts - Anarchist Communist Group

As we have stated here on the ACG website, fire and rehire is a tactic increasingly being used against workers in Britain. This means sacking workers and rehiring them on worse pay and conditions. At the coffee plant in Banbury, Oxfordshire, the bosses of Jacobs Douwe Egberts sent out fire...
www.anarchistcommunism.org www.anarchistcommunism.org
 
Oh yeah, while I remember, this sounds worth getting to if anyone in London is free on Tuesday:
Unite, the UK’s leading union, is considering all legal option against London property services firm Goodlord following its ‘unfair’ dismissal of striking workers on Wednesday evening (19 May).

Unite members will hold a protest on Tuesday next week outside Goodlord’s central London headquarters, calling for the workers to be reinstated.

When: Tuesday 25 May 11am

Where: Goodlord, Heneage St, E1 5LN

More than 20 members of Unite, employed in Goodlord’s referencing department, began strike action on 22 February over fire and rehire contract changes that resulted in annual pay falling from £24,000 to £18,000.

The original contracts for around half of the striking workers expired during the strike action. As they refused to sign up to the radically diminished terms and conditions Goodlord was offering, the workers were dismissed.

The remaining half of the workers voted to commence strike action over these dismissals and other new matters in a further ballot which closed on 26 April.

The new strikes called for Goodlord to reverse the dismissals, halt its hostile targeting of union members and use of agency labour to undermine the industrial action and award a pay rise for 2021.

On the evening of 19 May, Goodlord dismissed the remaining nine workers, claiming that they had chosen to reject a ‘range of options’ to end the dispute put forward by the company during talks with the conciliation service Acas.

Unite said the workers were within the 12-week protected period provided by the 26 April ballot and were dismissed for an ‘automatically unfair reason’.

The union also refuted Goodlord’s account of the Acas talks, saying that the company refused to negotiate and instead issued an ultimatum for staff to return to work or leave with pay in lieu of notice.
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Some more good news:


Full statement is here:
A massive victory for NEU members who have been on strike in defence of victimised NEU rep and Exec member Kirstie Paton! Please share this statement from the NEU committee at John Roan School.
"To all our members and supporters who have worked collectively to defend trade unionism, we have some very good news. Kirstie has received the outcome of her hearing - United Learning have decided not to dismiss her.
This is a huge victory for Kirstie and for our Union and the wider team of union activists, parents,students and the local community members, who stood with Kirstie.
We would like to offer a huge thank you to all our Union members. Despite United Learning's prolonged campaign to silence Kirstie for her work as a H&S rep, and Lead UL Rep across the trust, they have not silenced the voice of the Union. It is vital that our Reps can raise legitimate concerns, especially concerning our health, safety and welfare during a pandemic, and this outcome strengthens our resolve to do so. It is also a reminder, that when any member experiences intimidation for voicing their concerns about management practice, that we support each other and defend our right to be active in our unions.
This is what we can achieve when we stand together and support each other. It is never easy to take the decision to strike, but it is clear that our strikes and our resolve to take further action if required have had an impact. Without this determined action, it is very likely that the outcome would have been different. We know the support from the UL reps, alongside Kevin and Mary and national officers from the GMB, NAHT, Unison and ASCL were extremely important in showing our unity across the labour movement.
A formal statement will be released by the NEU and we will certainly be celebrating.
For now – well done Kirstie, Michael, Tim and Eleanor and all in her defence team.
The John Roan NEU committee."
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Further farce at the DVLA, including the Department of Transport reneging (at the last minute! :mad: ) on a new deal :

From Tuesday 1st June :

Ministers scupper DVLA deal
PCS said:
In an unprecedent development in over 20 years of civil service negotiations, PCS has accused ministers at the highest levels of government of scuppering a deal to avert strike action at the Swansea site.
Union representatives and senior management, including the DfT permanent secretary had reached a deal at the end of last week, which could have brought an end to the Covid safety dispute, which has been running for several months.
However, earlier today the DfT reneged on the deal, much of which they had drafted and then refused to give any explanation as to why they were taking that action.
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And from Wednesday 2nd June :
Fresh round of strike action (at the DVLA call centre)

From yesterday (Thursday 3rd June) :
These strikes have been having quite an impact!

PCS said:
The second day of the third round of walkouts over Covid safety has been well supported, with reports of near-empty car parks at the Swansea site.
Phone services cancelled again
As we saw yesterday, the DVLA has been unable to provide phone services and only limited web chat to customers. PCS received reports that the DVLA had been desperately trying to source phone cover from other areas of the business, but without success as our members used their right to work to rule.
Backlogs pile up as strike progresses
The impact of the strike on backlogs means that there are an estimated 780,000 documents awaiting processing. The DVLA has reportedly offered overtime, but only at a lower rate of pay than if the work had been done in normal work hours. With 60,000 items of post coming in every day, this backlog is only going to get bigger.
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"Rumour has it" that Shapps (Transport Minister) has not been allowed (from further up the Government) to authorise the already-arrived-at deal, because Johnson and others in the cabinet refuse to be seen to be giving into strike action .... :mad:
 
Last edited:
www.unitetheunion.org

Demonstration called and strike action stepped up in Serco Royal London hospital bullying dispute

…
www.unitetheunion.org www.unitetheunion.org

Workers employed by outsourcing giant Serco, who work in the company’s back of house catering department at the Royal London hospital in Whitechapel, East London, will stage a demonstration (Thursday 24 June) and have called further strike action in the dispute over bullying and unworkable rosters.


WHEN: Thursday 24 June at 12:00


WHERE: Next to the dental building adjoining the Royal London hospital E1 1BB


Strike action begun​


The workers, who are members of Unite, the UK’s leading union, began a five day strike yesterday (Monday 21 June) in the bullying and roster dispute, after talks at the conciliation service Acas failed to make any progress.


The workers, who play a key role in ensuring that food is delivered to hospital patients in their wards, have been trying without success to resolve their problems since July 2020.


Bullying behaviour​


The bullying is characterised by the aggressive use of sickness absence triggers and an abuse of power in the allocation of shifts and holidays, which has left members at breaking point during the pandemic.


In addition, without consultation, management has imposed an unworkable rota system with irregular shifts across a 15 week period. Members report it is now impossible to arrange childcare while other workers report it has meant that they have been unable to complete college courses.
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Quick linkdump:
www.rmt.org.uk

RMT London Overground Protest to take place on Monday 28 June

RAIL UNION RMT is organising a protest next Monday over a number of issues affecting RMT members on the London Overground.
www.rmt.org.uk

www.rmt.org.uk

RMT guards to bring negotiating table to East Midlands Railway

RMT guards to bring negotiating table to East Midlands Railway as Sunday strikes continue and Train Managers vote for action.
www.rmt.org.uk

www.rmt.org.uk

RMT to strike for pay justice on Tyne and Wear Metro

Britain's specialist transport union RMT said today that it will be taking co-ordinated strike action with sister union UNITE later this month in a fight for pay justice ‎on the Tyne and Wear Metro.
www.rmt.org.uk

www.unitetheunion.org

‘Summer stink’ to hit Bexley as Serco refuse workers strike

Bexley will be hit with a ‘summer stink’ when Serco refuse and cleansing workers strike over low pay and poor treatment, Unite, the UK’s leading union, said today (Tuesday 29 June).
www.unitetheunion.org www.unitetheunion.org

www.unitetheunion.org

Reading hospital security guards renew strikes in July, as Unite calls on NHS bosses to take them back ‘in-house’

Unite said the new strike dates would run from 07.00 Monday 12 July until 24.00 Saturday 31 July, after the 20 security guards voted by 84 per cent for strike action.
www.unitetheunion.org www.unitetheunion.org
 
Solid ballot result in a PCS ISS BEIS (try saying that three times fast) dispute:

ISS staff in BEIS deliver impressive ballot result

Cleaners, security guards and other support staff employed by contractor ISS are one step closer to taking strike action after delivering a resounding yes vote in a PCS industrial action ballot.
www.pcs.org.uk www.pcs.org.uk

Cleaners, security guards and other support staff employed by contractor ISS are one step closer to taking strike action after delivering a resounding yes vote in a PCS industrial action ballot.

Our members voted 97.3% in favour of strike action on an impressive 82% turnout.
Our low-paid members working for ISS in BEIS offices in London are demanding:
  • an end to low pay and improved working conditions
  • extra bonuses for working through lockdown
  • annual leave entitlement owed from last year.
PCS also has concerns around Covid safety of staff and is calling on ISS to agree a return to work protocol.

Dedication ​

It is the hard work and dedication of ISS staff that has kept the BEIS offices open and safe for those civil servants who needed to attend during the pandemic.
The ballot result shows the strength of feeling among members working for ISS in BEIS offices who feel that enough is enough.
We are calling for ISS, BEIS and the Government Property Agency to not only negotiate with PCS representatives but to start making tangible proposals to end this dispute.
 
USDAW striking at a Long Eaton DHL/Marks and Spencer distribution center:

Account Suspended

www.union-news.co.uk

Biomedical scientists at East Lancashire Hospitals on their fifth week of all-out strike:


Background to that here:
www.unitetheunion.org

Biomedical scientists to strike for three more weeks in June over Lancashire trust’s ‘bad faith’ in reneging over pay upgrade

Biomedical scientists in the frontline of Covid-19 testing at a Lancashire NHS trust are ramping up their industrial action with a further three weeks of strikes in June, after bosses reneged on an upgrading pay agreement.
www.unitetheunion.org www.unitetheunion.org
 
morningstaronline.co.uk

Outsourced hospital workers to strike for equal pay

morningstaronline.co.uk morningstaronline.co.uk

WORKERS at a Yorkshire hospital are to strike for equal pay.

Ancillary staff such as porters and cleaners at Airedale General Hospital in Keighley have voted for strike action and will walk out on July 19 as part of a prolonged dispute.

Their jobs were “outsourced” from the NHS in 2017 to a company set up and owned by the Airedale NHS Foundation Trust — Airedale General Hospital Solutions (AGHS).

Since then, their pay has been eroded and their wages are lower than other workers who are directly employed by the NHS.

General union GMB said the workers “have had enough of unfair pay treatment.”

Local GMB organiser Joe Wheatley said: “The trust outsourced their responsibility to AGHS and in turn AGHS created a two-tier workforce that made it permissible to pay people different wages for the same work.

“We are simply demanding that this be corrected, that the trust and AGHS recognise their responsibility to these NHS heroes and end unfair wage practices.”
Click to expand...

Account Suspended

www.union-news.co.uk

UNISON’s higher education service group executive (SGE) have lodged a formal dispute with HE employers after the outcome of the pay offer consultation for August 1.

The pay offer was a 1.5% increase for all members on pay point 22 and above, with staff on the lower pay points between 3 to 21 being offered pay increased on a sliding scale between 3.6% to 1.54%. Results from the consultation show that a clear majority of members have rejected the employers’ final pay offer.

The SGE have now lodged a formal dispute with the HE employers over the pay offer, and are asking branches that are not currently balloting on the August 2020 pay freeze to consider whether they wish to ballot on the 2021/22 pay offer...

UNISON is calling on HE employers to come back to the table and to make a meaningful, improved offer to settle this dispute.

Meanwhile, UNISON is balloting members at 48 higher education institutes this summer in protest against the pay freeze imposed for the past year. The ballots in England and Northern Ireland opened this week and are due to open in Scotland in a few weeks’ time. Branches will be sent updates next week on how to decide whether to ballot for strike action on the 2021/22 pay offer.
Click to expand...

Account Suspended

www.union-news.co.uk

GMB members working for Serco Sandwell waste collection services are balloting for strike action after bullying from management and disabled workers were sacked for shielding.

The ballot follows months of management intimidation, including threatening workers who spoke out about safety issues and the sacking of disabled workers who shielded during the pandemic, one of whom was awaiting a kidney transplant.
Click to expand...

Account Suspended

www.union-news.co.uk

Serco traffic wardens in Ealing have started two weeks’ strike action over the firm’s offer of severance to elected Unite representatives, activists, and lay members, made to undermine trade union organisation and collective consultation.

The dispute is also over Serco refusal to negotiate a new absence management policy for employees working on the Ealing contract. Unite believes the present policy is being used to unfairly dismiss employees and should be renegotiated.

Unite members and supporters yesterday held a rally outside Ealing Town Hall.
Click to expand...

Lots of disputes involving Serco at the moment, although I suppose maybe that's just because most of the country's been flogged off to Serco at this point?
 
At least one of the Serco disputes now seems to have ended in a win:
www.unitetheunion.org

Royal London hospital strikes off as Serco offers major concessions in bullying and roster dispute

…
www.unitetheunion.org www.unitetheunion.org

Strike action at the Royal London hospital in Whitechapel, involving back of house catering staff, has been suspended after their employer, outsourcing giant Serco, largely capitulated to the workers’ demands.

Workers bullied​


The workers took five days of strike last month as a last resort, as they had been trying to resolve problems around an unworkable roster system and bullying for a year, without success.

Following talks at the conciliation service Acas last week, Serco has agreed to adopt a workable roster system and the manager accused of bullying will be moved from the department and provided with training.

Strikes suspended​


As a consequence Unite has suspended the latest five day strike, which was due to start today (Monday 5 July), in order to consult its members on the offer and to allow for the exact details of the deal to be finalised.

Tremendous victory​


Unite regional officer Ruth Hydon said: “This is a tremendous victory for our members who have stood together and faced down Serco, a multinational company.

“This dispute was about our members seeking fairness and decency in the workplace.

“The workforce simply wanted to be able to undertake their roles without being bullied and to be able to undertake caring duties and to study when not required to work.

“The Acas talks were a huge breakthrough as Serco finally agreed to act on the concerns that Unite has been raising with them for nearly a year.

“Providing that the final deal is in line with what was offered last week, this dispute should be resolved and there will be no further disruption to the meals patients receive at the hospital.”

A further five days of strike action are scheduled for next week beginning on Monday 12 July but Unite will call off this action once the deal is finalised.
Click to expand...
 
Update on the Bexley Serco bin strike:
www.unitetheunion.org

Bexley council warned ‘shoestring’ Serco refuse contract risks ‘years of industrial unrest’ as bin strikes begin

Unite the union warned Bexley council that its ‘shoestring’ refuse and street cleaning contract, which is run by Serco, risks ‘years of industrial unrest’ as two weeks of bin strikes began today (Monday 12 July).
www.unitetheunion.org www.unitetheunion.org

RMT to strike on the tube over management scrapping Night Train Drivers' grade:
www.rmt.org.uk

RMT to take strike action on London Underground

TUBE UNION RMT said today that it will be taking strike action across the Tube network over plans by London Underground to abolish the Night Tube Train Drivers’ grade.
www.rmt.org.uk

RMT calls Justice for Cleaners demo, July 20th:
www.rmt.org.uk

Justice for Cleaners Demonstration

Cleaners union RMT calls Justice for Cleaners Demonstration outside Parliament on 20th July
www.rmt.org.uk
 
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