Strike!

[Smokeandsteam]

Massively important ALL OUT strike to begin at GKN Driveline in Erdington, Birmingham. 95% of members voted for continuous strike action and the notice has been served today.

GKN Birmingham workers announce all out strike action in battle to prevent factory closure

…

www.unitetheunion.org

I’ll be posting more about this as we proceed. This is a litmus test for the new GS, for the stewards in the city and for our ability to take on and defeat venture capitalists in a strategically important industry in our city. The strikes will start on 27th.

 

[hitmouse]

Write-up of the IWGB Ocado campaign:

Ocado drivers vote for strike action after £5 an hour pay revelations

'If our hard work is worth the nation's applause, it’s worth decent pay and fair conditions.'

leftfootforward.org

 

[hitmouse]

Updates from UVW at Great Ormond Street:

Cleaners ballot to strike in ongoing dispute for equal work rights

UVW

www.uvwunion.org.uk

Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital

Having already won a string of concessions, such as NHS pay, sick pay, pensions last year in an historic fight to end outsourcing, workers then found out that GOSH had failed to give them full NHS parity. The workers voted to take strike action and NHS bosses conceded to their demands for full...

www.uvwunion.org.uk

OUR WINS
Wage parity
Pensions
Annual leave
OUR DEMANDS
Full maternity and paternity pay
Annual pay
Redundancy pay

---

SUPPORT US
Donate to the strike fund here >>
Write to GOSH Trustees here >>
Sign up to the GOSH campaign here >>

 

[teqniq]

Possible winter of discontent in Wales:

Major Union Hits Out At Welsh Government Over Public Sector Pay & Social Care, Warns Of Winter Strikes -

Reading Time: 6 minutes UNISON says that Welsh Labour must create a National Care Service and fulfil its election promise to raise worker pay The union is recommending its members reject low pay offers in health and local government, paving the way for winter strikes Welsh Labour faces its...

www.voice.wales

 

[hitmouse]

Article on the Bexley Serco bin strike:

The Bexley Bin Workers Show that Organising Works

Bin workers in Bexley have gone from being some of the lowest paid in London to some of the highest, winning pay rises and extra holidays through strike action. Their lesson is simple: organising works.

tribunemag.co.uk

 

[teqniq]

Fire and rehire again:

Weetabix workers in Northamptonshire announce autumn walkouts over £5,000 fire and rehire wage cuts

www.unitetheunion.org

 

[hitmouse]

Manchester tram drivers to strike over pay starting on the 25th-26th (coinciding with a United home game and the Great Manchester Run):

Manchester faces severe disruption as tram drivers vote for strikes over pitiful pay offer

www.unitetheunion.org

Abellio Scotrail sounds like it'll now be facing strikes from both conductors organised through RMT and engineers organised through Unite:

Unite demands ‘serious offer’ at Abellio Scotrail pay talks as industrial action set to bring the rail network to a ‘standstill’

www.unitetheunion.org

New ScotRail conductor strike dates

Rail union RMT announces further strike after ScotRail conductors vote by over 80% to continue action in reballot in fight for pay equality and justice.

www.rmt.org.uk

 

[hitmouse]

The joint PCS/UVW park strike will be running through the whole of October:

Fight for equality of terms and conditions at Royal Parks ramps up

Outsourced Royal Parks cleaners and playground attendants employed by Just Ask Estate Services Ltd are to go on strike for the whole of October.

www.pcs.org.uk

Their strike crowdfunder thing closes tonight, for some reason:

End Discrimination at the Royal Parks

We are crowdfunding for Just Ask Estates Service Ltd workers’ strike fund.

www.crowdfunder.co.uk

 

[hitmouse]

Few more:
Outsourced cleaners at UAL striking from the 27th-1st:




Strike fund is here, will also be having a protest in support on Saturday 25th:


App Drivers and Couriers Union calling a national strike at Uber on September 28th:

Account Suspended

www.union-news.co.uk

(sometimes I wonder if I should find out more about the ADCU/IWGB split, but also I'm not an Uber driver and I don't know if I'd really benefit from learning about any more messy left drama)

Stagecoach drivers voting to strike over pay:

RMT members vote for action on Stagecoach Buses

Bus union RMT members vote by around nine to one for industrial action in three more Stagecoach areas as part of national bus workers' pay fight.

www.rmt.org.uk

Tesco distribution centre staff voting to reject a pay offer - which isn't the same thing as voting to strike yet, but could be pretty impactful:

Tesco faces empty shelves this winter as workers reject meagre pay offer

www.unitetheunion.org

 

[Smokeandsteam]

More on the GKN driveline dispute…

 

[hitmouse]

Crossposting here, mass wildcat at the Atomic Weapons Establishment Burghfield site today:

 

[teqniq]

We could really do with some of this here. Why is it this doesn't happen in the UK?

 

[hitmouse]

Interesting times for the GKN company, then.
First write-up of the AWE Burghfield situation:

NG Bailey M&E Walkout at AWE Burghfield

M&E Workers Walkout Over 200 NG Bailey Sparks and Fitters walked off site at AWE Burghfield today (20/09) over suspected Blacklisting and Un...

siteworker.blogspot.com

 

[Smokeandsteam]

Interesting times for the GKN company, then.
First write-up of the AWE Burghfield situation:

NG Bailey M&E Walkout at AWE Burghfield

M&E Workers Walkout Over 200 NG Bailey Sparks and Fitters walked off site at AWE Burghfield today (20/09) over suspected Blacklisting and Un...

siteworker.blogspot.com

Certainly is hitmouse

 

[Smokeandsteam]

We could really do with some of this here. Why is it this doesn't happen in the UK?

All out strike action starts in Birmingham next week teqniq. Our stewards are in touch with our Italian comrades. Watch this space

 

[hitmouse]

Food couriers wildcat in Dumferline:

Delivery drivers for Uber Eats and Just Eat stage strike in Dunfermline

Delivery drivers who work for Uber Eats and Just Eat in Dunfermline will "strike" at peak times all this week in protest over better pay.

www.dunfermlinepress.com

Uber strike next week confirmed to be happening in at least eight cities:


Stuff confirmed happening in London, Sheffield, Glasgow and Manchester so far, more coming soon.
Also, Manchester tram strike is off after winning a pay rise:

Manchester Metrolink strikes suspended as workers secure improved pay offer

…

www.unitetheunion.org

But now Stagecoach drivers are balloting:

Manchester Stagecoach bus drivers to vote for strike action over pay

www.unitetheunion.org

 

[Smokeandsteam]

Good article on the developing situation at GKN. Stewards at the plant in Birmingham and others have put together a superb Lucas Plan style document setting out how the plant can be repurposed to create new green jobs making electric vehicle parts. Precisely the type of jobs that the Tories and Labour claim are the future, that position the workplace alongside British R&D and which can help lower emissions.

The strikes planned to start next week have been suspended to allow for further negotiations, with the venture capitalists pressured back into talks and forced to discuss alternatives to offshoring. An important first step for the campaign.

As Frank Duffy the Unite works convenor says “Ours is the first transition plan for an automotive plant proposed by union stewards in the UK, and an echo of the 1976 Lucas Plan, when shop stewards at Lucas Aerospace, also in Birmingham, proposed converting their plant to socially useful products.

GKN closes plants and sacks workers in Birmingham and in Florence

Dave Kellaway reports on an industrial dispute with GKN which is currently taking place in England and Italy.

anticapitalistresistance.org

 

[hitmouse]

Unite asking people to sign this petition in support of the East Lancashire NHS scientists on strike:

East Lancashire NHS Trust: Fully honour your agreement and pay scientists fairly

Throughout the pandemic, biomedical scientists have been on the frontline of our NHS, analysing patient blood samples and carrying out covid-19 testing. Their work has been critical to keeping us safe. But the NHS Trust has let these key workers down. They have acted in bad faith and failed to...

www.megaphone.org.uk

 

[teqniq]

Oooo:

Strikes may 'cripple' Clyde nuclear sub base after workers back industrial action

SPECIALIST staff have voted to down tools in an industrial dispute expected to "strike at the heart" of the UK's nuclear submarine base on…

www.heraldscotland.com

 

[Sprocket.]

Oooo:

Strikes may 'cripple' Clyde nuclear sub base after workers back industrial action

SPECIALIST staff have voted to down tools in an industrial dispute expected to "strike at the heart" of the UK's nuclear submarine base on…

www.heraldscotland.com

They’re only making plans for vigil.

 

[petee]

If Hollywood Workers Strike, the Entertainment Industry Will Grind to a Halt

In a display of worker militancy not seen in Hollywood for decades, members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) are about to vote on whether 60,000 of them will go on strike in October.

www.jacobinmag.com

"The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) has never actually struck all of its West Coast locals at once. An estimated 60,000 IATSE members could walk off the job in the coming weeks, which would be the biggest private sector strike in the United States in over a decade."

 

[hitmouse]

Unite Wales NHS members reject 3% pay increase and vote in favour of industrial action

…

www.unitetheunion.org

Unite members at Stagecoach vote overwhelmingly in favour of strike action

…

www.unitetheunion.org

Dundee University members appeal for strike hardship donations | Article | News | UNISON National

UNISON members at Dundee University appeal for solidarity donations ahead of strike action

www.unison.org.uk

UNISON members at Dundee University set for strike action to defend pensions - UNISON Scotland

UNISON members at Dundee University who are part of, or are eligible to be part of, the university’s superannuation scheme

unison-scotland.org

And the Uber strike's on today:

#UberStrike

September 28th - #UberStrike - The ADCU will be striking against Uber and staging protests up and down the UK on September 28th.

www.adcu.org.uk

Oh, and:

More Sandwell strikes loom over Serco bullying

Refuse workers in Sandwell Council will take further strike action next month, warning they will not be 'strung along' by Serco

www.gmb.org.uk

GMB University Cleaners to strike for fair pay in South London

The cleaners have long asked for the most basic of things – equal treatment with directly employed staff. It's time they got it, say GMB Union

www.gmb-southern.org.uk

Five days of strikes at University of Liverpool

Staff at the University of Liverpool are set to walk out for five consecutive days from Monday 4 October unless management halts plans to sack two staff. The week-long strike will cause severe disruption to the first full week of teaching at the university.

www.ucu.org.uk

Staff to strike at 10 colleges

Staff at 10 English colleges will be walking out tomorrow in their fight for fair pay.

www.ucu.org.uk

 

[hitmouse]

NHS pay zoom meeting tonight:

 

[teqniq]

Not an actual post about a strike but kinda related. Please sign and share:

Petition: Repeal the Trade Union Act 2016

The Trade Union Act 2016 restricts the actions and powers of workers and trade unions, with the implementation of an arbitrary turnout threshold (50%) needed to make a strike legitimate. Even if a strike receives 100% support, if the turnout is under 50%, the vote is not counted.

petition.parliament.uk

 

[hitmouse]

Also, Manchester tram strike is off after winning a pay rise:

Manchester Metrolink strikes suspended as workers secure improved pay offer

…

www.unitetheunion.org

Manchester tram strike back on now, first day on October 10th:

Metrolink workers to strike on city marathon day in fight for fair pay

Over 300 drivers and supervisors on Manchester's Metrolink tram network - members of Unite, the UK’s leading union - will stage a one day strike on Sunday 10 October, the day of the city's marathon.

www.unitetheunion.org

Liverpool uni dispute over compulsory redundancies ends with a total win:

University strikes off as union declares victory over jobs saved

Six-month action comes to an end as compulsory redundancies avoided

www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

Also, article by GMB rep about the successful Polyflor dispute:

Polyflor Workers Won’t Be Walked Over

After being refused a pay rise despite big profits for investors, staff at the Polyflor factory in Manchester went on strike. Their ensuing victory is a warning to bosses: never take your workforce for granted.

tribunemag.co.uk

Oh, and Stagecoach strikes in a number of areas on the 18th:

RMT confirms strikes on Stagecoach buses

BUS UNION RMT confirmed today that it is serving notice for strike action on Stagecoach buses in the South West, East Midlands and Derbyshire/Yorkshire as part of the national fight for pay justice for bus workers.

www.rmt.org.uk

 

[hitmouse]

More Stagecoach strikes confirmed:

Stingy Stagecoach pushes Lancashire drivers to strike over pay

Bus services in south Lancashire face severe disruption later this month as drivers employed by the Ribble Motor Services Ltd, part of the Stagecoach group, take strike action over low pay.

www.unitetheunion.org

So that's Preston and Chorley striking through Unite, Mansfield, Worksop, Chesterfield, Exter, Barnstaple and Torquay striking through RMT, South Wales have voted to strike but no dates set yet, and Manchester and Scotland currently balloting. I hope there's going to be some national-level co-ordination going on with these.

 

[Mr.Bishie]

GMB: City Clean (Brighton & Hove CC) HGV refuse & recycling drivers voted 100% to walk out for two weeks as of tomorrow. Another Green council, another strike - there’s a pattern.

 

[hitmouse]

GMB: City Clean (Brighton & Hove CC) HGV refuse & recycling drivers voted 100% to walk out for two weeks as of tomorrow. Another Green council, another strike - there’s a pattern.

Sure it'll be a piece of piss for the council to get strikebreakers in, I hear there's tons of unemployed HGV drivers desperately looking for anyone who'll hire them at the moment.

 

[ska invita]

isnt this whats happening, refuse drivers shifting to new better paid HGV jobs , leaving routes short staffed and stressed? Dont know about Brighton per se but sounds like thats happening elsewhere

 

[hitmouse]

Not directly strike-related, but here's a good article on the Ocado campaign:

Ocado Drivers Are Fighting to Unionise the Gig Economy

Last month, Ocado Zoom drivers made headlines for organising against rock-bottom pay and outsourcing of their jobs. Now, they are unionising – and determined to win better.

tribunemag.co.uk