1 million more unemployed by 2025 - Amazon wildcats - London bus strikes
1 - 7 August 2022
Much of people’s attention last week was on how The Bank of England’s interest rate increase would impact the cost of living, but there was another announcement by the bank that went largely ignored. In its latest monetary policy report it predicted not only the biggest fall on record in disposable incomes, but that by 2025 unemployment will have increased by nearly 1 million people.
We also got a glimpse into some possible new dispute frontlines that could escalate in the coming months, including a series of wildcat strikes at Amazon over 35p and 50p pay rises, and thousands of bus drivers getting ready to strike in North and West London. While the last year has seen several bus disputes across the UK, there has been virtually no industrial action in the capital, where the bus network is operated by several different local and multinational companies.
Read on for more, including HMRC estimating that there is £1.4 billion in national insurance that employers avoid paying by misclassifying their workers, retailer Next failing to pay the minimum wage, and workers at the Open University winning permanent contracts for nearly 5,000 associate lecturers.
But first, Roy Hackett, one of the leaders of the Bristol bus boycott, which ended the colour bar on the city’s buses and eventually led to the race relations act, died last week. Here he is talking about his life in the struggle.
As always, if you have something coming up that I should include in the newsletter let me know here, or send me an email to theweekinwork [at] gmail [dot] com.
DISPUTES
Amazon wildcats: Wildcat strikes started by Amazon workers at the Tilbury warehouse over “pathetic” 35p per hour pay rises have spread to sites in Bristol, Staffordshire and Coventry, the Big Issue reports.
Insider spoke to a worker at the Tilbury site that was suspended following the walk outs. The workers at the site told Amazon that it had until 11 August to increase pay by at least £3 or they would strike again.
Workers’ inquiry journal Notes from Below has an account from an Amazon worker who writes that they have now stopped striking at his site, but will continue taking action by refusing to hit targets.
London bus strikes: More than 1,600 London bus drivers employed by RATP in west London are going on strike on 19 and 20 August, following a 3.6% pay offer, Unite says. The first day of industrial action will coincide with planned strikes on London Underground and the second with planned strikes across the rail network.
They could soon be joined by a further 1,400 drivers employed by Arriva in North London who are being balloted from 5 to 26 August, the union says.
Unite, which is involved in several disputes across the UK with Arriva, says that in the last ten years the company’s UK bus division has paid a total of £560 million in dividends to parent company Deutsche Bahn.
Depot closure action: Around 170 Go North East bus workers in Durham will take continuous strike action over the company’s proposal to close the Chester-Le-Street garage, Unite says.
Some join and some leave rail strikes: Unite members employed by Network Rail as electric control room operatives will join other rail unions in taking strike action on 18 August and 20 August, the union says.
But TSSA members in Network Rail manager grades (bands 1 - 4) have voted to accept a deal which offers enhanced job security measures, a 4% pay rise and a commitment to not unilaterally change contracts of employment, the union says. More details on the offer here.
Glasgow subway strike suspended: The Glasgow subway strike has been suspended as talks continue, STV reports.
Trash to pile high in Edinburgh: Edinburgh waste and recycling workers are the first to take strike action following a successful ballot of refuse and education workers at more than two dozen Scottish local authorities, GMB and Unite say. The workers will be on strike from 18 to 30 August, as they demand a better local government pay offer.
Following the results of the strike ballot, the Scottish government announced an extra £140 million of recurring funding to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) to make a revised pay offer, the Scotsman reports.
DBS strike: 80 workers employed by Hinduja Global Solutions on the Disclosure and Barring Service contract in Liverpool will strike for six days from 15 August, PCS says.
Irish council strike paused: Strike action by more than 1,000 Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council staff has been paused to allow for talks, the BBC reports.
Felixstowe port strikes go ahead: 1,900 Felixstowe port workers will strike for eight days at the end of the month, Unite says.
DHL Sainsbury’s action: More than 300 DHL warehouse workers at the distribution centre in East Kilbride who supply Sainsbury’s stores in Scotland and Northern Ireland will start strike action this week, Unite says. The announcement follows a below-inflation pay offer.
Brighton pub dispute negotiation: Workers at Brighton’s Saint James Tavern have suspended their industrial action while talks with the pub’s leaseholders take place, United Voices of the World says.
Construction supplier pay dispute: More than 120 workers at construction supply companies Birtley Group and Bowater Doors will be taking almost 30 days of strike action in a dispute over low pay rates, Unite says.
Surrey refuse strike suspended: The refuse workers strike in Elmbridge and Surrey Heath has been suspended to allow for ACAS-facilitated talks, the BBC reports.
Care worker offer: Support workers and care staff working at social enterprise Discovery in Somerset are voting on an improved £10.50 pay offer which was tabled after they voted to strike, Unison says.
POLITICS AND POLICY
1 million unemployed: The Bank of England expects unemployment to rise by 900,000 (from 3.8% to 6%) and household disposable income to fall by around 3.7%, the largest fall on record, the Resolution Foundation says. The increase in unemployment will start next year and continue to 2025, according to the Bank’s latest Monetary Policy Report.
Over a billion owed in tax: HMRC suspects that large businesses are underpaying £1.4 billion in employment taxes by incorrectly classifying their employees as self-employed or by paying them through a personal service company, Personnel Today reports. HMRC is pursuing £1.4 billion as of 31 March 2022.
Call to end minimum (w)age bands: Derry Trades Union Council has met with the Low Pay Commission to call for an end to differing minimum wages for different age bands and a £15 per hour minimum wage, the Derry journal reports.
PAY
Unpaid wages at Next: Next workers on the minimum wage have been significantly underpaid, the company inadvertently over-claimed furlough without giving 4,000 staff members the money they were due, and now it is being investigated by HMRC, The Sunday Times reports.
DISCRIMINATION
UCL racism: Nine academics at UCL’s Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction have written a joint letter accusing the university of nepotism, deep racism, harassment and bullying older staff to participate in resignations or early retirement in order to replace them with cheaper junior staff, the Guardian reports.
LEGAL
MP unfair dismissal claim: A former aide and partner of Labour MP Khalid Mahmood has won an unfair dismissal and detriment for a protected disclosure claim against the parliamentarian, the Guardian reports. She lost other claims, including that her dismissal was related to race, religion or belief.
GMB official arrested during strike: A GMB official was arrested while protesting outside an Amey site in Surrey during the refuse workers strike, a video shows. Gary Palmer was previously arrested for obstructing the highway during the Wealden bin dispute, The Argus reports.
Compensation for hundreds of Greensill workers: Financial services firm Greensill failed to collectively consult with almost 300 former employees on their redundancy, meaning the workers are entitled to 90 days’ pay, according to an employment tribunal, the Runcorn and Widnes World reports.
HMRC can claim back furlough payments: The First-tier Tribunal has upheld HMRC’s right to claw back Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme grants when rules of the scheme were not met, according to KPMG.
Underground rep wins claim: An employment tribunal has ruled that a maintenance worker and union rep on London Underground was subjected to detrimental treatment after being suspended for raising health and safety concerns, IOSH magazine reports.
WINS
Decasualisation win: Open University has begun rolling out a programme of permanent contracts for 4,800 previously casualised Associate Lecturers, the biggest decausalition programme ever to take place in UK higher education, UCU says.
No more compulsory redundancies: Goldsmiths University has agreed to stop a current redundancy plan and not introduce any further compulsory redundancies, bringing an end to a ten month-long dispute, according to UCU and the Unison Goldsmiths branch. However, two days after the deal was announced, a Goldsmiths academic tweeted that she had been made redundant.
Cost of living payment: 2,730 Workers at engine manufacturing and components company Cummins have secured a one-off £2,300 cost of living payment on top of their already agreed pay increase, Unite says. The union has not disclosed the size of the annual pay increase.
Port pay settlement: Port of Bristol workers have secured an 8% pay increase with a further lump sum payment equal to 1.1% of a workers’ salary, Unite says.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
H&S inspections fall: Unannounced health and safety inspections have declined by 31% in less than a decade, according to new research by Unite. In 2013/14 the Health and Safety Executive undertook 11,303 proactive (unannounced) construction inspections but the figures for the last full year 2021/22 reveals that just 7,793 inspections took place.
Death at Morrisons: A man has died at a Morrisons warehouse in Wakefield after a structure collapsed on him, the Mirror reports.
WHAT’S COMING UP
Ongoing: Bosch Rexroth Glenrothes strike every Monday and Tuesday and overtime ban every day
Ongoing: Arriva North West workers on strike
Ongoing: Foinaven Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) workers on strike
8,10 and 12 August: VFS Southampton workers on strike
8 August - 21 August: Mid Ulster District Council refuse workers on strike
9, 11, 15, 17, 19, 23, 26 and 29 August: Red Funnel ferry workers on strike.
10 - 22 August, 4 - 19 September: Birtley Group and Bowater Doors workers on strike
11 -12, 14 -15, 18 - 20 August: Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust outsourced workers on strike
12 August: Go North East workers start continuous strike in Durham
13 August: Train drivers at nine train companies on strike
13 August - 20 August: East Kilbride DHL warehouse workers on Sainsbury’s contract go on strike
15 August - 21 August: Disclosure and Barring Service workers on strike in Liverpool
18 - 30 August: Edinburgh Waste & Recycling workers on strike
18 & 20 August: TSSA and RMT members across the rail network on strike
19 August: London underground workers on strike
19 - 20 August: West London bus drivers on strike
19 August: Close of Unison higher education strike ballot in Scotland
21 - 29 August: 1,900 Felixstowe port workers on strike
22 August: Deadline for Scottish government consultation on the extension of Transparency in Supply Chain legislation for Scottish public bodies
22 – 26 August, 30 August - 2 September, 5 September - 9 September: Richmond upon Thames College workers on strike
26 August: Close of Unison higher education strike ballot across the UK, except Scotland
6 - 7 September: Burnley College, The Manchester College, City of Liverpool College, and Oldham College staff on strike
FEEDBACK
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