Biggest rail strike in modern history - Deliveroo’s criminal sentence - H&S failures led to cinematographer's death
18 - 24 April 2022
As May Day approaches, a number of massive strikes are being announced in the UK. Last week I mentioned how councils were facing significant disruption, but now the RMT is also announcing ballots for what they say could be “the biggest rail strike in modern history”.
On the justice front, Deliveroo has just been found guilty of abusing the freelance status of riders by the Paris Criminal Court, while two of its former managers were given one-year suspended prison sentences. In the U.S., health and safety regulators said that failures on the set of the Alec Baldwin film Rust resulted in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
As always, scroll to the bottom of the newsletter for my calendar of upcoming union and work events. If you have something coming up you’d like me to include, let me know.
But first, this group of strippers were locked out of their club after they raised health and safety concerns. Now they are picketing outside, dressed up as all of their employer’s health and safety violations.
DISPUTES
“Biggest strike” in modern history: Over 40,000 railway workers on Network Rail and 15 train operating companies will be balloted for action in what RMT has called “potentially the biggest rail strike in modern history”. RMT says that this is in response to Network Rail’s decision to cut 2,500 “safety critical” maintenance staff.
Going postal: Postal workers are to strike on 3 May in opposition to the announced pay freeze, the CWU has said.
TFL pension strike: Unite is also balloting 1,500 members at TfL over the decision to end the final salary pension scheme, the union said.
Striking education: College lecturers across Scotland are taking strike action over pay, the EIS union says.
Bitter pill: Workers at pharmaceutical company GSK have voted for industrial action following a pay offer of just 2.75%. Unite says the company made more than £34 billion in profits last year.
Cleaner crackdown: Four outsourced workers that protested their terms and conditions at The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine were suspended by subcontractor Samsic, according to tweets from the IWGB.
Foster care betrayal: Glasgow foster carers accuse Glasgow council officers of betrayal after they fail to implement the 10% allowances increase voted through in the February budget, National World reports.
Refined striking: Veolia workers at the Stanlow refinery in Cheshire are voting for strike action over a 3.5% pay offer, Unite says.
Bus strikes: First Bus workers in Glasgow vote to strike over pay, Unite says.
Metal strike: Around 300 workers are being balloted for strike action at Special Metal Wiggin in Hereford, GMB says.
Wage tracker findings: Many of the largest and most profitable companies in retail and food services, including McDonalds, Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks, are paying most of their workers in the US less than $15 per hour, according to the Economic Policy Institute’s and The Shift Project’s wage tracker, the Guardian reports.
Traffic stoppage: Wiltshire traffic wardens have voted to strike, the GMB says.
P&O: Inspectors working for the International Transport Federation were denied access to P&O Ferries last week, a move that Nautilus International calls “almost unprecedented”. Last month, maritime inspectors found 31 separate failings on a P&O Ferries vessel that had been detained, according to the Guardian, while agency staff hired to replace the staff that were sacked over Zoom are saying they are now being asked to sign contracts on even lower pay, the Mirror reports.
The TUC has also done a good video that summarises the whole affair.
GIG ECONOMY
Deliveroo’s criminal sentence: Two former managers of Deliveroo were given suspended one-year prison sentences and fined €30,000 by a French court for abusing the freelance status of riders, Reuters reports. Deliveroo was also fined the maximum penalty of €375,000 and will have to publish the court decision on its French home page for a month.
Uber pension: Uber has been threatened with legal action over its failure to provide sharia-compliant pensions, the FT reports.
WINS
Flying high: More than 3,000 Airbus workers have won an 8.6% increase over 13 months and a backdated 5.1% lump sum payment, Unite says. Workers will also have an additional day’s holiday in 2023 and 2024.
Refuse worker win: Adur and Worthing refuse workers have won an improved pay deal, bringing almost 30 days of industrial action to an end, the GMB says. Refuse loaders will get a 8.2% increase, cleansing drivers 10.4%, and some HGV drivers 20.7%. Meanwhile refuse worker strikes in Cardiff and Wealden have been suspended to allow time for negotiations and to consider new offers.
Journalist jobs saved: Six feature writers’ jobs that were threatened with redundancy were saved at Glasgow’s Herald after workers voted for strike action in an indicative ballot, the NUJ says.
GOVERNMENT
Call for evidence: The new director of Labour Market Enforcement has put out a call for evidence to inform her strategy in 2023 and 2024. There is more information here and you can send evidence to LMEDirectorsoffice@beis.gov.uk
Greece raises minimum wage: Greek minimum wage is set to go up by €50 to €713 a month on 1 May, but opposition parties and unions have called this “peanuts”, Reuters reports. This is the second time the government raises the minimum wage this year.
India trade deal: Landworkers’ Alliance says an India-UK deal that covers agricultural products would hurt farmers in both countries.
Union arrests in Belarus: Fourteen Belarusian trade union leaders, including the leadership of the Belarusian Congress of Trade Unions, were arrested last week, the European Trade Union Congress says.
Environment Agency crisis: Pay at the Environment Agency is so poor that workers are leaving to work at supermarkets, according to the Ends Report.
Right to work checks: Migrants Rights Network and the TUC have produced a guide to help migrant workers and trade union reps navigate right to work checks.
MODERN SLAVERY
UK farms: A Ukranian farm worker has said she fled a UK farm where conditions were “akin to modern-day slavery”, the Guardian reports.
NHS modern slavery law: Parliament will this week vote on an amendment to the Health and Social Care Bill which will prohibit the NHS from using goods and services linked to slavery or human traffiicking, the BBC says.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Asbestos shame: The Work and Pensions Select Committee has called for asbestos to be removed from non-domesstic buildings within 40 years, the BBC reports. Asbestos remains the biggest cause of work-related deaths in the UK and the HSE estimates that it may be present in 300,000 non-domestic buildings and in many more homes.
Alec Baldwin film fined: New Mexico health and safety regulators have fined a film production company $137,000 for firearm safety failures on the set of “Rust”, where actor and producer Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer, AP reports. The investigation by regulators found several health and safety failures which resulted in the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins.
Ocado whistleblower compensated: The employment tribunal has ordered Ocado to pay £20,000 to an employee that was persecuted and forced to resign after raising health and safety concerns, the Mirror reports.
Construction collapse: A construction company has been fined after workers had to run for their lives when the house they were working on collapsed, the Construction Enquirer reports.
WHAT’S COMING UP
25 - 29 April: CWU national conference
25 - 28 April, 3 May - 15 May: Caterpillar Strike in Northern Ireland
25 April - 1 May, 3 - 8 May: Workers at nine Northern Ireland councils are on strike
25 - 27 April, 3 - 5 May: Hackney Council staff on strike over pay
25 - 27 April: Unison Health Service Group conference
26 - 27 April, 4-5 May, 10-12 May, 17-19 May, 24-26 May: Scottish college lecturers strike
26 - 28 April, 4,6,10,12,17 & 19 May: Oxford MINI factory workers strike over pay
27 April - 7 May: Cleaners working for Churchill on several train lines strike over pay and conditions
27 April: Unions 21 conference on data and the future of unions
28 April: Workers’ Memorial Day
29 April: Great Ormond Street Hospital strike and rally
30 April: Leeds Get Organised May Day Worker Patrol
1 May: International workers day
3 May: Postal workers strike
3 May - 13 May, 23 May - 3 June: Manchester refuse worker strikes
4 and 5 May, and 18 and 19 May: First Glasgow workers on strike over pay
3 May - 15 May: Ards and North Down council workers strike
5 May: UK local elections
6 May: Newry, Mourne and Down council workers strike
24 - 26 May: PCS annual delegate conference