CEO pay skyrockets, worker pay plummets - Arriva bus drivers win - Windsor bin workers strike
15 - 21 August 2022
Last week’s official statistics showing pay has fallen by a record 3%, have been closely followed today by a new report which reveals that average FTSE 100 CEO pay jumped by almost £1 million to £3.41 million in 2021. This means that last year CEO pay was 109 times that of the median UK full-time worker.
As inflation has now reached double digits and further erodes workers’ earnings, most pay deals being won by unions are only just keeping up with the cost of living, and many secured just a few months ago now fall well short.
Read on for more, including a victory in the rapidly expanding Arriva dispute, bin workers on strike in Windsor, and the Insolvency Service refusing to prosecute P&O.
But first, I leave you with this from Argentina, where people have held a “funeral procession” for the declining minimum wage, which is being eaten away by the rising costs of living.
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
Arriva dispute grows: Arriva staff in Kent and Essex have voted to strike, after the company offered a pay deal of just 7.8%, Unite says. Unite is involved in several disputes with Arriva, having recently won a 11.1% pay deal for drivers in the North West. Workers in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire have also voted for strike action, while an industrial action ballot of Arriva workers in North London closes on 26 August.
Rail workers fire and rehire threat: Grant Shapps has threatened to “fire and re-hire” rail workers unless unions call off their strike action, the TSSA and RMT say. Employment law commentator Darren Newman speculates in a tweet that the proposed approach by Shapps would result in rail workers claiming unfair dismissal and a legal challenge by the union on the consultation itself.
The Queen’s bins: Refuse workers in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead (RBWM) will strike from 31 August, GMB says. Contractor Serco offered refuse loaders on £9.91 an hour a pay rise of only 6%, which was rejected by the union’s members.
Suffolk refuse workers ballot: Suffolk refuse workers are voting on industrial action following a consultative ballot showing overwhelming support for strikes, Unisons says. Many of the workers are earning barely above the minimum wage, the union says.
Second posties ballot: Royal Mail workers have overwhelmingly voted in favour of strike action for a second time this year, CWU says. The ballot over working conditions follows a strike ballot in July over pay.
Liverpool port pay dispute: More than 500 Liverpool port operatives working for Mersey Docks and Harbour company have voted to strike following a 7% pay offer, Unite says. A separate ballot of the port’s maintenance engineers closes on 14 August.
Aerospace workers strike: Over 40 workers working for Metal Improvement Company supplying Airbus and Magellan Aerospace are taking a series of one-day strikes over pay, Unite says.
Bud workers strike: 275 Budweiser workers at the Samlesbury site, near Preston, are set to go on strike after 93% of members rejected the company’s latest pay offer, GMB says.
Coach builders strike ballot: Coach builders and spray painters at Alexander Dennis Limited’s factory in Camelon have voted for strike action, after they rejected a 4% pay offer, Unite says.
Scottish teachers moving to ballot: Scottish teachers union EIS says that its salaries committee will likely reject the 3.5% pay offer and call for an industrial action ballot.
Universities hoarding cash: UK universities finished 2020/21 with £3.4 billion more cash in the bank in 2020/21 than they started it with, according to new analysis by UCU. University leaders also say they plan to spend £4.6 billion in capital expenditure this year. The union is set to open a national industrial ballot over pay, conditions and pensions in early September.
Meanwhile, the university workers’ pension plan USS has reported a surplus of £1.8 billion, barely 18 months after reporting a £14 billion deficit, the FT’s Josephine Cumbo tweets. Cuts to the pension fund are one of the reasons university workers have been on strike.
Airport strike suspended: Planned strike action by security staff at Leeds Bradford Airport this week has been suspended to consult members on a new pay offer, GMB says.
Glassmaker strike suspended: Strikes by glassmakers employed at the Pilkington factory in St Helens have been suspended following an improved pay offer from the company, Unite says.
Supermarket workers demand militancy: Supermarket workers are frustrated that their union isn’t mobilising them for strike action, Novara reports.
PAY
Pay falls at record rates, unemployment nudges up: Total pay adjusted for inflation fell by 2.5% and regular pay fell by a record 3% in the last quarter, according to the Office for National Statistics. Inflation has continued to increase, with the consumer price index jumping to 10.1% and the retail price index to 12.3%, the ONS says.
Unemployment has also started to nudge upwards to 3.8%, and job vacancies saw their first quarterly fall since June - August 2020.
The figures also show that the employment gap between ethnic minority and white communities in England has widened significantly since the start of the pandemic, Pro Bono Economics says. Unemployment among the white population increased by 0.1% to 3.7%, while black communities faced a 1.1% rise to 9.6%. Unemployment for those from Pakistani and Bangladeshi backgrounds stands at 7.9% and 8.5% respectively.
Meanwhile, the Observer reports that the number of people aged 50-64 who are economically inactive in the UK has shot up to 3.6 million, a rise of almost 10% since before the pandemic.
CEO pay skyrockets: Average FTSE 100 CEO pay increased from £2.46 million in 2020 to £3.41 in 2021, according to a report by the High Pay Centre. Median CEO pay is now 109 times that of the media UK full-time worker, compared to 79 times in 2020. The highest paid CEO of a FTSE 250 company, Frederic Vecchioli of Safestore, was paid £17.06 million.
Enough is Enough grows: ASLEF, UCU and Power to the People Glasgow have affiliated to Enough is Enough, the campaign says.
TUC cost of living campaign: TUC is asking workers to visit their MPS on 14 October at their constituency surgeries “spell out what the cost of living crisis really means”, Unison says. On 19 October there will be a rally and lobby of MPs at Westminster.
Unite community organising: Unite is also launching a campaign to organise people within their communities, the union says.The campaign is kicking off with a billboard campaign in “key battleground seats”.
POLITICS AND POLICY
Civil service mass redundancies: Ministers are planning to reduce redundancy pay for civil servants while cutting 91,000 Whitehall jobs, the Guardian reports.
Idle comments: Liz Truss, the favourite to win the Conservative Party leadership contest and become the next prime minister said in a leaked recording that British workers need “more graft” and lack the “skill and application” of foreign rivals, the Guardian reports.
GIG ECONOMY
Uber pay: Uber will increase rates in London by 5% and at different percentages in other cities, GMB says.
WINS
Stagecoach win: Stagecoach drivers working from the Aldershot depot have won a 13% pay increase and those at Guildford have won a 12.57% increase, Unite says.
North West bus drivers pay offer: Arriva North West workers have secured an 11.1% pay increase following sustained industrial action, GMB and Unite say.
Sick pay win: 19,000 workers working for Keir Group on highways and construction have won sick pay of up to £100 from the first day they are off sick, Unite says. The workers were previously only entitled to statutory sick pay.
Southwark cleaners brought in-house: Cleaners working at Southwark Council will be taken in-house, the IWGB says in a tweet.
Marking boycott ends: Queen Mary University workers have called off their marking boycott after securing a 21% increase in London Weighting, a commitment on no pay deductions in August and a commitment to joint work on pay, conditions and pensions, the university’s UCU branch says in a tweet. Management did not agree to overturn July pay deductions or to withdraw the deductions policy.
Prestwick dispute ends: Prestwick Airport workers have ended their dispute after agreeing a deal including a 6.5% wage increase, two extra days annual leave, a one-off £250 payment and the introduction of the real living wage (£9.50 per hour) as a minimum, Unite says.
Mid Ulster council win: Mid Ulster council workers have called off their dispute after winning a two point increase on their pay scale and a one-off £750 lump sum, Unite says. A pay dispute exists across all eleven councils, the NI Housing Executive, Education Authority and other education providers over the 2021-2022 NJC pay award.
British Airways pay deal: British Airways workers have secured a 13% pay deal, including a lump sum worth 5% of wages in August, a consolidated 5% increase in September and a 3% consolidated rise in December, Unite says.
NHS rebanding: Thousands of healthcare assistants across Manchester have received up to £5,000 in backdated earnings as Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust has agreed to move them from band 2 to band 3, Unison says.
LEGAL
No prosecution for P&O: The Insolvency Service has decided to not prosecute P&O ferries following the firing of almost 800 workers earlier this year, according to a government press release.
Conservative furlough fraud: Former Conservative officials in Gloucestershire have been referred to HMRC over an alleged furlough fraud after they made furloughed staff work while receiving Covid support payments, the Mirror reports
Forced out by excess work: An employment tribunal has found that a Lincolnshire hospital worker was unfairly constructively dismissed after she was forced to leave by being given an excessive workload during the pandemic, The Lincolnite reports.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Shipping company fined: Portico shipping has been fined £200,000 after a port worker was crushed to death between two containers, BBC reports.
Death at waste plant: Hills Waste Solutions has been fined £190,000 for health and safety breaches after a contractor died when he fell seven metres while carrying out maintenance work, Materials Recycling World reports.
WHAT’S COMING UP
Ongoing: Bosch Rexroth Glenrothes strike every Monday and Tuesday and overtime ban every day
Ongoing: Foinaven Floating Production, Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) workers on strike
22 – 29 August: Budweiser workers at Samlesbury site on strike
22 August - 11 September: Cleansing workers strike at Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council
23, 26 and 29 August: Red Funnel ferry workers on strike.
22 August, 4 - 19 September: Birtley Group and Bowater Doors workers on strike
24 - 28 August: AQA workers on strike
22 - 30 August: Edinburgh Waste & Recycling workers on strike
22 - 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
22 - 29 August: Coop Funeral Care workers on strike
24, 31 August: Metal Improvement Company workers strike in Chester
25 August: Dundee university workers start continuous strike action.
26, 31 August, 14 - 15 September: Reach Plc journalists on strike
26 - 29 August, 7 - 10 September: refuse worker strikes across several Scottish local authorities
26, 27 & 30 August: Post Office workers on strike
26 August: Close of Unison higher education strike ballot across the UK, except Scotland
26, 31 August, 8, 9 September: Royal Mail workers on strike
27 August - 3 September: Newham refuse workers on strike
30 - 31 August: BT Group workers on strike
31 August: Start of refuse workers strike in Windsor and Maidenhead.
6 - 7 September: Burnley College, The Manchester College, City of Liverpool College, and Oldham College staff on strike
9, 12, 23, 26 September: Wandsworth parking attendants on strike
15 September - 13 October: RCN strike ballot
26 September - 7 November: PCS national strike ballot
27 October - 25 November: Unison NHS strike ballot
FEEDBACK
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