Fastest fall in pay on record - Nurses and teachers prepare ballots - Labour won’t help
18 - 24 July 2022
Two figures published last week give us a real insight into the state of work in the UK in 2022. The latest ONS figures show that real pay is falling at the fastest rate since records began, while an All-Party Parliamentary Group quoted research that found that 68% of working-age adults in poverty live in a household where at least one adult is in work.
It is in that context that the government announced public sector pay awards that fall far below the latest 11.8% RPI and 9.4% CPI inflation figures.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has responded by moving directly to a full ballot for industrial action for its tens of thousands of members in the NHS in England. The National Education Union is also gearing up for action and preparing an indicative ballot for September.
They will be joining the hundreds of thousands of workers that have already successfully voted for action or have announced ballots, including postal workers, telecoms workers, rail workers, college and university workers, civil servants and local council workers (keep an eye out tomorrow for the results of the Scottish local government strike ballot).
But the Labour Party’s response to the pay offer could not be more different. Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves said that if they were in power, they would not be offering a better pay deal than the current government.
Read on for more updates, including a victory for holiday pay in the Supreme Court, Liz Truss’s plans for worker rights, and 17,000 care workers earning below the minimum wage.
But first, here’s the RCN director for England explaining why strikes are a matter of public safety.
DISPUTES
Nurses ready strike ballot: Tens of thousands of nurses in England will be balloted for strike action, following the government’s NHS pay offer, the Royal College of Nursing says. It is not clear if the ballot will be aggregated or disaggregated and no dates have yet been announced, but the union is looking to hire fixed-term contract mobilisers to help get the vote out, according to a tweet by an RCN staffer.
This comes just before a report published today by Parliament’s Health and Social Care Committee, which says the NHS in England is short of 12,000 hospital doctors and more than 50,000 nurses and midwives.
The GMB says it will consult members on the NHS pay offer.
Teachers prepare for ballot: Teachers will also be balloted for strike action in the autumn following a 5% pay offer, the NEU says, with an indicative online ballot kicking off on 24 September. The teaching union has been signing up members through a platform to volunteer to help push out the vote, according to a tweet by the union. The union says that 2000 members signed up to volunteer in less than 24 hours. NASUWT also said previously it would be balloting its members if the government didn’t offer a significant pay offer.
Biggest strike mandate since TU Act: Royal Mail workers have voted by 97.6%, on a 77% turnout, to take strike action, CWU says. The results of the ballot of 115,000 workers make it the biggest mandate for strike action ever reached since the 2016 Trade Union Act was implemented, the union says.
This week CWU will be balloting Royal Mail workers again, in a separate dispute over changes to terms and conditions, according to a tweet by the union.
Meanwhile, the three day strike by Royal Mail managers has been suspended to allow talks to resume, Unite says.
National college strike: Staff at 29 colleges have voted in favour of strike action, increasing the total number of further education colleges with a strike mandate to 39, UCU says. The ballot result comes after the employer body, the Association of Colleges, refused to improve its 2.5% pay offer.
University workers strike ballot: More than 20,000 workers, including administrators, cleaners, security and catering staff, across 93 universities will be balloted for strike action, following a 3% pay offer by the University and Colleges Employers Association, Unison says.
Coordinated action: PCS plans to talk to other unions about “organising co-ordinated national strike action” in response to the public sector pay offer, its General Secretary Mark Serwotka says. Last week, PCS announced it would be balloting its public sector members.
Liverpool docks ballot: Over 500 Liverpool dock workers employed by Peel Ports subsidiary MDHC are being balloted for strike action over the company’s failure to make a decent pay offer and to pay a bonus agreed in 2021, Unite says. The last offer was a 7% pay increase, which is below the Retail Price Index, currently at 11.7%.
Surrey refuse strike: Elmbridge and Surrey Heath refuse workers will strike for three weeks over August, GMB says.
Rhondda Cynon Taf refuse strike: Refuse workers at Rhondda Cynon Taf could go on strike on 30 July, BBC reports.
TSSA reballot: TSSA will reissue ballots for strike action at West Midlands Trains, Greater Anglia, Northern and TransPennine Express, the union says.
DHL strike vote: DHL employees working at Spirit Aerosystems sites in Northern Ireland are voting for strike action following a four percent pay offer, Unite says.
Qualifications strikes: There are two strikes on the horizon among workers in qualifications authorities. Staff at exam board AQA will stake a 72 hour strike from 29 July, Unison says, while Unite is moving forward with a strike ballot for workers at the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
Prestwick Airport living wage dispute: Prestwick Airport workers have voted for strike action after management refused to shift allowances and meet the Real Living Wage rate for new starters, Unite says.
Ballot over depot closure: Chester-le-Steet Go North East workers are voting to strike over plans to close the town’s bus depot, Unite says. The ballot closes on 28 July.
PAY
Real pay falling at record speed: Real pay excluding bonuses has fallen at the fastest rate since records began in 2001, the Office for National Statistics says.
Carers paid below the minimum wage: A Government analysis estimates that more than 17,000 jobs in care pay below the minimum wage, The Health and Social Care Committee says in a new report out today.
Employment Bill needed to tackle in-work poverty: The APPG on Poverty’s latest report recommends a series of measures to tackle in-work poverty, including the introduction of the Employment Bill, that the government pay at least the Real Living Wage to public sector staff and to ensure social security is adequate. Around 68% of working-age adults in poverty live in a household where at least one adult is in work, the highest figure since records began.
MLM for Phds: Phd students funded by the Natural Environment Research Council at the University of East Anglia have been sent an email suggesting they consider selling multi-level-level marketing products, pet-sitting or joining clinical trials to cope with the cost of living crisis, the Guardian reports. The students are on a £15,600 a-year stipend.
Queen Mary underpays: Queen Mary university has been underpaying its lowest paid staff, including cleaners, porters, catering, security and library staff, by up to £500 a year, the university’s Unison branch says.
POLITICS AND POLICY
Truss could scrap worker protections: Unions warn that Liz Truss’s plans to scrap EU laws by 2023 if she becomes Prime Minister could impact EU-derived worker protections, the Guardian reports.
Labour won’t pay more: Labour would not offer public sector workers a higher pay rise than what the government is offering, Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves says in an interview with the Daily Mirror. She also rejects the idea of a universal basic income.
Scab law challenge: Unison says it will challenge in the courts the new government law allowing the use of agency workers to break strikes. The law came into force last week.
Green candidates back repeal of union laws: Three Green Party deputy leaders candidates have signed a pledge supporting the repeal of the UK’s anti-trade union legislation, Bright Green reports.
LEGAL
Full holiday pay for term time-only teachers: Teachers on term time-only contracts and workers on similar arrangements have a right to the same annual leave as their colleagues working all year round, according to a Supreme Court ruling, the Guardian reports. The judgement could open the doors for teachers on these contracts to claim back pay on holidays they are owed.
Disability discrimiantion: A disabled IT manager has been awarded more than £30,000 by an employment tribunal, after his manager complained he was too slow evacuating the office during a fire drill, the Mirror reports.
WINS
Bumper pay deal at Lerwick port: Lerwick port workers have secured a pay deal worth between 34% and 38% and an increase in pension contributions by the employer, Unite says.
Stagecoach Merseyside pay increase: Stagecoach workers in Merseyside have called off their strike after securing a pay increase to £14 per hour for drivers backdated to March (£14.20 from January 2023) and an increase of 10.3% for engineers (with a further 1.45% from January 2023), Unite says. In the second year of the deal, which comes into effect from March 2023, all workers will receive an increase in line with the Retail Price Index (RPI) or two per cent, whichever is the greater.
Commonwealth Games agreement: The Musicians’ Union, Equity, Bectu and the TUC have signed a deal to ensure all artists and creatives who work during the Commonwealth Games are paid fairly, that the games support the long-term health of the creative sector in the Midlands and actively promote diversity, Bectu says.
Sainsbury’s HGV win: Around 200 Sainsbury’s HGV drivers at Sainsbury’s have secured a 12% pay offer, Unite says.
Refuelling pay rise: Aviation Fuel Services workers at Heathrow airport have won a 12.5% pay increase backdated to April and an increase to the weekend overtime rate, Unite says.
Check-in cuts reversed: British Airways check-in staff have secured a 13% pay increase, which covers the 10% pay cut that was introduced over the pandemic, Unite says.
Sick pay for refuse workers: Bristol refuse workers have won eight weeks full sick pay, and eight weeks half pay, Bristol Unison says.
Sandwell pay deal: Unite and GMB members have voted to call off the Sandwell refuse strike following a pay offer. Unite says the workers voted for a 9% pay increase and an additional five days annual leave for some workers.
MODERN SLAVERY
Modern slavery victims failed: The former Independent Anti-Slavery Commisioner says in her final annual report that in 2021 the average time a victim waited for a conclusive grounds decision was 568 days and some victims have been waiting since 2016 for a decision. She also raises concerns about the impact on victims of the New Plan for Immigration and the Nationality and Borders Bill.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Firefighters at risk: Shortages of Firefighters has meant employers have had to ask people to give up leave to assist in responding to wildfires and other incidents, the Fire Brigades Union says. In recent days there have been a number of injuries to FBU members, including hospitalisations, the union says. 11,500 firefighter jobs have been slashed since 2010, the union’s general secretary, Matt Wrack, says.
British Steel death: The Health and Safety Executive is investigating the death of a 27-year-old British Steel worker in Scunthorpe, who fell from a crane, the Lincolnite reports.
WHAT’S COMING UP
Ongoing: Coventry refuse workers on strike
Ongoing: Bosch Rexroth Glenrothes strike every Monday and Tuesday and overtime ban every day
Ongoing: Arriva North West workers on strike
25 July - 7 August: Bexley refuse workers on strike
25 July - 21 August: Mid Ulster District Council refuse workers on strike
25 July, 4-8, 12 -15, 19 - 22, 25 -29 August: Saint James Tavern workers in Brighton on strike.
26 July: Instagram Live Q&A with solicitor Raj Chada on new anti-protest laws
26 July: End of Unison Scotland, Unite and GMB local government strike ballot
26 - 27 July: Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust outsourced workers on strike
27 July, 18 & 20 August: RMT members across the rail network are on strike
27 July: Avanti West Coast workers on strike
27, 29 July, and 2,4,8,10 and 12 August: VFS Southampton workers on strike
28 & 29 July, & 26 & 30 August: CNH Industrial workers on strike in Basildon
28 - 29 July, 4 - 5, 8 August: Sandwell refuse workers in Unite, Unison and GMB on strike
29 - 31 July: AQA workers on strike
29 July, 1 August: BT workers on strike
29 - 31 July: UK Hazards Conference
30 July: Aslef members at eight rail companies and on strike. TSSA members at Great Western take action short of a strike
1 August - 19 August: Elmbridge and Surrey Heath refuse workers on strike
19 August: Close of Unison higher education strike ballot in Scotland
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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