Government attacks unions & workers - Junior doctors ballot - Brewdog H&S breach
19 September - 2 October 2022
This week we are covering a fortnight after being off last Monday, and it has been a fortnight with huge developments for the world of work. When not busy dreaming up economic policies that end up crashing the pound, the new conservative government has been preparing a raft of anti-union and anti-worker legislations.
Alongside these announcements, there seems to be little movement to resolve the ongoing disputes the government is engaged in. Instead, with the exception of the barristers industrial action, many of these disputes seem to be escalating, with civil servants starting to vote on their ballot, junior doctors announcing their own strike vote in January and more strikes among rail workers.
Read on for this, but also ONS statistics that confirm we just had a Hot Strike Summer, a sacked strike leader winning interim relief, and Brewdog getting into hot water with the health and safety regulator.
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
Doctors ballot: The BMA junior doctors committee has voted to ballot members for industrial action from around 9 January, it says. The committee will now request approval from the BMA council to move forward with this action. The doctors’ union says that the government’s failure to make efforts to restore junior doctors’ pay has left them with “no choice”.
Unite is formally balloting NHS workers in Wales from mid-October to mid-November, the union says.
The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy is also preparing to launch a strike ballot in November, the organisation says.
Rail strikes: Rail workers were on strike over the weekend, with RMT and TSSA members expected to strike again on 8 October, and ASLEF on the 5th. TSSA members in Cross Country will also take strike action on 5 October, while those on GWR will strike on 6 and 7 October.
Unite members employed in electric control rooms joined the strikes over the weeknd and will strike again on 8 October, the union says.
TSSA is also balloting members at Govia Thameslink Railway, the union says.
Posties back out: Royal Mail workers were on strike last week and will be taking a further 19 days of strike action in the build-up to Christmas, the CWU says. The union says the action follows management’s attempts to change workers’ terms and conditions and side-line union representatives in future decision-making processes.
Cleaners, maintenance engineers and related admin workers at Royal Mail have also now voted in favour of strike action, CWU says.
University ballots: Unite is balloting 2000 members at eleven Scottish universities for strike action, the union says. The ballot concludes on 21 October, the same day as the UCU’s ballot of workers across 150 universities. EIS has also announced a ballot of its members in Scottish higher education.
Unison members have already started strike action across several UK universities, the union says.
Outsourced security officers at UCL have voted to strike over pay and union recognition, the IWGB says. The union says that despite a majority of workers being members of the IWGB, university and subcontractor Bidvest Noonan are refusing to recognise it.
Scottish teachers ballot: EIS will ballot teachers in Scotland for strike action, the union says.
Colleges on strike: Staff in colleges across the UK are taking strike action, following a 2.5% pay offer, UCU says.
Liverpool port strike intensifies: The Liverpool dock workers strike is growing as senior control room operators and control room operators are joining the industrial action taken by port operatives and engineers, Unite says.
All out action at Hull Stagecoach: More than 250 Stagecoach bus drivers, cleaners, engineers and commercial assistants will take all out strike action until 29 December over an 8.7% pay offer, Unite says.
Sunderland bus strikes: Almost 200 Stagecoach bus drivers will walk out for five continuous days from 11 October until midnight on 15 October after pay talks broke down, GMB says.
Defensive action: Workers at French defence and aerospace company Thales have voted to strike in Northern Ireland after the company offered a 5% pay increase and a non-consolidated one-off payment of £500, Unite says.
Transatlantic flight disruption: United Airlines workers based in Heathrow are voting to strike after the company offered a 5% pay increase, Unite says.
Floored: Almost 200 workers at Manchester floor company Polyflor Ltd are striking for three weeks over pay, GMB says.
Insecure banking: Security guards employed by Bidvest Noonan and working at HSBC’s head office have taken strike action after being offered a 2% pay increase, Unite says.
Ambulance strike ballots: Almost 750 North East Ambulance Service workers and 1,500 Yorkshire Ambulance Service workers are voting on possible strike action in response to the government’s proposed 4% pay award, GMB says.
Housing strike extended: Walsall Housing Group workers are extending their strike action into next month, GMB says.
West Midland Metro strike: Workers employed on the West Midland Metro are taking 52 days of strike action in a dispute over pay, Unite says.
Petrofac strike ballot: Around 140 workers at oil and gas company Petrofac are voting on industrial action after they rejected a 3% pay offer from the company, Unite says.
ABC strike suspended: The six-week long Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon (ABC) bin strike has been suspended as workers vote on a new pay offer, GMB says.
USDAW staff strike: USDAW union staff represented by the GMB were on strike last week over the union’s proposed 3.5% pay deal, The Herald reports.
Reach Plc dispute ends: Reach Plc journalists have voted to accept a pay deal that see some of the lowest paid receive a 14% to 44% pay increase, but many others receive only 3%, the NUJ says.
Criminal Bar offer: The Criminal Bar is balloting members on the government’s latest offer, but industrial action continues, it says.
POLITICS AND POLICY
Government anti-union and anti-worker plans: The new chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng vows to make striking harder by introducing minimum service levels in transport and forcing unions to put every pay offer to a vote before strike action can be called, according to his speech last month.
He also plans to tighten benefit rules for part-time workers, requiring them to work longer hours or to take steps to increase their earnings, the Guardian reports.
Prime Minister Liz Truss also said on Sunday that it would seek to exempt firms with up to 500 staff from new regulation, the Guardian reports. The TUC says this would mean these firms no longer have to report on gender pay gaps and executive pay ratios.
Mixed messages on immigration: The government is also being accused of giving mixed messages on immigration policy, with Kwarteng saying a new plan would be announced that would support growth, while Home Secretary Suella Braverman says there are too many low-skilled migrants, the Guardian reports.
ONS confirms Hot Strike Summer: In June 2022 and July 2022, there were 70,500 and 87,600 working days lost, respectively, as a result of labour disputes, which is nearly four times as many as the 2019 monthly average of 19,500 days, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics.
Agency workers cover judicial review: Eleven trade unions have launched a judicial review of the government’s regulations allowing agency workers to fill in for striking workers to break strikes, the TUC says.
Companies support 4 day week: 86% of companies participating on the ongoing 4-day week pilot in the UK are likely to retain the working practice, according to a survey by the 4 Day Week Global.
Living wage increase: The real living wage has increased to £10.90 across the UK and £11.95 in London, the Living Wage Foundation says.
LEGAL
Interim relief for sacked rep: An employment tribunal judge has ordered a Brighton pub to pay the wages of a summarily sacked union rep until there is a final decision on his dismissal, United Voices of the World says.
What a pair of bankers: An employment tribunal has ordered a couple of bankers to pay their former nanny £7,000 after they reported her to the police with allegations she faked her CV, Metro reports.
Sex discimination at charity: An employment tribunal has ordered the British Deaf Association to pay £36,000 to a mother that was forced to quit her role in the organisation after she had a child, Metro reports.
Police whistleblower victimised: An employment tribunal has found that a former police officer was ostracised by colleagues, verbally abused, assaulted and then unfairly sacked after he complained that standards of work in a 'toxic' gun licence vetting unit were putting the public at risk, The Manchester Evening News reports.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Twenty-one died at work: Twenty-one people died as a result of fatal injuries at work between April and June 2022, according to the latest data release from the Health and Safety Executive.
Trouble is brewing: The Health and Safety Executive has given Brewdog an improvement notice after it found it in breach of health and safety regulations, The Press and Journal reports.
Care home death: The Health and Safety Executive is bringing a prosecution against a Bristol care home and its manager following the death of an 18-year-old in 2014, according to a press release.
Unsafe lifting campaign: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will carry out 1,000 inspections in the construction sector over the next two months in a bid to tackle aches and pains caused by unsafe lifting operations, Construction News reports.
WINS
Scotland local government deal: Scottish local government workers have voted to accept a deal that includes a £2000 increase for those earning up to £20,500, £1,900 for those earning less than £39,000 a year, backdated to 1 April 2022, Unite and GMB say.
14.3% increase for Welsh buses: Workers at First Cymru in South West Wales have won a 14.3% pay increase and have called off their strike action, Unite says.
Arriva and RATP bus drivers win: Arriva workers have called off their strike after the workers secured pay deals, including an 11% pay increase in North London, 11.1% in Hertfordshire and 10.4% in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, Unite says.
Over 1,600 London United/RATP bus drivers in North and West London have also secured a deal including a pay increase of 10%, with a 9% increase backdated to 4 December 2021, Unite says.
Northern Ireland council win: Ards and North Down council workers have called off their ballot after winning a one increment pay grade increase and two hardship payments of £666 gross to eligible employees, GMB says.
College pay increase: Staff at Croydon College have won a pay award including an 8% increase for those earning under £25k will see their pay rise by 8%, and 5% for those earning between £25k and £40k, UCU says.
SQA win: Workers at the Scottish Qualifications Authority have won a £1,700 uplift for those earning up to £30,000 and a 5.9% increase for all other job gradings, Unite says.
Free travel for outsourced workers: TfL cleaners, catering and security staff have been given the right to free public transport in the Capital, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan says.
WHAT’S COMING UP
3 October: Newham refuse workers strike
3 - 5 October: Felixstowe port strike
3 - 9 October: OCS workers strike at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Trust
3 - 14 October: Polyflor Ltd workers strike
3 - 14 October: Alexander Dennis Limited workers strike
3 - 17 October: Liverpool dock workers strike
3 - 13 October: Unison members strike across UK universities
3 - 31 October: Northern Ireland Housing Executive strike
4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 October: Quorn workers strike
5 October: ASLEF members at 12 companies strike and TSSA members at Cross Country on strike
6 - 7 October: TSSA members at GWR on strike
6, 10, 20 and 24 October: BT and Openreach workers on strike
6,7,10, 11 October: Arriva workers in Kent strike
6 - 20 October (not continuous): Strikes at colleges across the UK
6, 13, 20 and 27 October, 3, 10, 17 and 24 November 2022: Honeywell workers on strike
6 October - 2 November: RCN strike ballot
7 October - 29 December: Hull Stagecoach workers strike
8 October: Rail strikes by members of TSSA and RMT
11 October: Monthly unemployment figures
11 - 15 October: Sunderland Stagecoach bus drivers strike
12 October - 8 November: EIS industrial ballot of Scottish teachers
12, 14, 17, 21, 24 and 28 October: Walsall Housing Group workers strike
15 October - 5 January (not continuous): West Midland Metro workers strike
18 - 20 October: TUC Congress
21 October: UCU ballot of 150 universities and Unite ballot of 2000 Scottish university workers end.
27 October - 25 November: Unison NHS strike ballot
2 November: TUC mass lobby of parliament
7 November: End of PCS civil service strike ballot
10 November: Announcement of results of PCS civil service strike ballot
FEEDBACK
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