Sick and out of work at all time high - Work injury compensation claims halve in a decade - More than 20,000 ambulance workers balloted
10 - 17 October 2022
In last week’s The Week in Work I highlighted how the UK was the only developed country where the number of people dropping out of the labour force kept increasing post-Covid and this week official statistics confirm the situation is only getting worse.
The Office for National Statistics has published figures showing the number of people who are economically inactive because they are long-term sick has increased to almost 2.5 million, a record high. But while workers are 30% more likely to report being made ill by their work over the last decade, Hazards magazine has found that in that period compensation claims have halved.
The consequences of our low pay, high sickness economy can be felt across the economy, with essential sectors such as social care now facing six-figure shortages.
Read on for this, but also ambulance workers getting ready to strike, the biggest ballot of teachers in a generation, and an employment tribunal forcing Pizza Pilgrims to reinstate a union activist.
But first, Dissent magazine’s brilliant Belabored podcast recorded a panel I organised with three generations of labour reporters: the BBC’s Nicholas Jones, the author of Work Won’t Love you Back, Sarah Jaffe, and Novara Media’s Polly Smythe. We discuss the rise and fall of labour reporting, and the decline of journalism jobs more broadly. You can listen to it here.
DISPUTES
Ambulance strikes: Almost 20,000 ambulance workers from London, East of England, East and West Midlands, North East, Yorkshire, North West, South Central, South East Coast, South West and Wales Ambulance trusts are voting on strike action, GMB says.
Unite says it is balloting a further 2,700 ambulance workers across England.
Rail strike ballot renewal: RMT is balloting 40,000 members at Network Rail and train operating companies to extend their strike mandate for another 6 months, the union says.
Biggest teacher ballots in a generation: The National Education Union will this week start a formal strike ballot for members at Sixth Form Colleges, the union says. It will also announce dates for ballots of school teachers and support staff, which it says will be the largest in a generation.
Scottish teachers ballot: The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) has opened a statutory strike ballot over teachers’ pay in all 32 council areas across Scotland, the union says.
Cuts at Royal Mail: Royal Mail says it may need to cut 10,000 roles by next August, blaming strike action by workers and the continuing decline of its core business, the Guardian reports. The CWU says it wants an urgent meeting with the board where it can present an alternative business plan.
More disputes on London buses: Over 2,500 bus workers employed by Metroline in London have begun balloting for strike action in response to pay offers as low as 5.5%, Unite says.
Package deal: Almost 1,000 GMB members at DS Smith, who make packaging for brands including Brewdog, Pepsico and KP snacks are voting to strike following an offer of a 3% consolidated increase and a non-consolidated payment of £760, GMB says.
Heathrow shut down: Over 700 workers employed by Dnata and Menzies and working at Heathrow are voting on strike action following an offer of a real-terms pay cut, Unite says.
ASDA drivers strike: Drivers employed by Wincanton on the ASDA contract have voted to strike after being offered a 7.4% pay deal, Unite says.
Environment Agency ballot: Environment Agency workers are being balloted for strike action by Prospect and Unison, the unions say.
Liverpool port workers escalate dispute: Nearly 600 Liverpool port workers will take two more weeks of strike action, Unite says.
Delivery strike: Around 350 workers at Arrow XL who deliver for retailers including Amazon, LG Electronics and Richer Sounds, will take strike action in a dispute over pay, Unite says.
Woolwich Ferry strike: Woolwich Ferry workers have announced five days of strike action later this month after the employer refused to negotiate over the pay deal and suspended workers on the service, Unite says.
Passes pulled: Stagecoach has revoked free bus passes given to drivers’ family members in Sunderland during the duration of the dispute, GMB says. The 200 bus drivers have announced further strike days.
Shell contractors take action: More than 100 Kaefer maintenance and repair contractors based at Shell’s Mossmorran plant and the St Fergus gas terminal are being balloted for strike action, Unite says.
Alstom industrial action: More than 70 train maintenance workers at Alstom’s Derby site will strike over pay and take action short of a strike in the form of an overtime ban in response to the company’s 4%pay offer, Unite says.
Tyne and Wear Metro strike: More than 50 Tyne and Wear Metro engineers are striking and implementing an overtime ban after their employer Stadler Rail Service Ltd offered a 4% pay rise, Unite says.
In a pickle: More than 50 workers at Mizkan Euro in Rochdale, which produces brands such as Branston Pickle, Sarson Vinegar and Haywards Pickled Vegetables, are taking strike action over pay, Unite says.
Luton strikes: Around 80 staff employed by GH London Ground Handling at Luton airport are being balloted for strike action over the delay of a £500 recruitment and retention bonus until February 2023, Unite says.
NEU strike: 22 National Education Union workers have taken strike action over the union’s failure to pay them London weighting allowance, Unite says.
Hackney Library cuts: Hackney Library workers have voted in favour of strike action in an indicative ballot and could move to a full strike ballot, the Hackney Unison branch secretary tells The Week in Work. He says the ballot was over proposals to cut 19 Full-Time Equivalent posts, which could result in as many 40 people losing their jobs, as many are part time. (more info here). A petition calling on the Mayor of Hackney to stop these cuts has amassed over 800 signatures.
POLITICS AND POLICY
Nurses can go abroad: Health Secretary Therese Coffey says the government has done enough on nurse pay and nurses can go abroad for better paid jobs if they want, since “we also have an open route for people to come into this country who are professional staff”, the Evening Standard reports.
JOBS AND PAY
Sick and out of work at all time high: The number of people who are economically inactive (not in work and not seeking work) because they are long term sick has risen to an all-time high of nearly 2.5 million, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics. Regular pay is also down by 2.9% in real terms.
Most businesses impacted by shortages: Three-quarters of businesses have been impacted by labour shortages over the last year, according to the Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) employment trends survey.
Record number of vacancies in social care: The number of vacancies in the social care sector increased by 55,000 to 165,000 this year, the highest rate since records began, according to the most recent report by Skills for Care.
Barista shortage: Pret a Manger is raising its minimum wage to £10.30 an hour as the workload for baristas increases and amid worker shortages, the Guardian reports.
1,000 journalist redundancies: The total number of redundancies among journalists this year in the US, UK and Ireland is likely to exceed 1,000, Press Gazette reports.
LEGAL
Second UVW interim relief win: An employment tribunal has ordered Pizza Pilgrims to reinstate waiter and union activist Ben Gray until a decision is reached on his unfair dismissal and trade union victimisation claim, United Voices of the World (UVW) says. The judge states that there was a “high certainty” that Gray could prove in a final hearing that he was unfairly sacked for his union activities. This is the second time in recent weeks that a UVW member is granted interim relief and is reinstated.
Failure to consult: Welsh contractor WRW Construction, which collapsed last year and failed to consult its employees over redundancies, has been ordered to pay its former employees compensation by an employment tribunal, Construction News reports.
LGBT discrimination: A gay Vodafone store worker has won £30,000 in compensation after a male manager asked her, "how do lesbians have sex?", Yahoo News reports.
Covid vaccine dismissal: An employment tribunal has dismissed a case brought by two care home workers who claimed they were unfairly dismissed by North East Autism Society after refusing to take the Covid-19 vaccine, Third Sector report.
WINS
Bus builders approve pay deal: Alexander Dennis Limited workers have accepted a 7.7% deal and called off strike action, Unite says. The company, where Unite represents over 400 bus and coach builders and spray painters, also committed to introduce a bonus structure.
Stansted pay deal: Stansted Airport workers have called off their dispute after securing an 11% pay offer over a year for the lowest paid and 10% for other grades, plus a £250 one-off payment, Unite says.
AA strike called off: American Airlines aircraft maintenance workers have called off their strike action after securing a three-year deal worth 19%, Unite says.
Retention bonus for care workers: Derbyshire County Council care workers will receive a retention bonus, following a Unison campaign, according to a tweet by a local councillor.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
More injuries but less compensation: The number of settlements for workplace injury and disease registered with the Compensation Recovery Unit have halved to 44,435 since the Conservative government came to power, despite a sharp increase in work-related ill health, according to Hazards magazine. The drop comes despite Health and Safety Executive (HSE) figures indicating that in 2009/10, workers were 30% less likely to report being made ill by their work compared to 2020/21.
Construction death: An 18-year-old has been arrested after a worker died at a construction site in Eaglescliffe, The Northern Echo reports.
Wiltshire gas leak: Wiltshire chemicals company GEA Farm Technologies UK was fined £40,000 following a chlorine gas leak which led to workers needing hospital treatment, the Salisbury Journal reports.
MODERN SLAVERY
Fashion workers paid pennies: Workers in China making clothes for fast fashion branch Shein are paid as little as 3p per garment and work 18 hour days, the i reports.
Home Office classifies slavery as an illegal immigration issue: The Home Office has taken the modern slavery brief away from the minister responsible for safeguarding and classed it as an “illegal immigration and asylum” issue, the Guardian reports.
WHAT’S COMING UP
Ongoing: Dundee university workers strike
Ongoing: Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council workers strike
17 October, 24 October - 7 November: Liverpool dock workers strike
17 - 31 October: Northern Ireland Housing Executive strike
18 - 20, 25 - 26 October: Mizkan Euro strike
18 October - 15 November: RMT rail strike ballot
18 October - 11 November: NEU Sixth Form College strike ballot
19 October - 11 November (not continuous): Arriva Kent strike
20 and 24 October: BT and Openreach workers on strike
21 October, 4, 11 November: First Group workers strike in Somerset and Cornwall
17 - 20 October (not continuous): Strikes at colleges across the UK
20 and 27 October, 3, 10, 17 and 24 November 2022: Honeywell workers on strike
17 October - 30 November (not continuous & different departments): Strike action at Royal Mail
17 October - 29 December: Hull Stagecoach workers strike
17, 21, 24 and 28 October: Walsall Housing Group workers strike
17 October - 5 January (not continuous): West Midland Metro workers strike
17 October: Start of Barnet Council housing repairs workers strike
17 - 18 October: Abellio East Midlands workers strike
17 - 19 October: Falmouth University workers strike
17 - 29 October: Hinduja Global Solutions workers at the Disclosure and Barring Service strike
18 - 20 October: TUC Congress
20 - 21 October, 3-4, 17-18 November, 1-2, 15-16 December: Offshore drillers and contractors strike
21 October: Start of continuous strike at Arriva Northumberland
21 October: UCU ballot of 150 universities, Unite ballot of 2000 Scottish university workers and EIS ballot of Scottish higher education workers end.
22 - 30 October: Magistrates Courts workers strike
24 - 28 October: Woolwich Ferry strike
24 October - 24 December (every Monday Wednesday and Friday): Arrow XL strike
24 October - 29 November: Ambulance service strike ballot
22 October, 6 November: Avanti West Coast strike
26 - 30 October: National Coal Museum strike
31 October: Unison NHS Scotland strike ballot ends
27 October - 18 November: Unison NHS Northern Ireland strike ballot
27 October - 25 November: Unison NHS England and Wales strike ballot
27, 28 October: Alstom strike in Derby
28 - 31 October: Sunderland bus strike
28, 31 October: Movianto workers strike
2 November: RCN strike ballot ends
2 November: TUC mass lobby of parliament
7 November: End of PCS civil service strike ballot
8 November: End of EIS industrial ballot of Scottish teachers
10 November: Announcement of results of PCS civil service strike ballot
FEEDBACK
Did I miss anything? Email me on theweekinwork [at] gmail [dot] com.