Strikes postponed over royal mourning - Deliveroo Supreme Court challenge - UK faces biggest fall in real wages in OECD
5 - 11 September
It is rare to have a week where not only do you have a new Prime Minister being sworn in, but also a new monarch. But that happened last week, with the result that several unions have postponed strike action and in one case a strike ballot.
In the meantime, anxiety is growing over what the government has in store for worker rights. For example, the person who has been appointed as the new business secretary, Jacob Rees-Mogg, has a long history of opposing employment protections.
Read on for this, but also Deliveroo being taken to the Supreme Court over collective bargaining, the UK facing one of the biggest falls in real wages among the OECD and an employment tribunal finally decides on the age-old question: Is football a religion?
And finally a shout out to my colleagues at my day job, where we have just signed a collective bargaining agreement with management.
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
Striked postponed: Several unions have delayed strike action and in one case a ballot in response to the announcement of the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
CWU cancelled its strike scheduled for last Friday, 9 September.
RMT cancelled its strikes scheduled for 15 and 17 September.
ASLEF cancelled its strikes scheduled for 15 September.
TSSA cancelled its industrial action scheduled for 17, 26 and 27 September
PCS cancelled its strikes in courts between September 10 and 18.
RCN postponed the start of its strike ballot
TUC postponed its annual congress
Reach Plc strikes suspended: Reach Plc journalists have also suspended their strike to consult members on the latest offer by management, the NUJ says. The ballot is set to close at noon on 23 September.
Laid off after strike vote: Almost 200 workers at floor company Polyflor have been laid off after voting to strike, GMB says.
New Royal Mail strike days: Royal Mail workers have added two more strike days on 30 September and 1 October, CWU says.
More rail ballots: TSSA is balloting hundreds of members at Govia Thameslink for strike action as part of their dispute over pay and conditions, the union says.
Prison staff strike vote: Around 500 education staff at 48 prisons and youth offender institutions are being balloted for strike action, UCU says. The workers, who are employed by Novus, have seen their pay fall by more than 25% since 2009, the union says.
Honeywell strike: Honeywell workers are going on strike after being offered a 2.75% increase for 2022 and 2023 and no pay rise in 2024, Unite says.
Beer deliveries affected: GXO drivers and draymen who deliver to around 4,500 pubs, clubs and bars in the South East are to strike over plans to close the company’s Dagenham depot, Unite says.
Casino strike: Grosvenor Casino workers were on strike this weekend over pay, Unite says.
Agency staff legal challenge: Unite will legally challenge Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council’s use of agency staff to cover for striking workers, the union says.
Aircraft technicians ballot: More than 50 aircraft maintenance technicians and crew chiefs working for American Airlines in Heathrow are being balloted for strike action following a below-inflation pay offer, Unite says.
Irish council workers strike: Workers at Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council have started all-out strike action after the council voted down an offer of two pay point increments and a lump sum to workers, Unite says. A similar pay offer was provided to workers at Derry City & Strabane and in Mid-Ulster District Councils.
More refuse workers inch closer to strike action: Waltham Forest refuse workers could be formally ballotted following a consultative vote in favour of action, GMB says. Ealing refuse workers are set to start a consultative ballot.
EA staff reject pay offer: Thousands of Environment Agency (EA) staff have voted in a consultation to reject the current pay offer, which includes a 2% increase plus a £345 consolidated increase, Unison says.
PAY
UK wage drop among highest in OECD: The UK has seen one of the biggest falls in real wages among countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation (OECD) in the last year, according to a report by the transnational body. Real wages dropped by 2.9% between 2021 and 2022, compared to a 2.3% drop across the bloc. Between the end of 2019 and the last three months of 2021, the rise in economic inactivity among those with lower levels of education was one of the highest among the OECD’s 38 member countries.
But collective bargaining could help: The report also calls for raising minimum wages and building strong support for collective bargaining to rein in the erosion of pay in light of the inflation spiral.
Call for £10.10 minimum wage in Jersey: Jersey’s Employment Forum has recommended that the minimum wage on the Island should be increased to £10.10 an hour from 1 January 2023, the BBC reports.
POLITICS AND POLICY
Business secretary opposes worker rights: The new secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, Jacob Rees-Mogg, whose role oversees employment legislation, has a long history of opposing worker rights, OpenDemocracy reports.
Dilution of worker rights could result in tariffs: Legal experts warn that the new Prime Minister’s plans to dilute EU-derived employment rights could result in tariffs being placed on the UK, the Guardian reports.
UK government reported to ILO: The TUC has reported the UK government to the International Labour Organization for attacks on workers’ right to strike, the trade union body says, including new rules allowing employers to use agency workers during strikes and quadrupling to £1 million the maximum damages that an employer can seek if a union’s action falls foul of strike laws.
Transport Secretary opposed ticket office closures: The new Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP is on record as opposing ticket office closures in her constituency, the RMT says.
DISCRIMINATION
Right to work checks: A refugee mother and her daughter are facing homelessness after the charity she worked for for seven years, Brothers of Charity, wrongly said she had no right to work in Britain, the Independent reports.
LEGAL
Deliveroo Supreme Court case: The IWGB is taking Deliveroo to the Supreme Court over collective bargaining rights, the union says. The IWGB is arguing that riders should be classified as workers for the purposes of Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Tribunal backlog leads to increase in settlements: The number of employment tribunal claims ending in disposal - meaning the claim has been withdrawn, settled, dismissed or decided at another court hearing - have increased by 114%, according figures from the Ministry of Justice. The figures could be a sign that the long backlog of tribunal cases waiting to come to court has led claimants to settle instead, Personnel Today reports.
Collective bargaining breach: An employment tribunal has found that rail employees were bypassed in collective bargaining negotiations when Virgin Trains illegally made an offer that had already been unanimously rejected, Employee Benefits reports.
Football is not a religion: A Rangers fan lost an employment discrimination case after the judge ruled that devotion to a football club cannot be classed as a religion, the Daily Record reports.
Hospital inspector whistleblower claim: A hospital inspector who was sacked by health regulator, the Care Quality Commission, after raising concerns about patient safety, inadequate inspections and bullying, has won an employment tribunal against his dismissal, the Guardian reports.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Teenager crushed by van: P&R Plant Hire and D Brown have been fined £324,000 and their managers have been handed suspended prison sentences for breaching health and safety laws after an 18-year-old worker was crushed by a van in 2018, Construction News reports.
Railway death: The Health and Safety Executive has launched an investigation after an engineer was killed at the Babbacombe Cliff Railway near Torquay, the Independent reports.
Life-threatening injuries: South Wales Police and the Health and Safety Executive have launched an investigation after a man was airlifted to hospital with life-threatening injuries following an accident at a print manufacturer in Cardiff, the BBC reports.
WINS
Cleaners win 16% pay rise: Latin American cleaners at Latchmere Leisure Centre in Battersea have won a 16% pay rise, following a vote in favour of strike action, United Voices of the World says.
Irish council win: Workers at Derry City and Strabane District Council have called off their strike after voting for an improved pay offer, Unite says. The deal includes a one-off payment of £500 and a fully consolidated two pay point increase worth approximately five percent – on top of the wider National Joint Council pay improvement.
Construction supplier win: Workers at construction supplies companies Birtley Group Ltd and Bowater Doors Ltd have called off their strike after they accepted a 9% pay increase backdated to January 2022, Unite says.
Real living wage at Ulster Uni: Ulster University workers, including cleaners, porters and security staff, have had their pay increased to the real living wage, Unison says.
Paid travel home: Dalston Superstore workers have secured a commitment from their employer to pay for taxis when travelling back home, according to the group’s Instagram account.
Improved pay banding at schools: The North West and West Yorkshire Academy Trust have put in place a new salary banding which means people who do the same job across its 15 schools will receive the same pay, which will be the living wage at a minimum, Education Executive 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
Ongoing: Dundee university workers strike
Ongoing: Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council workers strike
12 September - 16 November (not continuous): Baker Hughes workers on strike
12 - 16 September: Cab Auto workers on strike
12 - 13 September: AQA workers on strike
16, 20, 30 September: Arriva bus workers strike in Kent
12, 23, 26 September: Wandsworth parking attendants on strike
12, 16, 19, 23, 26 and 30 September: Walsall Housing Group workers strike
13 - 14 September: BEIS outsourced workers on strike
13 - 17(morning), 27 - 29 September: Venator Material workers on strike
15, 22 & 29 September, 6, 13, 20 and 27 October, 3, 10, 17 and 24 November 2022: Honeywell workers on strike
19 September - 3 October: Liverpool dock workers on strike
22, 23, 26, 29, 30 September, 3 October: Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) workers on strike
26 September - 7 November: PCS national strike ballot
30 September - 1 October: Royal Mail workers on strike
19 October: TUC mass lobby of parliament
21 October: UCU ballot of 150 universities ends
27 October - 25 November: Unison NHS strike ballot
FEEDBACK
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