UAE workers beat Deliveroo - Fire and rehire council changes hands - Workers stuck in mine for weeks
2 - 8 May 2022
This week, I want to start the newsletter by highlighting a few big stories from outside the UK that I think deserve wider coverage, including Deliveroo riders facing down the company - and winning - in the United Arab Emirates, and a group of Zinc miners in Burkina Faso that have been trapped underground for weeks.
Also, in Sri Lanka, the worsening economic crisis has triggered a second day of general strikes, with workers demanding the government step down.
But there is also plenty happening in the UK: Local elections triggered some leadership changes at councils where workers have recently been on picket lines, ScotRail drivers are getting ready to strike for the first time in 20 years, and a worker has won a six-figure pay-out from the Ministry of Justice after being subjected to racist behaviour.
WINS
UAE Deliveroo riders stop cuts: Deliveroo has scrapped plans to cut wages in the United Arab Emirates after workers went on strike and “brought the food portal to a near standstill”, the National reports.
Northampton refuse workers win: Northampton refuse workers have called off their strike after voting to accept a new deal which sees loader and driver pay increased to £10 and £12 an hour, respectively, the GMB says. The two year deal will increase with inflation next year.
Filling up: Fuel tanker drivers employed by XPO who fill up Tesco petrol stations have won a 27% pay increase, lifting pay by an average of £12,000, Unite says.
Scottish bus wins: Unite has secured a 10% pay increase for Stagecoach Bluebird bus drivers in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, as well as an improved pay deal and an increase in sickness pay for First Glasgow workers, the union says.
GOVERNMENT AND POLICY
Council elections: Last week’s local council elections saw the Labour party lose control of Tower Hamlets council, a local authority notorious for using fire and rehire tactics on thousands of workers in the middle of the pandemic. Labour has held Tower Hamlets almost continuously, with only a few interruptions, since 1964.
Other councils involved in disputes, including Croydon, where a strike ballot is ongoing, and Worthing, where refuse workers recently won improved pay following strike action, also switched hands or moved to no overall control.
No employment bill: The Employment Bill is not expected to be included in the Queen’s Speech tomorrow, the Guardian reports. The report says the bill was expected to introduce protections against pregnancy discrimination, securing tips for workers and the creating of a single enforcement body.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Trapped miners: Eight miners have been trapped underground for weeks in a Canadian-operated Zinc mine in Burkina Faso. The government of Burkina Faso has now launched a judicial investigation and the mine’s managers have been banned from leaving the country, CBC reports.
Care workers underprotected: Unison and The Care Provider Alliance are calling on the government to reintroduce the adult social care infection control and testing fund, which ensures care workers get full sick pay while isolating, the Guardian reports. At least 2,700 care workers are currently absent with Covid in England, according to the national capacity tracker, but this is likely to be an undercount.
Crushed worker: A major goat milk producer has been fined £200,000 after a worker was crushed to death by a forklift-type truck, the BBC reports.
Investigation called off: Hampshire police have dropped an investigation into the death of a railway worker, The Southern Daily Echo reports. A Health and Safety Executive investigation is ongoing.
DISPUTES
ScotRail strike on the horizon: ScotRail drivers could be going on their first strike in 20 years, following a pay offer that was called “derisory” by Aslef, iNews reports.
Getting schooled: Six colleges in the North West are set to strike during the GCSE testing period in a dispute over pay, UCU says.
Queen Mary strike: Queen Mary university workers are on strike over the university’s threat to dock 100% of pay for each day of action short of a strike, the Queen Mary UCU branch has said on Twitter.
Commonwealth Games strike: GMB is threatening strike action over The Commonwealth Games unless Birmingham City Council resolves its equal pay dispute.
Bristol carers strike vote: Care workers, registered nurses and staff at Bristol care homes are being balloted for strike action over an ongoing dispute over fire and rehire, Bristol Live reports. Unison says the changes to their contracts would see sick pay and enhancements for working evenings and weekends “drastically cut”.
Scotland home closure: Care workers at Broomfield Court home are being balloted for strike action over their employer’s plans to close the home and make workers redundant, the Scotsman reports.
Buses on strike: More than 650 bus workers employed by Arriva in Yorkshire are being balloted for strike action in a dispute over low pay, Unite says. The company is offering the workers a 4.1% pay rise.
JCB delivery strike: DHL workers that deliver JCB parts between factories across the UK will strike over pay, GMB says.
Strikes ahoy: Around 80 Marine Scotland workers who protect Scotland’s fisheries and are also known as “Scotland’s Navy” have voted in favour of strike action, Unite says. The union also accuses the Scottish government of imposing a pay deal which could constitute an “illegal inducement”.
Possible Norwich council strike: Unite says it will ballot Norwich council workers for strike action in the next month in response to the council’s 4.2% pay offer.
Defensive strike: Workers have voted to strike at aerospace and defence company Langford Lodge in a dispute over pay, Unite says.
Brewdog’s mixed messages: In the same week Brewdog CEO James Watt has brought a private prosecution against a woman he claims was responsible “malicious” comments made about him on social media, and has pledged to give 5% of the company’s shares to an Employee Benefit Trust, the Guardian and the BBC report. Watt will hand over 1.25% of the company to the trust every year, but any employee that leaves the company before it floats on the stock exchange will have to give up the option to take shares, which will revert to the trust.
UCL outsourced workers dispute: Hundreds of UCL outsourced workers have launched a campaign to be brought in house, the IWGB says. The union says 135 security officers and 150 cleaners have signed petitions demanding an end to outsourcing.
Sacked by social media: A cast member of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella production writes in the Guardian about how she found out in the news, and not by her employer, that the show would be canceled and she would be losing her job.
LEGAL
Racism at the MOJ: A former civil servant has won a six-figure pay-out from the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) after she was subjected to insidious racism, writes the Independent’s Nadine White. In the almost 20 years she worked at the ministry she took it to court three times. She claims she was called racially insulting names by a manager, prevented from progressing her career, and had her out-of-work activities monitored.
Jump in claims over neurodiversity discrimination: Employment tribunal claims where workers claim they were discriminated against for being neurodiverse have increased from 70 in 2020 to 93 in 2021, according to legal firm Fox & Partners, Personnel Today reports.
Oh yes it is (holiday pay): Equity members have won a holiday pay claim against QDos Pantomimes (now Crossroads Pantomimes). The union says the decision will have ramifications for rogue producers across the sector.
MODERN SLAVERY
Care worker slavery: Two care agency owners living in North Wales were arrested and then released as part of an ongoing investigation into human trafficking offences in the care sector, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority says. Officers found the workers sleeping on mattresses on the floor in cramped, cold and unsanitary conditions.
COST OF LIVING
Capital earns more than work: Workers would be paid £2,100 more per year on average if wages had increased at the same rate as dividends given to shareholders, according to a report by the CommonWealth think tank.
On borrowed time: Two thirds of USDAW members have relied on borrowing to pay their everyday bills, with around half struggling with repayments, according to a recent cost of living survey by the union.
Loss of manufacturing: An analysis by the Labour party reveals that more than 130,000 UK manufacturing jobs have been lost since the start of the pandemic, the Mirror reports.
WHAT’S COMING UP
Ongoing: Coventry refuse worker strike
Every Friday and Saturday until 19 June 2022: London night tube strike
9 - 14 May: Queen Mary University workers on strike
9, 13, 16, 20, 23, 27, 30 May and 3 June: C2C rail line Alstom engineers strike
10 May: PSI Webinar “Profiting from Care: Structural problems in long term care”
10 - 12 May, 17 - 19 May, 24 - 26 May: Scottish college lecturers strike
10,12,17 & 19 May: Oxford MINI factory workers strike over pay
9 May - 15 May: Ards and North Down council workers strike
9 - 10 June, 5-6 July: FCA workers on strike
9 - 10 May: NEU staff on strike in London over disciplining of regional officer
10 - 13 May: Fire Brigades Union annual conference
11 May, 16 - 17 May: London bus strike
11 May, 14 May: Crown Bevcan strike in Carlisle
12 May: Panel discussion for launch of Autonomy’s “Universal Workers’ Rights” report
14 May: With Banners Held High festival in Wakefield
17 May: UK monthly unemployent figures
18 May: Workers in six colleges in the North West go on strike.
23 - 24 May: DHL workers on JCB contract go on strike.
24 - 26 May: PCS annual delegate conference
31 May: PSI Webinar “Government Responses to the Care Crisis”
FEEDBACK
Did I miss anything? Email me on theweekinwork [at] gmail [dot] com.