GMB

General, Municipal and Boilermakers' Union

Industrial news in brief

Cleaners on the Tyne and Wear Metro have struck for the twelfth time in their battle against poverty wages. The strike took place on 24 January. Strikers lobbied a meeting of the Labour-led Integrated Transport Authority to demand that it forces the private company which runs the Tyne and Wear Metro (and which contracts its cleaning work out to another private firm, Churchills) to pay living wages. Workers currently earn just £6.19, and also used the strike day to set up a soup kitchen in Newcastle city centre to highlight the poverty conditions into which low pay is forcing them. Cleaners...

Industrial news in brief

Honda job cuts Car manufacturer Honda will cut over 1,000 jobs from its plant in Swindon, with 800 permanent and 325 temporary staff set to go. Unite officer Tony Murphy said: "It's a tragedy for our members and their families. There's no doubt these cuts will have a significant knock-on impact on the supply chain, and on local shops and services .That is why we intend to save as many jobs as possible. "Unite will oppose any compulsory job losses. We expect Honda to negotiate meaningfully with the union in order to mitigate the impact of these cuts. Unite will be meeting with our local union...

Ford: occupations can stop the closures

Nearly a month after the announcement that Ford was axing 1,500 jobs (closing its Southampton Transit Van plant, and cutting jobs at the Dagenham stamping plant which supplies it), there are still no details of a high-profile, public campaign against the closure from Ford unions. Shop stewards, conveners and union officials have been conducting negotiations with management. Unions are in a difficult position, particularly as Ford is attempting to bribe workers by offering handsome severance packages; but they must go on the offensive to stand any chance of saving jobs. In a context of job cuts...

Thousands march against Ford closure

20,000 workers marched to protest job losses at a Ford plant in Genk, Belgium, on Sunday 11 November. 4,300 workers face losing their jobs, and workers at the plant had previously responded to the announcement by blockading the factory gates. Sunday’s demonstration saw the campaign turn out to the wider community, as well as mobilising Ford workers from plants in Germany. A delegation from Belgium had visited Ford’s European headquarters in Cologne, where they held a demonstration of around 100 workers. Although the demands of the union leaderships behind Sunday’s demonstration are timid, a...

Remploy workers fight on

Over a fortnight since their last 24-hour strike (22 October) workers in the Remploy factory in Springburn (Glasgow) are still waiting to find out the fate of their workplace. At the time of the last strike RLink had been awarded ‘preferred bidder’ status for the Remploy factories in Springburn and Chesterfield. The Springburn workers’ strike had been to demand clarification from RLink of its intentions and to oppose any attack on their terms and conditions. RLink had already announced its intention of withdrawing union recognition, axing 30 jobs, and cutting terms and conditions of employment...

Jobs massacre at Ford

Ford has announced plans to close two UK plants, with unions putting estimates for the resulting job losses at around 2,000. Unite leader Len McCluskey said that union thought that 10,000 further jobs along Ford’s supply chain could also be threatened. “Ford has betrayed its workforce”, he said. “Unite is going to fight these closures. This announcement has been handled disgracefully. Only a few months ago Ford was promising staff a new transit model for Southampton in 2014.” The transit van factory in Southampton and the stamping plant in Dagenham are set for closure, with transit van...

Industrial news in brief

Members of teaching unions NUT and UCU at K College in Kent struck for half a day on Monday 8 October as part of a battle to save 145 jobs. The workplace is spread over six campuses and has more than 25,000 students. College bosses want to make cuts to shrink an £11 million deficit. 57 jobs have already been lost, and workers fear that campuses in Ashford and Dover could be sold off altogether. Staff walked off the job at 1pm and held pickets and protests at college sites. Tesco jobs fight Delivery drivers for Tesco based in Doncaster could strike for 48 hours from 18 October. Drivers’...

Industrial news in brief

Street cleaners in the richest borough in London will vote on whether to strike, with action likely to take place on 29 October if the strike vote wins a majority. The workers, who are employed by contractor SITA in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, are paid £7.85 an hour — less than the £8.30 that even Boris Johnson admits is the minimum amount necessary to live a decent life in the capital. Their pay is also significantly lower than other workers working for contractors in London Boroughs; street sweepers in the City of London earn £8.30 an hour. According to GMB, the union which...

Fighting low pay in retail

The GMB union has been conducting a campaign of demonstrations outside Next stores to highlight the issue of low pay at the high-street clothing retailer. The union is demanding a pay increase for all staff, who are currently paid at the national minimum wage of £6.19 (for workers aged 21 and over). GMB wants workers to be paid at least £7.20 an hour, the “living wage” for workers outside London. A recent trading statement from Next showed that they expected a profit increase of between £10 and £15 million, taking profits for the year to January 2013 up to £620 million. Next makes profits of...

Workers unite in food factory campaign

British and Polish members of the GMB at the Cranswick Country Foods factory near Hull have been involved in three days of industrial action over a proposed 20-30% pay cut by factory owners. The workers who have a permanent contract have also been subject to an 8 year pay freeze, while inflation has risen by 42%. The workers went on strike on 29 of August, and again on 6 and 7 of September, before returning to negotiations with management. Speaking at Hull & District Trades Council one striking worker said: “The bosses are asking us to work twice as fast while cutting our wages by a third...

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