GMB

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...

Plumbers and heating and ventilation engineers in the Unite union have overwhelmingly rejected a below-inflation pay offer, with their union threatening to move to an industrial action ballot unless the offer is improved. The Building and Engineering Services Association (BESA) is offering a two-year deal with a freeze in the first year and a 1.5 percent increase in the second year, despite what Unite calls their “healthy profit margins and order books”. Workers rejected the deal by a margin of nine to one. BESA employers are the same contractors behind last year’s attempt to comprehensively...

Workers involved in a long-running battle with contractor Carillion at Swindon’s Great Western Hospital (operated under a Private Finance Initiative) took the fight to Portsmouth’s Queen Alexandra Hospital (QAH) on Tuesday 18 September. Carillion managers at QAH have been accused of the same bullying and harassment practises against which the Swindon workers have taken 21 days of strike action. One Carillion manager from Swindon also works one day a week at QAH. GMB Regional Secretary Paul Moloney said: “We are not anywhere near resolving this dispute at Swindon. The company has yet to meet...

Cleaning workers on East Coast and London Midland rail routes became the latest cleaners to launch strikes for higher pay when they walked out on Monday 10 September. The cleaners work for contractor ISS, and are paid marginally above the minimum wage (between 42p and £1.42 more). Cleaners at depots in Northampton, Bletchley, and King’s Heath (which are all operated by London Midland) have already struck for 24 hours. The workers have not received a pay increase for three years, and are demanding a living wage. Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime, and Transport workers union (RMT...

Workers at Sheffield’s five household recycling centres have recommenced industrial action after deeming management’s latest offer unacceptable. The action, which aims to reverse cuts to the services’ budget and opening hours (leading to working hour and therefore pay cuts for workers), began earlier this year. 28 days of strikes by GMB members forced Sheffield Council and Veolia/SOVA (the private contractors which operate the centre) into negotiations over the cuts. Affected staff at the sites have found themselves economically devastated by reductions in hours; since many of them are barely...

An industrial bulletin for workers at Lambeth Council, featuring articles on the fight against playground closures, the pensions battle, and police racism. Click here to download PDF.

I was on the picket line at the Remploy factory at Trentham Lakes, Stoke-on-Trent on Thursday 19 July. About 50 people braved the rain to show their solidarity, with banners from the striking unions Unite and GMB, as well as UNISON, CWU, PCS, North Staffordshire Trades Union Council and North Staffordshire Against Cuts. Representatives of several other unions were also there to show their solidarity - including NUT, Musicians' Union, and the ceramic workers' union Unity [sic]. Local Labour MPs Joan Walley (Stoke North) and Rob Flello (Stoke South) came along to show their support, as well as...

More 500 members of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) on Virgin Trains’ West Coast line are balloting for strikes to win the reinstatement of sacked colleague Martin Hodges. Martin was summarily dismissed by management, who allege a “poor timekeeping record” dating back to 2010. But TSSA officer Tom Condon said the sacking “was the first we had heard about [the timekeeping problem] — he has been our rep for five years.” Activists believe Martin was sacked because of his union work. TSSA leader Manuel Cortes said: “Our rep, Martin Hodges, was fired for simply carrying out his...

Recycling workers and their supporters met in Sheffield on Thursday 5 July to discuss the status of their dispute, after workers suspended their indefinite strike action on Wednesday 4 July. Scab labour and strike-breakers were employed during the strike. Whilst no-one was willing to speak on-record, there is an allegation that SOVA, the private company which runs the recycling centres for the council, made use of its charity division which works with ex-prisoners. Some of these may have been used as used as scabs, with the suggestion that their normal positions were under threat if they didn...

The GMB union has launched a landmark legal challenge against contractor Carillion, after evidence emerged that it had been involved in large-scale blacklisting of trade union activists in the construction industry. The case is part of a wider labour movement campaign on the issue, blown open by the revelation in January 2012 that the shadowy “Consulting Association”, a data collection company used by numerous construction industry contractors, was holding files on over 3,000 workers containing information that could only have come from the police or other security services. Meanwhile, GMB...