Pay, hours, conditions

The BMA junior doctors′ council will meet on Friday 3 June to decide its response to the ″deal″ that the BMA has made with the government. I will be arguing for the council to reject the contract and to campaign for a “no” vote in the contract referendum. The proposed new ″negotiated″ contract for Junior Doctors has caused a great amount of debate and discussion. It has caused a certain amount of division. It highlights a clear demand from some to continue the fight. There are still important issues with the contract, particularly for part-time trainees, those who mainly work high intensity...

Sell tat online in the morning, write software in the afternoon, drive for Uber in the evening? The term "gig economy" was coined only in 2009, but now some are hailing it as the wave of a thrilling, versatile, flexible future. US economists Lawrence Katz and Alan Krueger have found that the percentage in "alternative work arrangements" - contractors, on-call workers, agency temps - rose from 10.1% to 15.8% in 2015, in the USA. Their figures may underestimate, since they include only those whose main work is "alternative". There are more "gig" workers in the 55-75 age bracket than in others...

In March, the University of Manchester announced plans to restructure its subsidiary company, UMC, making 46 redundancies in catering while moving the remaining staff on to “term-time only” contracts. This latter move would have meant cuts of about one third to their total pay. But now, as a result of solid negotiating by Unison, and agitation, occupations and disruption by students, management have backed down. There will be no compulsory redundancies, no loss of hours and no pay cuts. These victories in the fight against the university’s contemptuous treatment of its workers should embolden...

During the past year junior doctors have learnt a lot. From how to organise a picket and deal with the media, to contract law and equality impact assessments. On Wednesday 18 May, the Government taught us a lesson in media management. News of the deal at the government arbitration service ACAS broke, and the Government was able to shape the story. “The war is over”, “the deal is done”, “BMA agrees terms with NHS Employers”. It left a lot of junior doctors scratching their heads. Was that it? Had we just lost? Jeremy Hunt appeared on the news, and we thought, how could the BMA have done a deal...

Workers at the Rio cinema in Dalston are having their first day of strike action on Wednesday 25th May. They are campaigning to against proposals of forced redundancies, for a living wage, and for a commitment from management that they will continue and extend the progressive, community-focused programmes put on at the Rio. The Rio is one of the increasingly few independent cinemas left. For much of the 107 years since its opening, in 1909, the Rio has catered to its local community, and been a forerunner in showing progressive films. From its inception, it has been a key venue for the East...

On Saturday 14 May the BMA held a junior doctors′ conference, followed by a meeting of the junior doctors′ committee on the next day. It was hoped that these meetings would have heard the outcome of renewed negotiations held between the government and the BMA between 9-13 May. However a last minute agreement (brokered by Brendan Barber of all people!) to extend the talks for another week meant that junior doctors did not get a chance to give judgement on any proposed deal. An announcement from the negotiations is expected on Wednesday 18 May; at the moment it is impossible to tell what the...

UCU at the University of Nottingham is balloting for industrial action against threatened compulsory redundancies in the Faculty of Arts. The University that claims to be Britain's global university wants to reduce its offer in archaeology, and theology and religious studies, and close language courses including Dutch. 11.5 FTE posts are at risk. The student body is up in arms over the threat. They have organised several protests, a petition and a Facebook group: Resist Restructuring Nottingham. The proposed cuts come against a background of changes to the way students access student services...

Talks between the Department of Health, NHS employers and junior doctors representatives have restarted. The talks, offered by a Health Secretary who has up until now been resolutely refusing to talk, will happen over five days, ending on Friday 13 May. For the period of the talks the government has agreed to pause the imposition of the junior doctors contract. The fact that the talks are happening shows the Health Secretary feels unable to face down the mounting pressure on him. However the government has said nothing which indicates that they are willing to compromise on the key issue...

Train guards on Southern in the RMT union are set for further strikes after talks between RMT and Southern bosses collapsed. Workers are fighting the extension of “Driver Only Operation”, and resisting the de-skilling of the role of the guard, which the union says will have dire consequences for passenger service and safety on what are already some of Britain’s most overcrowded rail routes. Workers struck on 26 April, and further strikes are planned for 10-11 and 12-13 May. Southern management have conducted an intense campaign of bullying and intimidation against their staff, threatening to...

Unison members were shocked, or would have been shocked had they found the news buried on the Unison website (27 April), to find the Union has gone against the recommendation for strike action from the 2016/18 pay consultation and accepted the employers’ derisory offer. Once again accepting a two-year pay deal, meaning a rise of just 1% on the majority of spinal points, shows a complete capitulation without a fight. Former General Secretary candidate and head of Unison′s local government section Heather Wakefield said: “Having talked to members in local government across England, Wales and...