Strikes and lock-outs

Tim Roache has been elected General Secretary of the GMB, Britain’s third largest trade union. He succeeds Paul Kenny, who has stepped down after 10 years in the position, and who courted controversy recently by accepting a knighthood. Roache won with 57% of the vote to his opponent Paul McCarthy’s 43%. Both men are former Regional Secretaries, powerful positions in the GMB which are appointed, rather than elected. Other candidates initially put themselves forward but later dropped out. Neither candidate would have represented any profound change of direction for the union, although Roache is...

On Wednesday 18 November, ninety library workers across Lambeth in South London walked out of work to protest the Council’s refusal to listen to concerns over libraries closures, including controversial plans to turn three libraries into fee-charging gyms run by Greenwich Leisure Limited. The strike was unofficial. No formal ballot or notification of strike had been held. Library workers in Lambeth have criticised their national union, Unison, for delaying their request for a ballot. However even without bureaucratic delays the hoops that unions are required to jump through to get legal...

Junior doctors in the BMA (British Medical Association) have voted by an overwhelming 98% for strikes over the unfair and unsafe new contracts, on a turn out of 76%. The huge ″yes″ vote and turnout will be a huge boost to morale for doctors and others campaigning to save the NHS. Already the press is hunting for the one or two doctors who will not strike to speak out, yet the junior doctors′ dispute has a lot of public support. The BMA set the dates for strikes in advance of the ballot result, and has confirmed the dates now as 1, 8 and 16 December. Doctors will provide emergency-only care on...

UCU and Unison members in FE colleges struck on 10 November in a dispute over an imposed pay freeze. In the last six years FE lecturers have seen their pay decrease in real terms as employers have offered a series of below-inflation pay rises — totaling less than 3% since 2009. Both unions are also seeking a guarantee that workers won’t be paid below the living wage. The pay freeze comes in the context of ever tightening budgets for FE colleges, with many colleges having already gone through many rounds of course closures and redundancies. Workers held picket lines at colleges on the morning...

SOAS Unison branch secretary Sandy Nicholl has been suspended from his job, leading to staff and student protests for his reinstatement. Sandy spoke to Solidarity : SOAS students have been in occupation for over three weeks against threats to cut up to 180 courses, one third of those on offer, as part of a £6.5 million annual cuts package. These cuts could see up to 50 academic jobs going together with a similar number of support staff posts. The students also oppose the proposals by SOAS to sign a new contract extending the outsourcing of the cleaning staff, demanding instead that these...

Workers in Further Education will strike on 10 November after college bosses have imposed a pay freeze. As report in Solidarity 381, both UCU, representing lecturers, and Unison, representing support staff, have voted for strikes as college workers have seen their pay decrease in real terms for six years. The pay freeze comes in the context of ever tightening budgets for FE colleges, with many colleges having already gone through may rounds of course closures and redundancies. The UCU FE executive passed a motion on 17 October which, as well as setting the date for the strike, called for a...

Belgian trade unions are mobilising against ruling class plans to “do a Thatcher”, cutting pensions and workers’ rights, and removing the automatic link between inflation and wage increases. Following the election of a right-wing Flemish nationalist dominated government last year, Belgian trade unions — divided by political affiliation and linguistic groups — formed a common front and conducted a wave of national demonstrations and regional strikes culminating in a highly effective and well supported general strike on 15 December. The trade union bureaucracy then entered into long and...

Rank-and-file London Underground workers’ bulletin Tubeworker is calling for Tube unions to reinstate industrial action in disputes over jobs, pay, and Night Tube. Tube bosses derailed negotiations by restating a pay offer unions had already rejected. The RMT’s pay claim is for a four-day, 32-hour week for all grades and a pay rise that keeps pace with increases in the cost of living. Unions previously suspended strikes after 24-hour running (“Night Tube”) was deferred, but with talks faltering, many activists are calling for a return to action. Agency workers continue quest for justice Agency...

Workers in Further Education colleges will strike on Tuesday 10 November as bosses impose a pay freeze. UCU members in Further Education voted 74% in favour of strikes after the Association of Colleges rejected the union′s claim for a £1 per hour pay rise. Unison members also voted to reject the pay freeze, voting by 95% in favour of strikes. The college bosses’ association instead recommended that all colleges impose a pay freeze. In the last six years FE lecturers have seen their pay decrease in real terms as employers have offered a series of below-inflation pay rises — totaling less than 3...

Service controllers on the Waterloo and City Line on London Underground (LU) have been fighting for regrading. They struck from 28-30 September. One of the activists spoke to Tubeworker. What’s happening to us is part of a wider picture. London Underground is cutting staff in a variety of areas, and our experiences – of essentially being promoted to more responsible roles, involving more work, without that being reflected in our pay – mirror what’s currently happening to station staff. They’ve picked on us particularly because we’re a small unit, but if we can win our fight for justice it...