UNISON

The public services union

NHS workers need unity in action

The second day of ambulance strikes on 11 January was a success, with Patient Transport, cleaners, admin workers and call-takers joining emergency crews for this round. Solidarity from the public was again strong, and looks good too for the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) strikes on 18-19 January, at workplaces that did not come out in the first RCN round The next ambulance strikes are on 23 January, 10 February, and 22 February. The RCN has called strikes for 6-7 February in acute, specialist and ambulance trusts, in a positive step up from the current round. The refusal of the unions to co...

Unison NEC elections

Workers’ Liberty members are involved in the Time For Real Change network in Unison, which won the majority on the National Executive (NEC) 18 months ago. The nomination period for new NEC elections opens on 9 January and closes 13 February. We urge Solidarity readers in Unison to push TFRC nominations in their January or February branch meetings. Candidates are listed here , and a guide to how branches nominate is here . The NEC ballot runs from 17 April to 19 May.

Ambulance workers strike 21 December

Ambulance workers striking on 21 December are mainly in Unison or GMB, with union affiliation varying mostly by geography. There are also small pockets of Unite members. We argue for joint action, support for workers who respect each other’s picket lines and joint strike committees. This is the same pay dispute as with Unison, Unite and GMB in the rest of the health service. These workers are on the general NHS pay system, Agenda for Change. These are kind of "vanguard" strikes on behalf of broader health workers, on the basis that Unite and GMB balloted only ambulance Trusts and Unison...

Support and spread the NHS strikes!

The Tories have run the NHS into the ground in order to pave the way for further privatisation. Waiting lists are soaring, staff are leaving, and there are 132,000 vacancies in NHS England alone. The system is chronically underfunded, with patients’ safety in jeopardy. Strikes are planned on 15 and 20 December by the RCN, on the 21st by Unison, GMB and Unite ambulance worker branches, and on 28th again by the GMB. With the exception of the 2015-16 junior doctors' dispute, they are the first significant national strikes in the health service for over 30 years. These strikes need to be the start...

NHS pay: push for united action

Across the country health workers have voted for strike action in unprecedented numbers. The average vote for strike among Unison members was 88%. However, Unison got the 50% turnout threshold only in five ambulance Trusts: NW, NE, SW, London, and Yorkshire, plus three hospital Trusts, Liverpool Acute, Liverpool Heart and Chest, Liverpool Uni. Ten Trusts which got over 45% are being re-balloted; other branches can put forward case to re-ballot, and members are pushing for this in some areas. GMB members in nine ambulance Trusts: SE Coast, SW, South Central, East Mids, West Mids, Yorkshire, NE...

UCU: don’t wind it down!

After three days of strikes (24-25-30 November) and a demonstration in London, members of the University and College Union are now working to contract in “action short of strike” (ASOS). The last strike day, 30 November, coincided with the first pay negotiations since the last round in Spring 2022 concluded with an offer of just 3%. Pay talks would not usually start until March 2023, and the fact that employers are prepared to talk now shows they are worried. The five Higher Education unions (UCU, Unison, Unite, GMB, and EIS) have agreed to urgent negotiations between now and 31 January in an...

Universities to strike again in February

Thursday 24 and Friday 25 November saw a national strike by University and College Union (UCU) members in Higher Education. A third day of strike is set for 30 November, with a national demonstration in London which will march to the office of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), the employers’ representative in pay talks. UCU is demanding “a meaningful pay rise to deal with the cost-of-living crisis as well as action to end the use of insecure contracts and deal with dangerously high workloads”. Many branches are also in dispute over cuts by employers to the USS pension...

Nurses to strike 15 and 20 December

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has called its first strike dates, on 15 and 20 December, kicking off what will hopefully be a string of NHS strikes. 176 Trusts across the UK crossed the threshold in the strike ballot and have a legal mandate for action. Of those that got over the line in England, less than half will be taken out on strike in December. The union is in the process of establishing strike committees which will, among other things, determine derogations: the members that will be exempt from action and asked to keep a minimum service running. This is a very important decision —...

NHS unions should coordinate

Unison’s NHS pay action ballot closed on 25 November but as of 29 Nov Unison is yet to announce the results. Early indications suggest union leaders are wobbling. Unison Scotland is recommending members accept a new below-inflation offer just £250-350 more than was previously rejected. Unite is consulting on that offer without a recommendation. GMB is recommending their members reject the offer but have suspended strikes by Scottish ambulance workers that were due to start on Monday. All this dithering and backsliding must delight the Tory and SNP governments. The RCN and RCM have still to...

Labour expels top union figures

Sign the statement protesting against the Labour leadership's attempt to ban Workers' Liberty here Labour’s new lead in the opinion polls has encouraged the unreconstructed Blairites who now run Keir Starmer’s office to push further to make the Labour Party ultra-safe for capitalism. Labour has expelled Andrea Egan, president of Unison, and Martin Mayer, formerly a Unite rep on Labour’s National Executive. The charges are risible: “liking” social media posts from Socialist Appeal (Egan) and Labour Against the Witchhunt (Mayer), many years ago, when (even if you think the current bans are right...

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