GMB

In the week of 6 February, we have had the biggest strikes in the NHS dispute so far, with RCN members in 73 Trusts, GMB ambulance workers, physiotherapists and Unison ambulance workers all coming out. There are possibilities for escalation. Some Unison branches that did not reach the threshold are starting to push for reballoting, and the BMA strike ballot closes on 20 February. However, the RCN leadership has called off strike action in Wales to consult on a feeble offer. They also suspended strikes in Scotland for negotiations. The Welsh government has offered an additional 1.5% plus 1.5%...

The next NHS strikes are on 6-7 February, when members of the RCN from acute, specialist and ambulance trusts across England and Wales will come out. This will be the biggest action in the health dispute so far. GMB ambulance members will be striking along RCN members on the 6th. The physiotherapy union, CSP, will strike on 7 and 9 February, and Unison ambulance workers again on 10 February. We need to ensure the picket lines in this next round of action are full of talk about a strategy that can win. That means escalating strikes and co-ordination between the unions. The leaderships of all...

The best that can be said for the NHS unions industrial strategy is that there is plenty of scope for escalation. RCN members in 73 NHS Trusts struck on 18-19 January. The RCN has live strike ballots in 177 Trusts, but none of the workers who struck before Christmas were called out for this second round, and none of the Scottish Trusts have struck. Ambulance workers in London, Yorkshire, the North West, North East and South West organised by Unison struck on 23 January alongside Unison members in two Liverpool hospital Trusts (which had had RCN but not Unison members on strike the week before)...

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...

Amazon workers at the BHX4 warehouse in Coventry have voted by a 98% majority, on a 63% turnout, for strikes to win a £15/hour minimum wage. An Amazon worker and GMB union activist spoke to Solidarity about the campaign in the workplace. (The interview was conducted prior to the announcement of the ballot result.) What's your experience of working for Amazon? I started working for Amazon back in 2014, firstly as an agency worker at BHX1, which is the infamous fulfillment centre in Rugeley, Staffordshire, and then came to BHX4 as a permanent member of staff when it opened in July 2018. Over my...

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...

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...

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 —...

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...

From 14 November, the industrial action at the Jacobs factory in Liverpool Aintree was increased to all-out permanent strike. This decision by the workers follows managements refusal to increase the pay offer and the company’s decision to shift production to one of their European plants in an attempt to undermine the strike. The site in Liverpool has been operating for more than 100 years and is the main UK production site for the owner, Pladis, Pladis has 34 factories in 14 countries.it employs over 17,000 people. 800 people work at the Liverpool plant. Workers at the plant, who are members...