GMB

General, Municipal and Boilermakers' Union

Union leaders defend pensions sell-out

On Sunday 17 June, the local government conference of the public sector union Unison voted for a ballot of members over the new local government pensions deal. After six months of silence while negotiations with government were underway, Unison leadership is now encouraging its members to accept a deal which involves working until 68 and accepts a switch to a career average (rather than final salary) scheme. The ballot will run from 30 July-27 August, during the school holidays, when many Unison workers will be away from the workplace and unable to discuss the issue collectively. 22 emergency...

Water workers ballot for strikes

The GMB union will ballot its 700 members at Severn Trent Water for strikes, after workers rejected a 2% pay offer from management. GMB officer Gary Smith said: “This 2% offer is the lowest in the industry and is well below inflation. It is not acceptable to GMB members. “Severn Trent Water has just announced the payment of a special dividend of £150 million to shareholders over and above the £100 million paid in the normal dividends. “Severn Trent have also increased bills to customers by 5.2%, raising an additional £60 million which they have simply passed on to the shareholders.” The ballot...

Industrial news in brief

Cleaning workers at St. George’s Hospital have won the London Living Wage, as well as pushing back bosses’ plans for job losses and cuts. The cleaners, who are employed by Ocean Contract Cleaning Ltd., began their campaign defensively when bosses proposed a reduction in hours for all workers and lay-offs for some. Organising through the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), the cleaners began a campaigning of petitioning, leafleting, and protests, which soon built up enough momentum to not only stop the attacks but go on the offensive to win pay increases to the London Living Wage that Ocean...

Industrial news in brief

RMT and Unite have called off strike ballots of their members working for East Midlands Trains (EMT), leaving drivers-only union ASLEF as the only union in a position to take strike action in the immediate future. Workers are in dispute over changes to their pension scheme. According to the RMT, EMT bosses have made some concessions over how pensions contributions are calculated. They plan to put management’s new offer to their members with a recommendation to accept. Unite also called off a ballot of EMT maintenance staff, who were poised to strike over the Jubilee weekend. Until Unite and...

Council pensions: who decides?

Trade unions in local government have accepted a “deal” on pensions not very different from what we went on strike against on 30 November. The only actual “improvement” is on the increase in members’ contributions. Contribution rates will, for now, be unchanged for many workers, and lower for some part-time workers, though higher for workers on over £43,00 a year. Among other things, public sector unions have conceded that the retirement age will go up in line with state pension age (so if you're under 37 now that's likely to be 70), as well as the switch to a career average scheme, as opposed...

NHS workers under pressure, but fighting

Workfare schemes are being “piloted” at a number of hospitals including West Birmingham hospital, Frinnage Hospital in South Tees and Stockport NHS foundation trust. Untrained claimants are being forced into hospitals to care for the sick at the same time that paid staff are being served redundancy notices. However, there are also stirrings of worker resistance to these attacks. On 16 May, cleaners working for Carillion at Great Western Hospital, Swindon will strike as part of a long campaign against institutionalised bullying, discrimination and corruption. Carillion bosses made the workers...

Industrial news in brief

Forty-five workers at the Enterprise Distribution Centre, which unloads paper reels from incoming vessels at the Tilbury docks in Essex, struck on Monday 7 May, the first walkout at the docks since 1989. The workers, who are members of Unite, are striking against the arbitrary imposition of new contracts which could see them lose up to £2,500. Unite official Jane Jeffery said: “Members are annoyed at the complete lack of negotiation and consultation. Since the ballot for strike action, we have had no formal communication with the company. “We want to hold meaningful and genuine talks with the...

Industrial news in brief

550 workers could lose their jobs as British Gas plans to close its Southampton centre. The company says it needs to “reduce costs” and than an increase in online custom means fewer call-centre workers are needed. Rather than committing to oppose the plans, the trade union Unison – which organises some British Gas workers – has said only that it will “examine the company’s business case” for the closures, “with a view to avoiding compulsory redundancies”, and has lamely pointed out that workers “will need significant assistance from the company given the dire state of the economy if this plan...

Industrial news in brief

Workers at BMW’s Oxford plant have voted by 97% to oppose management’s latest pay offer. The consultative ballot, which was conducted by the Unite union, polled 2,000 employees. The pay deal included a basic increase of 2.21%, of which nearly 2% was contingent on working extra hours. Since the ballot, BMW bosses have offered further talks. While “welcoming” the talks, Unite has said it will press on with plans to move to a full ballot for industrial action to win a better deal. Unite officer Roger Maddison said: “There are more strings to this deal than a puppet show and the workers at BMW...

My life at work: How dare they call us “unskilled”?

Catherine Miller works in refuse collection for a major local authority in southern England. Tell us a little bit about the work you do. I work for a local council. My department is responsible for the refuse and recycling collections, and the street cleaning for the City. I work in the office as an administrator; I pay invoices, do the filing, provide admin support to the Project Officers... Do you and your workmates get the pay and conditions you deserve? Definitely not. I am on the same salary as the operational staff, as both their and my job is deemed “unskilled”, which I find quite...

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.