Privatisation

Cleaners employed by the contractor Churchill on multiple train companies across the south east of England will strike again on 12-14 March. Their strike on 23 February was the largest cleaners’ strike in mainline railway history. The next walkout will extend the action to 48 hours. The cleaners are demanding a pay increase to £15 per hour, and a company sick pay scheme, although RMT’s ultimate demand is for jobs to be brought in-house, guaranteeing parity of terms and conditions with directly-employed staff, including pensions and staff travel benefits. An RMT statement said: “Churchill’s...

Striking security guards at Great Ormond Street Hospital held a rally on Friday 4 March, with a further rally planned on Friday 11 March, as the strike nears its full 44 days. The rally heard speeches from striking workers and supporters from a variety of unions, including RMT, whose members’ strike on London Underground had concluded the previous day. A delegation from the United Voices of the World union (UVW), including a striking GOSH worker, had visited the RMT picket line at Oxford Circus station. The rally marched from the hospital to the offices of the GOSH charity to call on the...

The National Executive Committee of our union, PCS, will discuss the Russian war on Ukraine at its meeting on Wednesday 9 March. The motion that will be tabled is a straightforward condemnation of Russia’s invasion and a call for Russian withdrawal. It’s possible amendments will be tabled, but I haven’t picked up any pushback from any quarter within the union against that position, so I hope that the union’s formal position, once agreed, will be unambiguous. The motion also calls for the UK to open its borders to refugees. Our consultative ballot for action over the cost of living crisis is...

Striking security guards at Great Ormond Street Hospital in central London marked the 24th day of their planned 44-day strike, on Friday 25 February, with a rally at the hospital, which was addressed by strikers and supporters from throughout the labour movement, including John McDonnell MP. The strikers, who are employed by outsourced contractor Carlisle, are demanding parity with directly-employed NHS workers terms and conditions. Their strike is the longest strike in NHS history. The rally came after GOSH spent £40,000 to pursue a legal claim resulting in an injunction that prevented the...

Negotiations between bosses at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) in central London and the United Voices of the World union (UVW) have blunted some of the sharper edges of a high court injunction obtained by GOSH to restrict pickets by striking security guards at the hospital. The injunction had prohibited strikers and supporters from “waving banners”, “playing music”, “shouting”, making “rapid or dramatic movements”, making “loud noises”, engaging in “vigorous dancing”, or “photographing or videoing” within 200 metres of the hospital. Following negotiations, the area in which the injunction...

Following an emphatic yes vote in the strike ballot, ATOS which is a private company. undertaking civil service work, have now made a revised offer to members. As a result, activists have asked that the strike action due on 28 February be suspended. That request has been agreed as members consider the improved offer. This again shows that members working together can achieve decisive changes in attitude from the employers. This is also what we will happen following the national consultative ballot which began on 24 February. All our public sector members are being balloted, mostly digitally...

Bosses at London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital have obtained a High Court injunction to block striking security guards from effective picketing. The order prevents strikers and supporters from “waving banners”, “playing music”, “shouting”, making “rapid or dramatic movements”, making “loud noises”, engaging in “vigorous dancing”, or “photographing or videoing” within 200 metres of the hospital. Breaching the conditions could lead to criminal charges. Outsourced security guards are striking to win parity with NHS workers’ conditions, and had held lively rallies and picket lines at the hospital...

Our members in Atos have returned a firm majority in their ballot for industrial action over pay. On a turnout over 62%, nearly 90% of members voted to take strike action and just over 98% for action-short-of-strikes! The first action is scheduled to begin on 28 February, with plans for escalating action if their demands aren’t met. PCS members who work for Fujitsu Services have voted by 77.1% to take strike action and by 90.7% to take action short of a strike on a turnout of 80.4%. Again the dispute is over pay. The union’s national consultative ballot for industrial action over pay and the...

As we continue to prepare for our national consultative ballot (14 February to 21 March) for action on the cost of living crisis, PCS members are also fighting local disputes. Two groups of members employed by private sector employers who hold civil service contracts are balloting for industrial action over pay, at Atos and Fujitsu. Our members at the British Council are also balloting for action to resist staffing cuts. The British Council’s income collapsed during the pandemic and it is seeking to recoup its budgetary deficit by cutting jobs. It has refused to rule out compulsory...

The Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) security guards’ strike kicked off on 3 February with a lively demo at the entrance to the hospital, and is set to go on for the next six weeks (the longest continuous strike in NHS history). The security guards, the majority of black and Asian backgrounds, organised with UVW, are striking against outsourcing, calling it out for the racist discrimination it is, and demanding equality with directly employed NHS staff in conditions and pay, particularly sick and maternity pay. The security guards are employed through Carlisle Support Services, owned by...