Unite

Over a thousand at London RMT rally

Probably over a thousand people packed into the Save London Transport rally organised by the RMT on 31 August. The main hall at the TUC headquarters was packed, there was an overflow room and people were struggling to get in. No doubt a lot had come to see and hear left-wing US Senator Bernie Sanders. In addition to RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch, we also heard heard from John McDonnell MP, a CWU Royal Mail striker, a disability rights activist and representatives of sister London transport unions ASLEF, TSSA and Unite (among others). The turnout was not the only good thing about the rally...

Debate on Unite under Sharon Graham

We have been debating Sharon Graham's record so far as General Secretary of Unite the Union, and the issues it raises for the union and the wider labour movement. We will post more articles here as they are published. If you'd like contribute to the debate, email awl@workersliberty.org . For our position and debates on the contest in which Graham was elected last year, see here . For our ideas on transforming Unite, see here . • Sharon Graham: posturing and demagogy in place of struggle? (Ann Field) • Sharon Graham: quotes out of context (Mark Simon) • We were right to back Sharon Graham...

We were right to back Sharon Graham

Two recent articles have offered different assessments of Unite's activity since Sharon Graham was elected as general secretary.

Scottish council workers force improvements

Local government workers’ strikes in Scotland have already brought some improvements in the below-inflation pay offer from the councils. Before the strikes started the councils upped the offer from 2% to 3.5%. Then, on 19 August, to 5%. On 29 August they shifted further, to (a dodgy version of) the £1,925 flat-rate offered in England. Unite has rejected the latest offer, Unison is consulting members while recommending rejection, and strikes set to start 6 September are still on. As of October, the Institute for Fiscal Studies reckons that the lowest-income 20% will be facing an 18% price...

Sharon Graham: quotes out of context

• Debate here . Ann Field, in her article 'Sharon Graham and Labour: posturing and demagogy in place of struggle?' , builds her argument like a badly constructed dry stone wall: by the time the edifice is finished, it only takes a gust of common sense to bring it down. The stacking of quote upon quote from the press is used by Field to build her argument, but no adequate context is given. For example, Sharon Graham is criticised for her position on the Coventry bin strike, when Unite members were facing a Labour Council that were using their own ‘at arm’s length’ private waste disposal company...

Local government £1,925 flat “pay rise” is a real-wage cut

Unite has already stated it rejects the local government pay offer (a flat pay rise for £1,925 for every scale point). The GMB has not made its position clear. Unison has launched a consultative ballot (closing 19 September). The Unison National Joint Council (NJC) committee has made no recommendation to members. We hear that the right wing on the committee wanted to recommend acceptance. Previously Unison had said that the union would move to straight to an industrial action ballot. On receiving the pay offer the union dropped that and went for consultation. Under the rules of the...

Arriva strike: could it spread?

No buses have left depots in Leeds or Wakefield since the Arriva Yorkshire bus workers’ strike over pay began on 6 June. In some areas a few buses have started to run again, but mainly only to transport students to school for exams. Tracey Brabin, the Labour mayor of West Yorkshire, has put on a free shuttle bus to take people from Wakefield to Pinderfields hospital. Workers on the picket lines are angry about her undermining the strike. Pickets outside the depots remain as big as ever. Talks were held between Arriva and the Unite union in the week beginning 13 June, but ended with no...

Arriva busworkers strike on pay

Unite members began a indefinite strike over pay on Monday 6 June in Arriva buses in West Yorkshire and some services in North and East Yorkshire. Over 650 drivers and engineers had voted 96% for strikes following the company’s pitiful offer of a 4.1% pay rise. At the Wakefield depot there have regularly been between 60 and 100 workers on the picket, and in Castleford around 50. Very few staff have crossed the picket, and no buses have been running in the Wakefield area since the strike began. Workers told Solidarity that no Arriva buses have been running from any of the affected depots since...

Striking against fire and rehire at Wabtec

RMT and Unite members at Wabtec's plant in Hexthorpe, near Doncaster, struck from 10-13 June, after bosses used fire-and-rehire tactics to force workers onto worse conditions.

The new contracts, imposed under threat of dismissal, included cuts to break times and increases to hours with no...

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.