UNISON

The public services union

Unison to strike at 19 universities

Nineteen Unison Higher Education (HE) branches will strike alongside UCU on 24/25 November, and some on 30 November. The dispute is over pay: the union demanded a rise in 2022-23 of RPI +2% but the employers imposed an offer of around 3%. Some universities have also made bonus payments in an attempt to head off strikes. While it is a minority of all Unison HE branches, the number is set to grow. Around 40 branches that did not make the threshold for striking in this round and some branches who opted out of balloting up till now have opted into a second round of balloting for more strikes...

NHS workers set to strike

Following the historic vote for strike action by RCN members in 176 NHS trusts, the ballot result from the largest NHS union, Unison, is due on 25 November. Yes votes will win with high percentages. Healthworkers across the country are convinced that they have no choice but to take a stand on pay now as the service crumbles around them. With union organisation on the ground weak in many NHS Trusts, the turnout in some ballots will be below what it is demanded by the Tories’ 2016 law. Despite that, with targeted organisation and a boost from the RCN vote, Unison is likely to meet the threshold...

Unison HE branches strike from 24 November

Nineteen Higher Education HE branches of the public services union Unison are organising a second round of strikes of university admin and other staff since the start of term, most striking on the same days as the UCU (lecturers etc.) on 24/25 November, and some on 30 November. The dispute is over pay. The union called for a rise in 2022-23 of RPI+2% but the employers imposed an offer of around 3%. Some universities also made non-consolidated bonus payments. The national negotiations are conducted on behalf of universities by the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA). Against...

School strikes in Scotland 24 and 28 November

Teachers in Scotland have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action to force the Scottish Government to improve the 5% pay offer already on the table from three months ago. With a 71% turnout, 96% of EIS members voted in favour of taking industrial action. The first one day strike is scheduled for 24 November. Ambulance workers in the Scottish Ambulance Service have also voted to take industrial action over pay. A one day strike has been called by the GMB for 28 November, and Unite has called a work to rule from the preceding Friday. Nurses in the RCN are planning industrial action...

NHS unions move towards strikes

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) announced on 9 November that 176 Trusts across the UK had passed the threshold in their strike ballots and voted for action. That’s 100% in Northern Ireland and Scotland. Wales missed the threshold in only one of its Trusts (by only nine votes!). The shortfall comes from England, where Trusts are much larger. This RCN result should encourage members and activists in the bigger health unions, Unison, GMB, and Unite, to push for big turnouts in their ballots. The Unison ballot closes on 25 November, GMB on 29th, and Unite on 30th for their first wave. The RCN...

Unison wins Barnet dispute

Housing Repairs workers in Unison who work for Barnet Homes have settled their dispute over sick pay for an employee who was injured at work. The worker did not receive sick pay for three weeks while the employer delayed in upgrading transferred-in repairs workers to its standard contract which pays sick pay from day one. The details of the settlement have not been disclosed, but I understand it is a satisfactory one for the worker concerned. The strike which began on 17 October, the first indefinite strike authorised by Unison, remained solid for 13 working days. It was well supported by the...

National Coal Mining Museum

Workers at the National Coal Mining Museum for England, in Wakefield, struck 26-30 October over pay. More negotiations in the week starting 7 November may reach agreement, but if not workers will strike again 12-13 November. No frontline workers crossed the lively and regularly 30-strong picket lines, and the museum closed for the duration of the strike. The picket lines were large and lively and regularly had 30 workers on them. The museum had stated that they were subject to a 5% pay cap by the government but refused to provide evidence. Unison inquired, and the Department of Culture, Media...

Unison should back NEU efforts

The National Education Union (NEU) is balloting its support staff members in state schools (whose pay is either determined or indirectly influenced by local government pay negotiations) for strikes over pay and increased funding for schools. Shamefully, Unison’s bureaucracy has reacted by declaring that it is suspending cooperation with the NEU, accusing it of breaching an agreement which prevents the NEU negotiating for support staff in state-funded schools. However, rank-and-file activists in Unison, GMB and Unite who want to see an effective fightback over pay in 2023 will welcome the NEU’s...

Council pay: start now for 2023

Local government members of the GMB union have voted by 67% to accept the local government pay offer in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland (£1,925). Unison (the largest local government union) voted 63% to accept in September, and Unite (smaller in local government) 75% to reject. Unite’s calling for a reject vote made the difference. In the Local Government Joint Council the three recognised unions have a custom of going by majority vote and it appears that Unite has conceded. The three unions must start next year’s pay negotiations immediately with a bold claim that fights to win a £15 per...

Scottish health workers gain better offer

For health workers in Scotland, a bit as with Scottish local government workers in September, the mere threat of action has led to the Scottish government increasing its initial offer of 5% to £2,205 flat rate per worker, an average of perhaps 7% across the workforce. That is slightly better than the Scottish local government offer accepted by the three main local government unions (Unison, GMB and Unite). Calling off the live strike ballot which was due to close only days later was still an expensive mistake by the Scotland Unison health committee. It weakens health workers’ hand in future...

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