Union News from the TULO – for July

6th July, 2022

■ TUC National Action 18th June. We Demand Better

A very successful march and rally. Local people attended including Labour Party members alongside many thousands of other demonstrators from every part of Britain.

The RMT were given an especial solidarity welcome on the march. See video here

people with disability on march and rally June 18th Tuc

■ LABOUR UNIONS

” The cost-of-living crisis is a WAGES crisis. Help with bills is essential, but it’s not enough. We need to fix our economy so that it works in the interests of working “.

Angela Rayner launched the Party’s New Deal for Working People last year at Labour Party Conference. The Deal has been drawn up in partnership with the affiliated unions. It is a comprehensive plan to improve the lives of working people by strengthening individual and collective rights – repealing anti-trade union laws, including the Trade Union Act, and introducing new rights to help unions bargain, recruit, organise and win a better deal for their members.

Keir Starmer has PROMISED Labour will write it into law within 100 days of being elected.

QUESTION Will Keir Starmer keep this promise?

THE RAILWAYS

■ RMT

“The biggest strike in 30 years”, Over 40,000 members including signallers, maintenance and train staff took part in 24-hour walkouts inc. 23, 25th June. Strikes are over pay and threats of redundancy during coming “reforms”.

Mick Lynch of RMT has delivered knock out interviews as his refreshing straight talking stands up to spinned interviewing from supposed ‘serious journalists’. This has increased popularity for the strikes and an increase in people joining a union.

■ RMT outsourced Churchill cleaners strike continues. “To be paid £8.91 an hour for doing a job like ours and to still struggle to pay your bills is very depressing.” RMT rep Bella Fashola. NB There is an upsurge of campaigns and industrial action premised on £15 per hour as a feature of decent employment.

Solidarity with Churchill Cleaners picket

■ Strikes at the Southampton Exxon Fawley oil refinery have ended after UNITE secured a deal for around 100 workers.

The workers, employed by Trant Engineering Limited, Veolia Services and Altrad Services, began strike action in April over a 2.5 per cent pay offer. Unite’s members rejected this as effectively a massive, real terms pay cut, at a time when real inflation is running at more than 9 per cent.

■ BIN STRIKES

■ WEALDEN District Council. GMB union members have on 14.06.22. accepted an improved pay offer to end the refuse strike. Their employer Biffa’s latest pay offer will constitute a pay rise of more than 27 per cent for some workers. The total value of the settlement is worth between 24 and 27 per cent, depending on which job they do.

At Hastings Magistrates Court 29th June to support the GMB 3 arrested (including Gary Palmer) during the Biffa pay dispute. The case is now due back in court in November .

https://www.theargus.co.uk/news/20239123.amp/

Heartwarming Solidarity was on display outside the court and will continue to be so for the duration.

Gary Palme, GMB, arrested Wealden Bins Strike

■ Isle of Wight GMB waste and recycling members vote for strike action.

Ballot result means the Isle of Wight waste contractor Amey’s operatives and drivers walked out on the 13th of June for an initial first phase of two weeks. The Dispute comes about as the islands waste contractor refuses to match the pay expectations of their own hard-working staff.

■ FBU are consulting members following an ‘insulting” pay offer. See Matt Wrack in this video

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L7WO2fGZXHc

■ CWU

30,000 OPENREACH members – (mainly lone workers). Results.

YES 95.8%. TURNOUT 74.8%, Just incredible.

UNITE CMA Royal Mail Managers strike ballot result.

Ballots issued 2339

Ballots returned 1504 64.3%

Spoilt ballot papers 22

86.3 % voted yes to strike action

13.7 % voted no to strike action

91 % voted yes to action short of strike

9 % voted no to action short of strike

■ Criminal Barristers on Strike every other week from August with no end – on less than minimum wage in some cases.

And of international interest:-

■ International Domestic Workers Day took place on 16th June.

The International Labour Organization Standard Domestic Workers Convention 189 aims to protect the 76.5 million domestic workers worldwide. Its ratification is celebrated each year, and this is allied with campaigning.

This year, domestic workers will renew their demand: ‘the hostile environment must end’. Their aim is to build a world where every person can live in freedom with dignity, justice and abundance.

Carol Mills

TULO

4^th July 2022

UCU marking boycott ends with a successful agreement – an update from Alex

Brighton UCU voted to lift the marking and assessment boycott and strike after members voted to accept the offers from management to resolve the dispute. There were steps to make progress on all aspects of the Four Fights campaign:-

casualisation,
inequalities,
workload and
pay.

Additionally, the management abandoned a plan to cut wages of PGR staff, and committed to not penalise any staff taking part in the boycott.

This is a major step for Brighton UCU, since management have continually refused

to recognise their role in the exaggerating these problems, and would not

negotiate with UCU for years. Now the university management have

committed to work with the branch in a number of areas to improve these

issues.

This is a great success story, since the marking boycott had setbacks from the beginning, resulting in only a handful of university

branches taking action. Even in the University of Brighton, only a small

number of staff seemed to be supportive. The success despite these odds

show that even small-scale actions can be effective.

The threat of

disruption from a marking boycott a potential strike disrupting

graduations, league tables and internal processes were too much to bear

for the university, meaning that a previously intransigent management

have been forced to concede to workers’ demands.

Alex