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Category: Trade Unions

  • The corporate media just let the Tories off the hook over train ticket office closures

    The Tory government has confirmed that it’s letting train operators close countless rail ticket offices across England. The plans were originally leaked by campaign group the Association of British Commuters (ABC). However, much of the corporate media has absolved the government of responsibility in this – framing the train operators as wholly responsible.

    Ticket office closures: greenlit by the Tories

    As the Canary previously reported, the ABC leaked the news on 26 June that transport secretary Mark Harper was about to green-light train operators mass-closing ticket offices. This has been on the cards since at least September 2022. The Sunday Telegraph reported at the time that the government was changing East Midlands Railway’s contract – ‘hardwiring’ ticket office closures into it as part of its broader industry plans. The paper also reported back then:

    sources saying the conditions will be replicated across the country.

    Train operators and the government argue that only 12% of people buy tickets via station offices. However, many of these are likely to be disabled people or other marginalised groups. Disability rights activist Paula Peters previously told the Canary:

    Taking away ticket offices is another barrier to exclude and marginalise disabled people from travelling, ticket machines are often broken and inaccessible to use, visually impaired people can’t use ticket machines and many with a learning impairment can’t either.

    Weeks ago, Harper reportedly gave a mandate for train operators to go-ahead with ticket office closures, as there are regulations surrounding this. The ABC has attempted to intervene in the government and train operator’s decision. It and other parties wrote an open letter to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR, the government’s independent regulator) and the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). It expressed concern at the ticket office closure plans, and asked both organisations to intervene.

    However, it appeared to be too little, too late. On Tuesday 5 July the ABC revealed that Harper had signed off on the closures.

    Corporate media reporting

    The story has been widely reported in the corporate media. Sky News noted that:

    the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), which represents the train companies, is due to unveil the proposals in an attempt to save money in the wake of the COVID pandemic causing a drop in revenue.

    BBC News reported:

    Train companies are pressing ahead with plans to close hundreds of station ticket offices across England over the next three years.

    Meanwhile, the Guardian said:

    Train operators told staff on Wednesday morning of proposals to shut down almost all of the 1,007 remaining offices, bar at the busiest stations, within three years.

    However, some of the mainstream media failed to mention that the closures were not only a government plan, but that it also has the power to stop them.

    For example, not once in the BBC‘s article did it state that the idea came from the Tory government, nor that it had to approve it before train operators could make the closures. The Independent did similar, putting the blame on the RDG. Meanwhile, the Times went further – not only failing to mention the government’s role (except in quotes from opposition voices) but also calling the passenger-led ABC a “lobby group”.

    Even allegedly left-leaning media’s reporting of ticket office closures was limp, at best. The Guardian noted that the plan had been “pushed by the government to save costs”. The Mirror was more robust – placing the blame squarely at the Tories’ door. It noted that a public consultation the government will be running could derail the plans.

    However, nearly all the corporate media failed to mention there is a legal case for stopping the Tories and train operators closing stations.

    A legal basis for stopping the closures?

    The ABC noted in a statement that:

    the ORR informed us that it “has not seen any plans or given assurances on any matter connected with [the closures].” The EHRC also confirmed that it had been excluded from these discussions despite recently meeting with the Department for Transport (DfT) about railway destaffing. Experts believe that “this alone raises serious questions about whether the DfT has been following due process regarding its public sector equality duty.” They say: “Unless the ORR acts immediately, the process will go forward without adequate equality assurances, and without the necessary retail and accessibility mitigations in place.”

    It went further in its open letter, stating that if the ORR and EHRC believed the government had breached its public sector equality duty, then the two organisations:

    must now take urgent action, including a public position on whether accessibility and retail mitigations are ready to go forward. If they do not believe this to be the case, they should call for an immediate pause to proceedings and prepare to make use of their full regulatory powers to intervene. This is the only way to ensure that rail modernisation plans are properly regulated and consistent with the public sector equality duty to ‘eliminate discrimination’ and ‘advance equality of opportunity.’

    In other words, the regulators could stop the ticket office closures in their tracks. As of 4pm on 5 July, the ORR had begun to intervene:

    No care for disabled and marginalised people

    Of course, for much of the corporate media, reporting on the fact that the Tories’ decision could potentially be unlawful is clearly a step too far. Alternatively, not giving the public this information is either an oversight, or a failure by journalists to grasp the complexities of the situation.

    Either way, the government and private train operators are pushing through one of the biggest changes in the rail network’s history. Yet some of the corporate media is failing in its duty to properly report on this. Disabled, chronically ill, and other marginalised people will bear the brunt of this disastrous decision. However, that fact seems to have escaped some journalists – because if it hadn’t, they’d have thoroughly pulled apart the Tories’ toxic plans.

    Featured image via pxfuel

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Brighton university staff go on indefinite strike as one VC ‘flaunts his champagne lifestyle’ in their faces

    Striking staff at Brighton University took their campaign to an international conference on Tuesday 4 July. It was over a senior manager’s keynote speech, given on the same day he announced the names of 25 professors he and his bosses are forcing redundancy upon. So, staff made a point of raising the issue outside of campus walls – and got support from some well-known academics in the process. Plus, all this comes as some staff have also just started an indefinite strike.

    Brighton University: what a mess management has made

    As the Canary has been documenting, bosses at Brighton University are making over 100 staff redundant. PhD researcher at Brighton University Kathryn Zacharek has been writing from the frontline of the dispute for us – and she’s laid out how the institution is now a mess. For example, bosses are closing parts of it while spending massive amounts of money elsewhere. Most concerningly, Zacharek previously noted that the university:

    intends to make 110 academics and 30 professional staff redundant, all in a bid to save almost £18m

    And, in recent developments:

    the university has announced it will close the Brighton Centre for Contemporary Arts (BCCA) due to alleged financial pressures.

    Bosses say these pressures include the government freezing regulated tuition fees, and inflation. However, people are finding it difficult to believe this, given that the university has spaffed £17m on buying out the Virgin Active lease of sports facilities on one of the campuses.

    Since the Canary last reported on the situation at Brighton University, its branch of the University and College Union (UCU) has told us that 80 academic staff have agreed to voluntary redundancy. In spite of this, staff and students alike have been fighting back against the bosses’ plans.

    From protests to occupations, via someone dressed as Mickey Mouse – people are not having it. Now, some staff have taken their grievances elsewhere.

    Taking the fight to an international conference

    Brighton University UCU told the Canary that, on 4 July, staff protested against the redundancies at the European Congress of Psychology, which was taking place at the Brighton Centre. The reason for the demonstration was the presence of the university’s pro-vice chancellor for research, professor Rusi Jaspal. He was delivering a keynote speech at the conference.

    However, this came on the same day as Jaspal helped decide which professors are to be included in the 25 compulsory redundancies bosses are making:

    So, staff held a demo outside the conference centre to make their feelings clear:

    Brighton University protest

    Brighton University protest

    Jaspal is a member of the senior team of vice chancellor Debra Humphris. Staff members’ list of grievances against her is long, including closing the Hastings and Eastbourne Campus while getting a CBE from the state – for what, you’d rightly ask. Moreover, 94% of staff and students recently voted that they have no confidence in Humphris:

    Brighton University protest

    Interestingly for Brighton University staff (and unfortunately for Jaspal), other academics speaking at the conference voiced their support for the people protesting. These included professor Kate Pickett (co-author of The Spirit Level and The Inner Level) and Serdar Değirmencioğlu (co-author of Social and Psychological Dimensions of Personal Debt and the Debt Industry). Brighton UCU told the Canary that both academics “directly called out the treatment of staff by management”:

    Chair of Brighton University UCU Dr Mark Abel said in a statement:

    Professor Jaspal has been taunting staff threatened with redundancy with comments on Twitter about ‘resilience during crises’. He flaunts his champagne lifestyle while Brighton lecturers suffer 100% deductions in their pay for participating in the union’s national marking boycott. It’s a disgrace that he is given a platform to talk about his own research when he is responsible for slashing the research funding for the rest of the staff at Brighton University.

    The university has accepted 80 applications for voluntary redundancy from academic staff. This level of shrinkage will produce huge financial savings. Sacking a further 25 lecturers and professors is completely unnecessary. Not only does it steal the livelihoods of the staff affected, it will undermine the breadth and quality of the education the university offers to students.

    Brighton University protest

    But the protest at the conference was just another part of staff and student’s fightback.

    Brighton University is closed

    Brighton University UCU members began an indefinite strike against the proposed redundancies on Monday 3 July. They said in a statement that unless management drop the compulsory redundancies:

    no preparation for the new academic year will take place and the autumn term will not start.

    So far, bosses are refusing to budge. With Brighton University potentially closed for the new academic year due to the strike, you’d think they’d have to change tack soon.

    However, the current carnage in higher education – thanks to years of government malpractice and university bosses’ profiteering – may mean this impasse between staff, students, and bosses won’t be resolved anytime soon.

    And why should it be? When young peoples’ education – and workers’ livelihoods – are on the line, resistance is the only option. Management needs to change course immediately – or face the consequences.

    Featured image via Brighton UCU, and additional images via Bee Dabrowska

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • At Brighton University and beyond, higher education is in turmoil

    Academic institutions across the UK are in turmoil. Strikes, pickets, marking and assessment boycotts (MABs), and large-scale protests are recurring features on campuses up and down the country. Yet, the Universities and Colleges Employers’ Association (UCEA) and senior management teams still refuse to negotiate with the University and College Union (UCU).

    UCEA states that until the UCU calls off the MAB which is currently underway at 145 universities, no negotiations will take place. However, when you look at what’s going on in higher education, it’s of little surprise workers and students are fighting back – not least at Brighton University.

    Don’t blame the UCU – blame university management

    This is nothing short of a national scandal. Thousands of students are set to either ‘graduate’ without degree classifications, or be unable to graduate at all. We have already witnessed students at the University of Glasgow ‘graduating’ without knowing their final grade. Students at the University of Cambridge will not graduate until their final exams are marked. This will impact nearly half of final-year undergraduates and 90% of post graduates on taught courses at Cambridge.

    At Brighton, the university told the Argus that UCU had “deliberately timed” the MAB to cause “maximum disruption”. However, undergraduate student Alexei Fisk disagrees. They told the Canary:

    After years of intermittent strikes without resolution, with rapidly worsening working conditions and a huge real terms pay cut over the past decade, I fully believe the MAB is really the only card the UCU staff had left to play.

    However, the truly draconian punitive measures have been put in place by universities in response – to deduct up to 100% of pay from the staff who are boycotting, despite the fact that they have continued to fulfil their teaching and supervisory roles throughout the period – are utterly shocking.

    This complete disregard for ethics is an obvious attempt to force staff back to work through starvation and the threat of homelessness. It reveals the callous inhumanity at work in senior management teams within the higher education sector, and should be condemned.

    Fisk continued:

    The MAB is being sold to students as, essentially, unnecessary troublemaking – and actually, maybe they are partly right. But it is unnecessary because all the UCEA needs to do is get around the table and agree on a fair deal for all staff.

    It is not unnecessary for lecturers to demand decent working conditions and a salary that reflects their passion, dedication, and expertise. I stand in full solidarity with our teaching staff, now and always.

    Brighton Students Union misses the point completely

    On 22 June, Brighton Students Union (BSU) posted a video to their Instagram page in response to the MAB. In it, the union’s president Sufia Begum states that students’ academic progression should not be a “political football”. She also said BSU is distressed to see students bearing the brunt of this standoff between workers and management.

    The problem with this statement is that BSU fails to even acknowledge the root cause of this problem. It is management’s refusal to negotiate with staff. We are in a situation where the livelihoods of over a hundred people at Brighton University are under threat. Yet BSU demeans industrial action as simply a way for staff to “voice concerns”. A postgraduate researcher who wishes to remain anonymous told the Canary:

    The SU’s response seems to suggest that management and the UCU are both equally making our lives as students difficult by calling for both to ‘prioritise students’ wellbeing’. We as students have been consistently prioritised by our lecturers and supervisors even when they are being overloaded with work by management.

    When will the SU realise that the working conditions of our lecturers affect our education? By using this neutral language, the SU is failing to use its power to pressure the university management, the only people responsible for the stress we are going through.

    Mismanagement at Brighton University gets you a CBE

    Staff and students at Brighton University are still fighting against mass redundancies. Now, on top of the MAB, staff have announced an indefinite strike. This means that the new academic year will not start until – and unless – management call off the mass redundancies.

    Brighton University is effectively closed until further notice. So, it came as a complete shock to everyone that our vice chancellor Debra Humphris has been awarded a CBE. This is for services to nursing and education. A lecturer who wishes to remain anonymous told me:

    It feels like the vice chancellor is waging war on her staff, with 100% pay deductions in a cost of living crisis, including for those colleagues she is trying to make redundant. So I think there is widespread anger and disbelief at the news of a CBE. There’s a 94% no confidence vote against her after all!

    Rewarding Humphris’s services to education seems little more than a joke in bad taste.

    During her time at Brighton her ‘achievements’ include:

    Diminishing the quality of higher education

    The key concern for staff and students alike is that attempts to circumvent the MAB, steamrolling through mass redundancies, and taking punitive measures against staff will only diminish the quality of education that students receive. Leeds University UCU shared on Twitter that they were hearing from multiple faculties that “dissertations/final year projects are being marked by non-experts & not 2nd marked” so that they can be classified by July.

    At UWE Bristol (in a since-deleted posting) zero hour contracts at a double pay rate were advertised to mitigate the MAB’s impact. It’s no surprise that managers are trying to undermine the MAB. However, they are doing so at the expense of the marks themselves. If experts are not grading the final projects, students will not get appropriate feedback or recognition of their hard work and knowledge.

    This is a profound insult to students. It leaves many of their grades in a position to be contested. This will be a process which is stressful for students, and wasteful to already overstretched university assessment procedures.

    At Brighton University, what began as students experiencing minimal impact has resulted in annual progression reviews (APRs) and vivas being cancelled for PhD researchers. There is constantly shifting and unreliable information about when and how assessment will resume.

    We were initially told that no APRs will go ahead without two assessors present. However, an email sent out by the doctoral college on 27 June then informed us that APRs can go ahead with only one assessor. This goes to show that, when managers come under pressure, they’re willing to let academic standards slip rather than negotiate with their own employees.

    Defending Brighton University

    In Brighton UCU’s latest actions, staff, students, and someone dressed as Mickey Mouse have demonstrated at prospective student open days:

    A protest with Mickey Mouse at Brighton University

    A protest at Brighton University UCU

    Prospective applicants and their parents were eager to hear about how the university is treating staff members. The combination of public demonstrations and social media campaigns has kept the pressure up. However, we know that there is still a long way to go. If management thinks that we are going to give up, they are sorely mistaken. Students and staff deserve much more than this current lot.

    The future of education at Brighton University is at stake. We owe it not only to ourselves but future students to hold management to account. At the end of the day, we’re fighting for a world where the powerful aren’t allowed to make everyone else pay for their mistakes; where everyone can go to work without fear of managers’ whims tearing the rug from beneath them, and where workers and students have real control over their working and learning conditions.

    If you wish to support us at Brighton University, we are currently fundraising for staff who are facing pay cuts, and for campaign materials. If you can afford it, you can donate here.

    Kathryn Zackarek is a PhD researcher currently working on the biopolitics of right-wing populism at Brighton University.

    Featured image and additional images via Brighton UCU

    By Kathryn Zacharek

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • RMT and disabled activists hit back at leaked Tory rail plans to close ticket offices

    Leaked government plans have revealed that it’s allegedly planning to allow train operating companies to perform mass ticket office closures. Bosses have reportedly been keeping this secret, but the government has been speaking about it for months. The impact of any closures though, not least for disabled people, could be huge. So, the National Union of Rail, Transport and Maritime Workers (RMT) and activists have hit back.

    Ticket office closures: on the cards for months

    The government has had plans to close ticket offices for a while. As Disability News Service (DNS) reported in September 2022:

    The Sunday Telegraph has reported that 25 of 30 East Midlands Railway ticket offices will be closed under a new contract, with this understood to be “broadly in line” with the government’s plans for the rest of the rail network.

    Proponents of closures argue that most people don’t use them – buying tickets online instead. They also claim that closing these offices will free up staff elsewhere. However, during a Transport Select Committee hearing on ticket office closures in January, Labour MP Ruth Cadbury pointed out that:

    The 12% of passengers who are currently using ticket offices are more likely to be occasional travellers and tourists, more likely to have disabilities, more likely to be cash buyers, more likely to have children in tow. That’s why they need that human contact.

    She also questioned whether train operators would actually redeploy ticket staff like-for-like across stations, instead of just reducing the workforce.

    Now, it seems the government’s and train operators’ plans to close most ticket offices are happening.

    Leaked plans

    The Association of British Commuters (ABC) tweeted that:

    It continued, saying that:

    this is a new stage – a direct DfT [Department for Transport] mandate given to operators a month ago.

    Closures would begin with 21 day consultations under “Schedule 17” of ticket retail regulations…

    But these are no ordinary consultations – when completed they will sweep away the regs, leaving **no visibility of staffing numbers whatsoever**

    “Schedule 17” applies only to ticket retail – not accessibility.

    In other words, train operators can close ticket offices and not have to consider disabled people’s accessibility in the process. The Guardian reported that around 1,000 ticket offices could be closed.

    People on Twitter pointed out lots of problems with the government’s alleged plan. One user poo-pooed the idea that people didn’t use ticket offices:

    Another person reminded us that UK rail travel is basically money for old rope – even more so if the government shuts ticket offices:

    One user made an important point:

    RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said in a statement:

    There are rumours circulating online that the DfT plans to announce mass ticket office closures next week.

    The train operating companies and the government must understand that we will vigorously oppose any moves to close ticket offices.

    We will not meekly sit by and allow thousands of jobs to be sacrificed or see disabled and vulnerable passengers left unable to use the railways as a result.

    RMT will bring into effect the full industrial force of the union to stop any plans to close ticket offices, including on our upcoming strike days of July 20, 22 and 29 in the national rail dispute.

    So far, the DfT has remained tight-lipped.

    Disabled people: yet more government-mandated marginalisation

    However, perhaps the biggest issue with ticket office closures is the effect it would have on disabled people. This is something many Twitter users highlighted:

    The Canary has documented for years just how badly train operators treat chronically ill and disabled people. Now, it appears this next move is another twist of the knife.

    Paula Peters is a disability rights activist with Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC). She told the Canary:

    The mass planned closure of ticket offices across the rail network is an outrage and an absolute travesty.

    Taking away ticket offices is another barrier to exclude and marginalise disabled people from travelling, ticket machines are often broken and inaccessible to use, visually impaired people can’t use ticket machines and many with a learning impairment can’t either.

    Going over to an app to book a rail ticket is complete foolhardiness from the government; older people, disabled people, many struggle with online technology and it often crashes or totally difficult to use. It’s all about profits for the greedy CEOs and shareholders.

    Peters said that disabled people want:

    • Ticket offices kept open.
    • Guards on trains.
    • Fully staffed stations.
    • Critical safety-trained staff to assist and support them.

    Ticket offices: “The fight goes on”

    Peters summed up by saying:

    Overall, we simply demand the right to ride.

    We will continue to take the fight to the government and the train operating companies to stop the closure of ticket offices and de-staffing rail stations. This is about our safety and access.

    We will take them on in the courts, with the continuation of street protests. The fight goes on.

    So, it seems that despite the alleged plans, the government won’t have an easy ride pushing them through. The ABC has already floated potential court action, the RMT will incorporate this into its strikes, and disabled people will push back via protests. Train operators won’t be closing ticket offices without a fight from those at the sharp end of these brutal cuts.

    Featured image via El Pollock – Wikimedia, resized to 770×403 pixels under licence CC BY-SA 2.0

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • IWW union wins back Plymouth hospitality worker’s unpaid wages

    Members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) carried out a picket at a Plymouth restaurant last week, calling on bosses to pay the workers properly.

    The radical trade union accused the bosses of the Kickin’ Caribou of withholding wages.

    Bristol IWW tweeted:

    The picket was attended by IWW members from Bristol, Devon, Cornwall and Plymouth.

    The union decided to take action after the managers of the Kickin’ Caribou didn’t respond to a grievance letter.

    Workers lined up outside the restaurant, waved union flags, and chanted:

    Caribou, shame on you! Pay your workers what they’re due!

    The picket went on for nearly an hour, receiving a good deal of attention from customers and passers-by. IWW representatives negotiated with the manager while the picket was underway.

    By the end of the protest, the union had been able to secure almost £400 of unpaid wages.

    ‘Solidarity gets the goods’

    The Canary contacted the owner of the Kickin’ Caribou for a comment. They said that a deduction had been made from the worker’s wages because of the worker quitting mid-shift. However, when faced with a noisy picket, the Kickin’ Caribou quickly agreed to pay back nearly the full reduction in wages.

    Sab, who was acting as a union rep for the IWW, said in a statement:

    At first the managers weren’t even there but when they found out what was happening we called them to come and meet with us, we would wait. By turning up outside the restaurant we showed that we were serious and that we wouldn’t leave with our member empty handed. We would walk the manager to a nearby cashpoint if needed.

    Grey, the worker who had brought the grievance against the Kickin’ Caribou, made the following statement:

    My union rep spoke with the owner on my behalf and we were able to settle on a pretty good agreement.

    We settled on splitting the deductions in half so rather than the £414 owed it would be £370! Hopefully it showed the other staff that if you come together you can overcome!

    I’m so grateful for today, felt very empowering and it was an incredible show of solidarity!

    Grey told the Canary that the experience had impressed on them how important it was to be in a union. They said:

    This experience has really taught me how important it is to be a part of a union. I didn’t think I would ever achieve something so empowering. I was supported the whole time and inspired by how many people showed up to support.
    That part of my life is finally over thanks to the IWW I have a lot more peace of mind and security.

    ‘Hospitality employers think they can take the piss’

    Max, the secretary of Bristol IWW, was also pleased with how the day went. They said:

    It felt really great to come out to support our fellow worker in their dispute and to share a sense of togetherness with the other wobblies [IWW members]. So many hospitality employers think they can take the piss with their employees, but today really showed that solidarity is strength and that we can fight back.

    The IWW concluded their statement by calling on other workers not to tolerate similar behaviour from their bosses:

    Never tolerate wage theft in any form, no matter where you work. Solidarity gets the goods!

    You can read more about IWW here, or click here to find out how to join the union.

    Featured image courtesy of IWW

    By Tom Anderson

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • TUC links ‘dismal’ Tory policies to the coronavirus carnage that hit insecure workers

    The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has urged the Covid-19 Inquiry to “examine how ‘unchecked growth’ of insecure work left millions vulnerable to the virus”. It follows new analysis from the trade unions body, which shows that the number of people trapped in insecure work “grew by a fifth in the decade preceding the pandemic”. The TUC said that 500,000 more people were in this kind of employment by the end of the decade. Plus, it claims insecure workers were “twice as likely to die” from coronavirus (Covid-19) during the pandemic.

    The TUC is arguing that despite their insecure working conditions, these workers also had to “shoulder” the most risk in terms of contracting coronavirus.

    TUC: insecure work has grown

    The TUC’s new analysis shows that:

    In 2011, the numbers in insecure work were 3.2 million. By the end of the decade, the numbers were 3.7 million.

    This growth is disproportionate compared to the growth of the labour market in this period (the proportion of those in insecure work grew from 10.7% to 11.2%).

    Insecure work in this analysis refers to agency, casual, and seasonal labour that doesn’t include fixed-term contracts. It also includes self-employed work that brings in less than 66% of median earnings.

    Previous TUC analysis – conducted during the pandemic – showed that “those in insecure occupations faced mortality rates which were twice as high as those in more secure jobs”. It also found that, for coronavirus, the:

    male mortality rate in insecure occupations was 51 per 100,000 people aged 20-64, compared to 24 per 100,000 people in less insecure occupations.

    At the same time, the:

    female mortality rate in insecure occupations was 25 per 100,000 people, compared to 13 per 100,000 in less insecure occupations.

    ‘Shouldering’ the risk

    In a press release, the TUC argued that:

    workers in insecure jobs were forced to shoulder more risk of infection during this pandemic, while facing the “triple whammy” of a lack of sick pay, fewer rights and endemic low pay.

    TUC polling from 2022 showed that three in four (76%) in insecure jobs get the “miserly” statutory sick pay, or nothing, when off sick.

    Insecure workers are markedly less likely to benefit from the full range of employment rights that permanent, more secure workers are entitled to, including vital safeguards such as unfair dismissal and redundancy protections.

    Sectors such as care, leisure, and the elementary occupations have high rates of insecure work – compared to managerial, professional and admin sectors which have some of the lowest.

    Those in insecure occupations largely continued to work outside the home during the pandemic – and many were key workers.

    It claims a government study suggested that care home agency workers “unwittingly” spread coronavirus through care homes. These people were often on zero-hours contracts. Moreover, the TUC says the study also showed that one in nine workers were classed as insecure during the pandemic.

    It further noted that women, and Black, Brown, and disabled workers were more likely to be in such work. The TUC also pointed to its own research which showed Black and Brown women are “twice as likely to be on zero-hours contracts as white men”.

    It also highlighted Tory failures, saying:

    the government’s record on workers’ rights has been dismal.

    Instead of “getting a grip of insecure work” as it grew from 2010 onwards, the Conservative government “let it flourish on their watch”.

    This was despite government promises to boost employment rights.

    The Taylor Review reported on 11 July 2017, promising “good work for all”. However, the following years have seen few of the review’s proposals implemented.

    And since the pandemic, ministers have failed to learn lessons – instead repeating the same mistakes.

    Ministers ditched the long-promised employment bill – and they are now backsliding on promised protections for workers from sexual harassment, as well as attacking workers’ right to strike.

    ‘Unchecked growth on insecure work’

    TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said:

    The Covid public inquiry must look at how the unchecked growth of insecure work left millions vulnerable to the pandemic.

    Ministers let insecure work flourish on their watch – instead of clamping down on the worst employment practices.

    That failure had devastating – and even fatal – consequences for workers.

    Those in insecure work faced markedly higher Covid infections and death rates. And they were hit by a triple whammy of endemic low pay, few workplace rights and low or no sick pay.

    Lots of them were the key workers we all applauded – like care workers, delivery drivers and coronavirus testing staff.

    For years ministers promised working people improved rights and protections. But they repeatedly failed to deliver.

    It’s time for the government to learn the lessons of the pandemic and stamp out the scourge of insecure work for good.

    On the topic of the Conservative government refusing to hand over unredacted evidence to the inquiry, Nowak added:

    Ministers seem more interested in playing political games than learning lessons from the pandemic.

    It’s time they fully cooperated with the inquiry and stopped dragging their feet.

    Featured image via Unsplash

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Sneering presenters got schooled by Mick Lynch… again

    Mick Lynch thrashes Britain’s rubbish posho TV interviewers so often you’d think they’d give up. But they haven’t. So, he’s had to do it again. The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) Union leader spent another morning making the reality-detached sneering hacks look like fools over current strikes. And as always, we’re here for it.

    First up, Lynch took on two morning TV hacks who seemed to be trying to argue that it was somehow the RMT’s fault that railway operators had been gouging money out of taxpayer subsidies:

    Needless to say, Lynch ran rings around him. So, the presenter handed over to a colleague who made a nebulous point about how badly British Rail had been nationalised. She said:

    …the last time that the train companies were nationalised they were appalling, absolutely appalling.

    Lynch was taking no prisoners, accusing the commentator of repeating a cliché she’d picked up somewhere. And then he explained the nuances and details of British Rail funding:

    Under British Rail the last year of British Rail operations it was subsidised for £1bn. Under the private sector, as you’ve just pointed out, it’s now subsidised for £16bn.

    Cliché-riddled presenters 0, Mick Lynch 1. This is the enduring pattern of his interactions with this sort of chancer.

    ‘Dimwitted journalists’

    Lynch continues to be a hugely popular figure. Partly this is because he is a great debater, and a rare one on mainstream media in that he isn’t a smug posh git. But there’s a strong sense that what normal people really enjoy is seeing him put the boot into pompous presenters:

    There is virtually nobody like Lynch in the media these days. And that is another reason he garners such support for RMT workers:

    Another Twitter user said he took particular joy from Lynch’s pugilistic performances. And he’s right, there’s nothing quite like seeing a cocky right-wing presenter reduced to a quivering wreck by the RMT general secretary:

    Meanwhile, someone else made an entire video of Mick Lynch as the Thunderbirds villain The Hood – during an earlier wave of strikes, Piers Morgan made a bizarre argument about Mick Lynch having the fictional character as his profile picture:

    Confidence and power

    It must be very hard for privileged presenters to understand why the tough-looking Londoner can run rings around them. These people are used to sneering at, and lording over, normal people.

    But many working class people get it. Lynch is a figure who gives confidence to his workers. And what he tells us is important. There’s nothing that rich presenters and smug Tories can do that we can’t do better. It’s almost like we don’t need them at all – and that’s what really rattles them.

    Featured image via Wikimedia Commons/Steve Eason, cropped to 1910 x 1000, licenced under CC BY 2.0.

    By Joe Glenton

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Mick Lynch is back schooling journalists as the RMT goes on strike

    Mick Lynch is back at it. The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union leader has attacked the government as rail workers go on strike. Lynch accused the government of wasting millions on a ‘futile war’ with the unions.

    Lynch wrote a withering letter to the government over their conduct:

    There is further strike action on the railways on Friday because workers, passengers and taxpayers are being asked to pay the price for the government’s disastrous mismanagement of the economy and public transport.

    As ever, he joined picketing workers on the frontline:

    Tory chaos

    In his letter to the government, Lynch put the blame firmly on the Tories:

    Rather than deliver a plan to improve public transport and the economy, we have seen three Prime Ministers preside over a year of chaos since the first strike action in June 2022.

    He also pointed out that in other nations in the union, there had been less antagonism. Mainly because the English Tories were viciously anti-worker:

    In contrast, there is no strike action on railways controlled by the Scottish and Welsh governments because these governments have adopted a fair and less ideological approach to industrial relations.

    Elsewhere, Lynch ran rings around an interviewer with typical style:

    Futile war

    The Tories have been waging a futile war against workers, Lynch said. And the cost was being borne by the taxpayer:

    Instead of working to end the dispute, amidst a cost-of-living crisis it appears to have no idea how to tackle, the UK government has spent the last year squandering billions of pounds on a futile war against the rail unions, all in the name of delivering reforms that passengers do not want.

    Lynch even put a figure on it:

    The cumulative cost of this disastrous strategy is now estimated at £5 billion.

    And the RMT leader spelt it out in another press interview. If it wasn’t for the Tories’ anti-worker views, the issue could be settled in days:

    Workers’ success

    Speaking at a picket at London’s Euston Station, Lynch said the workers had enjoyed a lot of success against the bosses:

    We’ve pushed them [rail bosses] back on all the stuff they wanted to do – they wanted to make thousands of our people redundant, they wanted to shut every booking office in Britain, restructure our engineering workers, [and] cut the catering service.

    However, he added:

    What we haven’t got is a pay deal, we haven’t got any guarantees on our members’ futures, but we have stopped them doing the worst aspects of their proposals and their ideas.

    And in another media interview as the strikes launched, the union leader made a fool of a presenter who suggested an app could do the job of rail workers:

    Once again, Lynch and the RMT are leading the way for working people. With the Labour Party more concerned with flopping about uselessly and draping itself in the Union Jack, it’s down to organised workers to fight for what they need.

    Featured image via Wikimedia Commons/Endim8, cropped to 1910 x 1000, licenced under CC BY-SA 4.0.

    By Joe Glenton

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • UCU have an uphill battle to restore confidence in their own members

    Many casualised staff have felt increasingly let down by the University and College Union (UCU) over the last year. Casualised staff – that is, staff on zero-hours, fixed-term insecure contracts – made up 33% of academic staff in 2021/22. In December, general secretary Jo Grady leaked the indefinite strike action plan via Twitter. This alarmed members and gathered support for her alternative plan of scattered days of action throughout Spring.

    In January, a winter marking and assessment boycott was called off at the last minute. Then, in February, members heard on a Friday evening that strike action beginning on the following Monday was cancelled. As the Canary reported at the time, many members were left scrambling over the weekend to prepare their classes.

    Many students had been supportive of UCU and the strikes. However, for those students who arrived in my classrooms that week in February, I couldn’t explain to them what was happening and why.

    Those that didn’t attend the reinstated classes told me that they couldn’t rearrange childcare, they couldn’t come to classes unprepared because of disabilities, and they couldn’t afford last-minute travel costs. These are the same reasons that staff couldn’t manage a last-minute pause of strikes.

    Bosses at the universities and the union enjoyed two weeks of ‘calm’. Meanwhile, anxious members desperately needed progress on the pay and conditions dispute, but saw none. The issue wasn’t just the chaotic strategy, but the framing of a proposal that offered next to nothing to casualised members as a ‘win’.

    Is union membership worth it?

    On top of this, UCU membership fees are high. Perhaps that’s fair: a permanent lecturer earning £58,000p.a. might easily afford the £27.75 per month UCU charges. But is a temporary lecturer at the bottom of the same pay bracket in the same boat?

    Don’t get me wrong, £40,000 is a high salary, but a temporary lecturer earning that could take home about £2,200 per month for a few months, and then be unemployed again. They may be justifiably bitter about paying the same £27.75 per month as a permanent staff member, especially when it’s paid to a union which has failed to protect them from their impending unemployment.

    Further down the payscale, the trade-off looks similarly miserable. A member earning a salary of only £22,000 (before tax) will be paying UCU nearly £20 (£19.91) per month. For contrast, Unite ask for £9.32 from members earning £21,500 (after tax), and £14.95 for members earning more.

    Last week, UCU announced that their fighting fund would be increased by £750,000, from £250,000. This week, on May 23, they expanded eligibility for the fund. Previously, only those facing 100% pay cuts for participating in the marking and assessment boycott could claim. Now, this applies those facing 50+% pay cuts.

    UCU’s leadership celebrated the difference this will make for members:

    There are 145 universities participating in the pay and conditions dispute. So, there is a question around how far £750,000 can actually go towards supporting all those staff.

    How far does the fund stretch?

    Let’s look at one example to see the scale of the problem. The University of Sheffield is imposing 100% pay deductions from 19th June – 7th July. Any staff member who has boycotted marking and assessment work, regardless of the other work they do, will be paid nothing between those dates. A full-time staff member participating in the boycott is likely to lose over £1000.

    If UCU’s fund covered all of that lost pay, then they’d run out of money after reimbursing fewer than 1000 staff. There are over 120,000 UCU members in total, and nearly 2000 at Sheffield alone. Not all members will have marking assigned, but if more than 0.01% of UCU’s total members participate, the fund cannot fully support them.

    Now, UCU are not offering to cover all lost pay. Members can claim up to £50 per day, or £75 if they earn under £30,000p.a., for up to 20 days of action since November. Staff have already had 15 days of strikes, and could previously claim for 11. As such, they might get nine days of new lost pay reimbursed from the fund. Ultimately, this cap means that more members could receive this partial support, but it would still be a tiny proportion of said members.

    Chaotic communications

    Throughout March, UCU exhausted members with endless e-ballots (sometimes on decisions that had already been made). Division escalated when it asked members if they supported:

    voting on the proposals that have been negotiated in both disputes, and pausing strike action.

    Many members wanted to get a vote on the proposals without pausing strike action or abandoning one of the disputes:

    This was the moment myself and my colleagues felt the balance had shifted among casualised members. They moved from broad support of the union, to widespread anger and distrust. Members of colour and disabled members have long been critical of UCU’s lack of support of the members who need a union the most, but in February to March 2023 masses of their colleagues realised that faith in UCU was misguided.

    Members were particularly unhappy about celebrations of pension wins, without mention of the pay and conditions dispute:

    Where are we now?

    Three months after the chaos in February and promises of “significant progress”, members have yet to see progress on zero-hour contracts, casualisation, workload, pay cuts, or race, gender, and disability pay gaps. The blame lies with university bosses (the Universities and Colleges Employers Association) but members also feel sold out by their union painting small wins on pensions as ‘job done’.

    Fortunately, UCU hasn’t given up the dispute yet, and the boycott is having an impact. However, the union needs to promise more than a £750,000 fighting fund if they’re hoping to win back the support of their casualised members.

    UCU has a reputation as a union for permanent lecturers. The last few months have done little to shift that perception, and when UCU leadership say ‘we have your backs,’ it’s very difficult for the rest of us to find a reason to believe them. 

    The author is a UCU member and member of staff at a UK University on a fixed-term contract. 

    Featured image via YouTube screenshot/UCU – University and Colleges Union

    By Anonymous

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • OPM calls on global trade unions to blacklist Indonesian goods, services

    Asia Pacific Report

    On the eve of Papua New Guinea’s hosted Pacific meetings, Free Papua Organisation-OPM leader Jeffrey Bomanak has called for an international embargo on Indonesian goods and services in protest over what he calls Jakarta’s “unlawful military occupation” of West Papua.

    Bomanak has also challenged US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to meet with him while visiting Port Moresby today to review “six decades of prima facie photographic evidence of Indonesia’s crimes against humanity”.

    “My people have been in a war of liberation from Indonesia’s illegal invasion and annexation for six decades,” he said in a statement.

    “Six decades of barbarity and callous international abandonment.”

    He said the “theft” of West Papua and its natural resources with the alleged complicity of the US and Australian governments had been “well documented in countless books and journals”.

    He described the ongoing human rights violations in West Papua as a “travesty of justice”.

    “Indonesia will never leave West Papua without being pushed. We are waiting for an act of deliverance,” Bomanak said.

    “To all unions and every unionist — help us reach our day of liberation.”

    Both agreements for signing
    Meanwhile, the PNG Post-Courier reports that Prime Minister James Marape confirmed last night that the Ship Rider Agreement and the Defence Cooperation Agreement would both be signed with the United States this afternoon.

    PNG'S Prime Minister James Marape
    PNG’S Prime Minister James Marape . . . plans to sign both agreements with the US today. Image: PNG Post-Courier

    US State Secretary Blinken would sign the agreements during his visit to PNG.

    Marape said he did not see geopolitics being involved in the defence agreement. He was signing this agreement to protect the territorial borders from “all kinds of emerging threats”.

    He said the agreement was only a defence force cooperation pact like it had with Australia and Indonesia.

    Marape hosted dinner last night for all the leaders of the Pacific who had arrived earlier yesterday and on Saturday.

    He said Pacific leaders would present their challenges to the world leaders — Blinken and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi — who would be coming for separate meetings.

    This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.

  • The RMT found a government-funded train company splashed £75m on dividends – so the Canary dug deeper

    This article was updated at 4:30pm on Thursday 30 March. Angel Trains originally gave the Canary an incorrect response. 

    The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) has exposed dodgy finances in the train industry to the tune of £75m. However, some digging by the Canary has uncovered a further £131m – with some of this money going to offshore tax havens. The culprits are so-called ‘ROSCOs’ (rolling stock leasing companies).

    ROSCOs: making a killing

    The Office of Road and Rail (ORR), an independent government body, states that:

    Rolling stock leasing companies (ROSCOs) own most of the coaches, locomotives and freight wagons on the rails, which they hire out to train and freight operating companies.

    ROSCOs have replaced many of the older trains that were being used before privatisation with modern vehicles. They are often responsible for the maintenance and rebuilding of the vehicles they hire out.

    The RMT said of ROSCOs:

    the government and the taxpayer now pay the ROSCOs directly for the rising cost of leasing trains. In the last five years, the ROSCOS have jacked up the cost of their leases by around 66 per cent so that it now represents around a quarter of TOC spending.

    However, these ROSCOs are making a further killing from the public purse via shareholder dividends – as the RMT has revealed about one of them.

    RMT: exposing dodgy dividends

    The RMT dug into the accounts of ROSCO Angel Trains. It found that its parent company, Jersey-based Willow Topco, paid out £75m in dividends. The RMT found that in September 2021 part of Willow Topco was bought by a new company, which therefore then owned a large part of Angel Trains. Not long after, Willow Topco paid out £75m in dividends to this new company, and its parent one, in the space of just three months.

    The Canary asked Angel Trains for comment. A spokesperson told us:

    Angel Trains is one of the largest investors in UK rail. We have invested £5 billion in UK rolling stock over the last ten years, helping to modernise the rail network and improve passenger journeys through the introduction of new trains and by refurbishing existing ones.

    We invested £53 million in maintenance alone in 2021, which directly supports skilled and semi-skilled jobs across the UK.

    We are working hard to support innovation in UK rail. We are self-funding multi-million pound trials in low carbon rail solutions, including hydrogen and battery power. These projects not only support the drive to net zero, but provide an opportunity to reduce the cost of electrifying the rail network as a whole.

    Our investments are made with private capital, which remains off the government’s balance sheet, and represent a genuine risk transfer from the public to the private sector.

    Widespread practice

    Angel Trains’ parent company wasn’t the only ROSCO to pay out dividends. The Canary dug into the issue, and found via published accounts that:

    So, if we add the above figures to the £75m at Angel Trains, that means ROSCOs paid out at least £206m in dividends in the past two years – while the pubic paid these companies for providing trains.

    Other companies like Rock Rail and Lombard North Central had multiple subsidiaries and holding companies. It was unclear exactly what dividends were paid, if any, and if so from which company the money was extracted.

    However, the practice of ROSCOs paying dividends from their huge profits isn’t new. As the website Leasing Life reported, the RMT previously found that in 2020, the three main ROSCOs (Angel, Eversholt, and Porterbrook) paid out nearly £950m in dividends. And overall, between 2012 and 2020, these three companies splashed out over £2.6bn in dividend payments.

    RMT: a scandal that needs to stop

    RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said of Angel Trains:

    Our railways are every day the subject of a shadowy heist pulled by the well-heeled parasites who lease out our trains.

    The rolling stock companies continue their shabby dealings untouched by government, shuffling taxpayers’ money out of the railways, through Jersey and in the case of Angel, into the hands of a Canadian pension fund. This is a scandal that gets far too little attention and it’s got to stop

    ROSCOs paying out dividends to parent companies is widespread practice. Put simply, dividends are paid out of profits, but the profits are coming from government subsidies – so, that’s your money being skimmed. Unfortunately, this corrupt and shady business clearly won’t stop under the Tories.

    Feature image via pxfuel

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • ‘Disgraceful’ Royal Mail bosses’ latest CWU threat exposes them as shower of self-serving sh*ts

    The dispute between the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Royal Mail has entered a bizarre parallel universe. The company has threatened that it might have to make itself bust if the CWU’s industrial action doesn’t stop, and a deal with the union isn’t reached. Predictably, people have slammed the move as “disgraceful” and “appalling”, and said that it’s now time the government renationalises Royal Mail.

    Royal Mail: utterly desperate move against the CWU

    The Canary has extensively covered the ongoing dispute between the CWU workers and Royal Mail bosses. The company has already acted pretty badly – like its boss Simon Thompson telling a load of untruths while giving evidence to a parliamentary committee. However, Royal Mail’s latest move takes the biscuit.

    The Guardian reported that bosses have threatened to declare the company insolvent. It noted that:

    Royal Mail is on course to make operating losses of £350m-£400m this year, its parent – the recently renamed International Distributions Systems (IDS) – has previously said.

    Bear in mind these losses come after several years of profits, as well as hefty dividend payments to shareholders – as Labour MP Cat Smith pointed out in parliament:

    Yet still, Royal Mail bosses are now threatening the nuclear option. As the Guardian noted:

    It is thought the boards of Royal Mail and IDS still regard a negotiated settlement as the preferred way out of crisis, but a special administration under the Postal Act has been explored. This would mean declaring the business insolvent and unable to pay its dues, raising the possibility of more job losses among its 140,000 employees. Approval would be needed from the government.

    So, the CWU has responded – and it and its general secretary Dave Ward are furious.

    ‘Appalling’? Maybe it’s time to renationalise the postal service

    Ward said in a video statement that:

    The position that we’ve reached on their finances is down to the company and the way that they’ve dealt with this dispute right from the start

    For example, as the Canary previously reported that Royal Mail bosses have rolled out redundancies during the course of the dispute,  taken legal action to try to stop strikes, and tabled derisory pay offers.

    Meanwhile, people reacted angrily to the news on social media.

    Labour MP Kate Osborne branded Royal Mail’s actions “appalling” and “disgraceful”:

    Journalist Mary O’Hara pointed out that this is what happens when governments’ privatise key industries:

    Meanwhile, other people were saying it was time for the government to renationalise the Royal Mail (an unlikely scenario):

    A shower of self-serving shits

    Ward summed up by saying:

    the greatest risk of all is that we actually let them destroy this industry and destroy these jobs.

    And went on:

    at the moment it’s important that that pressure goes back onto Royal Mail

    It beggars belief that the bosses at Royal Mail would literally threaten to let the company go bust just so they didn’t have to pay workers fairly. However, that is exactly where the dispute with the CWU is at.

    This shows, in part, just how effective the union’s campaign has been: bosses, like the cornered rats they are, are so entrenched in their position that they’d prefer to see the company collapse than give in to workers.

    Moreover, though, and it shows that those at the top of Royal Mail have no idea how to run a business – nor how to manage a workforce.

    Crucially, it also shows what a shower of self-serving shits these odious capitalists really are.

    Featured image via Sky News – YouTube and CWU Live – YouTube

    By Steve Topple

  • Post Office workers should be ‘proud’ following big pay dispute development with CWU

    Trade union the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has been fighting on behalf of Post Office workers in an ongoing pay dispute. Following a significantly improved offer from Post Office management, CWU general secretary Dave Ward has said that striking workers should be “proud” of what they’ve achieved. It comes after a series of strikes in 2022.

    The offer for Post Office workers

    The CWU announced that a deal had been reached on 24 March. Key aspects include:

    • A “consolidated” pay rise of 9%, starting on 1 April 2023.
    • Lump sum payments “for all workers”. These will be between £1,925 and £3,000.
    • Giving workers 30 days annual leave after seven years’ service. Previously, workers were only entitled to it after 10 years’.

    The agreement has been unanimously endorsed by the union’s postal executive.

    The battle

    Post Office workers have been fighting a management-imposed pay freeze since Spring 2022. The CWU noted:

    A series of eight strikes and various other forms of industrial action from May to December led to stoppages at all 114 Crown Post Offices, as well as huge disruption in supply chain work.

    The CWU and its Post Office workers have been in an ongoing dispute with bosses for most of 2022 over pay offers from the company. The dispute centres around workers rejecting a pay freeze for 2021/22. They also dismissed a pay offer of 5% with effect from 1 April 2022, plus a £500 one-off lump sum. Strikes took place in May 2022, followed by more actions over the summer. The last strike was at the end of September 2022. 

    At the time, CWU’s postal deputy general secretary Andy Furey said:

    This dispute has always been about a company having respect for dedicated public servants who, as key workers, provided unprecedented customer service during the pandemic. The determination of these people hasn’t swayed, and nor has their sense of betrayal. They won’t accept their living standards being smashed by people running a service that generated tens of millions of pounds in profit out of our members’ efforts. There is more than enough money for a reasonable pay rise – implementing this real-terms pay cut has always been a management choice, not a necessity. We urge management to see sense, get into real negotiations and cut a fair deal to avert these strikes.

    Making their voices heard

    CWU Post Office Area Rep Alan Robertson has said of the new offer:

    It looks like a very good deal – it’s been a long time coming, but it’s definitely come on a lot further than what we were first offered… It’s down to the membership staying strong and taking solid action – in the strikes and in the action short of strike. For once we’ve got some good news. I will of course be voting YES and urging members to do the same.

    Meanwhile, Furey said:

    We would like to thank our Post Office members for their support throughout the dispute. This agreement could not have been reached without their unwavering commitment.

    We would also like to thank our representatives for their valuable assistance. This agreement is the best that can be achieved via these negotiations and as such, the Postal Executive is recommending our members support the agreement by voting yes in the forthcoming ballot.

    CWU general secretary Dave Ward added:

    This deal simply would not have happened without the bravery shown by striking Post Office workers all through last year. Without their clear determination, this dispute couldn’t have moved on to where we are now. They should be proud of themselves, and I hope they let their voices be heard in this upcoming ballot.

    The dispute is unrelated to the Royal Mail Group dispute, which remains unresolved.

    Featured image via smartC – YouTube

    By The Canary

  • A Glasgow bar has been accused of sacking workers for union organising

    The radical union Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) has accused a Glasgow bar of union busting.

    Saramago Bar, which is located inside Glasgow’s Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) has reportedly sacked several IWW members.

    Three workers were initially dismissed by Saramago. The union says they were fired for pressuring management to improve working conditions.

    According to IWW:

    The fired workers… were organising to increase the number of staff rota’d on in the kitchen and front of house to stop themselves being over-worked. A simple request for a business as popular as Saramago.

    Supporters of the workers had written a petition to Saramago’s managers, backing up their demands.

    Solidarity

    Clydeside IWW demonstrated in support of the sacked workers on Tuesday 21 March. The group had support from the University and College Union (UCU) and Unite the Union‘s hospitality branch:

    Glasgow Short Film Festival has cancelled several events due to be held at the Saramago bar. The festival issued a statement saying that the cancellations were in solidarity with the workers. They also asked their customers not to buy refreshments from Saramago during the festival.

    Earlier this week, the IWW said it was braced for further dismissals:

    Fellow workers at Saramago and the IWW are concerned that these unjust, cruel, and downright cynical rafts of firings are just the beginning. Both staff and the union are bracing for more firings and mobilising to provide support to those who have already been summarily dismissed.

    Sadly, their fears proved justified. On Thursday 23 March, the union announced that more workers had been sacked. That evening they held another protest in solidarity with those dismissed.

    ‘Accept precarity or starve’

    IWW says that the dismissals at Saramago Bar are a result of backlash from the bosses. Workers at Saramago have successfully organised for better wages and conditions, and it seems like the management isn’t happy about it.

    A union statement says that the bosses message is all too clear: “accept precarity or starve”.

    Saramago has a reputation as a left-wing venue, but IWW argues that this shouldn’t give them a free pass to mistreat their workers:

    We will not let Saramago hide behind its historic association with a liberal, left-wing crowd or its location in an arts venue that only a week ago screened films about the importance of trade-unionism. We call on all union members and workers in hospitality to show solidarity with the fired workers by joining us on the support pickets which will soon be organised

    The Canary tried to call Saramago for a comment, but they didn’t answer the phone. We also contacted CCA on Thursday 23 March. It said:

    CCA is aware of a demonstration scheduled for later today outside of our venue, relating to a staff dispute within Saramago Cafe Bar. Saramago is a business tenant within CCA, owned and managed separately from our organisation.

    Fair working is an organisational priority for CCA, and we therefore express concern and are communicating directly with Saramago Cafe Bar, our programme partners and our own staff as developments unfold.

    IWW is planning to demonstrate against Saramago again on Friday 24 March. The union is asking people to donate to a solidarity fund for the sacked workers, and to send messages of support via Clydeside IWW

    Featured image via Clydeside IWW (with permission)

    By Tom Anderson

  • ‘Bullying’ bosses sacked four Port of Felixstowe workers for organising the Unite strike

    Four Unite the Union-backed workers from the Port of Felixstowe are taking on the company which owns it. This comes after bosses sacked the workers, seemingly for their involvement in the strikes which brought the port to a near-standstill in 2022.

    While their colleagues won a pay deal, the so-called ‘Felixstowe Four’ were fired. They’ve accused bosses of orchestrating a “witch hunt” to “bully” other workers. However, the Felixstowe Four are fighting back.

    Felixstowe: striking workers win victory

    As the Canary previously reported, workers at the Port of Felixstowe took industrial action in 2022. It was over pay and conditions at the docks:

    Unite the Union says its operator, the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company, gave staff a tiny 1.4% pay rise last year [2021]. This year [2022], it’s only offering 5%. That’s around half the rate of inflation. That means bosses are giving workers an effective pay cut. So, workers voted by 92% to strike in August on an 81% turnout.

    The trade union and its local reps organised walkouts in August and September 2022. The action worked, as by December the port’s owners, the Felixstowe Dock and Railway Company, and its parent company CK Hutchison Holdings, had given in. As BBC News reported, bosses agreed to a two-year pay increase:

    broken down as a 7% increase for 2022 and an additional one off payment of £500, and then from January 1 2023 an 8.5% pay increase and a one off payment of £1,000.

    While this was a good result for the Port of Felixstowe’s 2,500 workers, there was a catch.

    The Felixstowe Four

    In what seems like a clear attempt to intimidate the workforce, bosses took action against four of Unite’s reps – ultimately firing them. As the East Anglian Daily Times (EADT) reported:

    the four individuals are taking legal action against the company which could end in an employment tribunal.

    Unite – which represents the group – is claiming they were unfairly dismissed and has launched a campaign to get the Felixstowe Four reinstated.

    CK Hutchison Holdings declined to comment to the EADT. However, in a video, the workers – Jamie, Keith, Andy and Pete – accuse Port of Felixstowe bosses of a “witch hunt” against them. The men said the company is trying to “make examples” of the four and to “bully and threaten everybody else” who worked there. Andy said bosses’ actions were:

    abuse for their gain… to bully the rest of the workforce into doing exactly what they want. They’ve tortured me enough, but more to the point they’ve tortured my family… I’ve worked all my life. I need to work to provide for my family.

    Unite’s message to bosses is simple – reinstate the Felixstowe Four:

    An undercurrent of abuse at the port

    CK Hutchison Holdings’ treatment of these four workers is a deeply worrying undercurrent at the port. Bosses firing workers on a whim, allegedly for organising strikes, is clearly designed to intimidate other employees into not taking action again in the future. Unite and the workers must fight this regressive action – because otherwise, it sets a dangerous precedent for the future.

    You can send a message of support to the Felixstowe Four here.

    Want to discuss this and other local news with like-minded people, and build independent Suffolk media – all while getting involved with Jeremy Corbyn‘s Peace and Justice Project? Then sign up to the Suffolk News Club by clicking the image below:

    Suffolk News Club and the Peace and Justice Project Logo

    Featured image via Unite the Union – YouTube

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • New research shows precisely who’s to blame for your tanking living standards

    According to new analysis from the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the Tories have presided over “the worst period for living standards in modern history”. It’s a trend which has seen wages collapse and living standards tank. The problem began with David Cameron, and has persisted with each of his short-lived successors. It’s also a trend which the TUC argues cannot be allowed to continue.

    Decline of the times

    The TUC is reporting that:

    • NEW ANALYSIS shows that by the end of this parliament household disposable incomes will have shrunk for six of the 14 years the Tories have been in power
    • Between 2010-11 and 2023-4 household disposable income growth will increase by just 0.2% a year – compared to an average of 2.3% before 2010-11
    • Union body says the government’s failure to get wages rising has pushed families to the brink

    The trade union-representing body adds that:

    The current squeeze on family budgets is the longest and deepest since records began in the 1950s. Between 1955-6 and 2009-10, household disposable incomes fell just six times – the equivalent of around once every nine years. But between 2010-11 and 2023-4, household disposable incomes are on course to fall nearly once every two years.

    Ahead of the Tories taking office in 2010-11, the average growth in household disposable income was 2.3% a year. But since 2010-11 it has plummeted. By 2023-4, household disposable income growth will have increased by just 0.2% a year since David Cameron took power.

    Two decades of lost living standards

    The TUC refers to our recent past as “two decades of lost living standards“. It adds that key to driving down household disposable income has been “the government’s failure to get wages rising”. This has led to UK workers “enduring the longest wage squeeze in more than 200 years, with real wages not set to recover to their 2008 value until 2026. The union adds:

    years of wage stagnation have pushed families across Britain to the brink. According to the Office for Budget Responsibility, household disposable incomes will contract by nearly 6% between now and 2023-4 – the worst squeeze since modern records began.

    Given the increasingly dire situation, the TUC argues that urgent action is needed. With that in mind, it’s calling on the government to:

    • Resolve all of the current pay disputes in the public sector by agreeing fair pay deals for all public servants
    • Work with unions and employers and the private sector on sector-wide Fair Pay Agreements to improve pay and working conditions
    • Raise the minimum wage to £15 an hour as soon as possible
    • Ban zero hours contracts to help end the scourge of insecure work
    • Increase Universal Credit to 80 per cent of the real Living Wage.

    TUC: “the time for excuses is over”

    TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said:

    Everyone who works for a living deserves to earn a decent living. But working people are suffering the longest squeeze on wages in more than the 200 years. This has decimated household budgets and pushed many families to breaking point.

    By the time of the next election, pay packets will still be worth less than in 2008. That is a shameful record for the government. The Conservatives are presiding over the worst period for living standards in modern history.

    Nowak added:

    The time for excuses is over. Ministers must get pay rising across the economy.

    That means a decent pay deal for all our public servants. It means working with unions on sector-wide Fair Pay Agreements, starting with social care and the ferries sector. And it means raising the minimum wage to £15 an hour as soon as possible.

    Under the Tories, conditions have increasingly worsened for an increasingly large number of people. Rishi Sunak may have little interest in bucking that trend, but if the unions and their supporters can apply enough pressure, he’s going to buckle whether he likes it or not.

    Featured image via Wikimedia – World Economic Forum, cropped to 770 x 403 under licence CC BY-SA 2.0

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Teachers’ strike: Tories go to war with NEU as impasse grows

    The National Education Union (NEU) began two days of strike action on Wednesday 15 March. The teachers’ strike saw countless staff walk out across England. So, what does the Tory government do? It puts out some shameless, baseless propaganda to try and turn parents against the NEU. Fortunately, it so far doesn’t appear to have worked – and the trade union has also hit back.

    NEU teachers’ strike: everybody out

    NEU members are striking over pay, working conditions, and students’ education. For example, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) says governments have cut the real-terms pay of experienced and senior teachers by around £6,600 – or 13% – since 2010. On top of this, the NEU also said that:

    Nearly one third of the teachers who qualified in the last decade have quit.

    13 per cent of teachers who qualified in 2019 have already gone.

    All this is having a knock-on effect on kids’ education. The NEU says school budgets are already “overstretched”. The IFS thinks that even with additional government money, by 2024 education spending is only going to go back to where it was in real terms in 2010. So, NEU members have walked out:

    On 15 March, the NEU is also holding a rally in central London – with thousands of teachers expected to attend:

    However, the Tory government is also on the offensive – albeit not very successfully.

    The Tories: rats in a sack

    Desperate education secretary Gillian Keegan wrote an open letter to parents on Tuesday 14 March. She said that she was “extremely disappointed” that the NEU teachers’ strike was ‘disrupting’ kids and parents. Keegan noted that students were missing “invaluable” learning time. However, she crucially claimed that:

    It is made worse by the fact that this strike action is completely unnecessary. As I said to the NEU three weeks ago, I want to get around the table and engage in serious talks on teachers’ pay and other issues to resolve disputes.

    My only condition was that strike action is paused so those discussions can take place in good faith and without disruption.

    Keegan slammed the NEU, saying it:

    instead seems focused on strikes and all the needless disruption that brings.

    Of course, this is typical Tory propaganda – because Keegan’s claims are completely one-sided.

    NEU hits back – while parents still support it

    NEU joint general secretaries Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney wrote back to Keegan. They claimed that the strike was essentially down to her and her department. Bousted and Courtney said:

    The NEU has said repeatedly that we will meet for talks any time, any place, anywhere. It is your precondition that we call off strike action in order to have talks, which lies in the way.

    Last week, we, alongside the other education union leaders, asked for talks through ACAS in order to make progress. You refused to engage.

    The letter also noted that the Scottish and Welsh governments had been negotiating more successfully with teachers. Plus, Bousted and Courtney went further, accusing Keegan – via her ‘pause the teachers’ strike’ demand – of setting:

    a whole new precedent, which is nothing more than a stumbling block with which to play politics.

    Unions caving-in to bosses hasn’t ended well recently. The University and College Union (UCU) even ended up having to add a strike date after no progress was made. The flip side of this is the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), which stood its ground – and ended up winning its pay dispute, without any walkouts.

    So, the teachers’ strike continues – and it seems parents are still supporting it. A poll by ParentKind showed 63% of parents supported the NEU. The Times Educational Supplement (TES), on the other hand, reported that 50% of people supported the NEU, according to the most recent YouGov polling.

    So, government attempts to manipulate parents have so far failed. It seems that while the NEU holds the line over the dispute, the public are behind it – and not the Tories.

    Featured image via NEU

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • This Budget Day workers are making it clear the economy needs to work for them

    Wednesday 15 March is Budget Day in the UK – the day when the chancellor of the exchequer announces how much worse-off non-millionaires will be for the upcoming six months. With the cost of living crisis continuing to bite, this Budget Day will see many workers – including the National Education Union (NEU) – taking to the streets to demand better pay, better conditions, and better prospects.

    Things can only decline for so long before the people demand more, and – according to Socialist Worker – over 500,000 workers will be making their demands clear this week.

    SOS – ‘Save our Schools’ on Budget Day

    The NEU will stage one of the most significant strikes of the day. According to the union:

    On 15 March members of the National Education Union (NEU) will begin two days of strike action in our campaign to win a fully funded, above-inflation pay rise.

    Our last national strike day on 1 February was a huge success and, following regional events at the end of February, we will be asking members to attend a national demonstration in London on 15 March.

    The march will assemble in Hyde Park at 12 noon and march to Trafalgar Square, for speeches and carnival games.

    We do not want to go on strike – we want to be in the classroom, teaching and supporting children and young people.

    But there is a crisis of recruitment and retention within the school system fuelled by a decade of falling pay and this needs to be addressed by the Government.

    We are asking members of the public, parents and supporters to join us on the demonstration, which will be family friendly and fun.

    Please RSVP using our form.

    The NEU site features comments from its members on why they’re striking. Primary school teacher Emma said:

    I always wanted to be a teacher. I wanted to make a difference. But, if I’m honest, I’m struggling a little. A large part of my pay goes towards nursery fees and, with the rising cost of living, I have found myself having to think about whether I can afford treats for my children, holidays or even whether I would be able to offer them help in the future if they go to uni.

    I didn’t come into teaching to become rich, but I did expect that I wouldn’t have to worry about the bills. I genuinely believe teachers deserve better than this. I’m glad we are making a stand.

    Socialist Worker is predicting that over 250,000 teachers will be involved in the strikes.

    Broader action on top of the NEU

    Other strikes set to coincide with the budget week include:

    • 100,000 civil service workers in the PCS (Public and Commercial Services) Union.
    • 48,000 junior doctors in the BMA (British Medical Association) on 13, 14, and 15 March.
    • 1,500 London Underground workers in the ASLEFT (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen).
    • 40,000 rail workers (16 March).

    There will also be involvement from the University and College Union (UCU).

    Meanwhile, on Sunday 12 March the British Medical Association (BMA) spoke out against what it described as “misleading claims” in a BBC article:

    The BMA was forced to point out that horrendous working patterns are involved:

    And that junior doctors receive shockingly low pay:

    The good fight

    Between the government and the mainstream media, the trade unions have clearly got a hell of a fight on their hands. However, they do have one thing going for them. There are a lot more honest people than there are crooked politicians and dodgy journalists. This Budget Day, those numbers will be made as clear as they ever have been.

    Featured image via Sky News – YouTube

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • IWW delivers a grievance letter to Plymouth vegan cafe over unfair dismissal of a trans employee

    On Friday 3 March, workers from the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) trade union delivered a grievance letter to Power Plant Vegan Cafe in Plymouth.

    It said:

    Today, a group of workers from Bristol IWW attended the Power Plant Vegan Cafe in Plymouth to deliver a grievance letter to the management on behalf of one of our union members. It is alleged that this member was unfairly dismissed, treated in a way that violated the 2010 Equal Rights Act, and was not provided with a safe working environment.
    The union has requested a meeting with the cafe owners within the next week.

    Claims of harassment and wrongful dismissal

    The dismissed cafe worker – who joined the IWW in delivering the grievance – read out a statement saying that they were misgendered and deadnamed while working at the cafe. They also said that they had received targeted comments about their appearance.

    They spoke about the effect that their treatment at work had on their mental health:

    I passed up opportunities to seek and receive hormone replacement therapy and was made to feel an insane amount of guilt and shame regarding my identity as a trans non-binary person, due to discrimination and harassment. My mental health and well-being hit rock bottom following their behaviour.

    The dismissed worker went on to add that they had asked for the problems to be addressed. However, they were “ignored for months”. In January 2023 they say that the cafe fired them with “no warning or justification”.

    They explained that they wanted to take the grievance in the:

    true hope that the issues can be resolved and the desired outcomes can be approached. More so, that no other queer person has to live this experience at the hands of this cafe.

    Disappointed

    The IWW and the dismissed employee expressed disappointment with Power Plant, as the cafe had been a meeting place for Plymouth’s queer community in the past, and has hosted local queer events.

    IWW stressed the seriousness of the grievances:

    The treatment of our member is very serious and we urge the management of Power Plant Vegan Cafe to address these grievances to an appropriate extent, to accept responsibility for their actions and start the process of repairing some of the damage that has been done.

    Response

    However, Power Plant has refused to accept responsibility. Instead, they have blamed the dismissed worker, and said that they had been “hostile”. A statement from the cafe said:

    The former employee who has recently raised a grievance about their dismissal was given their notice due to repeated inappropriate & hostile behaviour towards one of their employers as well as multiple complaints we received from other members of staff for bullying and causing mental stress by creating a hostile work environment. We absolutely reject their claims of unfair dismissal and harassment.

    Their response does not acknowledge the harm done to their former employee, or begin to try to address it. The cafe’s owners did confirm – however – that they will meet with the union.

    An injury to one is an injury to all

    The IWW’s solidarity for their member in Plymouth shows, once again, that workplace organising is the answer to not getting pushed around by bosses. IWW is a radical grassroots trade union that represents all types of workers across all workplaces. You can find out more about IWW here.

    Featured image via IWW (with permission)

    By Tom Anderson

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • MPs and lords blast anti-strikes bill for breaching ‘human rights obligations’

    The Tories’ anti-strikes bill has drawn significant criticism since its inception. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has called it “draconian” and “spiteful” and says the government must ‘junk’ it. Now, the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) has said that the new anti-strikes laws are “not justified and need to be reconsidered”.

    Anti-strikes bill: failing human rights

    The new law is officially titled the ‘Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill‘. It would seriously restrict workers’ right to take strike action. Among its critics are European trade unions. They have argued that the legislation would ‘drag the UK further away from democratic norms’. Now, the JCHR, a parliamentary committee made up of MPs and lords, has also slammed the bill “for failing to meet human rights obligations”.

    Its report says the government has failed to provide “sufficient evidence” for introducing the bill. The JCHR warns the new powers being given to ministers are not “proportionate”. It also noted that the bill was incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). However, the Tories are trying to pull the UK out of the ECHR.

    According to the Mirror, the committee said:

    In our view, they may amount to a disproportionate interference with Article 11 [of the ECHR], particularly in circumstances where the strike does not involve essential services and risks to life and limb.

    The Government should reconsider whether less severe measures, such as loss of pay or suspension from work for employees who fail to comply with work notices, could be effective.

    The JCHR’s intervention comes three days after the House of Lords Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee criticised the anti-strikes bill. The committee slammed the bill for giving blanket powers to ministers – while providing virtually no detail.

    Civil liberties groups have also warned that the bill would allow “a further significant and unjustified intrusion by the state into the freedom of association and assembly”. Among the groups to speak out were Liberty, Human Rights Watch, and Oxfam.

    The Tories’ ‘draconian’ law

    In response to the JCHR report, TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said:

    MPs, Lords and civil liberties groups are queuing up to condemn this draconian Bill. These spiteful new laws are an affront to human rights and are a deliberate attempt to restrict the right to strike – a fundamental British liberty.

    The government is steamrolling through parliament legislation that will give ministers sweeping new powers to sack workers who take action to win better pay and conditions. The Conservatives are trying to keep people in the dark. But make no mistake – this Bill is undemocratic, unworkable and almost certainly illegal. And crucially it will likely poison industrial relations and exacerbate disputes rather than help resolve them.

    This nasty Bill should be junked immediately.

    It’s unlikely that the Tories will pay much attention to the JCHR, given they want to drag the UK out of the ECHR anyway. So, it’s up to trade unions, opposition MPs, and campaigners to continue to oppose this authoritarian piece of legislation.

    Featured image via Alarichall – Wikimedia, resized to 770×403 under licence CC BY-SA 4.0

    By The Canary

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Anti-strike bill ‘fails to meet UK’s human rights obligations’, MPs and peers say

    Joint committee warns that proposed laws are ‘not justified and need to be reconsidered’

    Controversial legislation designed to curb strike action fails to meet the UK’s human rights obligations, MPs and peers have warned.

    The joint committee on human rights has said the government’s proposed anti-strike laws are “not justified and need to be reconsidered”.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • What do the RMT and NEU strikes have in common with the UCU? Not a lot, unfortunately.

    Two trade unions have announced further strikes, as a third stages walkouts across England and Wales. These are from the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), the University and College Union (UCU), and the National Education Union (NEU). However, while two unions’ actions are an escalation, the other’s appears to be trying to cover its own mistakes. It shows that far from being a united movement, trade unions in the UK have a difficult disparity between them.

    RMT: walkouts on the Underground

    The RMT has said that its members on the London Underground will strike on 15 March. As the Canary previously reported, Transport for London (TfL) is attacking tube workers’ pay and conditions. This is because its revenue collapsed during the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Then, the Tory government gave it some cash – but the money came with conditions. The RMT says that the government and TfL will force through:

    • 600 job losses.
    • A worsening of the work-life balance for staff, with managers being empowered to make shift changes at the last minute.
    • Around a 30% cut in people’s pensions.

    If TfL doesn’t do this, the Tories will cut its funding. However, the RMT says the company should not cave in to government demands. It previously said:

    The Mayor and TfL should stand firmly with their workers, the people who kept London’s transport services moving during the pandemic. Instead, they are allowing London Underground managers to cut jobs and undermine employment conditions on the Tube and they continue to indulge the government’s spiteful raid on the TfL pension scheme.

    So, it has been left with no choice but to strike. The action comes after the government and TfL delayed making a decision about pensions specifically until 17 March. RMT London Underground workers will join their colleagues in the rail sector, who are walking out during March and April as well.

    Meanwhile, another union has announced a further strike date. However, this one is not quite as it seems.

    UCU: to strike or not to strike?

    The UCU has been behaving rather oddly of late. First, and as the Canary previously reported, it paused its strikes at universities in February and the first two days of March. The UCU claimed this was due to “significant progress” in talks over pay and pensions with university bosses. General secretary Jo Grady further said the pausing of strikes was to:

    enable us to hold intensive negotiations with the aim of delivering a final agreement

    However, this hasn’t panned out. Instead, national university bosses have decided to impose their pay offer without UCU agreement. As the union wrote:

    the employer chose to put out their pay offer and make it clear that it is final and that universities can implement the initial element of that pay offer. We need to be absolutely crystal clear, this is not a pay offer that has been agreed with us as a union, or any of the other unions involved in the negotiations.

    The UCU claimed it has made progress in other areas. However, the union caving over strikes leading to bosses taking the piss was always going to end badly. As lecturer Philip Proudfoot tweeted:

    So, the UCU has made an about-face and will be striking during March as previously planned, plus on an additional date of 15 March.

    Trusting capitalists is a fool’s game

    Meanwhile, the UCU’s counterparts in the NEU also tabled a similar plan – that it would call off strikes if the government made a “serious” pay offer to it. However, it wasn’t caught napping. The government failed to make an offer. So, the strikes are still on. NEU members will be walking out in different parts of England and Wales on 1, 2 and 3 March.

    The situation with these three unions shows the disparity that exists in the broader movement. While some unions like the RMT won’t have it, others – like the UCU – appear all too willing to give a little when bosses won’t reciprocate the gesture. If trade unions should know anything, it’s that capitalists cannot be trusted. The RMT knows this – but it appears the UCU needs to up its game.

    Featured image via Nick Efford – Wikimedia, resized to 770×403 under licence CC BY-SA 2.0, Politics JOE – YouTube, the UCU – YouTube and the NEU – YouTube

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Royal Mail shows just why trade unions shouldn’t back down over strikes

    The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has been standing firm in the face of Royal Mail‘s appalling behaviour. As recent events show, the union is right to do so – as the company’s boss Simon Thompson has once again exposed himself as an odious hack. Sadly, it seems not every union is following the CWU’s lead – as another workers’ organisation has paused its strikes. However, does this point to larger problems with the UK’s trade unions?

    Royal Mail: the shambles continues

    MPs hauled Royal Mail boss Thompson back in front of a select committee on Wednesday 22 February. It was over previous evidence he gave to the business, energy and industrial strategy (BEIS) committee.

    As the Canary previously reported, the committee had doubts over whether or not Thompson’s previous evidence was actually true. For example, he’d said that Royal Mail managers did not track employees to see how quickly they were working. However, the committee received evidence to show that this wasn’t the case, so it called Thompson back. And this time, his performance was no better.

    For example, Thompson admitted during this second hearing that he has still not done anything about managers tracking workers. This was despite the committee previously raising it as a concern. BEIS committee member and Labour MP Andy McDonald told Thompson it was “frustrating” that:

    having had notice that this was a major area of concern, that today you’re going to go away from this second hearing, to say to your organisation… ‘we are not going to use data in pursuit of these matters’. Shouldn’t have that been done a long, long time ago?

    Thompson’s response was to deflect and blame other people. This was a running theme throughout his shady evidence – as the chair of the BEIS committee, Labour’s Darren Jones, summed up during the hearing:

    Thompson’s position is becoming untenable. It remains to be seen how long other Royal Mail bosses and shareholders will put up with his nonsense.

    So, the CWU is rightly sticking it to Thompson – not least because as a boss, he can’t be trusted. The union is preparing more potential strike action after a huge ‘yes’ from its re-ballot. However, elsewhere in the union movement, not everyone was quite so resolute over strikes.

    The RCN: another union backs down

    The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has followed the University and College Union (UCU) and paused strike action so it can have “intensive talks” with the Tory government. BBC News reported that:

    Health Secretary Stephen Barclay will sit down with RCN leader Pat Cullen to discuss a compromise deal to end the stand-off over pay.

    The talks are likely to focus on next year’s pay rise, which is due in April.

    One option is to backdate it by several months, effectively giving nurses an extra pay boost for part of this year.

    But the RCN-government talks come as other unions in the NHS are striking. For example, junior doctors with the British Medical Association (BMA) have recently voted to walk out. Meanwhile, ambulance strikes from other unions are still ongoing. So the RCN’s actions clearly did not go down well with other unions – as a pointed tweet from Unison general secretary Christina McAnea showed:

    Some nurses themselves weren’t impressed with the RCN’s stance, either:

    So, the union’s decision seems self-serving regarding other NHS workers, and misplaced for its own members. Moreover, as the Canary previously wrote about the UCU, there are issues of democracy here, too:

    That a union can take such a drastic top-down decision is not uncommon, but it’s certainly of concern…

    Meanwhile, the National Education Union (NEU) looked like it was going to pull a similar stunt to the RCN. However, it appears to have changed at the last minute.

    The NEU had said that it would call off strikes if the government made a “serious proposal” over pay. It gave a deadline of Saturday 25 February – a date which came and went with no movement from the Tories. So, the NEU said the strikes are still on. As Yahoo News reported:

    Regional walkouts by NEU members are planned for February 28, March 1 and March 2, with national strike action across England and Wales planned for March 15 and March 16.

    Trade unions: letting working class people down?

    What recent developments across the trade union movement show is that some organisations have been more fearless and strong-willed than others. The CWU seems unwilling to back down in the face of Royal Mail and government pressure. However, others like the UCU and RCN have given ground to bosses and the Tories when it’s really not justified.

    At a time when so many working class people are suffering in the UK, trade unions should be thinking about the bigger picture. It’s easy to argue that these organisations are only supposed to defend their members. However, this ignores the class intersections that run through all these disputes. All working class people in the UK would benefit from a united and radical trade union movement. Sadly, it’s becoming apparent that’s not what we currently have.

    Featured image via CWU Live – YouTube

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • EU-based unions accuse Tories of ‘dragging UK further away from democratic norms’

    Trade unions from several European countries have called out the UK government. According to the Trades Union Congress (TUC), these organisations “representing more than 20 million workers warn the Strikes Bill will drag UK further away from democratic norms”. It comes as the Tories’ Anti-Strikes Bill looks set to drastically shift the balance of power between employers and workers.

    The UK: an outlier in Europe

    The TUC said in a press release:

    As the Strikes Bill begins its journey through the House of Lords next week, a joint statement by the general secretaries of nine European trade unions wholly rejects the government’s claims that the legislation would bring the UK into line with Europe.

    Ministers have repeatedly named France, Italy and Spain as countries they are supposed to be emulating through the legislation. But the major unions in these countries strongly dispute these claims.

    In the joint statement condemning the Strikes Bill, the European unions say that the UK is already an outlier in Europe and has the most draconian anti-union laws in the democratic world.

    The European unions warn that more restrictions on the right to strike will “only drag the UK further away from democratic norms, risk violating international law, and tarnish its international reputation.”

    The TUC added that French, German, Italian, and Spanish organisations have highlighted the marked differences in laws governing unions and workers in disputes in their countries. It said:

    the fundamental right to strike is protected by constitutional and other means in all other advanced European democracies.

    Unlike workers in the UK, workers in Spain, Italy, France and Germany enjoy the protection of national sectoral collective bargaining agreements setting minimum standards on workers’ rights for whole industries.

    These agreements are underpinned by the freedom to take strike action without disproportionate restrictions.

    Union victories

    Of particular concern to the European unions are the UK government’s plans to threaten workers with the sack when they have voted to take part in a legitimate ballot for industrial action. War on Want recently published an article highlighting the victories that unions have won for workers, and the list includes:

    • Better terms and conditions.
    • More holiday.
    • Higher wages.
    • Equal opportunities and protection against discrimination.
    • Better parental leave.
    • Security and stability.
    • Health and safety.
    • Legal support.

    Staffing crises and public sector pay

    The European unions have argued that the UK government should be prioritising a decent pay rise for public sector workers to fix the staffing crisis across public services. The TUC, meanwhile, has accused the government of investing more time and energy in steamrolling its bill through parliament than on resolving disputes. It adds that ministers have failed to engage in good faith on public sector pay, and moreover:

    The UK union body adds that the real threat to public safety is the chronic staffing crisis which blights our NHS and emergency services – and means patients can’t get the quality of care they need.

    Recent TUC research found that 1 in 3 public sector workers are actively considering quitting their jobs – with poor pay the most popular reason cited for staff wanting to quit.

    The Tories are attacking the right to strike

    TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said:

    The right to strike is a fundamental freedom – but the Conservative government is attacking it in broad daylight. No one should face the sack for trying to win a better deal at work. This legislation would mean that when workers democratically vote to strike, they could be forced to work and sacked if they don’t comply.

    The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) represents unions across the EU. Its general secretary Esther Lynch said:

    The claim that restricting the right to strike would bring the UK into line with ‘European norms’ would be laughable if its consequences for democracy and working people weren’t so grave. The UK’s draconian restrictions on the right to strike are part of an antagonistic approach to industrial relations which has produced the biggest social conflict in a generation.

    It stands in stark contrast to the system of social dialogue between unions, employers and government which is the norm in the countries picked by UK government and across Europe. If the UK government genuinely wants to bring its industrial relations into line with European norms, they would support sectoral collective bargaining for all workers and regularly sit down for negotiations with union representatives.

    The right to strike is a basic part of a democratic society and the more restrictions that are placed in the way of workers seeking to exercise that right, the further the UK will find itself from democratic norms.

    The best way to avoid strikes is genuine negotiation and not draconian legislation.

    Solidarity with UK workers

    The below is the European unions’ statement in full, given to the TUC:

    We, the undersigned, representing millions of workers in France, Germany, Italy, and Spain, reject the claim by the UK government that the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill brings the UK into line with ‘European norms.’ The fundamental right to strike is protected by constitutional and other means in all other advanced European democracies. The UK, which has the most draconian anti-union laws in the democratic world, is already an outlier in this regard.

    More restrictions on the right to strike only drag the UK further away from democratic norms, risk violating international law, and tarnish its international reputation. We endorse the ETUC statement which makes it clear that these proposed anti-strike laws put the UK even further outside the democratic mainstream.

    Negotiation, sectoral bargaining, and social partnership are always the best way of resolving a dispute. In the framework of the UK industrial relations’ system, imposed Minimum Service Levels would aggravate and prolong disputes. We are particularly concerned that workers will be required to work under threat of dismissal when they have voted to take part in a legitimate ballot for industrial action.

    Unlike workers in the UK, workers in Spain, Italy, France and Germany enjoy the protection of national sectoral collective bargaining agreements setting minimum standards on workers’ rights for whole industries. These agreements are underpinned by the freedom to take strike action without disproportionate restrictions.

    We note that in the UK, workers in rescue services already voluntarily provide protection to the public through ‘life and limb’ cover. Before resorting to attacks on the right to strike, the UK government should offer public service workers a decent pay rise and fill the thousands of vacancies in services like the NHS.

    We send our solidarity to workers in the UK taking action to defend not only their jobs, pay, and conditions in this escalating cost of living crisis, but their fundamental right to strike.

    Union signatories

    Germany:

    DGB

    Spain:

    CCOO

    UGT

    France:

    CFDT

    CGT

    FO

    Italy:

    CGIL

    CSL

    UIL

    Featured image via rawpixel (Public Domain)

    By The Canary

  • The UCU cancelling strikes has thrown up questions about the union

    On Friday 17 February, the University and College Union (UCU) dramatically called off strikes less than 96 hours before they were due to happen. The trade union‘s members reacted – some happy, some not.

    However, the move does throw up bigger questions about UCU’s decision to stop industrial action and focus on negotiating with bosses. Moreover, it also raises questions about how good for workers the results of the negotiations will be – given that the results of the 2018 dispute actually led to the current row over pensions.

    UCU: strikes on, strikes off

    The Canary has been documenting the UCU’s actions over recent months. Tens of thousands of staff at around 150 universities have been taking industrial action. The strikes have been over:

    • Bosses cutting workers’ real-terms pay by around 25% since 2009.
    • Pension managers and bosses slashing worker pensions by around 35%.
    • Precarious working contracts, bad conditions and pay discrimination.

    UCU members were set to walk out again on 21, 22, 23, 27 and 28 February, and 1 and 2 March. However, late on Friday 17 February, the union announced it had “paused” those strikes. UCU general secretary Jo Grady said in a video message that this was due to “significant progress” in talks over pay and pensions with university bosses. She further said the pause in strikes was to:

    enable us to hold intensive negotiations with the aim of delivering a final agreement

    There was already some movement from bosses over pensions. Also on 17 February (timed with the UCU strike pause announcement), bosses said that pensions might be able to go back to previous (pre-2022) levels. That is, bosses may scrap the 35% cut. It’s worth noting, though, that this does nothing for those workers who found themselves £240,000 worse off between 2011 and 2019, due to pension changes then.

    The union was adamant that the reballot for further action needs to be won to make sure the UCU gets the right result in negotiations. This reballot starts on Wednesday 22 February. However, predictably, UCU bosses calling off strikes late on a Friday – when they were due to start the following Tuesday – unleashed a torrent of shit on the union and Grady from some quarters. So, let the chaos commence.

    Carnage

    On Twitter, some people were supportive of the UCU’s decision:

    However, many other people were not happy:

    The blog the University Worker, which is on the website Notes From Below, perhaps summed the situation up best. It released an article titled:

    Let us be crystal clear: this is shit

    It picked apart each of the claims made by the UCU and Grady over where the negotiations were at and highlighted issues with all of them. For example, the UCU claimed on Twitter that it had got a “commitment” from bosses to “end all involuntary zero hours contracts”. What this actually meant was that the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) was consulting with its boss-members on this. So, as the University Worker summed up:

    • This takes the massive risk of suspending strike action for 2 weeks (7 days of strike action) on the assumption that UCEA is going to compel member institutions to agree to its recommendation.
    • If UCEA now knows that paltry allusions to consulting their members on single issues can diminish the length of industrial action, they will continue to do this over every issue in the dispute.

    Meanwhile, the UCU confirmed that its members would still be working to contract (action short of strikes, ASOS). That is, they shouldn’t spend the weekend of 18-19 February prepping lessons that would now be taking place because the strikes are cancelled:

    However, back in the real world, some members still had criticisms:

    Vote ‘yes’ in the reballot

    The bigger point, though, is democracy – or the lack of it – in the UCU bosses’ decision. As the University Worker pointed out:

    We voted to go on strike, we worked to get other members to vote to pass the thresholds, we organised picket lines, we raised money, and we built connections with other disputes that are ongoing. Now we’re being told we have to stop.

    However, as is the case with any major trade union, change can only be won when members stick together. As the University Worker summed up, UCU members must:

    Make sure the reballot is a success. Calling out the problems with the negotiations and the strategy can only be solved if we’re in the position to take more action.

    So, what is clear is that UCU members need to vote ‘yes’ to more strike action in the reballot – even if they’re not happy with their union. However, this whole episode has thrown up bigger questions about UCU bosses.

    UCU: an ugly aftermath?

    This tactic of calling off strikes was previously called out by Grady in 2018, when she wasn’t general secretary. Now, she seems to have changed her mind. Interestingly, the agreement reached during 2018’s dispute over pensions was to create a “joint committee of experts to evaluate pensions”. Sadly, it was this committee which then recommended slashing 35% off workers’ pensions. Not exactly a good result by the UCU in 2018, then, was it? Therefore, it doesn’t bode well for this round of negotiations.

    The UCU’s cancelling of strikes comes at a time when other unions are escalating their actions. The Communication Workers Union (CWU), Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) are all increasing their defence of their workers via strikes. The UCU’s decision therefore seems disjointed from the rest of the trade union movement. This is at a time when the Tories’ anti-strike bill is threatening every worker in the UK. So national trade unions should be working in sync.

    Moreover, the aftertaste of UCU bosses subverting democracy via cancelling the strikes may linger. That a union can take such a drastic top-down decision is not uncommon, but it’s certainly of concern that it was done at the last minute and imposed, rather then voted on by union reps.

    The hierarchical structure of the UCU needs to be seriously reviewed – given the union’s claims of representing its members and having the support of students. It remains to be seen what the outcome of these latest union talks with bosses will be. However, what the future of the UCU may look like is currently even less clear.

    Featured image via the UCU – YouTube

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Bosses and politicians are acting like cornered rats as three unions go on the offensive

    Trade unions are showing no signs of backing down in the face of bosses’ refusal to treat workers fairly. Three of the UK’s biggest unions (the CWU, RCN and RMT) have all announced either further strikes, or ballots indicating them. However, the capitalist goons and politicians running the show are all behaving like cornered rats – showing that these industrial disputes are far from over.

    CWU: at war with Royal Mail

    First up, and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) announced the result of its latest ballot of members against Royal Mail. The union said in a press release that workers:

    have voted by 95.9% on a 77.3% turnout to take further strike action. Despite the intensity of the dispute and employees retiring or leaving the company, turnout rose from the two previous ballots (which were 77% and 72.2% respectively). This makes this vote the biggest mandate for strike action since the implementation of the 2016 Trade Union Act.

    New CWU strikes will be on top of 18 days of previous ones. However, Royal Mail bosses have already behaved appallingly – trying to intimidate staff, lying to parliamentary committees, and using legal technicalities to stop some strike action. So, somewhat predictably Royal Mail has already gone on the attack.

    A company “source” told Sky News that Royal Mail:

    was “bleeding” cash and could not afford to raise its “best and final” wage offer beyond the £400m collective hike that was on the table.

    They argued that the business was losing customer confidence because of the continuing dispute and risked becoming increasingly uncompetitive as it already paid its staff up to 40% more than cheaper rivals.

    “Fewer customers means a smaller business and means we need fewer people”, the source said.

    Clearly Royal Mail is not going to negotiate with the union further. So, expect workers to be out on strike again very soon.

    RCN: at war with Tories

    Next, and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has confirmed more dates for strike action. Nurses will be walking-out in an escalation on previous strikes. The RCN said that:

    Following months of inaction from the UK government, RCN members in England will strike around the clock for 48 hours in March, with no wide-ranging derogations in place and increased strike benefit payments available to striking members.

    The strikes will, it says:

    run without pause for 48 hours from the morning of Wednesday 1 March to the morning of Friday 3 March with every single member in England, where there is a mandate to strike, being called to withdraw their labour.

    The RCN’s last round of strikes excluded some nurses, like A&E ones, from the action. This time that’s not happening, with the RCN saying that:

    We are working directly to ensure that these services are reduced to an absolute minimum. It is always the employer’s responsibility to ensure life-preserving services, so we expect life-preserving care to be provided by members of the wider workforce and other clinical professions.

    It’s of little wonder the union has upped the ante – because the Tory health secretary is essentially AWOL. RCN general secretary Pat Cullen told the BBC Steve Barclay had not met with her for a month:

    I’m deeply disappointed that I go back every moment of the day to the 320,000 nurses who took part in this ballot for strike action and say to them that I have no news for them.

    Of course, Barclay is all too quick to talk to the media – peddling the usual anti-NHS strike trope about ‘patients being at risk’. Clearly the Tories are hoping that by doing nothing the RCN will just go away – which is highly unlikely.

    RMT union: at war with the rail companies and the Tories

    Finally, and the National Union of Rail, Transport and Maritime Workers (RMT) has also announced more strike dates – here, because of both bosses and government inaction. Workers across 14 rail companies will be walking out on 16, 18 and 30 March, and 1 April. Plus, the RMT has called strike action across Network Rail on 16-17 March – and its putting in place overtime bans on certain days. The union said that a previous offer from train companies:

    did not meet the needs of members on pay, job security or working conditions.

    The union’s general secretary Mick Lynch went further, placing the blame directly at the government’s door:

    The government can settle this dispute easily by unshackling the rail companies.

    However, its stubborn refusal to do so will now mean more strike action across the railway network and a very disruptive overtime ban.

    Ministers cannot continue to sit on their hands hoping this dispute will go away as our members are fully prepared to fight tooth and nail for a negotiated settlement in the months ahead.

    The cronies at the Rail Delivery Group, which represents the train companies, showed that they’re clearly not willing to compromise – despite these organisations making hundreds of millions in profits – with one company dishing out half a billion to shareholders. A spokesperson told Sky News, without irony:

    This latest round of strikes is totally unjustified and will be an inconvenience to our customers, and cost our people more money at a time they can least afford it.

    Tory transport minister Richard Holden was no better – effectively calling on workers to scab against their union:

    I hope the RMT members put pressure on the union executive to say that they don’t want to keep going like this.

    So, much like the CWU and RCN, it seems RMT action will continue indefinitely.

    Unions: not backing down

    Some of this strike action is confined to England – specifically the RCN. In other nations like Scotland and Wales, governments have been more open to negotiations. Unions have called some strikes off while they consider pay offers. Of course, the RMT strike doesn’t directly affect train services in Scotland – because it’s operator is government-controlled. So, once again the Westminster Tory government is at the heart of why unions are striking – and given it’s authoritarian, anti-worker agenda, this means 2023 will probably be filled with industrial action across the board.

    Featured image via Sky News – YouTube, the RMT – screengrab, the RCN – screengrab and the CWU – screengrab

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • New pensions strike in France as MPs battle over reform

    French trade unions called workers out on a new strike on Thursday 16 February against a bitterly opposed pension reform being debated in parliament. This is the fifth day of action against President Emmanuel Macron’s reform, whose headline measure is raising the legal retirement age from 62 to 64. And the strikes aim to keep up the pressure ahead of a wider mass walkout on 7 March. However, unlike previous strike days, most main line trains and the Paris metro were running normally. This was due to fewer workers participating during school holidays across most of France.

    Employees at state-controlled energy giant EDF said they had lowered output by more than 3,000 megawatts, or the equivalent of three nuclear power plants, without affecting supply to end users. On Wednesday, many hydroelectric plants had been disconnected from the grid. Also on Thursday, 30% of flights from Paris’ Orly airport were cancelled.

    Police said they were expecting demonstrations by up to 650,000 people nationwide, after counting almost one million on Saturday. Unions, however, said that the weekend figure was more like 2.5 million.

    Further marches

    Union leaders were planning to join a march in the mid-sized town of Albi, northeast of Toulouse. Laurent Berger, leader of the CFDT union said:

    We want to put the spotlight on one of the characteristics of this social movement. There’s a France of workers that wants to show it exists, that there’s more than just the big cities.

    Polling shows around 70% of the public reject Macron’s pension reform plans. Meanwhile, a petition opposing them has gathered over one million signatures.

    Philippe Martinez, head of the hard-left CGT union, said the plan was to “keep up pressure on MPs” to vote the bill down. Just last month, CGT threatened to cut off energy for billionaires. Martinez said:

    It would be good if we cut off their electricity so that they can put themselves, for a few days, in the shoes of … French people who can’t afford to pay their bill.

    “Bring France to a halt”

    It is unclear whether the lower house will discuss its Article 7 before running out of time on Friday. Article 7 is responsible for the change in pension age. This uncertainty comes after left-wing opponents submitted thousands of amendments to delay debate. MPs have already rejected one of the bill’s articles, designed to press companies to employ more older workers.

    Macron himself sought to project confidence Wednesday, telling a cabinet meeting that opposition parties have “totally lost their way” over the pensions fight. Socialist MP Philippe Brun said that there is “a possible majority in the chamber to vote against” the retirement age provision.

    The biggest day of action may be still to come, with trade unions promising to “bring France to a halt” on 7 March. Unions are still debating whether to shift to rolling strikes after that date, with Paris metro workers and rubbish collectors already deciding in favour.

    Featured image via YouTube screenshot/CBC News

    Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse

    By Maryam Jameela

  • More proof if you needed it that NHS nurses and the RCN are right to be striking

    As the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) moves towards a 48-hour strike, new figures reveal what the union calls an “exodus” of young nurses from the NHS. The news is hardly surprising, though, given the RCN strikes have partly been over nurses’ appalling pay.

    Nurses: everybody out – again…?

    After strikes on 6 and 7 February, the RCN has now warned the Tory government that it’s moving to get nurses to walk out for a full 48 hours. This would include previously protected NHS areas, like A&E. As Nursing Notes wrote:

    The move by the union is designed to break the deadlock and prevent months of disruption.

    Previous strikes were over pay and conditions. As the Canary previously reported:

    In 2010, the coalition government froze public sector pay for two years, then imposed a 1% fixed increase. This year, the Tories have capped NHS pay rises at 4% for most staff, while inflation is over 10%. The end result is that since 2010, the Tories have cut around £4,300 from nurses’ real-terms pay.

    Now, a new report shows the direct impact of the government’s real-terms pay cuts – and it adds weight to nurses’ arguments over strikes.

    RCN: an “exodus” of staff

    The RCN has released its Valuing Nursing in the UK – Staffing for Safe and Effective Care report. The union said in a press release that the analysis looks at:

    the issues contributing to the poor retention of nursing staff, the reasons why they’re leaving, and calls for immediate action from the UK governments.

    The union said:

    The report shows that between 2018 and 2022, nearly 43,000 people aged 21 to 50 left the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register. It also finds the number of people leaving the NMC register increased by 9% from 2020-21 on the previous year and increased by a further 3% in 2022.

    In the report, the RCN blames what it calls the “exodus” of nurses on years of government underfunding. This includes over a decade of real-terms pay cuts. The report highlights that nurses leaving are often younger ones, and the RCN is calling for an immediate, substantial pay rise for nursing staff. The report also looks at other reasons for nurses leaving the NHS. The union said these included:

    • Insufficient staffing to ensure patient safety.
    • Harassment and discrimination in the workplace.
    • A lack of career progression.
    • Unsafe working conditions.

    A ‘crisis unfolding before our eyes’

    RCN general secretary and chief executive Pat Cullen said:

    It’s deeply worrying that nurses aren’t just choosing to retire early but are quitting the NHS and the profession entirely, when they’re only a few years into their career.

    These findings speak volumes about the dire state that ministers have allowed nursing to fall into through years of underfunding and neglect. At the same time, recent… figures highlight that we aren’t only losing a record number of experienced nurses from the NHS, we’re also going to have less joining the profession. This can only mean even more vacancies in the future.

    Cullen continued:

    Negligence towards addressing vacancies is having a devastating impact on patient care and is why our members took to picket lines in England again last week. Ministers cannot blame the pandemic and other winter pressures for the crisis unfolding before our eyes – this has been a long time in the making yet the government has consistently ignored clear signs. They must offer fair pay rises to help stop the exodus.

    It’s interesting that the RCN has warned the Tories of a 48-hour walk out at the same time as releasing its report – hitting the government with a double whammy, if you like. So now nurses must wait and see what the Tories do. However, what is clear is that the situation NHS staff are in has been unsustainable for a long time. Whether the Tories act or not remains to be seen.

    Featured image via Ehimetalor Akhere Unuabona – Unsplash 

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Students occupy university buildings in solidarity with the UCU while protesting their own dire conditions

    Students are occupying buildings at several universities. They’ve been holed up supporting the University and College Union (UCU) strike action – defying the student-versus-striker narrative some of the media is pushing. However, students have also had it with university bosses more broadly – and aren’t messing around with their actions.

    Students occupying campus

    The group University of Manchester (UoM) Rent Strike has been occupying three campus buildings since 8 February:

    One of the highlights was students occupying the bosses’ offices – including one of a dame on £260,000 a year, no less – and then locking security out:

    It’s little wonder Manchester’s students are furious. University bosses increased rent in halls by up to £450 for the 2022 academic year. Meanwhile, the university itself is making over £119m a year – while doubling its financial surplus since 2020.

    The UoM Rent Strike group told the Canary:

    We have erected barricades with furniture and blocked every entrance to the building to ensure security cannot gain access without physical force:

    A barricaded door at the UoM rent strike occupation

    Security are currently [as of 11pm on Thursday 9 February] trying to smash down barricades to gain entrance to the building.

    However, the occupation is currently going very well and the barricades of John Owens have been holding up. However security have been actively physically intimidating supporters of the occupation outside of the building. We plan on holding the building for as long as physically possible, but various actions will continue indefinitely until the university negotiates with us

    Over in Sheffield, it was a similar story on 9 February – with Sheffield Action Group (SHAG) occupying the main event hall at the city’s university:

    Students occupying universities like this one in Sheffield in support of the UCU strike - a photo of protesters setting of smoke flares and holding banners while people look on

    The group told the Canary:

    The occupation was a method to support the ongoing UCU strikes and reinforce the picket lines against an event that was scheduled to take place. The conference, run by HESPA [Higher Education Strategic Planners Association], would have crossed a picket line to discuss future strategy for higher education while excluding the very people who represent the best of HE: the committed lecturers and staff currently on strike to protect their livelihoods and ensure their ability to deliver the best education possible.

    The university must support their students and staff – especially during the cost of living crisis – but instead they’re hosting events behind picket lines that serve to promote their image and maintain their hierarchy within the sector. Students stand in solidarity with striking staff because our fight is the same: a demarketised, liberated, and exploitation free university that harms nothing but profit.

    So, while both groups are protesting their own issues – they’re also supporting the staff who have been striking.

    The media versus the UCU

    Of course, the corporate media – like the BBC and C4 News – has tried its best to push the narrative that the UCU strikes are pissing students off:

    The media trying divide and conquer tactics is nothing new. Just as they have with rail strikes and previous UCU strikes, the media keeps trying to focus on people who don’t support strikes. Yet, research from the 2019 election and from 2020 shows the majority of students tend to be left wing. Therefore, it’s likely a large proportion of students do support the UCU actions.

    End the marketisation of universities

    The overall point with both the UCU strikes and the student occupations is that university education in the UK is a privatised, marketised shambles. Bosses have cut workers’ pay by around 25% since 2009. They also want to slash workers‘ pensions by 35% too – all while making staff work in dire conditions. Meanwhile, student accommodation is in crisis – again, thanks to privatisation, as well as rogue landlords and the government getting UK students into £20bn of debt every single year. Plus, you have the ongoing legal action by over 80,000 students against universities charging them full fees at the height of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

    To counter the crony-capitalist horror show that’s engulfing the UK’s university system, it’s vital that students and staff stick together. Both groups are at the sharp end of this race to the bottom. Moreover, there are generations of young people waiting in the wings, hoping to get an education fit for the 21st century.

    Currently, the UK university system is barely providing anything it claims to. Ludicrously-paid university management are leaving staff underpaid and precarious, and students underserved and overcharged. Therefore, the collapse of universities is yet another manufactured crisis – like the cost of living one. The system sees bosses and companies hoarding wealth at the top, forcing unions and students to fight for scraps at the bottom. So, the fightback must continue.

    Featured image via Sheffield Action Group and additional images by the University of Manchester Rent Strike and Sheffield Action Group 

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • CWU says Royal Mail will not ‘demoralise’ workers after postal strike cancelled

    Royal Mail has used yet more legal shenanigans to try to stop the Communication Workers Union (CWU) taking action. It’s using a legal technicality to stop the CWU postal strike which the union announced on 2 February. It’s not the first time the company has done this to workers. However, the CWU told the Canary it will not allow Royal Mail’s “blatant intimidatory tactics” to “demoralise” its members.

    CWU: another postal strike

    As the Canary previously reported, the CWU had announced another postal strike. Workers were going to walk out from 12.30pm on Thursday 16 February until Friday 17 February. The trade union said this strike action was going to be over:

    unagreed changes related to the structure of work at offices across the country.

    These decisions have been taken in direct contravention of the Industrial Relations (IR) Framework established between the union and the employer

    Crucially, this CWU strike was legally based on its first ballot of members in 2022. However, Royal Mail was clearly rattled. So, it got the lawyers in to look at the postal strike – and after a backwards and forwards between them and the CWU’s legal team, the union was forced to call the strike off.

    Royal Mail: legal shenanigans

    As the union said in an internal memo:

    Over the weekend we received correspondence from Royal Mail Group’s legal representatives challenging the strike action we have called across the 16th/17th February. Having discussed this with our lawyers they have advised that we could defend our position in court.

    However, they have also advised that given the laws in this country are heavily weighted against working people, the risks of losing in court may potentially impact on the re-ballot – we simply cannot allow this happen.

    The CWU told the Canary that its lawyers “strongly dispute” Royal Mail’s assertion that there was a “legal error” with the postal strike. However, the union is clear that under the circumstances, it must protect the ability of its members to strike in the future. Currently, the union is running a second ballot for a fresh six-month wave of strike action:

    It is this the union wants to focus on – but it is also furious with Royal Mail.

    Workers: do not falter

    The CWU told the Canary:

    The most important thing for postal workers is securing the biggest possible ‘yes’ vote and turnout in the re-ballot, to demonstrate that they aren’t demoralised by blatant intimidatory tactics such as these, and are still determined to defend their livelihoods.

    Royal Mail’s tactics are indeed blatant. It previously used a legal loophole to stop strikes in November 2022 – showing that the bosses were being petulant, at best. However, the company and its bosses‘ behaviour is also shameful. For example, a parliamentary committee is dragging CEO Simon Thompson back before it, after he previously misled the committee while giving evidence – or lied, if you prefer. All this is without the bosses’ dire pay offers, worsening working conditions, and gross mismanagement of Royal Mail.

    So, the CWU may have pulled one strike. However, the union and its members are rightly focusing on the second ballot. And a strong result in that, with more postal strikes to hopefully follow, will show Royal Mail that no amount of intimidation will make the workers’ resolve falter.

    Featured image via CWU Live – YouTube

    By Steve Topple

    This post was originally published on Canary.