Category Archives: Trade unions

Starmer urged to make ‘populist case’ for workers’ rights reforms

Posted on by

Huge survey reveals employment rights policies are popular with public despite many not knowing about bill

Keir Starmer must make the “populist case” for workers’ rights reforms, unions have said, after a new mega-poll suggested the changes were the most popular of almost all policies but have extremely limited public recognition.

The employment rights bill will return to the Commons on Monday with a pledge by senior government figures not to water down changes to zero-hours contracts or new rights at work.

Continue reading...

London tube strike shuts down services, causing congestion on roads

Posted on by

Downing Street says ‘Londoners rightly fed up’ as commuters forced to find other routes to work on first of four days of RMT action

Downing Street said Londoners would be “rightly fed up” as commuters turned to the other trains, buses and bikes – or just stayed at home – as strikes by the RMT union closed the underground on Monday.

The numbers attempting to use any public transport were down by about a fifth, according to Transport for London (TfL) data, but that still left many crowding on to bus and overground services or congested roads at the start of four days of commuter misery.

Continue reading...

Reshuffle of junior ministers raises fears over future of Labour’s workers’ rights bill

Posted on by

Some believe fight is looming over sweeping reforms after employment rights minister Justin Madders sacked and union allies sidelined

Keir Starmer has sought to tighten his grip on his government with a wave of junior ministerial changes that has sidelined allies of the unions, raising questions over the future of Labour’s workers’ rights package.

The reshuffle has been used by Downing Street to signal a tougher stance on immigration in an apparent bid to take on Reform UK, with Shabana Mahmood – a self-described social conservative rising star – now in charge of the Home Office, supported by Sarah Jones who returns to her former policing brief.

Continue reading...

Reshuffle of junior ministers raises fears over future of Labour’s workers’ rights bill

Posted on by

Some believe fight is looming over sweeping reforms after employment rights minister Justin Madders sacked and union allies sidelined

Keir Starmer has sought to tighten his grip on his government with a wave of junior ministerial changes that has sidelined allies of the unions, raising questions over the future of Labour’s workers’ rights package.

The reshuffle has been used by Downing Street to signal a tougher stance on immigration in an apparent bid to take on Reform UK, with Shabana Mahmood – a self-described social conservative rising star – now in charge of the Home Office, supported by Sarah Jones who returns to her former policing brief.

Continue reading...

Government to cover pay and pensions at collapsed South Yorkshire steelworks

Posted on by

Unions receive assurances after state takes control of Liberty Steel plants that collapsed into administration

Workers at the UK’s third-largest steelworks in South Yorkshire have been assured they will receive their pay for August as well as unpaid pension contributions, after a government-appointed special manager took over the collapsed company.

Liberty Steel’s main British business, Speciality Steel UK (SSUK), collapsed into administration on Thursday afternoon after a high court judge ruled that it was insolvent and that its owner, the metals tycoon Sanjeev Gupta, had no prospects of repaying debts of several hundred million pounds.

Continue reading...

Nine out of 10 nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland reject pay award

Posted on by

Royal College of Nursing urges ministers to improve 3.6% offer to avoid industrial action ballot later this year

Nine out of 10 nurses have rejected a 3.6% pay award for this year and warned they could strike later this year unless their salaries are improved.

In an indicative vote among members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, 91% said the 3.6% rise was not enough.

Continue reading...

Teachers’ union elects former FBU general secretary on turnout below 5%

Posted on by

Matt Wrack wins ballot for NASUWT general secretary after legal challenge to executive’s earlier decision

Matt Wrack, a former leader of the firefighters’ union, has been elected as permanent general secretary of the NASUWT teaching union after a ballot in which less than 5% of eligible members voted.

He beat his challenger, Neil Butler, winning 5,249 votes to his rival’s 3,126, after the NASUWT’s first contested leadership election for a generation.

Continue reading...

Sick pay changes could benefit UK firms by up to £2bn, TUC says

Posted on by

Exclusive: Analysis shows covering part of salaries from first day off can boost productivity and employee retention

Changes to sick pay to cover part of workers’ salaries from the first day off could end up benefiting British businesses by as much as £2bn, according to analysis commissioned by the UK’s main union body.

The Trades Union Congress (TUC), which is pushing for the government to stick with its plans for workers’ rights, said modelling showed businesses would gain benefits of £2.4bn thanks to productivity boosts, while facing direct costs of £425m to pay for extra sick days.

Continue reading...

Crunching the data: are resident doctors in England badly paid?

Posted on by

Resident doctors have voted to strike over pay but how much has their real-terms earnings changed since 2008?

Resident doctors in England have voted to strike for five days from 25 July, reigniting one of the NHS’s most bitter industrial disputes.

At the heart of the row is pay: the British Medical Association (BMA) says resident (formerly known as junior) doctors have seen their real earnings fall by more than a quarter since 2008. The government says the union’s demands are unaffordable, and they’ve already received generous rises in recent years.

Continue reading...

Resident doctors’ 29% pay claim is non-negotiable, BMA chair says

Posted on by

Exclusive: Tom Dolphin says rise needed to redress real-terms earnings loss since 2008 and strikes could last years

Resident doctors’ 29% pay claim is non-negotiable, reasonable and easily affordable for the NHS, the new leader of the medical profession has said.

Strikes to ensure resident – formerly junior – doctors in England get the full 29% could drag on for years, according to Dr Tom Dolphin, the British Medical Association’s new council chair.

Continue reading...

NHS bosses fear fresh resident doctors’ strikes could embolden other staff

Posted on by

The Royal College of Nursing and Unison are undertaking indicative ballots to assess members’ willingness to strike

A looming fresh wave of strikes by resident doctors could encourage other NHS staff including nurses to take industrial action over pay, health service bosses fear.

Resident doctors, formerly junior doctors, in England are threatening to stage stoppages until January in pursuit of their demand for a 29% pay rise, after 90% voted in favour in a ballot on a 55% turnout.

Continue reading...

Minister won’t rule out support cuts for children with EHCPs amid Send overhaul – UK politics live

Posted on by

Stephen Morgan, the early education minister, would not confirm every child who has an EHCP would continue to keep the same provisions

The Conservatives will try to change the government’s welfare Bill to tighten up access to personal independence payments (Pip) and universal credit, PA Media reports. PA says:

Kemi Badenoch will pledge that the Tories are “now the only party committed to serious welfare reform” after Keir Starmer shelved plans to restrict eligibility for Pip in the face of a backbench revolt this week.

The Tories will look to lay amendments to the legislation – set to be renamed the universal credit bill – and party leader Badenoch is due to deliver a speech on welfare on Thursday.

Continue reading...

Senior medics in England say more resident doctor strikes would be futile

Posted on by

Exclusive: Letter from six top figures says more walkouts by junior colleagues would help those who oppose the NHS

Six senior figures in England’s medical profession have criticised potential strikes by resident doctors as “a futile gesture” that will harm patients and help those who oppose the NHS.

The move is the first public evidence of the significant unease many senior doctors feel about the possibility of their junior colleagues staging a new campaign of industrial action in England.

Continue reading...

Teaching union faces legal challenge over new general secretary

Posted on by

Appointment of leftwinger with no teaching background is controversial in traditionally moderate NASUWT

The leadership of the NASUWT teaching union has been thrown into doubt after a legal challenge was issued over its appointment of a new general secretary.

The application for an injunction, filed with the courts on Wednesday, came after a potential candidate was barred from running for the post, denying members the chance to vote in an open election.

Continue reading...

British Steel halts redundancy plans after government rescue

Posted on by

Union welcomes announcement company is closing consultation on laying off up to 2,700 Scunthorpe workers

British Steel will not continue with a consultation on making up to 2,700 steelworkers at its Scunthorpe plant redundant, after the government took control of the firm earlier this month.

The Chinese company Jingye, which promised a “new chapter” when it bought British Steel in 2020, last month proposed closing Scunthorpe’s two blast furnaces, putting the roles under threat and ending Britain’s ability to produce steel from scratch.

Continue reading...

Scottish Water staff to strike for two days as pay standoff continues

Posted on by

Emergency repairs and quality checks for 5m people in Scotland will not be done on Tuesday and Wednesday, union says

Scottish Water staff will strike for two days from the early hours of Tuesday as a standoff over pay continues at the state-owned company.

The striking workers’ union warned that emergency repairs and quality checks to water supplied to 5 million people across Scotland would not be carried out during the action on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Continue reading...

UK prison officers to demand electric stun guns for dangerous jails

Posted on by

Meeting called with justice secretary after attack on three guards at HMP Frankland

Prison officers will demand the immediate issue of electric stun guns to protect staff guarding Britain’s most dangerous jails when they meet the justice secretary this week.

Wednesday’s meeting with Shabana Mahmood was called after the attack on three guards at HMP Frankland, allegedly by the convicted terrorist Hashem Abedi. Two were seriously injured after being doused in hot cooking fat and stabbed, one five times in the torso, in a sustained assault.

Continue reading...

Second teachers’ union vows to strike if pay award fails to fund schools in England

Posted on by

NASUWT conference votes to launch strike ballot if spending review does not top up school budgets in full

A second teaching union in England has vowed to strike if the government fails to compensate schools in full for next year’s teachers’ pay award.

The NASUWT union’s annual conference voted to reject any pay offer from the government that did not top up school budgets in June’s spending review, and to “move immediately to ballot members for industrial action”.

Continue reading...

Ministers under pressure to nationalise British Steel if crisis talks fail

Posted on by

Business select committee chair joins calls for Scunthorpe steelworks to be taken into public ownership

The government is under mounting pressure to nationalise British Steel if crunch talks aimed at a rescue deal fail, as the chair of the influential business and trade select committee added his voice to those calling for the Scunthorpe steelworks to be taken into public ownership.

Jingye, the Chinese owner of the company, and the UK government were not able to reach a deal on Thursday to supply the Scunthorpe plant with crucial raw materials, with talks expected to restart on Friday.

Continue reading...

More than 90% of schools in England ban mobile phone use, survey shows

Posted on by

Head of National Education Union calls for statutory ban on phones in schools and social media ban for under-16s

Almost all schools in England have banned mobile phone use by pupils, according to the first national survey conducted, as the leader of the largest teaching union called for a statutory ban owing to the “damaging impact” on young people.

The national survey, ordered by Rachel de Souza, the children’s commissioner for England, showed that headteachers have swiftly instituted bans on smartphone use during school hours. The survey of more than 15,000 schools found that 99.8% of primary schools and 90% of secondary schools have some form of ban.

Continue reading...