Category Archives: Trade unions

Striking teachers in England accused of undermining pupils’ pandemic recovery

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Gillian Keegan says she ‘can’t think of a worse time’ for action by NEU members

The education secretary, Gillian Keegan, has accused striking teachers of undermining children’s recovery from the Covid pandemic, saying she did “pretty well” at winning extra funding for schools from the Treasury.

Keegan told a conference in Bournemouth: “Let me be clear, we should not be having these strikes in general, but certainly not now. Children have been through so much in the pandemic and I can’t think of a worse time to be willingly keeping them out of school.”

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Marking boycott may delay degrees of more than 1,000 Durham students

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University says about 20% of final year students will be unable to graduate if industrial action continues

More than 1,000 final year students at Durham University could be left without a degree this summer because of the marking boycott disrupting universities across the UK.

Durham, one of 145 universities affected by the industrial action over pay and working conditions called by the University and College Union (UCU), said about 20% of its 5,300 final year students would be unable to graduate.

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Union fury at reports Sunak might overrule some public sector pay rises

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Recommendations from independent pay review bodies could be rejected by PM if he deems them unaffordable

Unions have expressed outrage over reports the prime minister plans to block public sector wage increases owing to fears about pushing up UK inflation, which remains worse than in other leading economies.

Recommendations from the independent pay review bodies could be overruled by Rishi Sunak if they are considered unaffordable, the Times reported, because of concerns they could set off a “wage-price spiral”.

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NHS nurses strike in England could reach ‘end of the road’ this week

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Royal College of Nursing raises doubts over whether enough members will get postal votes in on time

The rolling strikes by NHS nurses could “hit the end of the road” this week as the leader of the Royal College of Nursing raised doubts over whether sufficient numbers of members would get their postal votes in on time.

The RCN union’s ballot on further industrial action in England will close on 23 June but its general secretary, Pat Cullen, has for the first time suggested an affirmative result is in doubt.

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UK strikes laws must conform with international rules, says UN agency

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Intervention by International Labour Organization ‘hugely embarrassing’ for government, says TUC

The UN’s labour standards body has told the UK government it must make changes to highly controversial new strikes laws, which critics say threaten the fundamental rights of British workers.

The International Labour Organization (ILO), a UN agency, said the UK needed to “ensure that existing and prospective legislation is in conformity” with international rules on freedom of association, and added that the government must seek technical assistance from the agency’s experts.

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Ofsted school inspection reforms ‘nowhere near enough’

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Sister of Ruth Perry, who killed herself after her primary was downgraded, ‘disappointed’ single-word judgments not removed

Changes by Ofsted to the way it inspects schools have been criticised as “nowhere near enough” to reduce the resulting high levels of stress involved, which were linked to the recent death of a popular headteacher.

The reforms announced by Amanda Spielman, Ofsted’s chief inspector, are intended to ease the burden felt by school leaders such as Ruth Perry, 53, the head of a primary in Reading who killed herself earlier this year after an Ofsted inspection lowered her school’s grade from “outstanding” to “inadequate”.

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Record numbers of teachers in England quitting profession, figures show

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Department for Education survey finds that 40,000 – almost 9% of workforce – left state schools in 2021-22 before retirement

Teachers in England are abandoning their profession in record numbers, according to official figures, with Labour claiming that “incompetent” government policies were to blame.

The latest workforce survey by the Department for Education (DfE) found that 40,000 teachers left state schools last year – almost 9% of the teaching workforce, and the highest number since it began publishing the data in 2011 – while a further 4,000 retired.

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Covid inquiry reveals fresh battle for release of government messages – UK politics live

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Lawyer for Covid inquiry announces ‘regrettable’ delays in handing over of information by government

Q: What would the minimum wage for workers be under your fair pay agreement for care workers? (See 10.47am.)

Starmer says his sister is a care worker. He knows how hard the job is.

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Keir Starmer pledges ‘good, union jobs’ amid energy row with GMB

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Labour leader to address union’s conference after its leader attacks plan to ban new North Sea oil and gas extraction

Keir Starmer will pledge to put “good, union jobs” at the heart of Labour’s energy policy during a speech to one of its biggest donor unions after its general secretary criticised a proposed ban on oil and gas expansion.

He will speak at the GMB’s annual conference on Tuesday, a day after he tried to calm a growing rift with its leadership over Labour’s energy policy.

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Blocking Jamie Driscoll as Labour’s mayoral candidate is ‘error’, says Unite

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Mayor of North of Tyne was told on Friday he is not on the longlist to be party’s candidate for North East

The Labour party’s decision to exclude a sitting Labour mayor from contesting a forthcoming mayoral contest has been described as a “major error” by Unite, the UK’s leading trade union.

Jamie Driscoll – often described as “the last Corbynista in power” since becoming the first mayor for North of Tyne since 2019 – learned on Friday that he had not made the longlist to be Labour’s mayoral candidate for the new north-east region.

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Labour needs an ‘honest debate’ about Brexit damage, union warns

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Unless Britain develops a closer relationship with the EU it will continue to haemorrhage investment and jobs, says the GMB

The leader of one of the country’s biggest unions has urged Labour to conduct an “honest debate” about the economic damage being caused to working people by Brexit, as evidence grows that it is fuelling inflation and driving jobs and investment abroad.

In an interview with the Observer, Gary Smith, the general secretary of the GMB union, which is one of Labour’s biggest financial backers, giving more than £1m a year, said politicians of all parties had been too afraid to admit the adverse consequences that leaving the EU was having on jobs and life in working communities.

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Train drivers’ 24-hour strike stops rail services in England

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About 40% of services expected to run on Saturday as 12,000 Aslef members hold second day of industrial action this week

Rail services across England have again come to a halt as 12,000 train drivers strike for the second time this week amid a long-running dispute with the operating companies over pay and conditions.

Members of the drivers’ union Aslef are walking out for 24 hours on the majority of lines in England and some cross-border routes into Scotland and Wales, leaving only 40% of services running.

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Heathrow security guards expected to announce fresh strikes

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Unite says it will serve notice to airport of fresh round of strikes in long-running pay dispute

Fresh strikes by security guards at Heathrow airport are expected to be announced next week.

Members of Unite are embroiled in a long-running dispute over pay which has led to previous industrial action.

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St Mungo’s homelessness charity workers begin month-long strike

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Members of the Unite union will picket in London, Brighton, Bristol and Oxford after ‘pitiful’ pay offer

Workers at the homelessness charity St Mungo’s will begin a month-long strike on Tuesday in a dispute over pay.

Members of Unite who work at the organisation will mount picket lines outside its head office in Tower Hill in London and in Brighton, Bristol and Oxford. The union said the industrial action was over a “pitiful” pay offer of 2.25%, which was made in April 2023.

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Rail strikes: Hopes of a resolution have been indefinitely delayed

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After a year of walkouts and failed talks, the unions, ministers and operators are as far apart as ever

Almost a year since the first national rail strike was called, another series of stoppages loom. Passengers who have been spared the usual round of disruptive bank holiday engineering works this weekend won’t be so lucky in the second half of the half-term break. Strikes by drivers and crew will more or less wipe out services on Wednesday and Saturday, shred schedules on Friday, and add a bit of scattergun disruption in between.

This time in 2022, the mere prospect of the biggest rail strike in decades was causing consternation. Now, though, the latest guaranteed upheaval has not even produced a round of talks between unions and industry – let alone ministers – to try to head off the disruption.

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Civil service unions enter new pay talks with UK government

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Prospect and FDA suspend strike action after offer of ‘meaningful’ talks, with PCS also attending

Civil service unions have entered talks with the government on pay, believing ministers may finally be willing to offer more money to match rises given to health and teaching staff.

Two unions, Prospect and the FDA, said they would be suspending strike action and ballots because the government said it was willing to engage in “meaningful” talks.

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Universal credit system not working for artists, says Julie Hesmondhalgh

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Former Coronation Street actor calls for more support, as survey finds lack of safety net for self-employed creatives

More financial support should be available to artists in the periods where they are not working, the former Coronation Street actor Julie Hesmondhalgh has said, as research revealed universal credit is pushing the creative workforce into destitution.

The study by the performing arts union Equity and the University of Warwick found that of those subject to the universal credit rule known as the “minimum income floor” (MIF) – which reduces the amount of support that self-employed creatives are eligible for – 41% had gone without essential items such as food or utilities.

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RMT to hold rail strike across England on eve of FA Cup final

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Latest action on 2 June comes between two days of strikes by Aslef and will bring further disruption to football final

The RMT has announced another rail strike on Friday 2 June, the day before the men’s FA Cup final, warning that the government “cannot wish the dispute away”.

About 20,000 RMT members working for the 14 major rail companies in England will strike for 24 hours in the long-running dispute over pay and conditions.

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Nurses’ union head calls for double-digit pay rise in England ahead of strike ballot

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Pat Cullen raises stakes in dispute with government after nurses reject earlier offer of 5%

The head of the Royal College of Nursing union has called for a double-digit pay rise for nurses in England, raising the stakes in the long-running dispute with the government.

Pat Cullen, the general secretary of the RCN, had previously told members to accept the government’s offer of 5% in March but it was rejected in a vote by 54% to 46%.

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Almost two-thirds of young women have been sexually harassed at work, says TUC

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Most victims do not report it for fear of not being believed or damaging career prospects, says union body

Almost two in three young women have experienced sexual harassment, bullying or verbal abuse at work, according to a TUC poll.

However, most victims do not report it for fear of not being believed or of damaging their relationships at work or their career prospects, the TUC said.

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