Category Archives: Industrial action

Striking union members should ‘get back to work’, says Liz Truss

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PM maintains pledge to bring in measures limiting industrial action but denies planning to rip up EU rules on workers’ rights

Liz Truss has told striking workers to “get back to work” as she doubled down on her pledge to bring in measures to limit industrial action within weeks of coming to power.

The prime minister suggested that a planned wave of strikes by workers ranging from train drivers to barristers, risked holding the country back during the toughest economic climate in a generation.

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Scotland school and waste service strikes called off after ‘credible’ pay offer

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Unison, GMB and Unite suspend industrial action day after Nicola Sturgeon hosted talks

A wave of strikes across waste services and schools in Scotland has been called off after a “credible” new pay offer.

Hundreds of schools and nurseries were set to close over three days next week as support staff joined industrial action, along with a second wave of strikes by refuse workers that had already seen bins overflowing and piles of accumulated rubbish in Scotland’s major cities.

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‘Love and passion can’t help you live’: Reach journalists set to join picket lines

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Industrial action expected on Wednesday is largest strike to hit UK newspaper industry in decades

When hundreds of staff at the Mirror, Express and dozens of local newspapers join picket lines on Wednesday, they will be taking part in the largest strike to hit the UK newspaper industry in decades. Having spent recent months reporting on how the cost of living crisis is affecting their readers, many journalists at the media company Reach say they are struggling to meet their own bills – and management is refusing to listen.

One regional reporter described how three years of university, training and unpaid placements had secured them a job at a Reach outlet on £18,000 a year. Having only recently joined the media industry, they are already overwhelmed by the financial instability.

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Sacked Labour MP Sam Tarry faces reselection battle before party conference

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Supporters of former shadow transport minister who joined RMT picket lines says process fast-tracked out of ‘revenge’

The Labour MP Sam Tarry is facing an imminent reselection battle before the party conference, with his supporters accusing figures close to the leadership of fast-tracking the process out of “revenge”.

The Ilford South MP was sacked as a shadow transport minister in July after attending a picket line in support of RMT workers, but Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, later said the reason he was removed from his role was for making up policy “on the hoof” in television interviews.

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Workers’ anger at cost of living as strong as time of poll tax riots, union boss says

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Sharon Graham, head of Unite, on picket line with Felixstowe dock strikers, says people could rise up again as they did in the 1990s

British workers are at breaking point, with anger over the cost of living crisis reaching a level not seen since the poll tax riots of the 1990s, the head of one of the UK’s most powerful trade unions has said.

Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, said frustration at pay failing to keep pace with soaring inflation was spilling over into a wave of strike action that would extend from a summer of discontent into the winter.

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Workers at UK’s biggest container port Felixstowe strike over pay

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About 1,900 crane drivers, machine operators and stevedores involved in eight-day action

Workers at the UK’s biggest container port have gone on strike for the first time since 1989, with shipping companies and union leaders warning the action could impact supply chains and leave shoppers waiting for goods.

About 1,900 members of Unite at Felixstowe have walked out in a dispute over pay today, in the latest outbreak of industrial action to hit a growing number of sectors of the economy.

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Further disruption on rail and bus services as transport strikes continue

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Rail services will be much-reduced, and buses in west and south-west London and Surrey also affected

Travellers are facing a further day of disruption on Saturday as thousands of transport workers go on strike in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

Network Rail, several train companies, and bus services in London and parts of Surrey will be hit by industrial action by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT), TSSA and Unite unions which will also affect Sunday morning train services.

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No 10 denies ministers seeking political fight with rail unions

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Denial comes as language toughens on both sides and head of RMT again warns of de facto general strike

Downing Street has denied that ministers are deliberately seeking a political fight with rail unions, as both sides toughened their language further and the head of the RMT warned the impasse could continue “indefinitely”.

Just 20% of rail services ran on Thursday, in a sixth day of strike action since June involving the RMT and TSSA unions, with further disruption taking place on Saturday, which is likely to affect trains throughout the weekend.

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Rail strikes: Britons face three more days of disruption from Thursday

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Network Rail, several train firms, London Underground and London buses to be hit by latest action

Commuters and other travellers are facing further disruption over three days from Thursday on rail, tube and bus services, as tens of thousands of workers begin the latest round of strike action.

Network Rail, several train companies, London Underground and buses in the capital will be hit by industrial action due to long-running disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.

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‘A sweatshop in the UK’: how the cost of living crisis triggered walkouts at Amazon

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Inside the protests taking place at the online giant which is accused of exploiting workers and awarding derisory pay offers

Amazon workers say they are working in a “sweatshop” as safety concerns and worries about the cost of living crisis have triggered walkouts at warehouses around the country.

The Observer has spoken to four staff involved in the walkouts, who work at three Amazon warehouses, including Tilbury in Essex, where protests began on 4 August. All say they will struggle to survive this winter with pay rise offers between 35p and 50p an hour – far less than the rate of inflation, which is currently at 13%.

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Plans for eight-day strike at Felixstowe threaten UK supply chain

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Owners prioritise multimillion-pound shareholder dividends over paying decent wages, says union

Dockers at Felixstowe are planning eight days of strike action over pay that could cause serious disruption to the UK’s largest container port.

Nearly 1,900 workers plan to stop work for more than a week at the Hong Kong-owned port, starting on Sunday 21 August and ending on Monday 29 August, according to the union Unite. The workers voted 92% in favour of strike action last week.

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Up to 70 Labour MPs may join pickets as Starmer faces test of party unity

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Union source claims MPs will join BT staff on Friday despite Labour leader’s call for frontbenchers to stay away

Up to 70 Labour MPs could join union picket lines on Friday as Keir Starmer faces a renewed battle to maintain party unity over support for striking workers.

One shadow minister was believed to be considering joining a Communication Workers Union (CWU) picket line as thousands of BT staff began two days of strikes over pay, which would set up a fresh potential conflict with the Labour leader’s office.

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Unions issue threat of UK general strike as rail crisis grows

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Aslef members voted for action in August, while the RMT chief, Mick Lynch, is calling for a general strike

Unions warned the UK could face a general strike this year as rail workers voted for fresh action set to intensify a summer of industrial unrest.

The vote for further transport strikes came as Keir Starmer sacked shadow transport minister Sam Tarry who conducted broadcast interviews alongside striking RMT workers at Euston station – a move that is likely to increase divisions between Labour and trade unions.

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Train strikes: UK railways disrupted again as workers take action over pay and conditions

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More than 40,000 staff involved in widespread action after union leaders rejected ‘paltry’ 4% pay rise

The railways will again grind to a halt on Wednesday as workers strike over pay, job security and working conditions.

The latest talks to avert the action failed last week, a month since three days of industrial action in June. The strikes involve more than 40,000 workers at Network Rail, 14 train companies, and members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT).

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Rail strike of more than 40,000 workers across Britain to go ahead on 27 July

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Members of RMT union will strike next week after talks over pay, jobs and conditions broke down

A planned strike of over 40,000 workers at Network Rail and more than a dozen train companies will go ahead next week, after the latest talks broke down.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at 14 train operating companies and Network Rail will go on strike on Wednesday 27 July in a dispute about pay, jobs and conditions.

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NHS doctors’ strike is ‘inevitable,’ says new BMA chair

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Exclusive: doctors will use pay row to expose ‘desperate state’ of NHS after years of government neglect, Prof Philip Banfield warned

A doctor’s strike is “inevitable” and will expose how dangerously threadbare the Conservatives have left the health service, the profession’s new leader has said.

In his first interview since taking over as the British Medical Association’s chair of council, Prof Philip Banfield warned ministers that doctors will take the fight to them by using a pay dispute to tell the public patients are dying as a direct result of government neglect of the NHS.

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MPs approve controversial plans to let agency workers cover for striking staff

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Critics accuse ministers of introducing a ‘scab charter’ that risks public safety and workers’ rights

Ministers have approved controversial plans to allow agency workers to replace striking workers, voting through the regulations on Monday night by 289 votes to 202.

While the business minister, Jane Hunt, said the change, which was accelerated as a result of the ongoing rail strikes, was needed to remove the “outdated blanket ban” on using agency workers to cover official industrial action, critics say the measure is akin to a “scab charter”.

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Labour must not side with Heathrow staff in pay dispute, says David Lammy

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Shadow foreign secretary says party needs to show it is fit for government by seeking negotiated outcomes over strikes

Labour should categorically refuse to back demands from airline workers for a pay rise of about 10% in order to show it is serious about seeking negotiated outcomes to disputes, David Lammy has said.

The shadow foreign secretary said Labour had to act like a party of government and that responsible governments believed in negotiation and compromise.

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Train strikes: second day of action brings disruption across Britain’s rail network – live

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Passengers advised to only travel if necessary as members of RMT at Network Rail and 13 train operators walk out

Crowds of holidaymakers are fretting about missing their flights as train delays have left them stuck at London’s Liverpool Street station, PA reports.

The Stansted Express normally leaves twice an hour from Britain’s third-busiest station, but strike action has reduced this down to one.

One man, who was returning to Sofia in Bulgaria after three days in London, complained that the experience was “stressful”.

Asked how much longer he expected to wait, the man - who had been stranded at the station for half an hour - said: “I don’t know, I’m just looking at the board, I hope not too long.”

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UK rail strike: second day of action to go ahead after talks fail again

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RMT accuses government of ‘wrecking negotiations’ as operators and passengers prepare to face further disruption on Thursday

Train operators and passengers face more disruption on Thursday after talks between rail industry bosses and the RMT union failed to head off a second national 24-hour strike.

The RMT said talks had broken down on Wednesday without a settlement, and hit out at the government for “wrecking negotiations” in the dispute over pay, working conditions and proposed “modernisation” plans to cut costs after the pandemic.

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