Mick Lynch downplays prospects of a resolution to dispute over pay, jobs and conditions
The RMT leader, Mick Lynch, has claimed he has not met a government minister since January as he downplayed prospects of a resolution to the long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
The next strike by members of the of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union takes place on Thursday, with strikes also scheduled for Saturday and 29 July.
Continue reading...Health unions suggest industrial action likely to continue as Gillian Keegan defends 6% rise on the table
A senior cabinet minister has urged health unions to take the government’s pay offer “seriously”, after union bosses warned the proposed deal would drive doctors out of the profession and could lead to further strikes.
Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, defended the offer of a 6% pay rise for junior doctors a day after the government accepted the recommendations of the public sector pay review bodies.
Continue reading...Public service workers in England offered 5%-7% rises but departments must fund them from existing budgets
Health union leaders have reacted furiously to a warning from Rishi Sunak that his offer of a 6% pay rise this year was final and that “no amount of strikes” would change his mind, as they began their longest walkout yet in England.
The British Medical Association said the government was “driving doctors away” from the health service and had missed an opportunity to put a credible pay offer on the table to end strikes when it accepted all the recommendations of the pay review bodies.
Continue reading...Members of NASUWT give ‘largest mandate in a decade’ for action over pay, workload and working hours
Members of the NASUWT teachers’ union have voted in favour of industrial action over pay and workload, raising the prospect of mass strikes and widespread disruption across schools in England this autumn.
After months of stalemate with no progress over teachers’ pay, NASUWT members voted decisively for industrial action, with 88.5% of eligible members voting to support strike action and 94.3% supporting action short of strike.
Continue reading...Mary Bousted urges ministers to publish recommendation from pay body, thought to be 6.5%, and fund schools to pay it
Ministers could ward off potential teachers’ strikes in the autumn term in England if they accept a salary increase recommended by the teachers’ independent pay review body, the head of the biggest education union has said.
Teachers who belong to the NEU continued industrial action on Friday. Mary Bousted, the joint general secretary of the union, said: “This could stop. What the government must do is publish the independent pay review body recommendations.”
Continue reading...‘Rolling action’ by RMT members between 23 and 28 July likely to cause widespread disruption across capital
London Underground staff will take industrial action over a week at the end of July, spelling widespread transport disruption in the capital.
Members of the RMT union will take “rolling action” between Sunday 23 July and Friday 28 July. The RMT said there would be no strike on Monday 24, with staff in different sections and grades halting work on different shifts on each of the other days.
Continue reading...Labour leader says ‘money is a big factor’ as he also declines to promise 6.5% pay rise for teachers
Keir Starmer has refused to commit to supporting free school meals for all primary school children, as he stuck to a tough fiscal position despite pressure from inside and outside of his party.
The Labour leader also declined to commit to a 6.5% pay rise for teachers as he urged the government to resolve the dispute at the centre of strike action.
Continue reading...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.”
Continue reading...Society of Radiographers members reject offer, pushing for deal they say could help cut waiting lists
Thousands of radiographers in England have voted to go on strike for the first time in the increasingly bitter healthcare pay dispute.
The Society of Radiographers (SoR) secured sufficient turnout and votes in 43 NHS trusts to go on strike in a ballot that closed on 28 June. More than 150 trusts had a majority in favour of action but not all met the turnout threshold.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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”.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...Some hospitals record highest ever A&E attendance figures as heat, high pollen count and air pollution bring rise in demand
A&E units across the UK are experiencing a surge in patients seeking care as a direct result of the heatwave, which is leaving many people unwell with shortness of breath, heat exhaustion and sunburn.
The number of people suffering problems as a direct result of the sustained high temperatures in many parts of the country has resulted in some hospitals recording their highest A&E attendance figures.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...BMA says consultant pay has declined by 35% since 2008-9
Senior doctors in England are to vote on whether to strike amid the continued row over pay in healthcare, as teachers’ unions also plan to hold a ballot for industrial action.
The ballot will open on Monday until 27 June as the British Medical Association urges members to approve.
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