Pay, hours, conditions

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Equalise civil service pay!

John Moloney is standing for the Assistant General Secretary position in the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), as part of an Independent Left slate for the union's National Executive Committee. He spoke to Solidarity about his election campaign, and PCS's current ballot for industrial action over pay in the civil service. The union's headline demand is for a 10% pay increase. That has been variously interpreted as a demand for a 10% increase to the overall civil service pay budget, or a 10% increase per worker. The Independent Left argues that the union should foreground the demand...

Four days or 996?

A group of Labour Party members, has launched a campaign to cut the standard working week to four days rather than five, with no loss of pay. It’s a good initiative, at a time when, for almost the first time since the early 19th century, and despite all the talk about new technologies displacing human labour, average work hours per week are now increasing. From 1945 to the early 1980s, workers shortened their average work week at rate of about 20 minutes per year. Then the decrease slowed to five or 10 minutes a year. After 2008 progress stalled, and now it is being reversed, at the same time...

York Deliveroo to strike

York couriers will strike on Friday 19 April, following previous very impactful strikes. They will hold a “flash strike”, a tactic aiming to maximise disruptions while minimising pay lost. They have announced that they will strike between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m., but only three of those five hours, to be announced on the day. Nottingham couriers held another protest on Friday 12 April, demanding higher pay and better working conditions. It was organised by Nottingham Riders' Network - IWGB, and comes as part of national rolling actions and strikes. Nottingham have had multiple previous strikes and...

Industrial news in brief

Cleaning workers employed by Vinci on London Overground struck on 5-6 April, demanding a wage increase to the London Living Wage of £10.55/hour. Currently the workers are paid £10.02. The workers were previously employed by Carillion, and were transferred to Vinci when their previous employer went bust. Vinci has refused to offer them a pay increase. Rail union RMT, which organises the workers, is also demanding that the cleaners now be brought in house and employed directly by Arriva Rail London, the train company that operates London Overground. Merseyrail: discuss return to action...

Move to rolling strikes

Organising to take on Deliveroo, nationally, has taken big steps forward this week. The IWGB National Deliveroo Committee, meeting again, is systematically collating and redistributing information from places we have members. We have launched a national bilingual bulletin, Puncture, to be printed, posted and distributed in various locations, as well as IWGB Deliveroo campaign “visiting cards”. We’ve also launched public announcement lists for couriers, through WhatsApp and email. Our programme of rolling strikes is being unleashed and developed, in particular in Nottingham, Horsham and York. I...

Industrial news in brief

The next Workers’ Liberty London forum will feature John Moloney, a candidate for Assistant General Secretary of the civil service union PCS. PCS leaders claim that theirs is “the fighting union”. John will argue that rank-and-file democracy, officials on a worker’s wage, and a fight to level up to national pay rates, are needed to move from “fighting” talk to effective reality. Friday 12 April, 7 p.m.. Room 828, Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London WC1H 0AL Outsourced rail workers to strike Two groups of outsourced workers on London Overground will strike on 2 April and 4-6 April...

Deliveroo couriers plan April strikes

Deliveroo couriers in locations across the country are planning more strikes in April, demanding higher pay in a co-ordinated wave of “rolling strikes”. This follows some very partial victories in a few places. Couriers are falsely categorised as “self-employed independent contractors” rather than “self-employed limb (b) workers” or “employees”, either of which would more accurately reflect our dependency on and relationship to Deliveroo. This miscategorisation allows Deliveroo to deprive us of basic workers’ rights, including minimum wage. Pay is low, insecure, and in many places has been...

Industrial news in brief

On Tuesday 19 March, Hackney’s special needs transport workers struck to demand shift allowances. Two dozen strikers joined the picket line at the depot in Leyton, and were in good spirits despite the drizzle. Pickets included both passenger escorts and drivers, and the majority were black and ethnic minority women. Only four workers had broken the strike, which was the first of six named days of action. Hackney Labour Party activists attended the picket line and told strikers that although the Labour Council is frustrating them, rank-and-file members support them. Labour members now plan to...

Deliveroo link-up

On Tuesday 26 February, Deliveroo couriers in Manchester struck from 11 a.m. onwards, demanding better pay and other demands. They have the same core demands as in many places across the country — £5 per delivery, paid waiting time at £10/hour, £1 per extra mile travelled – plus some extra demands. They have been supported by Manchester IWW. This was the second strike in a fortnight, following the Valentine’s day strike which was part of a nationally co¬ordinated strike, in turn inspired by a series of strikes in Bristol which had started to spread elsewhere. Couriers in Manchester and...

Labour revolt in Birmingham

Backbench Labour councillors in Birmingham have condemned their own leaders in a letter demanding that the council leaders “step back” from confrontation with two unions. The protesting councillors include several senior figures such as former council leader Albert Bore. The letter adds to pressure on present council leader Ian Ward and his deputy Brigid Jones. Three days previously, the Regional Labour Party Board voted overwhelmingly in favour of a motion calling for Labour’s National Executive to investigate their conduct of the council leaders' continuing disputes with Unite and Unison...

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