Unite

Newly “elected” TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak (he was the sole candidate in an election in which the electorate consists only of members of the TUC General Council) has responded to the threat of harsh new anti-strike laws by saying that the TUC will “challenge them legally”, and make the Tories “pay a high political price”. The exact nature of the price, and how payment will be exacted, is not specified. Nowak has also said he doesn’t want to “go back to the 1980s”, implying he opposes the full repeal of all the anti-strike and anti-union laws, despite TUC congress having repeatedly voted...

Unite has forwarded two internal reports on the construction costs of the union’s conference and education centre in Birmingham to the police. The original estimated construction cost was £57 million, and the final cost £100 million. According to the media coverage , the two reports — one written by a KC, and one by an accountancy firm — reveal “potentiality criminality” in overcharging on a number of the construction contracts. The escalating costs first became a media story in late 2020. In January 2021 a special meeting of Unite’s national Executive Council (EC) adopted a statement...

The Tories have run the NHS into the ground in order to pave the way for further privatisation. Waiting lists are soaring, staff are leaving, and there are 132,000 vacancies in NHS England alone. The system is chronically underfunded, with patients’ safety in jeopardy. Strikes are planned on 15 and 20 December by the RCN, on the 21st by Unison, GMB and Unite ambulance worker branches, and on 28th again by the GMB. With the exception of the 2015-16 junior doctors' dispute, they are the first significant national strikes in the health service for over 30 years. These strikes need to be the start...

After three days of strikes (24-25-30 November) and a demonstration in London, members of the University and College Union are now working to contract in “action short of strike” (ASOS). The last strike day, 30 November, coincided with the first pay negotiations since the last round in Spring 2022 concluded with an offer of just 3%. Pay talks would not usually start until March 2023, and the fact that employers are prepared to talk now shows they are worried. The five Higher Education unions (UCU, Unison, Unite, GMB, and EIS) have agreed to urgent negotiations between now and 31 January in an...

Over 600 Unite members in the national housing charity Shelter started a fortnight’s strike on 5 December. In February Shelter offered — and started to impose — a pay rise of 3%, followed up by a succession of unconsolidated one-off payments, dependent on budget targets being met. But Unite’s pay claim was for RPI inflation (around 11%) plus a further 3%, in recognition of below-inflation pay rises in previous years. Only after Unite members voted in favour of strike action by 86% in November did Shelter agree to enter into pay talks with Unite, mediated by at ACAS. The talks took place on 28...

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has called its first strike dates, on 15 and 20 December, kicking off what will hopefully be a string of NHS strikes. 176 Trusts across the UK crossed the threshold in the strike ballot and have a legal mandate for action. Of those that got over the line in England, less than half will be taken out on strike in December. The union is in the process of establishing strike committees which will, among other things, determine derogations: the members that will be exempt from action and asked to keep a minimum service running. This is a very important decision —...

Unison’s NHS pay action ballot closed on 25 November but as of 29 Nov Unison is yet to announce the results. Early indications suggest union leaders are wobbling. Unison Scotland is recommending members accept a new below-inflation offer just £250-350 more than was previously rejected. Unite is consulting on that offer without a recommendation. GMB is recommending their members reject the offer but have suspended strikes by Scottish ambulance workers that were due to start on Monday. All this dithering and backsliding must delight the Tory and SNP governments. The RCN and RCM have still to...

Sign the statement protesting against the Labour leadership's attempt to ban Workers' Liberty here Labour’s new lead in the opinion polls has encouraged the unreconstructed Blairites who now run Keir Starmer’s office to push further to make the Labour Party ultra-safe for capitalism. Labour has expelled Andrea Egan, president of Unison, and Martin Mayer, formerly a Unite rep on Labour’s National Executive. The charges are risible: “liking” social media posts from Socialist Appeal (Egan) and Labour Against the Witchhunt (Mayer), many years ago, when (even if you think the current bans are right...

Following the historic vote for strike action by RCN members in 176 NHS trusts, the ballot result from the largest NHS union, Unison, is due on 25 November. Yes votes will win with high percentages. Healthworkers across the country are convinced that they have no choice but to take a stand on pay now as the service crumbles around them. With union organisation on the ground weak in many NHS Trusts, the turnout in some ballots will be below what it is demanded by the Tories’ 2016 law. Despite that, with targeted organisation and a boost from the RCN vote, Unison is likely to meet the threshold...

Teachers in Scotland have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action to force the Scottish Government to improve the 5% pay offer already on the table from three months ago. With a 71% turnout, 96% of EIS members voted in favour of taking industrial action. The first one day strike is scheduled for 24 November. Ambulance workers in the Scottish Ambulance Service have also voted to take industrial action over pay. A one day strike has been called by the GMB for 28 November, and Unite has called a work to rule from the preceding Friday. Nurses in the RCN are planning industrial action...