UNISON

The public services union

Scottish local government: strikes can win more!

Local government workers in Scotland should reject the new offer and restart the strikes. Workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland should join them. The last two weeks’ coordinated and targeted strikes by the three local government unions in Scotland (Unison, GMB and Unite) have pushed up the offer from 2% before action was discussed, to 3.5%, then to 5%, then to a differentiated flat-rate offer (but not consolidated), and now to a new offer, consolidated. Targeted strikes of bin and recycling workers rolled out beyond Edinburgh to two thirds of the councils, and the unions planned for...

Scottish council workers force improvements

Local government workers’ strikes in Scotland have already brought some improvements in the below-inflation pay offer from the councils. Before the strikes started the councils upped the offer from 2% to 3.5%. Then, on 19 August, to 5%. On 29 August they shifted further, to (a dodgy version of) the £1,925 flat-rate offered in England. Unite has rejected the latest offer, Unison is consulting members while recommending rejection, and strikes set to start 6 September are still on. As of October, the Institute for Fiscal Studies reckons that the lowest-income 20% will be facing an 18% price...

Unison to strike in some universities

Over 90 Unison Higher Education (HE) branches recently took part in a disaggregated ballot to strike against the national pay offer of around 3%. It was a poor time to ballot over the summer, with many people being on leave, but four Scottish branches and 18 English branches got over the 50% threshold, and many more were close. Welsh branches organised an aggregated ballot but did not get over the threshold. The Scottish branches have set five strike days in September/October, in the welcome week period at the start of the new academic year. English branches will be encouraged by the union to...

NHS: create strike committees

Across the NHS, trade unions are preparing for ballots on pay. RCN and Unison are running “pledge” campaigns asking members to commit to voting yes in the forthcoming ballots. The commitment to run formal ballots whatever the results of these processes is good, although accelerating the process would be even better. The pledge campaigns should be seen not as consultations but as vehicles to build support for ballots, involve members, recruit new reps, clean up membership data, get the phone-banking and communication systems of the unions in place at national and local levels. The process can...

Local government £1,925 flat “pay rise” is a real-wage cut

Unite has already stated it rejects the local government pay offer (a flat pay rise for £1,925 for every scale point). The GMB has not made its position clear. Unison has launched a consultative ballot (closing 19 September). The Unison National Joint Council (NJC) committee has made no recommendation to members. We hear that the right wing on the committee wanted to recommend acceptance. Previously Unison had said that the union would move to straight to an industrial action ballot. On receiving the pay offer the union dropped that and went for consultation. Under the rules of the...

What the Unison left should do

After the attacks at Unison conference in June 2022 on the new left National Executive (NEC) majority elected in June 2021, what should the left do to rebuild, and to equip the union in the drama over real wages, the NHS, and other public services? Workers’ Liberty argued straight after the left won the majority on the NEC, that while internal union-democracy measures are important, they must be linked to issues immediately affecting members. • The NEC should initiate a high-profile, well-resourced campaign to rebuild the NHS and for public social care, linked to disputes on pay, workload and...

Council workers set to strike on pay

After a joint union claim in Scottish local government for £3,000 annual increase for all, the employers offered 2%. Unison, GMB, and Unite have rejected that offer and are balloting workers in school, early years, waste and recycling. The Unison ballot closes on 26 July, and other unions' ballots around then, with action likely in September. In England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, councils on 25 July offered £1,925 flat-rate (a real-wage cut for all, since the lowest annual rate in local government is £18,300, making £1,925 10.5% while RPI is 11.8%) in response to a joint union claim of £2...

NHS workers suffer real-wage cuts

On 20 July the government made awards in line with the NHS Pay Review Board’s recommendations. They are real-wage cuts which erode workers’ situation and do nothing to redress recent years of real-wage reduction or overcome the 10% vacancy rate in the NHS. The award increases the overall pay bill for workers under Agenda for Change (AfC: the big majority of directly-employed NHS workers) by an average of 4.8% across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, while prices are rising at 10% or more. It is also comes with an overall NHS budget set to allow only 3% rises . The award is a £1,400...

Unison ballots for pay action in HE

Ninety-four Higher Education (HE) branches in the public services union Unison are preparing to ballot to strike for a 2022-23 pay rise above inflation. The national offer is 3% while RPI is currently 9%. The ground for the ballot was prepared last year when nine branches struck against a below-inflation pay rise; 38 branches took part in the ballot in 2021-22. Although that was only a handful of branches, it showed that branches could get over the 50% ballot turnout threshold and it encouraged more branches to try this time. The ballot opens on 22 July and closes on 19 August in Scotland and...

How to make Unison “strike-ready”

The National Delegate Conference (NDC) of the public services union Unison (14-17 June) was, as we reported , dominated by attacks on the new left majority of the National Executive Committee (NEC). Yet both the NDC and Unison’s local government sector conference (12-13 June) also passed some useful — if sometimes vague — policies, which should given work for the left to organise around. There was also a mood or theme which (perhaps superficially) united all wings of Unison: the union must become “strike ready”. We are understandably cautious when a general secretary who has part of the union...

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.