Scotland

Yes to Scotland's rights, no to a new border

In late June Scottish National Party (SNP) First Minister Nicola Sturgeon named 23 October 2023 as the date for another referendum on Scottish independence. This triggered the inevitable response from other political parties. Tories, Lib Dems, and Labour said that it was the wrong time for a referendum (though a few more thoughtful Tories, such as Phil Johnston writing in the Telegraph , argued that the Tories should back a referendum: “Let her have the referendum and send the separatists packing once and for all” — since spring 2021 polls have generally shown a majority against separation)...

Scottish FE teachers push on pay

After no progress in pay talks with Scottish Further Education (FE) employers on 13 May, the campaign by members of the EIS-FELA trade union to win their pay demand for 2021-22 continues, with further strikes in the coming weeks. The pay claim by EIS-FELA – unlike in England, FE in Scotland is not covered by the UCU but by the FE section of the Scottish teachers union, the EIS – was lodged in June of 2021, with the aim of the increase being implemented in September. The claim was for a flat-rate pay rise of £2,000 across all salary points. But “over the course of negotiations, acting in good...

Glasgow Labour's death wish

On Monday 16 May Glasgow City Council’s Labour Group wrote a postscript to Gerry Hassan and Eric Shaw’s The Strange Death of Labour Scotland (published as long as 2012, but Scottish Labour has died a lot more since then). The first post-5-May Group meeting elected George Redmond as Group Leader, with Frank McAveety filling the post of Business Manager. Redmond stood down as a councillor in 2017 and re-emerged from nowhere to be re-elected earlier this month. It’s a pity he didn’t stay where he was. In his previous spell on the Council Redmond was one of three councillors who voted to give...

Scottish Labour: not "back" yet

On 5 May 2022, the Scottish National Party (SNP) scored its best ever result in council elections. It increased its share of first preference votes to 34%, increased its number of seats by 22, and emerged as the biggest party in 21 of the Scotland’s 32 local authorities. Scottish Labour also increased its number of seats (by 20), as too did the Lib Dems (by 20) and the Scottish Greens (by 16). By contrast, the Tory vote slumped, costing them 63 seats. The collapse in the Tory vote allowed Labour to overtake them and come in second behind the SNP. As in England, the Tories did badly as a result...

Glasgow strike called off

A two-day strike by Glasgow City Council care workers and school (non-teaching) staff due to take place on 29-30 March has been called off at the last minute.

Strike for equal pay claims

Unison members in Glasgow City Council have voted to strike in their ongoing dispute over equal pay compensation payments. Some 96% of Unison members voted in favour of the strike action, beating the anti-union laws threshold with a turnout of 52.5% among just under 9,000 workers. Some days earlier GMB workers also voted for strike action, while Unite the Union will be balloting its members on industrial action on 14 March. The dispute has its roots in a £500 million settlement agreed with council staff in 2019, for which a new pay and grading system was required to account for the many...

Build on Scotrail Win: Step Up Strikes!

ScotRail workers have seen off an attempt by their employer to attack working conditions, and have broken the pay freeze that the government and employers were determined to impose on us. But Scotrail workers will face new battles in the new year. It is essential that we build on the momentum of...

Cally Sleeper workers vote for further strikes

Workers on the Caledonian Sleeper, the overnight train which runs between London and various destinations in Scotland, currently operated by Serco, have voted by an 86% majority for further strikes, and by an 88% majority for further action short of a strike, on a 61% turnout in their latest...

COP26: Building our movement

After Greta Thunberg issued an invitation to Glasgow’s striking refuse workers, a sizeable contingent of GMB strikers joined the Fridays For Future march in the COP26 city along with 10,000 or so exuberant demonstrators - mainly school students, and parents with small children. Other local trade union branches lined the street with their banners to greet the march as it reached George Square. There’s been a big trade union element within the COP26 Coalition, with its explicit slogan of climate justice. However, often the impression here is more of left union bureaucrats being involved than...

Rail strikes in Scotland

RMT has called strikes on ScotRail from 1-12 November, and from 31 October-2 November and 11-13 November on the Caledonian Sleeper. Both strikes could potentially impact the COP26 international climate change conference, which is taking place in Glasgow from 31 October-12 November. Workers on...

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