UNISON

The public services union

Reject the offer, rebuild local government unions

On 23 February, council employers offered a flat rate award of £1,925, or 3.88% for those on higher wages, from April 2023, for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland The claim from the unions (Unison, GMB and Unite) was for RPI + 2% (interpreted as 12.7%), a £15 per hour minimum wage in two years, pus extra leave and other improved conditions. The value of council workers’ pay has fallen by 25% in real terms since 2010, and the lowest grades have now almost been caught up by the government’s legal minimum wage of £10.42 (from April 2023). With this backdrop, it is not surprising that council...

Junior Doctors strengthen NHS fight!

The BMA junior doctors have announced strikes from 7am 13 March to 7am 16 March, following a 98% vote for strikes on a 77% turnout. The new potential for all the health unions to co-ordinate, including the BMA, must increase pressure on the government both on pay and on rescuing the NHS. Unions have called ambulance strikes on 6 and 20 March. Unison has called a strike in ambulance and other trusts on 8 March, and won additional mandates in trusts it reballoted. Christine McAnea, Unison’s General Secretary, has tweeted, “Talks alone won’t be enough to call off these [strikes]. We want to see...

NHS: escalate and coordinate

This report was written before the RCN called off its action. We have seen some important announcements in the ongoing NHS pay dispute. Re-ballots in Unison: from ten ballots run in England, Unison got a mandate for strike action in another nine trusts. Junior doctors vote to strike: A ballot by the British Medical Association, junior doctors went 98% for strikes, on a 77% turnout: they will strike for 72 hours in March. Junior doctors in the smaller Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association already voted for strikes in January (97% for, 75% turnout), and will be out on 15 March. The...

RCN due to call more strikes

The RCN looks likely to call a 48-hour strike on 1-3 March, with a reduction of derogations in A&E, intensive care, and cancer units. Unison is thought to be looking for unified strike action with other unions. Escalation and co-ordination are vital and supported by members on the picket lines. For the strikes to win a strategy of increasing action over a short period of time will be much more effective than a long haul of strike days here and there. It’s also important that striking members articulate their demands to maintain pressure on the union leaderships. The RCN demand of 5% above...

Unison HE: 2023-4 talks start while 2022-3 dispute continues

A round of balloting before Christmas in Unison Higher Education disappointingly failed to deliver a new tranche of branches for the 2022/23 pay action. Only three more branches got over the 50% turnout threshold; these were branches that had taken slightly longer over balloting. This highlighted that a lot of the problems with delivering a vote for strike were technical: a shortened timescale for balloting as Unison tried to catch up to the UCU timetable; problems with issuing and receiving ballot papers in the post throughout the CWU strikes; balloting around Christmas time; little support...

NHS: how to win on pay and rebuilding

In the week of 6 February, we have had the biggest strikes in the NHS dispute so far, with RCN members in 73 Trusts, GMB ambulance workers, physiotherapists and Unison ambulance workers all coming out. There are possibilities for escalation. Some Unison branches that did not reach the threshold are starting to push for reballoting, and the BMA strike ballot closes on 20 February. However, the RCN leadership has called off strike action in Wales to consult on a feeble offer. They also suspended strikes in Scotland for negotiations. The Welsh government has offered an additional 1.5% plus 1.5%...

NHS: reballot, unite, organise

To win, NHS workers need escalation, and that also means pushing for re-ballots, especially in trusts where Unison missed the thresholds. Currently RCN strikes are being undermined where Unison members have been instructed by their branches to cross picket lines. We have advocated support for Unison members who decide not to cross RCN picket lines. Thousands of Unison members have left their union and joined the RCN because they want to strike. Beyond that, the best way to achieve solid action in a workplace is for all the unions to win legal mandates and strike together. Winning second...

NHS: escalate and unite after 6-7 February

The next NHS strikes are on 6-7 February, when members of the RCN from acute, specialist and ambulance trusts across England and Wales will come out. This will be the biggest action in the health dispute so far. GMB ambulance members will be striking along RCN members on the 6th. The physiotherapy union, CSP, will strike on 7 and 9 February, and Unison ambulance workers again on 10 February. We need to ensure the picket lines in this next round of action are full of talk about a strategy that can win. That means escalating strikes and co-ordination between the unions. The leaderships of all...

Why I refused to cross the picket line

Health trade unions should have been calling on members to respect the picket lines of other unions and refuse to cross. However, the instruction from Unison to members has been that we had to report into work as normal. They said: “Unison balloted our members separately to other unions and so Unison members should not take part in any industrial action organised by the other unions. If you do make an individual decision to refuse to work or cross picket lines when your colleagues from other unions are taking action you may find yourself at risk of dismissal”. In my trust this resulted in...

NHS strikes: unite and coordinate

The best that can be said for the NHS unions industrial strategy is that there is plenty of scope for escalation. RCN members in 73 NHS Trusts struck on 18-19 January. The RCN has live strike ballots in 177 Trusts, but none of the workers who struck before Christmas were called out for this second round, and none of the Scottish Trusts have struck. Ambulance workers in London, Yorkshire, the North West, North East and South West organised by Unison struck on 23 January alongside Unison members in two Liverpool hospital Trusts (which had had RCN but not Unison members on strike the week before)...

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.