Living wage

Picturehouse workers strike again

Picturehouse workers will be on strike again for the Sundance film festival happening at Picturehouse Central from 31 May to 3 June. They will be striking during the opening night on Thursday 31 May, and again on Saturday 2 May. The strikes will hit several premières taking place at the festival. Behind the scenes at several workplaces, despite no strikes for a while, tensions has been running high. Many of the striking sites are being deliberately understaffed. The company is refusing to hire new staff either due to fears new staff will simply join the union Bectu, or as a way to punish and...

All eyes on TGIs

Workers at TGI Fridays restaurants in Covent Garden, London, and Milton Keynes struck on Friday 18 May in the first of a series of Friday strikes over a new tips policy which would see workers losing up to £250 a month. Workers at TGI Fridays in the Trafford Centre, Manchester and Haymarket Piccadilly, London, have also now voted 100% in favour of strikes and are expected to join the strikes on Friday 25 May. Results of ballots at other restaurants in Enfield, and Gateshead Metro, Newcastle, are expected soon. All six sites may be on strike by Friday 1 June. Boni, a striker from the Milton...

Robbing the poor to pay the even-poorer

Workers at TGI Fridays restaurants in Milton Keynes and Covent Garden, London, will strike on Friday 18 May, and then every Friday over the summer, over tips and minimum wage abuses which lose workers £250 a month. The strike will be the first time TGI Fridays workers have ever struck in the UK, after the Unite members voted by 100% in favour of strikes. TGI Fridays introduced a new tipping policy, at two days’ notice, which redirects tips received by waiting staff to kitchen staff. With low wages for kitchen staff causing a high turnover, TGI Fridays thought the ″solution″ to a problem of...

Precarious workers May Day

On May Day, a coalition of unions and campaigns, each organising precarious workers, came together to celebrate and take action. Bringing together workers from BECTU, United Voices of the World (UVW), Independent Workers union of Great Britain (IWGB), the Bakers’ Union and Unite, as well as campaigners and activists from Women’s Strike, Labour Campaign for Free Movement, Workers’ Liberty, Another Europe is Possible, and Plan C, among others, the bloc coalesced around four demands: An end to exploitative contracts and poverty pay — guaranteed hours and enough money to live a decent life. Every...

Victory for Daily Mail cleaners

Cleaners who clean the offices of the Daily Mail newspaper have won the London Living Wage. The cleaners, who are employed by contractor Mitie, were being balloted for strikes by the United Voices of the World union and had been threatened by Mitie′s management that they would be sacked if they struck. Over 100,000 people signed an online petition written by the cleaners supporting their demand for the Living Wage. Cleaners have won a 25% pay rise from the national living (minimum) wage of £7.50 an hour.

Industrial news in brief

A major industrial and political battle against academy status is under way in Newham, East London. The campaign started when staff and parents at Avenue Primary School united to fight plans to academise their school. They are demanding a simple yes/no ballot for staff and parents before any school, not just theirs, can embark on a process of academisation. As part of the campaign NEU members were balloted for a programme of strike action. Later staff and parents at another Newham school, Cumberland Primary, set up their own campaign to oppose academy plans and NEU members there were also...

Industrial news in brief

As previously reported in Solidarity (461, 7 February), the Communication Workers′ Union Postal Executive has endorsed the agreement reached between CWU negotiators and Royal Mail, which will now be put to a vote of the membership. The outline of the deal is: the creation of a new single pension scheme for all workers; extension of all current agreements and protections until 2022; two one-hour reductions in the working week (in October 2018 and October 2019) without loss of pay; a later last delivery, but not as late as Royal Mail wanted; a three year pay deal which the CWU claims equates to...

Industrial news in brief

On 22-23 February, campuses across the country will see the first of 14 days of strikes announced by the University and College Union (UCU). These strikes follow the industrial action ballots results of 22 January, which saw an 88% vote for strike action, based on a turnout of 59% of eligible UCU members. These strikes will hit 61 universities, perhaps even more, with UCU members at seven institutions that failed to meet the 50% turnout requirement now being re-balloted. The strikes are over proposed changes to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), the main pension scheme for “pre-92”...

Industrial news in brief

Lecturers strike over pensions Staff at 61 universities have voted to strike in a dispute over pensions, beginning on 22 February. University bosses want to remove guaranteed pension provision, in favour of a “defined contribution” scheme where the eventual pay-out is dependent on performance of investments. Staff face losing up to £200,000 over the course of retirement. The ballot achieved a 58% turnout nationwide with an impressive 88% vote for action. The universities involved are primarily the older “pre-92” universities, and the affected workers are academic and academic-related staff...

Picturehouse locks out workers!

Workers at five Picturehouse cinemas in London will strike for 13 days starting on 20 January. The strike will include two 48 hour strikes on 20-21 and 26-27 January. Despite other strikes in the period being for partial days, the management one of the cinemas, the Ritzy in Brixton, has decided to shut the cinema completely for the whole 13 day period. Workers at the cinema have described this as a ″lock out″, and an attempt by management to ″starve them back to work″. An emergency appeal for funds was launched and within a few days raised £13,000 of a £20,000 target thanks to a rallying of...

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