UNISON

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...

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...

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)...

The second day of ambulance strikes on 11 January was a success, with Patient Transport, cleaners, admin workers and call-takers joining emergency crews for this round. Solidarity from the public was again strong, and looks good too for the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) strikes on 18-19 January, at workplaces that did not come out in the first RCN round The next ambulance strikes are on 23 January, 10 February, and 22 February. The RCN has called strikes for 6-7 February in acute, specialist and ambulance trusts, in a positive step up from the current round. The refusal of the unions to co...

Workers’ Liberty members are involved in the Time For Real Change network in Unison, which won the majority on the National Executive (NEC) 18 months ago. The nomination period for new NEC elections opens on 9 January and closes 13 February. We urge Solidarity readers in Unison to push TFRC nominations in their January or February branch meetings. Candidates are listed here , and a guide to how branches nominate is here . The NEC ballot runs from 17 April to 19 May.

Ambulance workers striking on 21 December are mainly in Unison or GMB, with union affiliation varying mostly by geography. There are also small pockets of Unite members. We argue for joint action, support for workers who respect each other’s picket lines and joint strike committees. This is the same pay dispute as with Unison, Unite and GMB in the rest of the health service. These workers are on the general NHS pay system, Agenda for Change. These are kind of "vanguard" strikes on behalf of broader health workers, on the basis that Unite and GMB balloted only ambulance Trusts and Unison...

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...

Across the country health workers have voted for strike action in unprecedented numbers. The average vote for strike among Unison members was 88%. However, Unison got the 50% turnout threshold only in five ambulance Trusts: NW, NE, SW, London, and Yorkshire, plus three hospital Trusts, Liverpool Acute, Liverpool Heart and Chest, Liverpool Uni. Ten Trusts which got over 45% are being re-balloted; other branches can put forward case to re-ballot, and members are pushing for this in some areas. GMB members in nine ambulance Trusts: SE Coast, SW, South Central, East Mids, West Mids, Yorkshire, NE...

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...

Thursday 24 and Friday 25 November saw a national strike by University and College Union (UCU) members in Higher Education. A third day of strike is set for 30 November, with a national demonstration in London which will march to the office of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), the employers’ representative in pay talks. UCU is demanding “a meaningful pay rise to deal with the cost-of-living crisis as well as action to end the use of insecure contracts and deal with dangerously high workloads”. Many branches are also in dispute over cuts by employers to the USS pension...