Union solidarity round-up: 1 to 7 June

Victory for Unite’s Doncaster bus drivers employed by First Bus after a three-month strike over pay. Over 230 drivers rejected a revised pay offer earlier in the year. But while Reform would like to remove workers' rights and protections, it seems few understand just how wrecking this would be for workers. A recent poll showed that the party (which advocates tax cuts for the wealthy, job cuts for the civil service, and the slashing of workers’ rights) is currently equal to Labour in popularity among trade union members.

UK activity

At PCS, members are balloting at the Department for Education over office closures, and at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office over the planned 25% job cuts. Action short of a strike continues for members at the Civil Aviation Authority (with Prospect), and at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government where there is a mandate for further strike action.

Hundreds of Unite members at the Institute of Cancer Research in London are striking over a low pay offer in the face of historic real-terms wage decreases; they will walk out this week on Wednesday (3) and Thursday (4), and then 9 to 11 June, and 15 to 18 June. Members working at a medical packaging plant in Northumberland owned by Amcor begin strike action today (1) over low pay, to take place on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays until 7 April, 2027. Members at GKN Aerospace in South Gloucestershire finish a strike today (1), begun last week over low pay.

Unite members working as health visitors at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board in south Wales remain on strike until 17 July. Unite members who survived recent redundancies at glass bottle company Encirc in Cheshire will strike again, this time from today (1) until 15 June.

Around 300 Unite members working as HGV drivers employed by DHL for Jaguar Land Rover in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Solihull and Widnes remain on strike indefinitely over real-terms pay cuts.  And RMT working as drivers on the London Underground strike twice this week for 24 hours, on Tuesday (2) and Thursday (4).

Last Wednesday (27 May) UCU members at Sheffield Hallam University began strike action over job cuts, conditions and pensions, striking until 19 June. Around a thousand members at the University of Nottingham begin action short of a strike, including a boycott of marking and assessment, from today (1) until 31 July over planned redundancies.

And NEU members at the St Ralph Sherwin and Our Lady of Lourdes multi-academy trusts in the Midlands strike yet again over redundancies, pay and conditions, this week from Tuesday (2) to Thursday (4).

International

In South Korea, about 48,000 workers at a Samsung factory have broadly accepted a recent pay offer after a three-month dispute threatened an 18-day strike. While new fixed-rate bonuses are welcome for those making microchips, other workers will get much less.

In Portugal, mass disruption is expected as transport strikes begin on Wednesday (3) for thousands of workers operating across different areas of the transport sector. Aviation unions in particular are taking a stand against general government plans to reduce workers’ rights and protections.

And in Trinidad and Tobago, unions are leading voices for democracy, condemning recent developments. In the wake of police involvement in fatal shooting, the police commissioner has created 15 areas on the country where protest will be illegal.