Union solidarity round-up: 15 to 21 June

In a major union win, BMA members working as NHS resident doctors have called off a strike that was due to begin today (15) and last until Friday (19). Government has pledged to create 4,500 more training places for newly qualified doctors and to implement pay increases, beginning next year. Even so, the union claims that resident doctors’ real-terms wages will still be 20% lower than in 2008.

In other news last week, UK unions responded to Nigel Farage’s request for them to support his Reform party. These generally pointed out that Reform, funded directly by elite private interests, intends to scrap workers’ rights and privatise the NHS.

UK activity

PCS members working as facilities staff for Sodexo are still striking (since 4 June) until Wednesday (17). Action short of a strike continues for PCS 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. And members are still balloting at the Department for Education over office closures (til 21 July), and at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office over planned 25% job cuts (til 22 June).

Unite members working at a medical packaging plant in Northumberland owned by Amcor, who began a strike last week which was threatened to last until 7 April 2027 are celebrating a new pay deal which is worth 12.3 per cent over three years.

Meanwhile, nearly two thousand Unite members working on construction at the Sellafield nuclear site will strike today (15) until Saturday (20) over pay that is incommensurate with the skill and danger of the work required. And over a thousand Unite members working as maintenance and repair workers for local government in Bristol, Southwark, Stoke-on-Trent, Newham, Leeds and Babergh and Mid Suffolk will strike on Wednesday (17) and Thursday (18), and another day next week (23), over low pay.

Hundreds of Unite members at the Institute of Cancer Research in London are striking for a second week over real-terms wage decreases. From today (15) until Thursday (18).Members working as leisure centre staff at Tower Hamlets London Borough Council to take strike action today (15), Wednesday (17) and Saturday (20) over unfair contract practices and management bullying.

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 members working as health visitors at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board in south Wales remain on strike until 17 July. 

Unison members working in critical care at Salford Royal, Royal Oldham and Fairfield Hospital remain on strike since May after Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust announced cuts to overtime pay. And members working as teaching assistants and support staff at Ash Field Academy in Leicester will strike after a rep was suspended days after members voted for action over staffing cuts and safety concerns: strike weeks are Monday 15 to Friday 19 June and Monday 6 to Thursday 9 July. 

400 GMB and Unite members working at Qioptiq Teledyne will strike tomorrow (16) until to Friday (19) over a low pay offer. GMB members at Glen Dimplex Bricks in Dudley will strike from today (15) until Wednesday (17) June over managers’ unexplained demand for a 50% production increase. And GMB members working as school support staff at The Orchard School in Sandwell will strike on Friday (19) over a range of issues including health and safety and missed wage payments. They are joined by NASUWT members who are teachers protesting about overcrowding, taking the total walkout numbers there to about 90.

NEU members at Woodfield School have strike days every week until the end of term over employer Compass Learning Trust’s attack on the pay of junior teaching staff: this week on Wednesday (17) and Thursday (18). And around 40 NEU members working as teachers and support staff at Forest Fields Primary School in Nottingham will strike from tomorrow (16) to Thursday (18) over consistent refusal by managers to address workload and burnout issues.

Finally, UCU members at Sheffield Hallam University continue action over job cuts, conditions and pensions, begun in May and 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 members at Goldsmiths, University of London began indefinite strike action yesterday (8) over large scale redundancies, enraged further by union busting measures by the university over staff’s marking boycott. Members at Durham University and University of Leicester remain on action short of a strike.

International

The International Labour Organization has sadly reported the global scandal of children in work. Across the world, there are 138 million child labourers, many of whom are exposed to extreme danger.

At the same time, in Ghana alone, nearly half a million children are not in school because they are forced to work. While employers profit from cheap labour, the country suffers a time bomb for a skills and education deficit.