Union solidarity round-up: 4 to 10 May

In major news, the 16-month Birmingham bin strike by Unite members has reportedly neared a victorious conclusion with the city council now firming up an offer to be voted on by members. The offer cannot be made officially until after Thursday's local elections and then a ballot of members will take place.

Yesterday (4) was the centenary of the General Strike and TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak’s blog celebrates its immense scale of mobilisation and solidarity and the ongoing role of unions today. 

PCS General Secretary Fran Heathcote in a May Day speech in Chesterfield emphasised that "working class solidarity is just as important today as it was during the General Strike 100 years ago."

And Strike Map, supported by PCS as well as ASLEF, BFAWU and NASUWT, is launching its Solidarity Fund to enable wider and more targeted support for strikers. 

UK activity

PCS members working in the Parliamentary Security Department at the Palace of Westminster have voted to accept an agreement, bringing a long‑running dispute to an end; negotiations are now underway. Members at Ofgem with a mandate for strike action are waiting for managers to respond in their long-running dispute over pay, jobs, working conditions and industrial relations. 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.

Unite members employed as facilities staff by ABM at Stansted Airport were due to strike this Saturday gone (3) until tomorrow (6) over pay and workloads but have called off the action after a last-minute offer from managers. And more than 230 members working as bus drivers at First South Yorkshire’s depot in Doncaster were set to strike again this week in their ongoing pay dispute begun in March over pay; they will now consult on a new pay offer instead.

Also with Unite, over 300 HGV drivers employed by DHL for Jaguar Land Rover in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Solihull and Widnes will strike indefinitely from Thursday (7) over real-terms pay cuts in the face of strong company profits. Members working as health visitors at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board in south Wales, who begun their strike on 16 March, continue until 13 May. And members who survived recent redundancies at glass bottle company Encirc in Cheshire will strike again, refusing to work night shifts, from Saturday (9) until 15 May. 

Unison members at the National Coal Mining Museum ended their strike last week, having begun the action in September last year, after they agreed a 10.5% pay rise. Meanwhile, members at Southampton Solent University staff have announced strikes over managers’ attempts to remove them from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, alongside other grievances, with further action this week, from today (5) until Friday (8). And members employed as support workers at the at University of Gloucestershire go on strike today (5) over a sub-inflation pay offer.

Also in education, around a thousand GMB members working as support staff across over 30 schools went on strike on Friday (1) over their being paid Outer London Weighting while teaching staff get Inner London Weighting. UCU members at University of Leicester strike again today (5) over ongoing restructuring and redundancies, with further dates this month on 11 and 18. And members at Durham University continue indefinite action short of strike over high workloads. NEU members at St Ralph Sherwin and Our Lady of Lourdes Multi-academy trusts across the Midlands will strike again over redundancies, pay and conditions, from today (5) until Thursday (7).

NASUWT members at St Cuthbert’s RC High School in Rochdale are striking today (5) until Thursday (7) over the managing Academy Trust’s failure to address concerns over existing behaviour and safety issues while proposing restructures which members believe will worsen the situation. And both NEU and NASUWT members at Queen Elizabeth's (QE) School in Wimborne and Corfe Hills School in Corfe Mullen are in dispute with the Initio Learning Trust over planned restructures: NEU members walk out tomorrow (6) although NASUWT members have currently paused their action.

International

In Belarus, the European Federation of Journalists reports, 22 journalists are currently in prison. Sunday marked World Press Freedom Day in the context of some high-profile recent releases. But media workers critical of the regime are widely at risk of arrest.

In Turkey, more than 500 workers were arrested at May Day rallies in Istanbul. The government deployed riot police and fired tear gas to prevent demonstrators entering the highly symbolic Taksim Square.

In Ghana, however, May Day saw progressive engagement by the government with unions who pressed for a number of demands around wages, pensions and job scarcity. Unemployment is at 13% (35% for youth) and about 80% of workers are informal employment with few official rights and protections.