Union solidarity round-up: 8 to 16 June

A multi-union event this weekend, with Disabled People Against Cuts and hosted by PCS and Unite, put social security on the map as a trade union issue. Anyone might need social security - it only takes an illness or an accident. Social security affects everyone yet it is under attack and in crisis.

A panel discussion and series of workshops explored the need for policy makers to involve disabled people in designing systems, and how trade unionists in the Department for Work and Pensions fight back against demands to sanction claimants. Attending, PCS DWP Group President Angela Grant said: “Whether you’re a worker in DWP, or someone using DWP services, or just a trade unionist – this is our fight.”

UK activity

Victory for PCS members working as PCSOs for London Metropolitan Police after managers agreed to retain and redeploy them instead of being moved into new roles with Transport for London. Members working as facilities staff for Sodexo are on strike since last Thursday (4) until 17 June, after members voted 100% for strike action to stop compulsory redundancies.

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, and at the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office over the planned 25% job cuts.

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 again this week on from 9 to 11 June, and then 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. And members who survived recent redundancies at glass bottle company Encirc in Cheshire are striking again, from last week 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 around 300 more drivers working at East London Bus & Coach Company (run by Stagecoach) will strike from Thursday (11) to Sunday (14) over fatigue and inadequate breaks.

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

Unison 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. And NEU members at Woodfield School are striking over employer Compass Learning Trust’s attack on the pay of junior teaching staff: Monday (8), Thursday (11) and Friday (12), then days every week until the end of term.

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. 

International

At Geneva’s International Labour Conference, activists from African labour organisations have protested in demand for action against corruption, violence and inequality. The conference’s African Regional Organisation called on governments to tackle illegality, tax the wealthy and invest in development

In Norway, oil workers have reached a state-mediated agreement with their employers after threatening strikes. The action would have added pressure to an already straitened fossil-fuel market, in which producers continue to reap high profits.

And in Iran at the weekend, high school students demonstrated outside government offices over an unpopular university admissions policy which ties entrance requirements to school grades. The policy exacerbates social inequality by making it harder for students from poorer areas, where education is of a lower quality, to study at higher level.