Support the strikers – join a picket line!

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Our graphic highlights a number of upcoming strikes by fellow British workers who are fighting for fair pay and working conditions. It is becoming increasingly clear that people cannot manage on below inflation “pay rises” that are, in reality, pay cuts. Unfortunately, this year, many workers are facing not just one but multiple years of real-terms wage cuts.

People are understandably fed up and are taking action to fight back against these unfair policies. At Solidarity, we firmly believe that it is important to support and stand with our brothers and sisters in other unions when they take action. This is why we are explaining the reasons behind these strikes and urging you to join the picket lines if possible.

It is true that times are tough, but we encourage you to consider making a small donation to the strike funds if you can. Every little bit helps and can make a big difference in supporting those who are fighting for fair pay and better working conditions.

The strikes are not just about money, they are also about dignity and respect for workers. Many of the workers who will be striking are in essential services such as healthcare, transportation, and education. They are on the front lines every day, providing vital services to our communities, and deserve to be treated with fairness and respect.

We urge you to show your support for these workers and stand in solidarity with them as they fight for their rights. By doing so, we can send a message to employers and the government that we will not stand idly by while workers are treated unfairly. Together, we can make a difference and create a better future for all workers.

Why are the junior doctors in the British Medical Association striking?

The strikes are mainly over pay. The BMA said the wage for junior doctors has fallen 26% in the last 15 years, with newly qualified medics making less than a barista in a coffee shop.

It has demanded a 35% pay rise for junior doctors to bring salaries back to 2008-2009 levels, calling this “pay restoration”.

“The lack of investment in wages by the government has made it harder to recruit and retain junior doctors,” the BMA said.

“If junior doctors are forced out of the NHS because of poor pay and conditions, the services we all rely on to look after our loved ones will suffer.”

What can I do to help the workers?

You can donate to their strike fund

You can join striking staff on the picket lines.

Why are teachers in the National Education Union striking?

Experienced teachers’ pay has fallen by one fifth in real terms since 2010, and that the current cost-of-living crisis in Britain is exacerbating the problem. It is also troubling to hear that the government is suggesting only a five per cent increase in pay for experienced teachers, which is effectively a seven per cent cut when inflation is factored in.

It is not surprising that long hours and poor pay are causing many teachers to leave the profession, leading to a recruitment and retention crisis in education. This situation ultimately harms children’s education, as there are not enough teachers to provide high-quality instruction. Furthermore, when supply teachers or unqualified teachers are used, it can negatively impact students’ learning outcomes.

It is important for the government to take action to address this issue and prioritize the recruitment and retention of qualified teachers. This includes providing fair and competitive pay, reducing workload, and ensuring that teachers are supported and valued for the important work they do. It is crucial for the future of education in Britain that we invest in our teachers and provide them with the resources and support they need to succeed.

What can I do to help the workers?

You can join striking staff on the picket lines.

Why are civil and public servants in the PCS striking?

Their industrial action is in support of our claim for a 10% pay rise, pensions justice, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms. The PCS been carrying out targeted industrial action with specific groups of members, designed to cause the most disruption to the employer.

What can I do to help the workers?

You can sign their petition
You can donate to their strike fund
You can join striking staff on the picket lines.

Why are Amazon workers in the GMB at the Coventry Warehouse striking?

Workers at Amazon’s Coventry warehouse have announced six fresh strike dates, as the GMB union prepares to test support for stoppages among staff at another five of the delivery company’s sites.

Strikes at the vast Coventry centre, known as BHX4, began in January – the first industrial action ever taken against Amazon in the UK. Staff are demanding pay of £15 an hour.

The GMB claims to have signed up hundreds of new members among the workforce at Coventry and in Amazon sites further afield since the dispute began.

Amazon announced a fresh pay rise for all its UK staff earlier this month but the union said this amounted to an average of only 1.8%-2.5%, describing it as “an insult”.

More than 560 workers are now expected to join in two three-day stoppages, one from 16-18 April and another from 21-23 April. Previously fewer than 300 staff were involved. The union believes it is edging closer to the 50% membership that would allow it to apply for statutory recognition.

What can I do to help the workers?

You can donate

You can join striking staff on the picket lines.

Union News 29th January 2023

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Welcome to this edition of Union News. News from a labour and trade union perspective. In this edition Luton Airport Workers Secure 30% Pay Rise in Unite win, Amazon Workers in UK Go on Strike for First Time Over ‘Derisory’ 50p Pay Rise, Civil Service Union Prospect Launches Massive Industrial Action Ballot, TUC warns UK government’s proposals won’t end fire-and-rehire, Ambulance Workers Stage Strike Action Over Pay Dispute, as Largest-Ever NHS Strike Looms and Workers at Job Centres and Benefit Offices to Take 20 Days of Strike Action.

Luton Airport Workers Secure 30% Pay Rise in Unite win

Luton airport baggage handlers and check-in staff are set to receive a pay rise of nearly 30% according to the Unite union. More than 200 workers employed by Menzies will receive a 20% pay increase backdated to October and will receive an additional 8.5% pay increase next month. The deal, which was secured during annual pay negotiations without strikes, also includes an improvement in overtime rates. The General Secretary of Unite praised the “excellent deal” and urged workers to join the union to improve their wages and working conditions.

Amazon Workers in UK Go on Strike for First Time Over ‘Derisory’ 50p Pay Rise

Amazon workers in Coventry, UK, have gone on strike for the first time in the United Kingdom, protesting a “derisory” pay rise of just 50 pence an hour. Union GMB, which represents the workers, said the employees “just want a decent standard of living” as inflation tops 10%. The main problem stems from “target-led performance measures” set by an “algorithm,” said GMB senior organiser Amanda Gearing. Amazon said it already offers “competitive pay, comprehensive benefits and excellent opportunities for career growth” and that the vast majority of ambulance call-outs to its buildings are related to pre-existing conditions.

Civil Service Union Prospect Launches Massive Industrial Action Ballot

The Civil Service union Prospect has begun its largest industrial action ballot of members in the public sector in over a decade. The ballot, which will take place over the next few weeks, will ask thousands of workers in government departments and other areas, including the Met Office, Natural England, and the Health and Safety Executive, whether they want to strike in protest of a 3% cap on pay offers, potential job losses, and proposed cuts to redundancy terms. In a recent indicative ballot, members voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action. Despite meeting with ministers, the union claims that there has been no progress on pay for 2022-23 and no indication that next year’s pay round will be any better.

TUC warns UK government’s proposals won’t end fire-and-rehire

The TUC (Trades Union Congress) has warned that the UK government’s “reheated” proposals to prevent another P&O-style scandal won’t deter bad bosses from treating staff like disposable labour. The charge came after Business Secretary Grant Shapps announced plans for a statutory code of practice for employers, which ministers claimed would empower employees to seek compensation from bosses engaging in fire-and-rehire tactics. The TUC says that a statutory code of practice is not going to stop another P&O-style scandal from happening and it won’t deter bad bosses from treating staff like disposable labour.

Ambulance Workers Stage Strike Action Over Pay Dispute, as Largest-Ever NHS Strike Looms

Thousands of ambulance workers across north-west England went on strike for 12 hours starting from midday on Tuesday, in a dispute over pay for overworked NHS staff. The strike was organized by the GMB union, and was followed by industrial action by thousands of GMB, Unite, and Unison ambulance employees on Monday. This strike comes ahead of what could be the largest-ever NHS strike on February 6, when all three unions are set to strike alongside nurses. The workers are demanding a proper pay offer and are accusing the Tory government of endangering patient safety and demonizing them. Labour has called on the government to clarify its commitment to free-at-the-point-of-use healthcare.

And finally,

Workers at Job Centres and Benefit Offices to Take 20 Days of Strike Action

Workers at job centres and benefit offices are set to take 20 days of strike action in an escalation of the bitter dispute over the pay, jobs and conditions of civil servants. Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) will stage walkouts between February 9 and March 3 at job centres in Liverpool, a Department for Work and Pensions contact centre in Stockport and a benefit centre in Bolton. This comes ahead of a strike on February 1 by 100,000 PCS members in 123 government departments as part of the long-running dispute. PCS is demanding a 10% pay rise to help members through the cost-of-living crisis.

US: Amazon workers vote to unionise

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Workers at Amazon’s JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island, New York in the United States, have voted to form the Amazon Labor Union (ALU). “This is the catalyst for the ­revolution,” said Chris Smalls, the ALU organiser and president, while celebrating the vote. Amazon sacked Smalls in 2020 during the pandemic for organising a walkout over safety.

The vote—2,654 Yes to 2,131 No, covers over 8,000 workers at Amazon’s largest warehouse in the city. “We want to thank Jeff Bezos for going to space, because while he was up there we were organising a union,” said Smalls. The ALU is a more grassroots union than others that have tried to organise Amazon through ­endorsements from politicians. Before the vote count, most reporters had dismissed the union’s chances of beating a multimillion‑­dollar union-busting effort. .

“I think we have been overlooked,” said ALU treasurer Madeline Wesley. Justine Medina, a member of the ALU organising committee and a packer at the JFK8 warehouse, spoke to the US website Labor Notes. “We studied the history of how the first major unions were built,” she said. “We learned from the Industrial Workers of the World, and even more from the building of the Congress of Industrial Organisations.

Do not be afraid to fight, to get as dirty as the bosses. Do not be afraid to agitate and to antagonise the bosses, as a union should.”

Another warehouse at the same complex on Staten Island, LDJ5, will begin a vote to unionise with the ALU on 25 April. The union also put forward specific ­campaigning demands including a pay rise to $30 (£23) an hour, more time off and more paid breaks. In contrast to the ALU’s success, a more traditional union—the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union — is narrowly behind in the vote at Amazon’s BHM1 fulfilment centre in Bessemer, Alabama. The No vote leads by 993 to 875, but over 400 ballots are contested by either bosses or the union.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is expected to announce a result soon. Workers there were said to have voted against unionising during their first election in March 2021. The NLRB ruled that Amazon bosses interfered and ordered a new vote. The victory at JFK8—and ­unionising successes at six branches of Starbucks in recent weeks—should encourage more militant organising. And where unions are formed, they have to immediately start fighting for real change.

Patrick Harrington, General Secretary of Solidarity, commented: “We need to study what is happening in the United States where unions are winning ground. The Amazon success could be just the start within the firm. Starbucks is another anti-union corporation. Yet in In 2021, a store in Buffalo, New York became the first American shop to unionize since the 1980s. In 2022, 9 additional stores voted in favor of unionizing. The first union vote in Starbucks’ hometown of Seattle was unanimously in favor of the union. Hundreds of stores across the country are awaiting union votes. The Starbucks example shows how unionisation can spread.”

unionise amazon

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Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is now ranked the world’s richest man. But Amazon stops any attempts by workers to gain a collective voice of their own. It has failed to sign either the United Nations Global Compact or the Ethical Trading Initiative – bodies that recognise the right of all workers to a collective voice and which are signed up to by most of the biggest names on the high street.

In the United States (US) Amazon fought tooth and nail against workers in Bessemer, Alabama, who wanted to form a union. They won that battle and defeated the landmark union drive that would have established the company’s first US union. Amazon, however, has not won the war. That high-profile US fight will increase support for broader change.

Here in the UK Unite, Britain’s leading union has run a major newspaper and digital advertising campaign to alert Amazon workers about a confidential whistle-blowing hotline that has opened in the UK & Ireland.Amazon workers can blow the whistle and expose poor treatment free from reprisals by calling 08000 14 14 61 in the UK or 1800 851 268 for the Republic of Ireland or by visiting https://actiononamazon.org/hotline/.

Unions are demanding a ‘new deal’ for Amazon workers, including a union and a greater share of the firm’s enormous profits. Against a backdrop of reports about poor working conditions, Amazon workers have been essential during the Covid crisis. The company increased its permanent workforce by one-third (10,000) in 2020 as well as taking on 20,000 additional seasonal staff. The company almost doubled its profit in 2020 compared to 2019. Unite executive officer Sharon Graham said: “Amazon attacks all attempts by workers to gain a collective voice of their own. This is why Unite is launching ‘Action on Amazon’ to give Amazon workers a voice, so they don’t have to rely on whistle-blowing or calling confidential hotlines.“Jeff Bezos has become the world’s richest man off the backs of workers who have played a crucial part in so many people’s lives during the pandemic.

It is prime time Amazon gave workers the right to be in a union and to do so without interference, bullying, and intimidation.”Patrick Harrington, General Secretary of Solidarity union said: “Amazon is part of the life of many people and provides consumers with good service. The story on their workers, however, is not so positive. Amazon needs to stop its union-busting tactics and give its workers respect and a decent share of profits. If they don’t they will lose public goodwill and may face consumer boycotts along with other opposition. Time to unionise and change Amazon!”

Please sign the Amazon petition here: https://actiononamazon.org/sign-our-petition/