WORKERS AT the giant Peugeot car plant in Coventry suspended a 24-hour strike due to take place on Friday 7 March. The 3,500 workers, who are in the TGWU union, rejected a pay offer which involved increased pension contributions.
THE FIRE dispute is back on after four weeks of talks produced the worst offer yet from the employers and the government. There is pressure from firefighters for more strikes. There are also threats from deputy prime minister John Prescott to use Tory anti-union laws and the cover of war to ban action.
SCHOOLS AND libraries in parts of London faced possible closure this week because of a strike by council workers in a long-running dispute over pay. Caretakers and other support staff at 70 schools in the capital walked out on Monday for a week as part of a union campaign for the London weighting allowance to be raised to £4,000.
THE CHORUS at the English National Opera (ENO) staged an unprecedented strike on Tuesday of last week. The chorus singers were protesting against ENO managers' plan to sack 20 of the 60-strong chorus.
CONTROL STAFF in the London Fire Brigade have voted unanimously to ballot for a work to rule and strike action over congestion charges. An angry mass meeting last Sunday left GMB and Unison union officials in no doubt of the strength of feeling. A claim was submitted for compensation for congestion charges over a year ago.
CHORUS SINGERS at the English National Opera (ENO) struck on Tuesday. They are staging a series of one-day strikes to prevent 20 of the 60 chorus singers losing their jobs. Their strike is about much more than the jobs, important though they are. It raises the question of who controls access to art in our society.
WORKERS AT an engineering factory in Hereford walked out on a seven-day strike last week. The 400 members of the GMB union went on strike after rejecting a 1 percent pay offer with reduced overtime pay and limited sick pay. A senior shop steward at the plant, Phil Cogzell, said, "All we want is to maintain a stable income. The offer was rejected by 82 percent." The factory is the second biggest business in Hereford. The workforce are demanding a 3 percent rise.
AROUND 3,500 workers at the massive Ryton Peugeot plant near Coventry walked out on strike for 24 hours last week. They brought the plant to a standstill. The first shift to strike began picketing at 5.30am on Thursday of last week, the day after the car giant announced yearly profits of £1.2 billion.
AROUND 400 workers at a factory in Hereford were set to strike for five days this week. The workers, members of the GMB union, work at Special Metals Wiggin producing nickel alloys.
JOURNALISTS AT two Newsquest-owned newspaper groups in the north of England were set to walk out on Monday of this week. Management refused to offer an increased pay deal. In Bradford workers are to strike for five days. They have been offered just 2 percent.
THE PROSPECT of a strike has forced bosses at Jarrolds, a Norwich-based printing company, to retreat. The company planned to sack around 60 workers and cut pay by 15 percent for those that were left.
SOME 3,500 workers at Herefordshire council decided at a meeting on Friday of last week to strike against threatened job losses and pay cuts. Bosses broke off long running negotiations last week and tried to impose a pay deal. Regional GMB union organiser Roger Jenkins said the council is cooking up "a recipe for conflict".
