Strike Follow

NOT A single London tube train ran on Wednesday of last week as RMT and Aslef union members staged the most effective strike anyone can remember. It was a humiliation for London Underground management, which had claimed there was little support for the unions' fight over pay.

CIVIL SERVANTS in the PCS union working for DEFRA, the merged former ministry of agriculture and the department of the environment, have voted for strike action over pay disparities. Some 1,677 to 845 voted in favour of striking in a 50 percent turnout. Some 2,048 to 465 voted in favour of action short of a strike.

THREE MEMBERS of the Fire Brigades Union explain why they oppose the war and why people should back their crucial pay campaign as they begin voting next week for the first national firefighters' strike for 25 years.

RAIL WORKERS on two major companies are stepping up strike action over pay and looking to coordinate their disputes. Drivers in the Aslef and RMT unions on First North Western (FNW) are to strike for 48 hours every weekend from now until the end of November. Guards and station staff in the RMT on Arriva Trains Northern struck for the 19th time on Saturday. Action by both groups of workers will hit services across the whole of the north of England.

HOSPITAL cleaners, porters and receptionists employed by private contractor ISS Mediclean in the Swansea NHS Trust have voted by 96 percent to take strike action. They are fighting for a pay rise that would give them the same pay deal as colleagues employed directly by the NHS.

AN INDEFINITE strike by bus drivers was set to begin in the Edinburgh region this week. Over 1,300 drivers are facing a hostile management that is determined to defeat the workforce.

OVER 100 members of the GMB union at William Freeman Ltd in Barnsley struck for their second one-day strike on Thursday of last week. They are demanding a 4 percent pay rise. This is the first strike in the company's history.

TUBE DRIVERS and station staff struck for 24 hours from Tuesday into Wednesday of this week, and are to strike again next Tuesday. The action is over pay. But it has brought to the surface increasing arrogance and bullying by management as the government prepares to privatise the tube through its PPP scheme.

SOME 55,000 firefighters and control room staff were to receive ballot papers on Friday of this week for the first national strike in the fire brigade for 25 years. Union activists are organising to return the highest yes vote they can. Stations and appliances across Britain are festooned with flags, posters, stickers and other pay campaign material.

MANY WORKERS across Britain who are fed up with low pay are preparing to go on strike. They do vital jobs. These workers put out fires, help schools and hospitals to run, and teach students at further education colleges. But their pay has not increased alongside the soaring rents, mortgages, bills and travel costs.

Bosses at Arriva Trains Northern are cancelling four out of ten services on non-strike days in a desperate effort to break resistance by members of the RMT rail union. Arriva managing director Ray Price admitted in a confidential briefing to managers that cancellations are at record levels. He wrote on 10 September, "The last period five about a month was the worst train performance experienced for a very long time."

A one-day strike was staged by over 100 workers at William Freeman Ltd in Barnsley on Thursday of last week. The workers, members of the GMB union, plan a further series of one-day strikes in their campaign for a 4.5 percent pay rise.