PCS workers and other unions rally in Newcastle amid ongoing their ongoing strike against victimisation
Members of the PCS union in Newcastle are determined to continue their strike to defend victimised reps.
Union reps Rachel Farmer, Gordon Askew and Joel Hamilton were sacked last year for their trade union activity shortly after leading walkouts.
Some 200 workers at HMRC at the Benton Park View site have been on strike since 23 December to support them. The strike has now been extended until 14 March.
The strike is having a massive impact. The union reports that there is a huge backlog of work. Customers can’t get through to the employer services helpline due to their action.
At a rally on Friday the strikers were joined by local Labour MP Mary Glindon and supporters from other unions. Members of the UCU who are also fighting the threat of redundancies joined the rally.
PCS vice president Dave Semple said, “This dispute will not go away until we have our reps reinstated. But this is not just about three victimised reps.
“There is a wider battle. There have been attacks on civil service jobs from the previous government. The Labour government has done very little to change that.
“When the chancellor Rachel Reeves talks about pressure on the budget she means pressure from billionaires who don’t want to pay their taxes,” he added.
Claire from Unison said, “Unison will stand shoulder to shoulder with you.
“It’s reasonable to be treated with dignity and respect at work. It’s a human right to be able to organise in the workplace.” She added, “We need to challenge the politics of racism that Reform UK are bringing to our workplaces and communities.”
The fight to reinstate the three reps should be a national focus for the union movement.
Around 550 Unite union members at a major food producer are looking to extend their strike against penny-pinching bosses.
The workers are already set to continue their strike into March, and are now voting on whether to extend their walkout into the summer. Staff at Oscar Mayer in Wrexham have since September been on strike over their employer’s attempt to fire and rehire workers on worse contracts.
Bosses’ attacks would slash workers’ pay by up to £3,000 a year. Now workers are voting on whether to extend their action because “a handful” of workers have been sacked during the strike.
Bosses targeted these workers because they sent a letter saying they’d be working under duress, if the new conditions were imposed.
Strikers are right to insist the money is there. Oscar Mayer is 85 percent owned by Pamberton Asset Management, which managest some £17 billion worth of client’s money.
Unite’s regional secretary for Wales Peter Hughes said, “Our members are really angry at what’s going on—the local community is really angry with Oscar Mayer and Pemberton.
“We’ve got to make sure the people who have already been fired are reinstated on the terms they were fired on.”
The new strike ballot closes this week—but workers should keep up the fight to fend off this vicious attack.
Uber drivers staged a 24‑hour strike on Tuesday of last week, in defiance of the firm’s low pay.
Alongside the strike, workers in the App Drivers and Couriers Union staged a three-hour protest outside Uber’s central London headquarters.
They are demanding a rate of £2.50 per mile and 50 pence per minute.
Workers want an end to dynamic pricing, an end to unfair dismissal and the company’s pay structures to be transparent. Workers complain that their living and vehicle costs are soaring, yet their bosses are raking in massive profits.
In a separate dispute, taxi drivers for Uber, Bolt and Addison Lee drivers struck for six hours on Friday of last week.
Across the country, workers in the IWGB independent union struck over concerns regarding wages and working conditions. Many workers have to work 70-80 hours a week just to make ends meet.
Workers at Solace Women’s Aid called off their strike against redundancies after bosses suspended cuts.
An indefinite strike by United Voices of the World (UVW) members was due to begin on Friday of last week, but was suspended until 3 March. Charity bosses want to slash a third of Independent Domestic Violence Advisors in the Tower Hamlets borough.
Workers want an end to the threat of cuts, and for their union to be recognised. They are “determined to strike” if there’s no resolution.
It’s not just runway expansion causing chaos at Heathrow. Facilities workers employed by OCS at airport are set to strike over pay.
OCS claims to be a living wage accredited employer, which means its supposed to pay workers £13.85 an hour in London.
But it doesn’t pay the living wage to workers on external contracts—like those paid to clean British Airways offices.
Those workers, who are Unite members, are only paid the minimum wage of £11.44 an hour. Workers say they’re forced to use foodbanks and struggle to pay their rent. As a result, they’re set to strike from Tuesday to Thursday next week.
Also at Heathrow, cabin crew workers at Japan Airlines have rejected a pitiful pay offer worth 1.5 percent.
Bosses offered the Unite union workers a pay rise of 3 percent, but wanted to freeze flight allowances, making the deal worth just half that.
Workers, parents and children are devastated after Barnsley council said it plans to privatise its nurseries.
The council wants to “offload” nurseries across its six family hubs.
The plans are due to be debated at a full council meeting on 27 February. The workers’ GMB union has launched a petition, but it should look to strike.
Canteen workers at Drax power station have won a pay rise. The Unite workers, employed by Baxter Storey, won a 5 percent pay rise.
It comes as the mainly female workforce signed a union recognition agreement between Unite and BaxterStorey.
Health workers set to strike across four Manchester hospitals
Bus workers rejected an offer and came back out
Deadline to accept new conditions approaches
