On the AQA picket line (Pic: @unisontheunion on X)
Workers at Unison AQA branch face a choice.
After weeks of strikes, we’ve been presented with a final offer that our members will vote on.
There has been movement in all the points on our ballot paper. The current offer represents pay restoration for AQA exam board workers at the lower end of the pay scale. AQA has also committed to bringing forward an equalities review of the current pay framework.
AQA bosses have gone from hostile silence to conceding on every point. That’s a big win for workers—and we should celebrate that.
But these are signs that we should keep pushing for more, not signs to slow down and accept the deal.
Our strength lies in the action we take, not in the meeting rooms after we call off strikes.
It is not a coincidence that we received an improved offer the week after our longest period of industrial action—when we use our power to demand more, we can make progress.
We must use that strength to win for all our members and in every argument.
Crucially, it means insisting that workers need money in their pockets this year, not years down the line.
We’re staring down the barrel of skyrocketing inflation again. The cost of living crisis that will follow will be paid for out of our members’ pockets, not those of AQA executives.
We have to say that we won’t pay the price.
To do this, we need to reject this half-baked offer. And we need more strikes, not less.
There is a worry that more strikes will result in AQA withdrawing the current offer, or that we might be letting “the perfect be the enemy of good”.
Bosses trying to convince workers that they should take what crumbs they’re offered isn’t a new argument.
The reality is that it is workers who keep the lights on, and more strikes will only make that more obvious.
While AQA bosses struggle to make money while office chairs are left empty, we want to draw out the best fighters and give confidence to those on the fence.
And ultimately, we want to win the argument that we not only want pay restoration—but a proper pay rise.
By a Unison AQA member
Workers at the National Galleries of Scotland (NGS) are set to strike for four days during the famous Edinburgh Fringe festival.
The PCS union members are taking action over proposed job cuts.
Alan, a PCS union member at NGS, told Socialist Worker that rather than cutting jobs directly, managers are not rehiring when people leave positions to save money.
“It means about five jobs are being cut out of only about 160.
“This might not seem like much, but the galleries are run by only seven to nine workers at a time. So, a cut of five is actually massive—galleries will have to close.
“The galleries are already staffed at such a low level,” Alan added. “People can’t go to the bathroom during their shifts because there is no cover.”
These changes have been implemented by a new management team in the past few years who “want to stamp their authority” on workers.
Alan said workers at NGS are “really angry”.
“It’s almost unanimous, people feel strongly about this. It’s indicative of what’s to come across the arts sector. If the cuts are successful here, they’ll push more through. It’s putting the whole sector at risk,” he said.
“It’s not only us who’ll suffer, the visitors’ experience and the collections themselves are at risk.
“Art sector jobs are like golddust—they’re so hard to come by. This means that workers are so desperate by the time they get a job.”
Management is taking advantage of this, Alan said.
The same workers are routinely hired every summer on temporary contracts. Alan said he knew people who have had different temporary contracts up to six times.
He explained that this leads to management changing contracts, terms and conditions without workers realising or knowing their rights. “It’s fire and rehire through temporary contracts,” he said.
Some 81 percent of workers voted for strike action on a turnout of 80 percent.
Alan said, “We’re hoping we’ll have enough workers out to force them to close some galleries. If that happens, hopefully management will buckle quickly.”
Meanwhile, Prospect union members at the V&A Museum’s storehouse in east London have voted overwhelmingly to strike over pay and conditions.
The collections access officers have slammed “Amazon-style conditions” at their workplace.
Prospect says the workers are denied enough time during the day for breaks, to drink water or to use the toilets.
They backed the strike 100 percent on a turnout of 88 percent to demand two paid breaks a day.
And workers are demanding that V&A become an accredited living wage employer within 12 months.
This is part of a bigger dispute across the V&A.
Prospect is demanding at least a 4 percent pay rise, time-and-a-half for hours worked on bank holidays and better provision of food for workers on sites.
Across the V&A, some 83 percent voted for strikes, on an 82 percent turnout. Prospect is set to announce the dates.
East Midlands Railway (EMR) workers are on strike over safety.
The RMT union says that the new Class 810 fleet of trains have “a significant number of dangerous faults”.
RMT says that in three instances train drivers have been unable to communicate with each other and dispatchers, putting workers and passengers at risk.
Keir, an RMT rep in Nottingham, told Socialist Worker, “When safety concerns are ignored, there comes a point when enough is enough.
“Our message to EMR is simply—withdraw the unsafe trains, work with the unions, resolve this dispute.
“Until then, our members are taking action.”
Around 30 joined a picket line in Nottingham, 25 in Derby and a dozen at London St Pancras station.
They’ve gotten support from members of the FBU and Unite unions.
The RMT members were set to strike this Saturday and on Saturday 15 August.
Cleaners on Merseyrail outsourced to the private company, Churchill Services, were set to strike this Friday against low pay.
Workers initially asked the company for a pay rise of just 20p per hour, which would cost bosses only £18,000 per year.
Workers at East End Homes (EEH) in Tower Hamlets, east London, began another week of strikes on Monday in their fight over pensions.
It follows a week-long walkout by the Unison union members last week.
The workers—administrators, caretakers and housing officers at the housing association—are angry about bosses’ plans to cut their pensions.
EEH bosses want to move the workers from a Defined Benefit (DB) pension to a Defined Contribution (DC) scheme. This would mean the loss of thousands of pounds every year in retirement income.
Bosses have threatened the workers with “fire and rehire” unless they accept the changes.
But the workers are getting organised as well.
They’ve begun leafletting each and every one of the nearly 4,000 homes they look after
Kerie Ann, the Unison local government branch secretary in Tower Hamlets, told Socialist Worker, “We’ve leafletted at least a thousand homes so far.
“And we’ve a plan in place to make sure every resident gets a leaflet.”
A striking worker said the reception so far had been positive. “When residents hear what the bosses want to do, they’ve been shocked,” they told Socialist Worker.
“And we’ve had residents come out on our picket lines to support us.”
Leeds residents are fighting back against Microsoft’s planned development of three hyperscale artificial intelligence (AI) data centres.
The proposed megasite, situated at Skelton Grange in southeast Leeds, would house computer servers running constantly to power Microsoft’s AI systems.
Despite Leeds City Council’s approval of the development scheme in April, there is enormous anger over the environmental threat posed by the data centre.
Within two weeks, an online petition has amassed over 22,000 signatures.
AI data centres are known to consume eye-watering sums of water and electricity, as well as causing severe pollution problems.
Lianne, the organiser for the No Leeds Data Centre Campaign, told Socialist Worker, “Everyone’s energy and water bill is going to go up.”
“Animals are at risk of going extinct, and the heat island effect and the noise pollution will make it unbearable to work or live within a two mile radius of the data centre.”
The construction site is less than 100 metres away from a Conservation Volunteer environment centre. Workers here were not consulted about the development plan.
But the build-up of AI infrastructures doesn’t just affect local communities and wildlife.
It has become the primary site of competition between tech billionaires and governments are increasingly aggressive in their interventions.
The Labour government has designated AI data centres as critical national infrastructure. This allows for the fast-tracking of their planning permissions despite obvious environmental problems and local objections.
Microsoft’s AI has also been a tool of the ruling class, who uses it to exploit workers at home and to kill Palestinians abroad.
Activists agreed to bring together trade unions and other political campaigns in opposing the expansion of AI infrastructures.
By broadening the political demands of the campaign and linking up struggles, they can translate the popular anger towards big tech into a local victory.
At Imperial College in London, members of the UCU, Unison and Unite unions have all voted to accept a new pay deal.
The university workers received a 3.5 percent pay increase, with a minimum increase of £1,500. The offer also comes with two extra days of annual leave and additional parental and carers’ leave.
UCU branch secretary Roddy Slorach said that workers feel vindicated for striking last year. “All these things happened because we took 20 days of action all together. We only got this because we fought,” he said.
But while many workers see this as a win, there is still more to fight for. Pay at Imperial has declined by about 5.5 percent in real terms since 2018.
Five unions are now running nationwide consultative ballots over university workers’ pay. Members of the Unison and EIS unions have already rejected the 2 percent offer.
Drivers at eight bus garages in north London have voted overwhelmingly for action over extreme temperatures.
The Unite union members, who work for Arriva North London, voted by over 96 percent for strikes. Unite has called 26 days of strikes starting on 14-15 August and running until October.
Drivers have been asking for years for improvements to the buses including installing air conditioning. Their work has put them at serious risk as cab temperatures soared to the high 30s.
At Cardiff Bus there is also a dispute brewing over heat.
Drivers who stopped driving due to the dangerous temperatures found their pay was docked and they were recorded as absent on their sickness files.
The company said, “We are not able to pay drivers if they do not drive under extreme weather conditions, whether that be for heatwaves or winter storms.”
But the workers were right to take action to protect the safety of themselves and their passengers.
Around 100 of some of the lowest paid workers in the Norfolk seaside town of Great Yarmouth are set to start striking this week.
The Unite union members are bin workers, street cleaners, landscaping workers and grave diggers. They work for Great Yarmouth Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of the borough council.
The workers are paid around 20 percent less than those doing the same jobs in Norwich.
The far right Restore Britain is based in the town. It talks about wanting to reward those who work hard.
But its policies of slashing corporation and inheritance taxes won’t help ordinary workers. Nor will cutting benefits that the lowest paid rely on—or pitting migrant and British born workers against each other.
The workers are set to strike on 6, 7 and 10-12 August.
Workers at Manchester’s Kimpton Clocktower Hotel struck last weekend and are set to strike again this Friday to Sunday.
The Unite union members are fighting over union‑busting. Owner InterContinental Hotels Group has refused to recognise the union and has suspended two union reps. Unite believes they were illegally targeted for their trade union activities.
Time is ticking for bosses to resolve the dispute as Labour‑run Manchester City Council is threatening to withdraw its booking for the Best of Manchester Awards in October.
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