Capita workers on strike in Glasgow
Capita Finance workers, organised with the Unite union, are once again leading the charge against the assault on fair pay in the finance sector.
Last Wednesday, the workers took to the streets to demand “Fair pay for everyone” in their third and longest strike. Workers rejected a previous pay offer where bosses tried to divide them by favouring better paid workers.
The already insulting offer added salt to the wound by explicitly excluding workers on a living wage. Bosses offered them a pay rise only in line with the national increase in April.
One Unite rep said, “We’ve got people here with 30 odd years of service and they get paid the minimum wage.” The bosses are legally required to increase the minimum wage. So should workers accept this as a concession to their demands?
Workers rejected the pay offer by 73 percent on a ballot turnout of 86 percent. So the answer is a firm “no”.
One former Capita rep told Socialist Worker that the boss Aaron Hernandez, formerly of Amazon, got a “nice, chunky increase” of 22 percent in 2024.
Another worker told Socialist Worker, “Three directors got a bonus of £650,000 between them, on top of a comfortable salary.”
Bosses claim that there is no money in the pot for pay rises—apparently because they have distributed it among themselves.
Workers are whispering that this strike, which comes at the critical end of the financial year, will “crucify” the firm unless their demands are met.
As phone waiting lists balloon and operations back up, workers stand resolute with their simple demand, “What do we want? Fair pay. Who do we want it for? Everyone.”
Manchester SWP member
Domestic violence workers in east London are celebrating after bosses backed off from swingeing cuts to their service.
Bosses at the Solace charity threatened to sack a third of Independent Domestic Violence Advisors (IDVA) from their Tower Hamlets office. Yet the council said the outsourcer was still receiving the same funds so shouldn’t be slashing its workforce.
Instead of giving in to attacks, workers quickly unionised with the UVW union and planned to begin an indefinite strike.
Workers at Scottish Water stuck last Friday.
Over 500 Unite union members walked out after pay talks failed. They struck from offices and wastewater treatment across the whole of Scotland. It impacted sewers, water treatment centres and pipework.
Scottish Water bosses have watered down a previous, pitiful pay offer, to just 3.4 percent.
Despite that, boss Alex Plant is paid £483,000.
Workers have shown they’re willing to strike but should escalate action if no better offer is made.
Some 800 health workers at two Nottingham hospitals are preparing to strike in a row over pay, grading and back pay.
Some 94 percent of Unison members at Queen’s Medical Centre and City Hospital backed the strike “unless hospital managers improve an offer on back pay”.
Workers plan to walkout for 48 hours next Monday and on 17, 22 and 28 April.
Health care assistants (HCAs) in Nottingham are the latest group in England and Wales to fight back against years of wrongly graded as band 2, the lowest in the NHS.
Many HCAs have for years routinely done clinical tasks, such as taking blood and doing ECG readings—without being properly paid for the tasks.
Management now admits the error and has re-banded workers, but it is offering back pay to just August 2021. That’s years short of the union’s gold standard, set by the Unison’s north west region, which is 2019.
Bosses are now refusing to meet with Unison, saying they have made agreements with all other unions.
But Unison is the biggest union in healthcare, and it must now show management that it will not be disrespected.
PCS union members at Benton Park View in Newcastle are determined to fight back against the victimisation of three leading union reps.
They currently have four more days of strikes planned. Around 400 Unite union members are battling against bosses’ plans to steal £8,000 from some workers.
Rachel Farmer, Gordon Askew and Joel Hamilton were suspended from work last year after leading strikes at the huge civil service workplace.
Acting branch secretary Angie Foggett told Socialist Worker, “We are very adamant that this is an attack on our branch and an attack on democracy within the civil service.”
The union branch says that management has not come to the negotiating table.
They said, “Rachel, Gordon and Joel have not yet been reinstated by HMRC. In fact HMRC have refused to engage with your union.”
They plan to picket at the main gates on the 7, 17, 30 April and 16 May.
Local government workers in Scotland are gearing up for a massive fight over their rubbish pay.
Workers in the Unison union have backed strikes by an astonishing 97 percent in a consultative ballot.
They could strike over an offer of just 3 percent rise from local government employer Cosla.
Colette Hunter, Unison Scotland’s local government committee chair, said “This result should be a wake-up call for Cosla.
“It needs to reward council workers fairly for the essential services they provide.”
Around 40 workers in Slough are set to strike over a derisory pay offer. John Crane offered the engineers, who are in the Unite union, a 3 percent pay rise.
This is despite decades of below inflation pay rises and no pay award despite working through Covid.
The workers make mechanical engineering seals for bearings and pumps for the oil and gas industry. They are set to strike this Thursday 10, 17, 22 April, 1 and 6 May.
Passenger assistance workers at Heathrow are set to strike for four days. Over 500 Unite union members have voted to strike over pay disparity.
Heathrow workers are angry as they are paid an average of 9.5 percent less than staff at Gatwick performing the same role.
Workers at both Heathrow and Gatwick are employed by Wilson James. Workers are set to strike from this Saturday.
Cleaning workers at the V&A museum in London could strike over poverty pay.
The United Voices of the World union members are currently paid just £11.75 an hour and receive no sick pay. Workers have launched a campaign for £14.50 an hour, full sick pay from day one and an extra week of annual leave.
Workers are employed by TSS, but are treated as inferior to directly employed workers.
If TSS refuses to negotiate, workers will be balloted for strikes, but have made it clear they are prepared to strike.
Prysmian Bishopstoke telecom cable workers are set to ballot for strikes against off-shoring. The Unite union workers produce cables for BT, but BT wants to offshore production. But the plant at Bishopstoke is profitable.
Workers could ballot for strikes to defend jobs.
Stagecoach in West Scotland is refusing to pay its drivers. Around 500 Unite union members are being balloted for strikes after 99 percent voted to reject Stagecoach’s pay offer.
Bosses made workers an offer that would still leave them the worst paid Stagecoach drivers across Britain.
If workers struck, they would shut down buses across west Scotland. The ballot will close on 17 April.
Health workers set to strike across four Manchester hospitals
Bus workers rejected an offer and came back out
Deadline to accept new conditions approaches
