Tag: strike ballot

‘Give us a break’: Edinburgh Tram workers balloted on strike action

Health concerns for workers rise due to tram late running times

Unite has confirmed today that its Edinburgh Trams membership are being balloted on strike action over late running times to the nation’s largest airport which is preventing workers from taking comfort breaks.

The strike ballot opens on 29 July and closes on 12 August. 

In a consultative ballot previously conducted by Unite, over 160 tram workers indicated by 99 per cent that they are prepared to take industrial action on an 84 per cent turnout.

Unite claims there is a shortfall of between 5 – 6 minutes in the running time from Edinburgh Airport to Newhaven. Each round trip takes on average 2 hours to complete. 

The maximum driving time before a scheduled break is 5 hours, and many tram workers go this length of time without hydration or toilet breaks. This is due to running late and having to make up the time. 

The unacceptable situation has contributed to health issues developing among Unite’s membership including stress and infections. 

The trade union represents drivers, ticket service assistants, controllers and vehicle maintenance workers. 

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said:  “Unite’s Edinburgh tram workers are facing an unacceptable health and safety situation due to the pressures of having to get the travelling public to Edinburgh airport. We will back our tram membership all the way in the fight for better jobs, pay and conditions.”

A new tram timetable has added 4 minutes to each run, and delays to a new signalling system have contributed to increased delays.

It has further been reported to Unite that some trams regularly run up to 30 minutes late with control having to turn trams around mid-route. This situation completely removes the ability for tram workers to go to the toilet.

 Lyn Turner, Unite industrial officer, added: “Edinburgh’s tram workers are emphatically saying give us our breaks.

“The sustained pressure being put on our members to complete the airport to Newhaven round trip is resulting in an alarming rise in incidents at work including stress and infections.

“The situation has arisen due to delays in the new signalling system and changes in the new timetable which were not properly tested before going into passenger service. Action needs to happen quickly or strike action will be inevitable.” 

Unison members say no once again

More school strikes on the horizon

A statement from Unison Scottish Local Government Branch:

‘The results of our consultative ballot on COSLA’s latest pay offer are now in.

‘Our members have spoken loudly & clearly. We urge all parties to get back round the negotiating table with us to thrash out a deal to avoid further disruption in schools across Scotland.’

Councillor Katie Hagmann, COSLA’s Resources Spokesperson, said: “Obviously this ballot result from UNISON is very disappointing given the strength of the offer on the table.

“I would like to make the following points:

“Firstly, Scotland’s Council Leaders value their workforce.

“Secondly, we have listened to our Trade Unions, met all their asks and worked with Scottish Government to put an incredibly strong half a billion pound pay package on the table – which we hope the other trade union members will vote to accept.

“Finally, offering almost 10 per cent or a £2006 pay increase for our lowest paid workers, which the unions specifically asked for, and £1929 or at least 5.5% for everyone else is as far as Local Government can go without impacting service and jobs.”

Scotland’s teachers set to strike on Thursday 24th November

TEACHING union the EIS is to call its members in Scotland’s schools out on strike action on Thursday 24 November.

This will be the first day of strike action following the result of an EIS statutory ballot, announced yesterday, in which 96% voted in favour of strike action on a turnout of 71%.

The national day of strike action over pay will be the first such action in Scotland’s schools for four decades – a clear indication of the current level of anger and frustration amongst teachers.

Following the announcement of the ballot result at lunchtime yesterday, the EIS Executive Committee held a special meeting and agreed an initial day of national strike action two weeks from today. Further industrial action dates will be agreed at a normal meeting of EIS Executive tomorrow.

EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said, “The EIS will be calling its members in all of Scotland’s schools out on strike action on Thursday 24 November, in the first day of national strike action on pay for almost forty years.

“We hoped not to get to this point and have given local authorities and the Scottish Government ample time to come up with a fair pay offer. But, with a pay-rise for teachers now more than seven months late, and with the last pay offer having been rejected by teachers almost three months ago, the blame for this move to strike action sits squarely with COSLA and the Scottish Government.

“They have sat on their hands for far too long, dithering and delaying while the soaring cost of living continues to erode the value of their pitiful offers to Scotland’s teachers.”

Ms Bradley added, “Teachers do not take strike action lightly, but have voted to do so in light of the continuing steep real-terms decline in their pay. Politicians who have lauded the invaluable work of teachers throughout the pandemic and during the ongoing period of recovery are now offering teachers a deep real-terms pay cut.

“This will never be acceptable to Scotland’s teachers or to the EIS, and that is why Scotland’s teachers will be taking strike action two weeks from today.”

Information on further strike action dates will be issued in due course.

Record pay offer for NHS staff – but it’s not enough, say nurses

All NHS workers offered £2,205 pay rise but nurses to go ahead with strike ballot

NHS staff in Scotland are set to receive a record pay rise of £2,205 – an average 7% pay uplift – to help tackle the cost of living crisis and retain staff during the tougher winter months. 

This increased offer was made after constructive negotiations between the Scottish Government and NHS Unions, which lasted into the early hours of Friday morning (21 October).

The offer would mean the lowest paid seeing a rise of more than 11%, with qualified nursing staff receiving up to 8.45%, helping the lowest paid staff through the cost of living crisis. 

If agreed, the pay uplift, which amounts to almost half a billion pounds (£480m), will benefit more than 160,000 employees including nurses, paramedics, allied health professionals and healthcare support staff.  

This is the largest pay offer given to NHS Scotland Agenda for Change staff since devolution and will mean they remain the best paid in the UK. If accepted, the offer will be backdated to 1 April 2022, and could be added to pay cheques in time for Christmas.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “I am grateful to trade union colleagues and NHS employers for constructive discussions on pay.

“This has been another exceptionally challenging year for our health service and we have a difficult winter ahead, but I am pleased that we are able to recognise the service and dedication of our healthcare and support staff with this pay offer.

“We owe NHS staff a debt of gratitude for leading us through the greatest public health crisis in recent history.

“This improved pay offer – which is the largest of its kind since devolution – reflects their hard work and will go a long way to help them through the cost of living crisis. We are rightly focussing the biggest increases for those who are the lowest paid, as we know the cost crisis is impacting them disproportionately.”

However the Scottish government’s latest pay offer remains a real terms pay cut for the majority of nursing staff, according to the Royal College of Nursing.

The offer comes after discussions with the health trade unions, Cabinet Secretary, Deputy First Minister, Scottish government officials and employers.

Scottish government failed to take the opportunity to recognise the clinical skill, expertise and leadership of registered nurses.

When compared to the previous offer from May 2022, this offer sees a lower percentage increase for those higher up the Agenda for Change bandings. The RCN has called for an across the board pay increase that is 5% above inflation.

Julie Lamberth said: “Nurse staffing levels are dangerously low. We need fair pay to attract more people into nursing and to keep the skilled nurses we already have. 

“We want to be able to provide the best possible care for our patients but too often, the lack of staff and demand on services is standing in our way. Too many of us are making the decision to walk away from the profession. The Scottish Government has the power to stop this. The people of Scotland deserve better, so do we. Please post you ballot back today.”

RCN Scotland Director Colin Poolman said: “Yet again the Scottish Government has failed to listen to our members concerns for the safety of their patients. They have failed to recognise the safety critical role of nursing staff and their essential contribution to our NHS and our nation’s health.

“Under this proposal, registered nurses continue to face a significant real terms pay cut. This is even more stark with the news that inflation reached a 40 year high. Many are making difficult decisions about how to heat their homes, feed their families and travel to work while carrying the burden of being unable to do the best for their patients due to severe staff shortages.

“Our ballot for strike action continues. Today’s offer will make our members more determined to have their voice heard. I would urge members to vote in favour of strike and to post back their ballot papers now.”

4.5.% pay increase for Scotland’s NHS medical and dental staff

NHS medical and dental staff will be awarded a 4.5% pay increase for this year backdated to 1 April 2022. This is for all NHS Scotland medical and dental staff, general medical practitioners and general dental practitioners.

This comes following recommendations by the independent Doctors and Dentists Pay Review Body (DDRB) of an annual pay uplift of 4.5% for NHS medical and dental staff.  The Scottish Government has accepted this recommendation.

The Scottish Government, BMA Scotland and other relevant stakeholders all participated and provided evidence to the DDRB to allow them to make their independent recommendations.  

This year’s award builds on the 3% uplift that was recommended and applied by the Scottish Government in 2021.  This means staff have been awarded a 7.5% pay increase over the last two years – but inflation currently stands at over 9% and rising.

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: “The NHS has faced its biggest challenge during the pandemic and staff have been working tirelessly to continue to provide care while under increased pressure. 

“The continued hard work and dedication of staff ensures that the people of Scotland continue to receive world class healthcare as we remobilise NHS services and tackle waiting times.

“This uplift demonstrates that we value all our medical and dental staff and the important contribution they make. It’s crucial that we continue to not only recruit and build our future NHS workforce, but also retain expertise within NHS Scotland. 

“This announcement means that our senior medical staff will continue to be the best paid in the UK.  This will help ensure that NHS Scotland remains an attractive employment option for all medical and dental staff.”

The 4.5% pay uplift will be applied to all NHS medical and dental staffing grades and will be included in salaries with backdated payments to 1 April 2022 to follow as soon as practical.

Scotland’s health union UNISON is balloting 35000 NHS staff across Scotland to recommend they reject the Scottish government’s pay offer and vote to take strike action in the coming months.

The NHS consultative digital ballot closes on 8 August.

UNISON report that their members are angry and feel they are being taken for granted. UNISON say the Scottish government 5% pay offer is well below the rate of inflation – which is 10% – and it is deeply unfair as it will give those at top of the pay bands a pay rise of over £5,000 per year whilst those on the lower pay bands will get nearer £1000 per year.

This ballot is launched in the midst of a staffing crisis in the NHS, staff turnover is higher than ever, waiting lists are at an all time high and the NHS is facing real challenges to recruit.

There are over 6000 nurse vacancies across Scotland. Staff report to UNISON that they are regularly left in wards working with staffing levels below minimum standards. Staff also report they are constantly worried they make mistakes, or fail to deliver basic patient care. The problems were building long before Covid, the pandemic has only exacerbated the issues.

Wilma Brown, chair of the UNISON Scotland health committee said: “NHS staff have been taken for granted, staff have endured over 10 years of real terms pay cuts only to be told by the Scottish Government that, yet again, they will have to accept a below inflation pay rise.

“NHS staff have family bills to pay, food, energy and petrol prices are rocketing. NHS staff are struggling to afford the price of fuel to get them to work. They need more than praise and platitudes from Government, they need a decent pay rise to support their families.

“A 5% pay increase across the board just doesn’t cut it and the Scottish Government need to understand how angry we are. UNISON are urging UNISON members to vote to reject this pay offer and indicate that they will take the very difficult decision to take industrial action, unless of course the Health Minister improves the offer on the table.”

Glasgow faces COP26 bins and schools strike as pay talks stall

GMB Scotland members employed by Glasgow City Council have voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action over their pay, which would see strikes across the city’s cleansing service and schools during the International Climate Conference, COP 26.

Pay talks with COSLA, the umbrella body that represents each of Scotland’s local authorities, have stalled, with the employer refusing to budge from an £850 flat rate offer to all local government workers – far short of the £2,000 pay claim that was submitted by the joint trade unions GMB, Unison & Unite.

Following a ballot of cleansing workers and school support staff across the country, Glasgow is the largest of 5 councils in Scotland that could see strike action as soon as November 1st.

96.9% of returned ballots in Glasgow were in favour of strike action.

GMB Scotland represents close to 900 workers in Glasgow’s refuse & cleansing service and a further 600 across Glasgow schools providing cleaning, janitorial and catering services.

GMB Glasgow Cleansing Convenor Chris Mitchell said: “Over the past 18 months throughout this awful pandemic, essential services across Scotland have been held together by an army of low paid workers.

“We were called key workers, even Covid heroes, but while politicians were happy to applaud us on Thursday nights, they’ve never put their hands in their pockets to pay us properly.

“The eyes of the world will be on Glasgow during COP 26, and our politicians now have a choice – will they fairly reward the frontline workers who got the country through the pandemic, or will they risk embarrassing the city and the country on an international stage?

“The message that our members have sent with this ballot result is clear. We are taking a stand for what we deserve, and we believe the people will stand with us.”

Scotland’s rail network will also be hit by strikes during the UN climate summit in Glasgow, the RMT union confirmed yesterday.