Tag: strike

EIS-FELA: Time running out to avert escalation of college lecturers dispute

The EIS has called on the Scottish Government and College Employers Scotland to take definitive action to ensure that college lecturers receive a fair and fully funded pay award.

College Employers Scotland have made clear to negotiators from the EIS-Further Education Lecturers Association (EIS-FELA) that their current offer would be funded through significant job losses across the publicly funded further education sector.

EIS-FELA members have been engaged in industrial action short of strike (ASOS), in the form of a resulting boycott and work to contract, since May 2023 and should have received their pay award one year ago.

Without an acceptable and fully funded offer, the EIS-FELA membership will escalate their industrial action campaign to include national and rolling strike action, alongside targeted strike action in the constituencies of key Scottish Government ministers, including the First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education.

As politicians from the Scottish Government and all other parties at Holyrood return from the summer recess, EIS-FELA intends to take the campaign for a fully funded and fair pay award directly to parliament, with a rally planned outside the Scottish Parliament to coincide with the first FMQs of the new session.

College Employers Scotland have also this week refused a request made by the EIS to extend the current industrial action mandate. In the absence of such agreement from College Employers Scotland, the EIS has continued with the implementation of a national re-ballot for both action short of strike and strike action that has opened today (Thursday 31st August 2023).

Commenting, EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley, said, “Time is running out, on both the Scottish Government and College Employers Scotland, to avert the escalation of the crisis in Scotland’s colleges. No group of workers, least of all those in public sector institutions, should be told by their employers that they must sacrifice jobs to finance an already unacceptable pay offer.

“College Employers Scotland have yet to offer evidence that they have made clear to the Scottish Government that any acceptable pay award must be fully funded.

“The Scottish Government too must end its intransigence and avert this crisis by ensuring that no pay offer to hard working college lecturers is financed by job losses. EIS-FELA members are prepared to take substantial strike action, on top of action short of strike, in pursuit of a fully funded and fair pay award. They do so with the full backing of the EIS behind them.”

EIS-FELA President, Anne-Marie Harley, said, “College lecturers should have received a fair pay award a year ago and have been forced into the unacceptable situation of escalating their industrial action to a wide-ranging programme of strike action, including targeted strike action in the constituencies of Scottish Government ministers.

“We do so alongside a re-ballot of our members to ensure that we can continue this fight for fair pay for as long as it takes. EIS-FELA will never trade jobs for pay and both College Employers Scotland and the Scottish Government must act swiftly to avert strike action through providing a fully funded a fair pay award for college lecturers that does not result in job losses.”

A full programme of strike action is provided below:

  • Thursday 7th September: National strike Day.

Rolling Action Week One:

  • Monday 11th September: New College Lanarkshire and Orkney College.
  • Tuesday 12th September: Glasgow Clyde College and Sabhal Mor Ostaig.
  • Wednesday 13th September: Forth Valley College and UHI Moray.
  • Thursday 14th September: Glasgow Kelvin College and NESCoL.
  • Friday 15th September: Fife College and UHI North, West and Hebrides.

Rolling Action Week Two:

  • Monday 18th September: West College Scotland and Newbattle Abbey College.
  • Tuesday 19th September: UHI Argyle and Ayrshire College.
  • Wednesday 20th September: South Lanarkshire College and Shetland College.
  • Thursday 21st September: Dumfries & Galloway College and Dundee & Angus College.
  • Friday 22nd September: UHI Perth and Edinburgh College.

Rolling Action Week Three:

  • Monday 25th September: UHI Inverness and West Lothian College.
  • Tuesday 26th September: City of Glasgow College and Borders College.
  • Targeted Action: 2nd, 3rd and 4th October:
  • Glasgow Clyde College: First Minister’s constituency.
  • Fife College: Cabinet Secretary for Education’s constituency.
  • Dundee & Angus College: Deputy First Minister’s and Minister for FE’s constituency.

CWU lambasts Royal Mail job cuts ‘scare tactics’

Postal workers union CWU has responded defiantly to an announcement by Royal Mail’s parent company International Distribution Services PLC’s that they plan to slash up to SIX THOUSAND jobs due to mounting losses.

The union says Royal Mail’s announcement is nothing more than ‘their latest misjudged scare tactic to threaten members into submission’.

CWU said: ‘We (CWU) will meet Royal Mail Group today because we continue to act in good faith. We will also bring you a fuller update from the unions leadership later as well.’

#StandByYourPost

CWU General Secretary Dave Ward said: “The announcement is the result of gross mismanagement and a failed business agenda of ending daily deliveries, a wholesale levelling-down of the terms, pay and conditions of postal workers, and turning Royal Mail into a gig economy style parcel courier.

“What the company should be doing is abandoning its asset-stripping strategy and building the future based on utilising the competitive edge it already has in its deliveries to 32 million addresses across the country.

“The CWU is calling for an urgent meeting with the Board and will put forward an alternative business plan at that meeting.

“This announcement is holding postal workers to ransom for taking legal industrial action against a business approach that is not in the interests of workers, customers or the future of Royal Mail. This is no way to build a company.”

Higher Education Strike: Support workers on the picket lines

Higher Education workers have had enough of poverty pay while senior management take 6 figures plus expenses!

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During this cost of greed crisis a 3% rise is an insult. We are demanding a real pay rise of RPI+2%!

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Pickets tomorrow and Wednesday, get along to support!

NO DEAL: Unions reject new Cosla offer that’s ‘as good as it gets’

MORE BINS MISERY LOOMS AS FURTHER STRIKES PLANNED

COSLA last night expressed its disappointment with the Local Government Trade Unions reaction to ‘one of the best pay deals for their workforce in decades’.

The offer, negotiated on behalf of Scotland’s 32 councils, is an overall package worth half a billion pounds, giving 5% to all staff plus an additional cost of living payment to our lowest paid employees. Based on a 37-hour week no member of staff will get less than an additional £1925 and for those earning under £20,500 at least a £2,000 pay increase – for this year and also next year.

This has been designed to address the concerns and firm view of Trade Unions that the lowest paid must be protected during this crisis and demonstrates Local Government’s commitment to not leave anyone behind.  

Councils continue to strive to lead the way in pushing up minimum rates of pay and as well as this are including an extra days annual leave this year.

Councillor Katie Hagmann COSLA’s Resources Spokesperson said: “Council Leaders have said consistently throughout these negotiations that we absolutely value and are grateful to all of our local government workforce.

“It is perhaps only when waste starts piling up and there is the prospect of further disruption to life with school closures that others see the hidden value local government services deliver each and every day of the year in our towns, villages and cities.

“It is for this reason that we as employers have done everything possible to put the best offer we can to our workforce.  But we are now at the absolute extremes of affordability and this is already an offer which is stretching our already stretched finances like never before.

“This year’s offer is significantly better and different to previous offers and would have helped to support our Council workforces across the country at this difficult time.

“That support is crucial at any time but particularly now, during the cost of living crisis the country is facing.  This is why we are so disappointed with the response to it from our Trade Union colleagues.

“Given our commitment as Employers to get to this point, we are disappointed that Trade Unions will not suspend planned strike action whilst they put this offer to members to allow workers to get back to doing what they do best, delivering high quality, essential services right across Scotland.

“My final point to the Trade Union colleagues is that we have done everything we possibly can to get to this stage and that this offer – which is still on the table – is as good as it gets.”

UNISON responded: ‘Strikes to continue – We will recommend UNISON council members vote to reject the latest LG pay offer in a digital consultative ballot in the coming days.’

GMB Scotland and Unite, the two other unions locked in the local government dispute, also rejected the latest pay offer. GMB says the council pay offer feathers nests of service directors over frontline staff.

GMB Scotland Senior Organiser for Public Services Keir Greenaway said: “A flat rate award is a key demand from unions to ensure more consolidated money goes into the pockets of frontline workers and not the highest paid in our councils. COSLA knew this but instead tabled this offer as an across-the-board percentage rise that only feathers the nests of service directors.

“This was unacceptable to our local government committee members. It’s not credible that in the grip of the biggest cost-of-living crisis in forty years, and with inflation and energy bills soaring, a head of service gets four times the consolidated increase than a bin collector, cleaner or carer.

“That’s why we have written to COSLA again this evening urging them to return to talks as soon as possible and to negotiate a new offer based on a flat rate increase. If they don’t do this, then when our committee reconvenes tomorrow, we will outline our plans to fully consult GMB members.”

The big clean up begins in Edinburgh this morning – but unless a pay deal can be thrashed out we could be facing another round of industrial action in Auld Reekie as earky as next week.

UNITE members rallied outside the City Chambers yesterday to mark the end of the first wave of strikes – but made clear this dispute is far from over.

A Unite spokesperson said: “Unless they get an offer Local Authority workers deserve, Edinburgh will be joined by 19 other Councils to take further action from September 6th.”

City prepares for the Big Clean Up

EDINBURGH’s bin collections will restart when the strike ends on Tuesday 30 August,the city council has announced.

In a tweet posted last night, a city council spokesperson said: ‘Bin collections will restart when the strike ends on Tuesday 30 August. We’ve developed a recovery plan and will shortly be updating our website with advice on what to do with your bins next week – watch this space.

‘Thanks for your patience.’

Talks to resolve the national bin strike will continue this week.

No mail today: Posties strike over pay

Royal Mail postal workers are striking today in a dispute over pay. It is the first of four days of planned industrial action, with further walkouts also scheduled for 31 August and 8 and 9 September.

Letters will not be delivered on strike days and some parcels will be delayed.

Posties overwhelmingly rejected a pay increase offer of 5.5% with conditions attached. The CWU union, which represents the postal workers, is calling for a pay rise that more closely reflects the current rate of inflation.

Royal Mail has apologised to customers and said it has contingency plans to minimise the disruption.

It said: “We’re really sorry for the disruption that this strike action is likely to cause to you. We want to reassure you we will do everything we can to minimise disruption and get our services back to normal as quickly as possible.

“Royal Mail has well-developed contingency plans, but they cannot fully replace the daily efforts of its frontline workforce. We will be doing what we can to keep services running, but customers should expect significant disruption.”

06817-Proposed-RMG-2022-pay-dispute-leaflet-A5-gbDownload

#standbyyourpost

Strike action begins in Edinburgh

Unite members in Waste and Cleansing in Edinburgh will begin industrial action today over the ‘insulting’ pay offer for local government workers.

Last Friday, COSLA increased the offer from 2% to 3.5%. All three unions of the Scottish Joint Council -Unite, Unison and GMB – immediately rejected the offer.

The NHS have been offered—and look set to reject—5%, so once again local government is treated as the poor relation of the public sector. Local government workers in England have been offered a rise of £1,925.

Edinburgh is the first council to take action, with others following on the 24th.

Pickets and support

The strike takes place from 5am today to 5am on Tuesday 30 August with daily pickets at seven waste depots across the city.

See picket locations below:

Waste and Cleansing workers will strike from 5am on 18 August to 4:59am on 30 August in Edinburgh Council.

DAILY PICKETS at:

  • Seafield Depot on Fillyside Road from 5:30 to 8:30am and 7pm to 8pm.
  • Bankhead Depot on Bankhead Avenue from 5:30 to 8:30am
  • Cowan’s Close Depot at 7 Cowan’s Close from 5:30 to 8:30am
  • Craigmillar Depot on Old Dalkeith Road from 5:30 to 8:30am
  • Russell Road Depot at 38 Russell Road from 5:30 to 8:30am
  • Burgess Road Depot at 30 Burgess Road in South Queensferry from 5:30 to 8:30am
  • Murrayburn Depot at 33 Murrayburn Road from 6:30 to 8:30am.

You can support the strike by donating to the strike fund.

TODAY: Demo at the City Chambers and RMT rally

UNITE will be demonstrating at the City Chambers on Thursday 18 August at 9am as part of the industrial action.

Following this, the trade union will join the RMT rally on Waverley Bridge at 10am to foster solidarity among workers and hear from Mick Lynch and Mark Thomas.

THE CITY COUNCIL HAS ISSUED THE FOLLOWING ADVICE:

What to do with your waste and recycling

Communal services

Collections are suspended for all communal waste and recycling bins. Please do not add to full bins. Check nearby bins instead, and when these are all full, store your waste at home, or in your back green or garden if possible. Do not leave bags next to bins unless this is unavoidable, as it can become a hazard.

Keep separating your waste and rinse pots, tubs and trays, and rinse and squash your plastic bottles and aluminium cans, so that these don’t smell while you store them. Flatten cardboard too.

Keep food waste in a sealed container, as cool as possible.

Glass bank services will continue as these are managed by an external contactor.

Kerbside services

Non recyclable waste collections (grey bins)

Suspended. Please do not put your grey bin out. Please keep your waste safe, secure and away from pavements and roads. Consider using a garage, garden or driveway and ensure strong bin bags are properly secured.

Mixed recycling collections (green bins)

Suspended. Please do not put your green bin out. Please keep your recycling clean and flattened, and stored safely. 

Food waste collections

Suspended. Please do not put your food bin out. Please ensure your kerbside food waste bin is closed and secured to prevent animal access.

Glass collections (blue box)

Suspended. Please do not put your blue box out. Please rinse bottles and jars and store these at home. Please do not use on street or local bring site recycling points to dispose of your glass. We do not have the staff resources to empty these or clean up fly-tipped material.

Garden waste collections (brown bins)

Suspended. Please do not put your brown bin out.  We understand the disappointment this will cause and at the moment, we cannot advise when the service will be running normally again.

We are working on how best to replace the collections affected, and will provide further information on this later.

Report a missed bin

Since normal scheduled collections are suspended, we cannot take reports of missed bins. Please do not present your bin for collection until advised to do so.

Collections of bulky waste items

Suspended. Existing bookings will be honoured where staffing allows. If you have booked a special uplift and we can’t collect it, we will let you know.

Household waste recycling centres

Closed. It will not be possible to book an appointment, and all existing bookings will be contacted by email to cancel.

Request and replacing bins and boxes

Repair and replacement of bins and boxes are suspended. Uplifts of any unwanted waste containers is also suspended.

Litter/ dogs bins and street cleansing

Please also note there will be no street cleansing activities including street sweeping and litter bin emptying. Please either use a bin that’s not full or take it home and double bag it to reduce smells.

Waste reporting and enquires

We have removed all online reporting for waste and cleansing as we are unable to carry out these services during the industrial action. 

If you need to report an emergency issue where waste is causing injury or hazard, please phone and listen to the new options carefully. Phone 0131 608 1100, from Monday -Thursday 1000-1600 and Friday 1000-1500.  After these hours, phone 0131 200 2000.

You can also email waste@edinburgh.gov.uk with the specific location and details of the issue.

Please be mindful that staff working will be very busy and are all doing their best to deal with a lot of issues at this time.

Posties set for strike action

In a statement issued yesterday, Royal Mail said: ‘The CWU has informed Royal Mail that they will call upon their members to undertake strike action on the following dates: 26 and 31 August and 8 and 9 September 2022.

‘Royal Mail believes there are no grounds for industrial action. Royal Mail is ready to talk further with the CWU to try to avert damaging industrial action but it must be about both change and pay.

‘We have contingency plans in place, and will be working hard to minimise disruption and get our services back to normal as soon as we can to keep people, businesses and the country connected. Meanwhile you can continue to send your parcels and letters and we would encourage you to post early in advance of these dates.’

CWU Scotland no2 Branch Secretary Gary Clark said: “I have said a lot about our dispute with Royal Mail and the reasons for strike action but it really comes down to greedy management and shareholders who want to drive our membership into the ground.

“Some of our members are already using food banks but it’s even further that the physical nature of the job now it will mean many members will suffer in the years to come and in retirement too.

“We must fight like we have never fought before for now but also for the future

“This will be a constant battle and we must now also fight for renationalisation and take the greed of capitalism out of our business – only then can we go forward and property look after the long term future of all our members.”

Global Youth Climate Strike for the first time since COP26

FRIDAYS FOR FUTURE SCOTLAND – PEOPLE NOT PROFIT

This Friday (25/3/22), for the first time since COP26, young people will take to Scotland’s streets by striking from their schools, colleges and universities.

In November, over 35,000 young people marched in Glasgow to demand climate justice, setting the tone for the next day when 100,000 people from all over the world would do the same. This global climate strike will keep the pressure up on politicians to take action, instead of making empty promises.

This global strike will see more than 700 protests globally, with 8 strikes taking place in Scotland alone.

COP26 failed us – not that we ever expected it to deliver.

Across the globe, the planet burns while wealth and power grows yet more concentrated in the hands of the few. Decision makers sit back, choosing to not to protect people and planet but to exacerbate the climate crisis.

Young people all around the world are standing against this dereliction of duty.

On March 25th, we will demand our government’s put People Before Profit.

Cerys Gough, 18, from Langholm, said: ”The science is clear. We’ve already seen irreversible damage caused by the climate crisis, and the recent IPCC Report declared a Code Red situation.

“We cannot afford to delay anymore, which is why we’re taking to the streets again”.

Cora Gibson, 15, from Edinburgh, said: “We don’t need to wait for the next COP to act on the climate crisis.

“Governments could be investing in renewable energy, phasing out fossil fuels, improving public transport, making our houses less reliant on fossil fuels, and so much more.”

Saoi O’Connor, 19, from Glasgow, said: “The UK Government has subsidised over £13.6 billion into fossil fuel companies since the Paris Agreement was signed. In 2021, just 24 oil companies made £131.3 billion in profit.

“Meanwhile, people on the lowest incomes are being forced into fuel poverty, being forced into choosing between heating their homes or feeding their families. That is a complete failure, we must prioritise people over profit.”

Climate Strike Locations:

Edinburgh – 11am, Scottish Parliament to Edinburgh City Chambers
Glasgow – 12pm, George Square
Dumfries – 11am, Council Headquarters
Falkirk – 11am, Highstreet Bandstand
Inverness – 11am, Falcon Square
Stirling – 2pm, Town Centre, Port Street
Ullapool – 8:30am, Clocktower

Show of Defiance: British Gas strike ‘rock solid’ as members prepare to burn their contracts

British Gas workers are burning the new contracts to show graphically their defiance of the imposition of hourly pay 15% below the agreed rate, says GMB Union.

Day six of the British Gas strike was ‘rock solid’ as an estimated 7,000 workers downed tools over the company’s plan to sack them all 

Meanwhile angry engineers across the country are set to burn new contracts – which they have been told they must sign, or be fired in March: 

In a show of defiance, engineers across the UK will burn new contracts tomorrow (Friday 22 January) at 10am: 

London: Havering Town Hall, Main Road, RM1 3BB 

Edinburgh: Scottish Gas call centre, 1 Waterfront Avenue, Edinburgh EH5 1SG 

Cardiff: British Gas Customer Call Office, 4 Callaghan Square, Tresillian Way, Cardiff, CF10 5BT 

Windsor: Centrica HQ, Millstream, Maidenhead Road, Windsor, SL4 5GD 

Leeds: British Gas Call Centre, New Bridge House, Leeds, LS11 5BD 

Uddingston: Scottish Gas, Murdock House, 29 Bothwell Road, Uddingston G71 7TW 

Leicester: 195 Aylestone Road, Leicester, LE2 7QJa 

Stockport: British Gas Office, New Bridge Lane, Stockport, SK1 2HQ 

Members across the country – picketing at their vans due to the pandemic – will also be filming and photographing their contracts being burned at the same time.  

Engineers and other workers will also down tools on January 22, 25, 29, 30, 31 and February 1 in anger as profitable British Gas provokes further disruption for its customers.  

British Gas engineers and staff voted overwhelmingly by 89% to strike after boss of parent company Centrica Chris O’Shea threatened to fire them all if they didn’t “accept” cuts to pay and terms and conditions.  

The strikes provoked by the company have caused massive disruption already – with an estimated 100,000 homes waiting for service across the country.  

British Gas parent company Centrica reported an operating profit (before exceptional items and tax) of £901 million in 2019.  

The operating profitability of its UK home heating business rose by 27 per cent in the first six months of 2020.

Justin Bowden, GMB National Secretary, said:  “GMB members at British Gas are burning the new contracts to show graphically their defiance of the imposition of hourly pay 15% below the agreed rate – as well as other changes. 

“This is yet another attempt get through to Mr O’Shea that staff accepting cuts of this magnitude in a profitable company is wishful thinking in the extreme. 

“British Gas has provoked disruption to more than 100,000 households already in the backlog for services. That number will grow due to the seven new strike dates. 

“The company needs to put customers and staff first by abandoning wishful thinking and taking ‘fire and rehire’ off the table.