Treatment of striking NHS staff This helps to explain the treatment of NHS workers on strike in Gloucestershire in recent months.  A small but mighty group of workers have been on strike since March, fighting for fair pay. Phlebotomists, specialists in collecting blood samples, are currently paid at the lowest band in the NHS: just 30p over minimum wage. The all-female group are asking for a correction to their pay band to help them weather the cost of living crisis. The phlebotomists have now hit the highest number of days of any NHS strike in history. After 200 days on strike, Kevin McNamara is still refusing to resolve this fairly and pay the phlebotomists what they deserve. Why have over £100,000 of NHS funds been wasted on defending bullying instead of paying frontline staff fairly?

Without a commitment to backpay, we will be forced to take action. We do not take strike action lightly. But after years of being ignored, we have been left with no choice.

Background In 2018 Airedale NHS Foundation Trust created a wholly owned subsidiary, AGH Solutions (AGHS). Since AGHS was set-up all new starters were set on lower NHS pay, terms and conditions.  In 2021, GMB members successfully campaigned to end the race to the bottom, securing alignment with NHS pay bands, significant improvements in NHS annual leave, the introduction and alignment of weekend and night enhancements and more.  The success in 2021 came on the back of industrial action announcements and intervention from the Airedale NHS Trust Board directing AGHS to reach a meaningful agreement with GMB.  Today Now GMB members are back demanding full alignment on all the remaining terms and conditions, including standard NHS pensions, sick pay, annual leave entitlements and enhanced Sunday pay rates. Again, AGHS is refusing to meet GMB demands. Only the Trust can help settle this by intervening to end the dispute. Tell 'Foluke Ajayi that AGHS is the responsibility of the Airedale NHS Trust and that NHS workers deserve NHS terms and conditions. 

By signing the petition we can show  South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust that they should be re-banding our lone working community staff 

Libraries do so much more than lend books! We are one of the last vestiges of public civic life, accessible to all, located at the heart of your community. We provide: • A safe space, open to everyone, cool in summer and warm in winter • A wealth of information, free at the point of delivery • Services such as printing and room hire are far below the commercial rate • IT assistance for the digitally excluded • Free community groups, clubs and societies for you to join • Free crafts, activities and workshops for your children • Partnership programmes with local schools to reinforce learning • Learning and development programmes and classes • A public platform for organisations to liaise with the community in person … and a lot more besides.

Tees Valley Combined Authority has invested £138 million into the airport since purchasing it in 2019 including acquisition costs, equity investment, loans and grants.  Tees Valley Combined Authority owns 75% of the Airport.   Public investment should lead to public benefit for the people of Teesside, starting with their pay! GMB has negotiated in good faith. Management has stalled, dismissed, and disrespected the very people who keep Teesside Airport alive. Stand with Teesside Airport Workers and Sign Our Petition. Let’s send a message: Fair pay is not optional. It’s a right. Our Airport Our Pay

Buses matter to people and their communities.  Their experiences and ideas should help shape the future of our services. The call for a public voice in decision making is backed by the following organisations: 1. Better Buses for South Yorkshire 2. Barnsley Trades Council 3. Doncaster Trades Council 4. Sheffield Trades Council 5. Rotherham Trades Council 6. Sprotborough & Cusworth Parish Council 7. Barnsley Methodist Circuit 8. Sheffield Methodist Circuit 9. Extinction Rebellion Sheffield                                                                                            10. South Yorkshire Climate Alliance 11. Sheffield Green Party 12. Doncaster Green Party 13. Greenpeace Sheffield 14. Unite Community South Yorkshire 15. Sheffield People’s Assembly 16. South Yorkshire Fossil Free 17. Sheffield for Democracy 18. A Fleet for Change (Sheffield) 19. SADACCA  (Sheffield & District African Caribbean Community Association) 20. Burngreave Clean Air Campaign 21. Gleadless Valley Climate Action Network 22. Tell the Truth Sheffield 23. We Own It

Without Contact Centre Educators there would be no people trained and ready to take our emergency calls.  North West Ambulance Service recognised that there was a recruitment and retention issue by introducing the additional payment to the educators role; the recruitment and retention issues haven't gone away and neither should the payment.

As the climate crisis heats up, so do our buses!  Mayor Brabin is currently negotiating the bus franchising contracts for West Yorkshire’s soon to arrive publicly controlled bus system. She has the opportunity to write mandatory conditions into these contracts that will force bus operators to introduce effective aircon, shaded bus shelters, more staff and rest breaks, and two sets of doors on buses to keep passengers and drivers safer. Join the Better Buses for West Yorkshire campaign  in demanding she take action now, and cool our buses down!

This will make a real difference to millions of women and shows what can be done when pension schemes take this issue seriously.  We are calling on all other public sector pension schemes- covering 2.5 million more women- to take the same positive steps.  The government says it wants to close the Gender Pension Gap- this is a chance to prove it by acting to help public sector workers and setting an example to the private sector. Government should be encouraging all schemes to adopt these changes.  Add your voice to put pressure on the public sector pension schemes to act. 

SUPPORT STAFF AT AIREDALE HOSPITAL DEMAND EQUAL TERMS FOR EQUAL WORK Porters, domestics, catering and security staff who work for AGH Solutions (AGHS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, are calling for parity across the workforce. AGHS uses its subsidiary status to not honour the NHS Agenda for Change terms and conditions, despite using the same status to avoid VAT on procurement and other purchasing rules. Frontline workers are missing out on NHS pensions, sick pay rates, annual leave and Sunday working enhancements. GMB are calling for NHS terms for everyone working across AGH Solutions. Joe Wheatley GMB Organiser said: 'These workers are essential to the smooth running of the Airedale hospital. Without them patients would not be safe or seen. It cannot be right that they are being treated as second class workers.  'The last thing our members want to do is strike and disrupt patients lives, but we've been left with no choice' 'Its time Airedale and AGHS recognise the skills of these vital staff and get back to serious pay negotiations.'

If implemented, these cuts will: • Increase response times across the service. • Increase already unachievable workloads for members within our Officer section. Our Officer members are already working above their capacities, and this will only get worse with fewer numbers. • Reduce resilience to incidents across the service with fewer fire engines to call upon. • Undermine public safety and endanger firefighters' lives by forcing them to operate with fewer or delayed resources. Firefighters are proud of the work we do within our communites. But we cannot protect the public properly if we are not given the tools and support to do so. Fewer firefighters and fewer fire engines mean slower responses—and in our line of work, seconds cost lives. These cuts are so broad reaching that they will impact all communities across Hampshire and Isle of Wight.