Yesterday Phoenix Theatre management confirmed they will be ending fixed-term contracts for some dancers and ‘laying off’ their permanently employed dancers for seven months. Lay offs would allow Phoenix to keep dancers in employment but pay them only £100 a month until they are needed at work again, whilst severely limiting their chances of taking on other work. After Equity objected to this decision, Phoenix management wrote to all employees demanding that any Equity members identify themselves, in a clear breach of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Act. Phoenix Dance Theatre has recently been in receipt of millions of pounds of public funding from the Arts Council and Leeds City Council, among others. They have the money to treat their creative team with the respect they deserve.

We are NHS workers in Lancashire and we urgently need your support. As hospital cleaners and catering staff, we are outsourced to OCS and have worked 24/7 throughout the pandemic to keep staff and patients safe. But while OCS boasts it turned over hundreds of millions during the COVID crisis, it continues to pay us less than our NHS colleagues doing exactly the same jobs. Hospital workers employed by OCS are £2000 worse off than our colleagues working for the NHS. We also have inferior working conditions including 7 days less annual leave and lower sick pay. We submitted a collective grievance about this issue in May 2021, and EIGHT MONTHS on, we finally received a response- which failed to address any of the issues and passed blame to the NHS Trust. We have become increasingly frustrated and have now voted 97.8% in favour of taking strike action to resolve this issue. One OCS worker said: "I work for OCS as a domestic on the hospital wards. When accepted the job I was told the rate of pay was minimum wage, but was not told I would be working alongside work colleagues on a different contract which has a higher rate of hourly pay and full sick pay, they also receive 35 days holidays and we get 28 days including bank holidays. We have all worked through the pandemic, working on Covid 19 wards where some Covid patients have been walking freely around the wards. As a thank you from OCS we received a 2 finger KitKat and told we could also have an extra 10 minute break! We all found this very insulting, we have been fighting our dispute with OCS for 3 years now and we feel that the 2 tier pay system and contracts that OCS have in place are very unfair and causes friction amongst work colleagues, we all do the same job and we should all receive the same rate of pay and terms and conditions." Sadly, OCS still isn’t listening. We think that a great way to get the Chief Executive’s attention is to flood his inbox with emails from all of us. Can you take a few minutes to email Bob Taylor? It’s easy, you just need to add your details and press send. We don’t want to strike if we can avoid it, especially not in the middle of a global pandemic but we will do what it takes to get fair treatment. Health bosses and OCS can still avert a strike by agreeing to pay us the correct rate for the job. Claps don't pay the bills. Key workers demand fair pay. #ONENHS, nobody left behind.

Employers have a right to deduct any money owed to them however employees have a right to demand a repayment plan when the monies owed are exceeding their spare income! Your employment should not generate a debt or have a detrimental impact on your mental and financial wellbeing!

By removing the Trade Union Act 2016, we begin the process to repeal anti-trade union laws that have been placed upon us by the Conservatives. The right to strike is just that; a right. Yet Conservative government after Conservative government has decided that we must jump over unnecessary hurdles to earn what is rightfully ours. We must take a stand against this injustice.

On 31st October 2016, the Tory Home Secretary, Amber Rudd announced in Parliament there would be no Orgreave inquiry of any kind. The unacceptable reasons she gave were that it was too long ago, nobody died, there were no miscarriages of justice, policing had improved since 1984 so the police had nothing new to learn and that it wasn’t in the public interest to hold any kind of inquiry. We believe she did not examine relevant evidence and prevented an inquiry to protect the legacy of the 1984/5 Tory Government. Today’s Tory Government is still preventing an Orgreave Inquiry. Government involvement in the 1984/5 Miners’ Strike, police brutality against strikers, wrongful arrests of miners, falsified police statements, police lying under oath in court and media smears which deliberately created a false narrative against strikers, are some of the reasons why it is in the public interest to hold an inquiry. Add your name and demand an independant public inquiry.

The £20 a week uplift has been a lifeline to many people throughout the pandemic, predominantly going towards topping up low wages in the city; further that despite York having one of the highest employment rates in the country, wages are unjustifiably low and people are struggling; and further that, at a time where the cost of living is shooting up and upcoming tax increases are being implemented by the Government, it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to pay their bills, buy food, or heat their homes.

PFI BLEEDS THE NHS DRY, TIME’S UP FOR PFI PROFITEERS! Unison Lanarkshire Health Branch has launched a campaign to bring private contracts within NHS Lanarkshire back in house into public ownership. The campaign aims to end the private Serco and ISS contracts within NHS Lanarkshire; which provides catering, portering, domestic and security services at Hairmyres and Wishaw Hospitals back in house to put an end to a two-tier workforce. Once brought back in-house it will allow all NHS Lanarkshire workers at these sites to be employed on equal terms and conditions. Bringing these contracts back in house will also put an end to profit-motivated contractors providing public services at the public’s expense. Unison has produced a letter which we have directly mailed to all Lanarkshire Councillors, MSPs and MPs asking them to support our campaign to bring the staff back in-house where they belong. Let's be clear, PFI contracts are bleeding NHS Lanarkshire and its time to put a stop to private profiteers draining OUR National Health Service. Support our campaign and sign our petition! You can also get more involved in the campaign by: Phone: 01698 754333 Email: [email protected]

South Yorkshire's bus services are broken. But they could be world-class. Right now, private bus companies do what they like, dictating prices, routes, and timetables. You’ve seen the results: catastrophic cuts, skyrocketing fares, and buses that never turn up. It’s not just a bad deal for passengers — drivers are overworked and underpaid, leaving the bus companies struggling to run a reliable service as staff shortages bite. No wonder drivers are forced to strike! The new mayor of South Yorkshire, and your South Yorkshire council leaders, have the power to bring your buses into public control. Public control would mean affordable fares and more frequent buses. All with a smart ticket where daily spending is capped. And why not? It’s what they have in London! It would also put staff pay and conditions in public control, delivering a better deal for drivers and more reliable buses for you. South Yorkshire’s politicians are there to represent YOU! Let them know you think buses should be in public control.

Unite the Union is calling on all members to join our campaign to defend the TfL & LUL pension fund. We are calling on the TfL Pension review body to recommend "no action". Our pension must not be used to pay for the Covid-19 pandemic, TfL & LUL workers were heralded as hero's for keeping the transport system moving during lockdown. They must not now be asked to pay for the pandemic with a reduction in pension benefits.

Cutting funding will have a devastating impact on these subjects, resulting in course closures, job losses and severely affecting efforts to widen participation. Universities in areas with a higher number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds would be particularly vulnerable to the proposed cuts. We cannot allow these cuts to strip away their access to arts subjects. The UK is a world-leader in the creative and performing arts. These subjects should not be the preserve of a privileged few. We need to mount a quick and effective fightback against this government’s attacks on the creative and performing arts. Join us and tell Prime Minister Boris Johnson that the arts should be for everyone - and that the cuts should not go ahead. This campaign is supported by University and College Union (UCU), Equity UK, BECTU, Writers Guild of Great Britain, Musicians’ Union, Unison and Unite https://mcusercontent.com/ebd004a8047907dc47d269fd1/images/c695fc2c-48f6-c2c8-3057-e9aabe03bdfb.png

Equity member Ace Ruele, established actor and motion capture specialist, faces the threat of deportation from the UK to Jamaica, a country where he no right of residency or citizenship. His case has all the hallmarks of yet another grossly unfair, racist decision dramatically affecting the life of Windrush era family. Ace was born in the UK and raised here, but despite having indefinite leave to remain this was revoked following a difficult, short period in Ace’s life when he was engaged in criminal activity. Since this, he has built a successful film career and strong family life and works with a number of organisations, including the Metropolitan Police, advising and guiding young people away from the risk of offending. Ace could be deported at any minute, tearing his family apart and ruining a career he has forged following his unstable early life. His current residency status of limited leave to remain in the UK is temporary and requires renewal every 30 months at a cost of £2,389. It is, quite simply, a gross injustice to leave Ace in this situation, and we call on the Home Office to: 1. Reverse its decision, and provide Ace with the status of indefinite leave to remain the UK. This will allow him to continue his significant, positive contribution to the UK’s cultural and creative life and raise his family, confident that his future is secure. 2. Abandon its cruel, racist policy of threatening to make UK citizens stateless, including through deportation to countries they have no right of residency or citizenship to. 3. Significantly speed-up the process of providing compensation to those eligible for payment under the Windrush Compensation Scheme. The Home Office is currently aggravating the experience of Windrush-era UK citizens by unfairly and unnecessarily delaying their lawful compensation. You can read more about the background of Ace’s case here: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/ace-reule-home-office-deportation-b1841799.html

With over 34,000 employees in 821 hotels and 411 pubs and restaurants Whitbread (owners of Premier Inn and familiar Brands such as Beefeater and Brewers Fayre) are one of the largest employers in the U.K. hospitality sector. As such they have a moral obligation to build back better after the Covid crisis by setting benchmark standards for decent pay and progressive employee relations.