• Demand fair pay for staff at Airedale Hospital
    NHS workers (e.g. Porters, Cleaners, Catering, Security) who were transferred from the Trust into its wholly-owned subsidiary, AGH Solutions (AGHS), remain on the NHS “Agenda For Change” (AFC) contract, while many new starters, and indeed all staff (including those who were TUPED) that register on Bank (i.e. overtime shifts), are paid on the lower AGHS rates, despite doing the same job. The GMB demand for equal pay for equal work is fair, it is reasonable and it is right. Every day since March 2020, our members have put themselves at risk; at risk of getting infected and at risk of infecting their family. We clapped for them, we labelled them heroes and yet here in our community, some of our local heroes face the indignity of being treated less than; to be employed as NHS workers, but not paid as NHS workers. We have reached the stage where members are being asked to consider industrial action because the Board of Directors of both AGHS and Airedale NHS Foundation Trust have allowed us to reach this point. The Trust outsourced their responsibility to AGHS and in turn AGHS created a two-tier workforce that made it permissible to pay people different wages for the same work. We are simply demanding that this be corrected, that the Trust recognise its responsibility to these NHS heroes and end unfair wage practices.
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    Created by Joe Wheatley
  • Your Workforce deserves the Real Living Wage and Union Representation
    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.
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    Created by Dave Turnbull
  • Stand With Patrice
    Labour-controlled Ealing council is ‘actively helping’ outsourced service provider Serco ‘hound’ a senior Unite the Union rep on strike over union-busting from his civil enforcement job. A council officer has written to Serco requesting that Patrice, Unite rep, who has performed his job for two decades, be removed from duties for bringing the council into ‘disrepute’. The officer justified the decision because the Unite rep stated on social media that Ealing council would lose revenue from Parking Charge Notices during ongoing strikes by more than 40 Serco civil enforcement officers. Despite the statement being factually accurate and containing no mention of parking policy motivations, the council is wrongly claiming that the union rep ‘conveys the council as a purely revenue generating authority’. LEARN MORE: https://www.unitetheunion.org/news-events/news/2021/april/serco-civil-enforcement-strikes-set-to-bring-ealing-election-day-parking-chaos/ #IStandWithPatrice
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    Created by Janis Krumins
  • Save jobs in Hucknall
    It is imperative that there be assurances in place to guarantee the highly skilled workforce here is protected after the sale of ITP aero. Rolls-Royce has had a presence in Hucknall since 1934. Over this time it has contributed enormously to both the local community and the nation as a whole. This site has pioneered the vertical take of engine, most notably used on the Harrier jump jet as well as the Merlin & Griffon engines which played an integral part in the defence of the nation. It has a profound impact on the culture of the community and has seen generations of people dedicate themselves to its service. To lose this would be absolutely devastating to the thousands of people who have shown such devotion to the company over the last 9 decades & the wider community who rely on its presence to support them. The Spanish government are working to ensure the future of the Spanish employees of ITP who make up the majority of the global workforce. We are asking our government to give us the same support.
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    Created by Thomas Ellershaw
  • Pay justice and equality for ScotRail workers
    All grades of ScotRail staff are essential workers who have worked tirelessly throughout the Covid-19 pandemic to keep services running for other key workers and essential travellers. RMT believes that all grades should be treated equally and rewarded fairly by their employer. Yet Dutch state-owned operator Abellio is failing to treat all grades of workers equally. The Company has extended an enhanced payment rest day working agreement for one grade of workers, drivers, until October 2021, but has refused to negotiate an equivalent payment for other grades. RMT ScotRail Conductor and Ticket Examiner members have voted to take industrial action, scheduled on Sundays, in two separate disputes over the Company’s refusal to negotiate a rest day working enhancement for their grades. For both grades, Sundays do not form part of the working week, and any staff that are booked to work Sundays do so as overtime. Disgracefully, rather than attempting to resolve the dispute with RMT, Abellio ScotRail has focused on issuing provocative public statements, criticising its own workforce. These essential workers deserve better. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, Abellio ScotRail’s operations have been fully funded by public money under the terms of its Emergency Measures Agreement with the Scottish Government. RMT is therefore calling on the Scottish Government to use its powers to intervene and commit itself and Abellio ScotRail to meaningful talks with the RMT to address this blatant inequality that exists within the ScotRail workforce. As always, RMT remains available for talks and believes that Abellio ScotRail should start acting responsibly and take up this offer rather than treating its essential workers with disdain.
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    Created by RMT Union Picture
  • Introduce a Right to Disconnect for all UK workers
    Research shows that our working days are getting longer, and the conveniences of digital technology mean too many of us have found ourselves in an ‘always on’ work culture. In turn, that is leading to increased stress levels and burnout. 1 in 3 of us say we’re struggling to switch off from work. As a result, our mental and physical health is at risk, while not allowing workers the opportunity to switch off and participate in other activities often diminishes our ability to do a good job. The right to switch off is becoming a reality in countries from France to the Philippines and Argentina to Ireland – it’s time the UK caught up and now is the time for us to act. Add your name if you agree that the UK government should introduce a Right to Disconnect for all workers to help safeguard our workers’ health and make work better for everyone.
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  • Give our hero bus drivers a fair pay rise now
    Bus drivers at London United haven’t had a pay rise for nearly three years and to make matter worse their employer, the French stated-owned, RATP dev wanted to cut their pay and conditions too. With more than a dozen strike days taken since February, they’ve succeed in getting the company to row back on the attack to their terms and conditions. But now, Catherine Chardon, RATP London’s managing director is blocking the route to a fair and decent pay deal. Her derisory offer of less than 1 per cent is an insult. We think Catherine and the RATP French board need reminding of the sacrifices our bus drivers made to keep us moving during the pandemic. They risked their lives so that our NHS staff and other key workers could get to work. Catherine, herself was given a 54 per cent pay rise in 2019, with her pay jumping from a staggering £196,000 to £363,000. Surely RATP dev can do better for these drivers. We know they can easily afford it. If it’s good enough for Catherine, it should be good enough for the drivers too. Please add your name to our email which will be sent directly to Catherine’s inbox.
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  • Philip Davies: Support a pay rise for key workers in Shipley
    Our key workers risk their lives going to work everyday. The nurses and care workers, the doctors and bus drivers, the supermarket workers and teachers, they put on personal protective equipment and use sanitiser if there is any but for many months there was none and many became ill some died and some are still suffering from long covid. Most are are paid a pittance for their vital work. Many are using food banks and we clapped them and nearly everyone thought the government should give the nurses the 12.5% pay rise they were asking for, all the other public sector workers had their pay frozen. Philip Davies the MP for Shipley voted for giving nurse a 1% payrise. His own pay is £81,932 and he voted himself a pay rise of 3.1% last year. How many MP’s have died from Corona virus?
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  • NO TO REMOTE SIGN ON, DEFEND BUS DRIVERS TERMS AND CONDITIONS
    Research shows that remote sign on is bad news for drivers, detrimental to passengers and risks the safety of all road users. If a bus is delayed the driver is left, unpaid and in the open, for considerable lengths of time in all weathers, increasing issues of tiredness and fatigue. Driver fatigue is a health concern and a tired driver places passenger safety at risk. Also Unite the Union, of which you are a member, calculated that remote sign on would equate to an immediate seven per cent cut in wages on average for affected workers. Terms and conditions of London bus drivers are under attack by bus operators. The outsourcing of routes to 16 different operators means bus drivers have different rates of pay, different contracts and different sets of terms and conditions depending on the company they work for. Drivers working for RATP London United are already taking industrial action across 7 bus depots for improved pay and in defence of their terms and conditions. Metroline and Metroline West bus depots have now won their ballot for industrial action opposing the introduction of remote sign on and in defence of their terms and conditions. Only bus operators benefit from this scheme as they cut costs by reducing wages. This is why despite your moratorium Unite’s 4,000 members have vowed to fight remote sign on with everything they have as they are concerned your moratorium will not achieve a suitable outcome. They have given overwhelming support to taking industrial action in defence of their terms and conditions. Please ensure that as Mayor of London, you give bus drivers a cast iron guarantee that bus companies are not allowed to compete on pay and conditions for staff, please set a minimum and equal standard of employment for all bus drivers and re-assure bus drivers, who are essential workers, that both their pay and their terms and conditions are in safe hands whilst you are Mayor of London? And please keep to your pledge if re-elected Mayor on 6th May.
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    Created by Brent Trades Council Picture
  • Fair Pensions for ALL Staff at UCLAN
    UCLan has stated its intention to move from a Defined Benefit Pension Scheme (LGPS) to a Defined Contribution (DC) Pension Scheme for new starters in Professional Services, there are no proposals to change the pension arrangements for our academic colleagues. We believe this is wrong because: • The LGPS rules require UCLan to offer LGPS membership to their employees, UCLan intend to get around this rule by employing new starters in a separate company. • The change will lead to a two-tier workforce in pensions, with new starters in Professional Services being offered inferior and less cost-effective pensions. • The contribution rates will be lower than those for LGPS and TPS (the main scheme for our academic colleagues). • DC schemes pay out less than DB schemes such as LGPS and TPS meaning staff doing exactly the same job will come out with much lower pensions in the future. • The change will affect younger, lower-paid and women members of staff disproportionately. • Access to the pension scheme is part of the remuneration package offering an inferior pension scheme to new starters with lower employer contribution rates is potentially discriminatory yet the university has not conducted an equality impact assessment. • In the short term, the cost of setting up inferior pension arrangements could reduce any potential savings to UCLan. At a time of limited recruitment, the savings they make from this change will be negligible. • The number of pensioners living in poverty in the UK is the worst in Europe, for staff to avoid pensioner poverty they need a decent workplace pension to supplement the very low state pension. • If more employers like UCLan close membership of the scheme to new starters this could lead to serious cash flow problems for LGPS funds, with a shortfall in contributions at the same time as the number of pensioners increase. • UCLAN is signed up to the “Preston Model” of Community Wealth Building within Preston and the wider Lancashire area. By withdrawing access to the LGPS the university will be instrumental in increasing pensioner poverty in the area in the years to come, how does this fit with the Preston model? We are calling on UCLAN to withdraw this decision and ensure that all staff who work for them get the decent pension which they rightly deserve. #Fight4FairPensions
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    Created by UCLAN UNISON Picture
  • University of Birmingham: let us choose to work flexibly
    Over the past year, we have successfully adapted to remote working made necessary by the pandemic. We have worked hard to ensure the work of the University has continued, in a safe and effective way. We have made sure systems still run, research is able to continue, and students are still able to have the best experience possible. Feedback from University management has rightly recognised this: "We can all feel proud of the quality of education that we have been able to maintain in the most difficult of circumstances. [It] is a testament to your dedication, and to the supportive environment that you have all helped to create." "Indeed, one of the more positive lessons of the pandemic is that we can do some pretty fabulous things online." (Emails to all staff from Head of College of Social Sciences) We have done all this from home. While the COVID-19 crisis has brought many challenges, there have also been opportunities. Being able to work from home has meant a better work-life balance, and more inclusive ways of working for disabled staff and those with caring responsibilities - often met by women. We are concerned that one of the few positive points of the COVID-19 pandemic - our ability to work flexibly and remotely, improving our work-life balance and our productivity - will be lost as we begin to emerge from lockdown. We ask the University to make sure this does not happen, and staff at all levels are enabled to keep working well. We Need to Keep Working Safely As the most recent lockdown begins to lift, we want to ensure we are able to keep these flexible working arrangements, where they work for us. This means ensuring that all those who want to continue to work from home, and for whom it is practical and accessible to do so, are able to keep the flexibility they have been able to work with, without having to go through onerous formal application processes. This also means ensuring disabled, chronically ill and neurodivergent staff have the right adjustments in place both at home and on campus, right from the beginning of their employment, to enable them to work safely, productively and flexibly. We ask the University to work with UCU, Unison, Unite and GMB to ensure all staff are able to work in ways that work for them, including having the right adjustments in place to enable us to work flexibly. The Benefits of Remote and Flexible Working It has been argued by organisations such as the Chartered Management Institute that home working, and other flexible working arrangements, can be a part of closing gender and disability pay and leadership gaps, as well as improving the attraction, retention, progression, and well-being of employees. The University of Birmingham’s own research into increased flexible working during COVID-19, in partnership with the University of Kent, found that most respondents noted they would prefer to work more flexibly in the future (including 52% of all parents and 66% of non-parents), after benefitting from a better work-life balance, increased productivity and improved wellbeing during lockdown. The University's Business School has also written about some of the benefits of home working, flexible working and blended approaches. Research from Cardiff University and the University of Southampton found that 70% of employees surveyed found their productivity either stayed the same or increased while they were working from home. The Government itself has argued flexible working - including flexi-time and home working - should be normalised, stating it would ‘boost productivity and particularly help women and those outside major cities’. By enabling all staff to continue working in ways that work for them, the University can make meaningful progress on some of its targets around dismantling structural barriers faced by groups within the University, as part of its 2021-24 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion scheme. This includes demonstrating the University’s commitment to being a “Disability Confident” employer, by ensuring the benefits of remote and flexible working for disabled people are not lost; and making it easier for those with caring responsibilities to balance these with their work. Home working can also contribute positively to the UoB Sustainable Travel Plan by reducing travel to campus and surrounding areas, and address the significant issues that staff have faced with parking on campus. Trust us to Work Well An earlier email from the chairs and co-chairs of the University’s staff networks stated that there was clear evidence of ‘a desire for global culture change that embeds a transparent trusted approach in relationships between staff and leaders.’ We ask the University of Birmingham to trust staff, who have consistently demonstrated their ability to adapt and deliver to a high standard, given the right support. We ask the University of Birmingham to demonstrate its worth as an employer that trusts and empowers its staff: trust us to work flexibly, in ways that work for us, and that benefit everyone.
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    Created by Birmingham UCU Picture
  • Normal pay for isolating Stoke Care Workers
    Over a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of Stoke care workers have been, and continue to be, financially penalised for doing the right thing and protecting the vulnerable people they care for.   Proper sick pay is known to prevent the spread of infections to service users and the wider community. Care workers need the assurance that they will not be financially penalised when they need to self-isolate.   In Stoke, the majority of care workers who have spoken to UNISON have reported that instead of receiving their normal pay in line with Government guidance, they are having to survive on SSP at £96 per week, use annual leave, or in some cases get nothing at all. This is despite care employers receiving millions in public funds and being instructed to use them to pay self-isolating care workers their normal wages.
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    Created by Becca Kirkpatrick