GMB union members and workers at Yeovil District Hospital are demanding respect and fair pay. Simply Serve Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Yeovil District Hospital Foundation Trust. NHS workers in non-clinical roles (e.g. Porters, Cleaners, Housekeeping, Admin, Catering,) who were transferred from the Trust into its wholly-owned subsidiary, Simply Serve Limited (SSL), remain on the NHS “Agenda For Change” (AFC) contract, while new starters are paid on the lower SSL rates, despite doing the same job. It is not acceptable for staff to do the work of NHS workers, but not be be recognised and paid as NHS workers. GMB demand equal pay for equal work. It is fair, it is reasonable and it is right. Join GMB, sign the petition and support the campaign for Pay Justice in our NHS!

Simply Serve Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Yeovil District Hospital Foundation Trust, which pays staff less than the standard NHS pay, terms and conditions. It is not acceptable for staff to be employed to do the of job NHS workers, but not be paid as NHS workers. Tell the Board of Directors: Direct your wholly-owned subsidiary, Simply Serve Limited, to meet the GMB demand for harmonisation for all staff with the NHS Agenda for Change contract; or better still, dissolve the wholly-owned subsidiary to harmonise all staff with the NHS Agenda for Change contract!

Every day since March 2020, these workers have put themselves at risk; at risk of getting infected and at risk of infecting their family. To discover the subsidiary you set up and oversee has been paying many of these workers on less than the standard NHS pay, terms and conditions is unacceptable. Tell the Board of Directors: Support and direct your wholly-owned subsidiary, AGH Solutions, to meet the GMB demand for harmonisation for all staff with the NHS Agenda for Change contract; or dissolve the wholly-owned subsidiary to harmonise all staff with the NHS Agenda for Change contract.

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.

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.

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

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.

Research shows that our working days are getting longer. 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. 

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.

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?

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.

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