The Sheffield City Region is the ‘low pay capital’ of the UK and has consistently ranked highly on COVID infection-rate charts. Now on the brink of a local lockdown, the lives of low wage workers in the city are in turmoil. This pandemic has shone a light on the people who really keep Sheffield going. It isn’t the billionaires, the bankers or the CEOs. It’s the healthcare workers, the carers, the cleaners, the transport workers, the refuse collectors and the fast food workers who feed people. The working class people struggling to get by. Working conditions in these industries are deteriorating quickly - adequate PPE is not available and social distancing is impossible. Fast food restaurants, shops and distribution warehouses are becoming epicentres for continuing the spread of the virus, resulting in multiple serious workplace outbreaks. If low wage workers have to self-isolate, most are forced to rely on Statutory Sick Pay, which is only £95.85 a week. Some won’t even receive that. Employers are risking the health of our communities by putting workers in the impossible position of choosing between health and paying the bills. Global corporations like McDonald’s and Amazon have the money to protect workers - but they choose to pay billions in dividends to shareholders instead.

I saw first-hand the difference union learning made for hundreds of my workmates and friends. So when I heard the news that the government planned to cut the Union Learning Fund, I was devastated. I thought of everyone I’d supported as a union learning rep and what they would have missed out on without this programme. I thought of the workers getting our country through this crisis, who deserve an opportunity to access education and learn new skills in the workplace. It’s impossible to list all of the benefits of union learning I’ve seen, but I can honestly say it’s changed lives. Our training around mental health helped normalise talking about it at work. People who missed out at school learned English and maths in union learning courses, skills they’ll have for life. And those who came to learning centres and engaged in courses came back over and over again, earning apprenticeships and higher qualifications. And independent reviews have consistently found union learning to be effective and transformational for the workers who take part, their families, and communities. The government must reverse its decision immediately.

City University outsourced catering services to the multi-billion, multi-national company Sodexo. Because of the impact of the pandemic, City has told Sodexo catering services at the University need to be cut massively. And so Sodexo plan to make up to half of the contracted catering staff at City redundant. Catering staff at City are majority women and overwhelmingly people of colour or migrant workers. They are the most diverse group of staff working at our University. Other staff at City are not being threatened with redundancy. It is unfair and unjust that catering staff, because City does not employ them directly, are being targeted for "cost savings". Sodexo is not offering any kind of enhanced redundancy payments. They are only offering the statutory minimum. This means some staff will be excluded from receiving any redundancy pay; others will have the redundancy payment capped at a very low level - three times less than the amount City would use when calculating redundancy. For any staff who stay working at City, they will have to accept pay cuts, worse holidays, worse sick pay and worse other terms and conditions. At the beginning of possibly the worst financial crisis in living memory and the greatest public health threat in a century, catering staff and their families face being left unemployed or underpaid. City took the decision to outsource catering staff to a private contractor like Sodexo. The University is responsible for making sure that Sodexo treats City catering staff with the respect they deserve.

Belinda Phipps is CEO of We Are With You- she earns around £140,000 per year. Meanwhile, ex-NHS staff working for We Are With You in Wigan and Leigh stand to lose £150,000 during the course of the NHS Agenda for Change three year pay deal (April 2018- April 2021). We will lose an average of £7,870 each during the course of Wigan Council's contract with We Are With You, with some of us losing out on as much as £10,974. This is simply wrong and across five years, will suck £230,000 out of the local economy whilst We Are With You directs funding towards costly rebrands and its London headquarters. We work hard for We Are With You in Wigan and Leigh to ensure that local people recover from addiction, regaining health, self esteem and becoming fully functioning members of our society. We work in this field because we care and because it's rewarding to support recovery, but we deserve to make a decent living. When we transferred over to We Are With You (formerly known as Addaction) from the NHS, we were promised the NHS rate for the job, but We Are With You have gone back on their word. "Supporting people to overcome drug and alcohol addiction is an incredibly tough job and makes a difference for every single one of us in Wigan. "We Are With You’s employees deserve the pay settlement they were promised when they moved from the NHS to We Are With You". Lisa Nandy, Wigan MP We deserve a decent wage for doing what is an important job for our communities. Please sign the petition to support us. #WeAreNotWithYou #KeepYourPayPromise #BelindaFibs #WeWontPayYou

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust announced to staff in March 2020 that they believe the current model of provision for reproductive medicine at St. Mary’s Hospital is not sustainable. Commissioners are now carrying out a scoping exercise on the service’s future, and this could result in a recommendation the service is tendered and could be at risk of privatisation. Staff members working for the St Mary’s Reproductive Medicine service provide a vital lifeline to women and families seeking fertility treatment in Greater Manchester. The service also provides specialist care to women with complex medical conditions, cancer, and who are undergoing gender reassignment, which are not accessible elsewhere in the city region or offered by other providers. If privatised, we are concerned that these specialist services could be at risk. Unions are concerned that many other private sector providers have higher treatment charges and inferior services. Furthermore, staff are in many cases paid less than NHS workers in the private healthcare sector, with less annual leave, sick pay and other essential benefits. We cannot allow this vital service to fall into private hands and be run for profit, when its purpose is to serve the public of our city.

As care workers, we have gone above and beyond during the coronavirus crisis to care for your loved ones. A survey by UNISON North West found that 8 out of 10 of us would not receive our full normal pay if we were ill or had to self-isolate or shield due to COVID-19. As a result, many care workers said they may have to attend work while ill which would drastically increase the risk of spreading infection to vulnerable residents and service-users. As part of UNISON’s Care Workers vs COVID-19 Campaign, we have been calling on local commissioners and care providers to protect our pay when we are absent due to COVID-19. As a result, Salford Council and local NHS partners have introduced the 'Salford Offer' which provides additional funding to local social care providers to protect frontline care workers, service-users and the local community by maintaining the full normal wages for care staff that are absent due to COVID-19. The 'Salford Offer' is the very least that we deserve, yet despite the fact it will cost them nothing, there are a number of care providers in Salford that is refusing the support the 'Salford Offer'. Some of these providers have reported millions of pounds worth of profits over previous years.

Currently, hundreds of hospital cleaners, caterers and security guards working at Aintree University Hospital, Royal Liverpool University Hospital, Liverpool Women’s Hospital and Broadgreen Hospital are employed by private companies. We are employed by private contractors Compass Medirest, ISS and OCS and as a result, we are at a disadvantage compared with NHS employees. Like all of our health service colleagues, we’ve put ourselves at increased risk over the last few months keeping patients safe. We don’t want a medal, we just want to be treated equally with our colleagues who are employed by NHS. We deserve proper pay and working conditions so that we can deliver a high quality service for Liverpool patients. UNISON Liverpool Hospitals Health branch secretary Su Edwards said: “Our members do some of the most vital jobs within our health service. They cook patients’ food, keep the hospital clean and protect patients and staff. “Yet currently, these health service heroes are being treated like second class citizens. There is only one way that companies such as Compass, ISS and OCS can make a profit within the NHS and that’s by cost-cutting. This means that hospital staff employed by private contractors receive lower pay and worse working conditions than colleagues employed directly by the NHS. It is morally wrong. “But it’s not just hospital staff who are getting a raw deal. Compass, ISS and OCS prioritise profit over people- they bid for NHS contracts, then they cut costs and patients pay the price. If we brought these services in-house, we could deliver a higher quality service, with more staff on shift, better hospital food and safer hospitals.”

Every summer, temperatures are rising and working in prolonged heat and sun can be dangerous. It can cause a number of health concerns, from dehydration and dizziness to the most serious of illnesses. The Health and Safety Executive say 4,500 people are diagnosed with skin cancer every year as a result of outdoor working. Trade unions want to see the law changed, so that employers and workers know when action must be taken to keep workers cooler and safer. We want to see guidance which asks employers to begin taking steps to reduce temperatures when they get above 24°C and workers feel uncomfortable. This is the World Heath Organisation's recommended maximum temperature for working in comfort. While official guidance exists for a *minimum* working temperature of 16°C, there is no law to guide bosses on what a maximum should be. It's time to protect working people feeling the heat!

PCS members are in dispute over low pay, unequal sick pay entitlement compared to directly employed HMRC staff and job insecurity. All workers deserve the dignity and respect that employment usually provides. But the minimum wage is simply not enough to live on. Statutory sick pay rates are so low and only normally payable from the fourth day of illness, meaning staff routinely work when they are sick as they cannot afford not to. These are dedicated staff whose skills, hard work and enthusiasm are crucial to keeping the UK’s tax offices safe, clean and functioning. In fact, the vital work they do has been recognised by their key worker status during the Covid-19 pandemic. They have continued to work throughout lockdown despite the personal risk to themselves and their families. The PCS union have approached HMRC several times to urge them to meet their members’ just demands but HMRC has declined to do so. Send a message to Jim Harra and show your support.

British Gas (Centrica) are planning to fire their workforce and rehire them on reduced terms and conditions.

It shouldn’t be too much to ask that hospital workers get the agreed NHS rates of pay. But here on site at Tameside General Hospital, there is a hidden workforce earning well below Agenda for Change rates of pay and on lower terms and conditions than other Trust staff. As Engie security guards we put ourselves in danger every day and work tirelessly to keep staff, patients and the public safe. During the pandemic, we have been on the front-line of the fight to keep our communities safe, whilst putting ourselves at significant personal risk. ONS figures show that male security guards have the highest risk of dying as a result of COVID-19 compared with other demographics. In spite of the vital job we do protecting patients and staff, we earn well below the NHS rates. Some of us are on the minimum wage. This is plainly unfair! We have been seeking to resolve this for some time, but to no avail. In February, Engie told us they would not agree to pay us NHS rates. In the absence of progress, we held a UNISON ballot of Engie security staff at Tameside General Hospital and voted unanimously to take strike action to fight for fair pay for all.  In May, Engie have agreed to pay the NHS rates from October 2020. This is a step in the right direction but we lodged our pay claim in December 2019- it's wrong that we should have to wait almost a year for the pay we are rightfully owed. What's more, Engie have only agreed to pay the correct rates if we agree to changes to our shift patterns which may result in pay cuts.  Given the current context, we have done everything we can to avoid taking industrial action. We have given Engie over six months to resolve this dispute. Given the lack of resolution and the potentially detrimental proposed changes to shift patterns, we have no other option- this really is an action of last resort. As a result, we served notice for a two day strike beginning at 7am on Monday 13 July. We hope that Engie see sense and get back around the negotiating table before 13 July. Tameside Hospital staff- please sign to support and consider leaving a comment.

From the beginning, Tim Martin, Chairman of the company, showed a disregard to worker safety and put profit before people, endangering thousands. He claimed there was next to no transmission in his pubs and the lockdown wasn’t necessary, that his pubs were as essential as supermarkets. We are concerned for the safety of Wetherspoon associates, cleaners, team and shift leaders, and managers alike. We do not want to take the risk of returning to work when it is not safe. We find the safety measures suggested by the company inadequate to ensure our safety. We are not disposable. We are the ones pouring the pints, cleaning the floors and cooking the food. The company depends on us to make profits and keep the business running. Therefore, we make these demands to Tim Martin and John Hutson, Chairman and CEO of J. D. Wetherspoon. We hope that they will listen to our demands, work with us to transition into returning to work, putting our safety first. These demands are democratically decided by union members of BFAWU as part of the SpoonStrike campaign. Please share, and stay safe.