On Monday morning, the West Yorkshire Combined Authority will decide the future of our bus services. We depend on our local busses to get around. But fares are far too high, and tickets options are confusing. During the month of April, whilst the pandemic reduced bus services to 15% of normal levels, local councils were forced to pay out £4.31million to private bus companies in subsidies for tickets that weren’t being used (according to WYCA public figures). What’s more, local councils do not have a real say in how or where bus routes are operated. Since 2014, privately run routes in West Yorkshire have been cut by 10 million miles! Private companies can do what they like with our buses. It’s a wild west free market. This is not right. Our council taxes should not be used to put profit before passengers. Our bus system is fundamentally broken and things need to change.

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.

Racism is systemic across our society. And it runs through the global fast food corporations making millions in profit by paying us poverty wages. Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) workers are disproportionately represented in the fast food workforce. In our industry people accept job offers quickly because we need security, only to find ourselves in low paid employment, being told we're replaceable. This is fertile ground for abuse and racism which further impacts workers and our families. Our fast food companies say that they believe in equality, that they are on the side of black people. But they also say we don't deserve a living wage. That we don't deserve stable hours, we don't deserve to be treated with respect and we don't deserve a union. A union is workers coming together to use our strength in numbers to change things we can't change alone - that is the only way we will stamp out racism across our society. We demand: 1) The right to refuse to serve rude customers, with a ban for racially abusive customers, and enforcement of zero tolerance policies by managers, including training for all managers in conflict management and how to recognise racism in the workplace. 2) £15 per hour, stable hours and a union - to lift us out of in-work poverty and give us a platform to have our voices heard. 3) The immediate release of the statistics of BAME workers in different roles across these businesses, including pay discrepancies: McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King, Taco Bell. Police killing black people is violence. Big rich fast food companies forcing poverty pay on us is violence too. Black Lives Matter. And black quality of life matters. That’s why we need to stand together to end racial and economic injustice. We need our entire communities, everyone who agrees with us, to show us solidarity. Help us send a message to our CEOs by signing this petition now.

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.

As an island nation the UK relies on seafarers working on roll-on roll-off ferries to keep the economy going. From Dover and Hull alone, these workers move 11 million passengers and over 26m tonnes of road freight in a year. The taxpayer is subsidising the wages of furloughed P&O staff and P&O’s vital freight routes during the pandemic through an estimated £25m support. To date, the Government has refused to make this taxpayer support conditional on protection of key seafarer jobs and skills in struggling port communities where P&O’s operations have a huge economic influence. P&O Ferries, a company established by Royal Charter in 1840, state that they need £150m to continue operating. The company has furloughed over 1,400 staff, mainly UK seafarers but are now seeking to make 1,100 redundancies including 900 seafarers in Dover and Hull by the end of June. Parent company DP World paid out a £270m dividend on 29 April based on over £1bn profit made in 2019. DP World purchased P&O Ferries for £322m in February last year. Ferries remain one of the last areas of major employment for domestic seafarers and are the lifeline supply link between the UK economy and the rest of the world. Successive Government’s have failed to prevent UK seafarers from being replaced by cheaper foreign crews on ferries and other ships working from UK ports, to the extent that UK seafarers held under a quarter of over 67,000 jobs in 2019. P&O Ferries plans would cut 8% from the UK’s total number of Ratings, sending seafarer jobs and skills in struggling port communities into a potential death spiral as employers import Ratings from overseas on wages well below the National Living Wage of £8.72 per hour and on contracts that demand 12 hour days, 7 days a week for 6 months. There are serious maritime safety risks whenever seafarers are required to work exhausting contracts like this. Please support the RMT’s petition to save 1,100 jobs at P&O Ferries and help re-build Britain’s ferry industry.

The NUJ believes a free, independent media is a cornerstone of democracy. No group can be allowed to undermine the freedom of the press. Every effort must be made to ensure that those who are guilty of intimidation are brought to justice. We call for the immediate withdrawal of all threats against journalists in Northern Ireland and for the freedom of the press to be respected and protected.

We are firefighters in East Sussex who are extremely concerned about the proposed cuts to our fire service. During the COVID-19 pandemic, East Sussex Fire Authority are rushing through a consultation on further cuts to our service, including: ● Cutting 10 fire engines from across the county at Battle, Bexhill, Crowborough, Lewes, Newhaven, Rye, Uckfield, Seaford, Heathfield and Wadhurst fire stations; ● Cutting dedicated crews for high-reaching aerial fire appliances in Hastings, even after Grenfell; ● Cutting wholetime firefighter staffing levels across the county, particularly at fire stations in Lewes, Newhaven, Uckfield, Crowborough, Battle and Bexhill; ● Cutting on-call firefighter numbers across the county; ● Reducing night-time fire cover at The Ridge fire station; ● Introducing less family-friendly shift patterns As firefighters, we have a duty to tell you that these cuts are a clear and present danger to public safety. The plans proposed by East Sussex Fire Authority were also drawn up before the COVID-19 crisis, and do not take into account what fire and rescue services should look like into the future. We are currently taking on additional work to support our communities and emergency services, and cuts to our service will negatively impact our ability to keep the public safe. Our service is already under pressure due to years of austerity, which has seen 11,500 firefighter jobs cut across the UK, and 89 firefighter jobs cut in East Sussex. This pandemic has shown just how vital our fire service is – we cannot go back to an austerity model where our public services are the first in line for budget cuts. Public safety must be put first and our service needs investment, for now and for the future. Help us to put pressure on East Sussex Fire Authority to halt the consultation and stop cuts to our fire and rescue service. We are running out of time. Please send an email to the chair of the fire authority now.

Journalists – whether they are staff or freelance – need to be valued and their livelihoods protected. Targeted measures aimed at supporting quality journalism and bolstering independent, diverse, ethically-produced content are urgently needed. Covid-19 has demonstrated just how important credible, trusted news and information is, and NUJ members will play a vital role in reflecting and shaping the recovery yet to come. But this is not and cannot be about the preservation of the status quo. Journalists are not seeking handouts or compensation for the industry – we are looking for investment in our future to transform the news industry, make it fit for our collective purpose and truly serve the public good. Pledge your support today for the NUJ's recovery plan to create a news industry reimagined. Download the full plan from the NUJ website - https://www.nuj.org.uk/documents/from-health-crisis-to-good-news/

Unite Hackney cab and taxi drivers are ready to do whatever it takes to help keep the country moving during the coronavirus crisis, but we are facing financial ruin without the same level of government support. The Prime Minister and his chancellor said that they would do ‘whatever it takes’. For taxi drivers it takes: • Wage support straight away. No delay, until June. • No means testing of Universal Credit or other benefits. • Suspending or reducing all taxi related running costs, including licence plate fees, monthly radio fees, rental fees and insurance payments for taxis not on the road. • Backing loan repayment holidays for private hire vehicles and moratoriums on marking down drivers’ credit files. • Emergency interim payments to keep the taxi on the road. • Reviewing the licensing regime and stop all payments for licences, with a three month temporary extension for those expected to renew in the next 12 months. We’re ready to help. With these financial support measures, Unite taxi and private hire driver members stand ready to support our emergency services. We’re fully licenced and DBS checked. Clean, safe and wheelchair accessible. Equipped with a glass partition separating driver from passenger. Support us and we can: • Transport patients to and from non-emergency appointments. • Deliver shopping for the elderly or transport them to and from supermarkets • Transport key workers to work and deliver medical supplies. Unite Hackney taxi and private hire drivers are ready to talk.

This is important at a time when university staff have rallied and gone beyond their contractual duties and normal working hours to ensure that all essential work including teaching has continued whilst the University has taken measures to address the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Several universities in the UK (including the University of St. Andrews, King’s College London, and Birkbeck) have already announced an amnesty on pay deductions in recognition of the exceptional demands on their staff. We ask that the University of Kent follow these examples by granting an amnesty on strike pay deductions given that exceptional demands on their staff are likely to be ongoing for some time and to ensure staff morale and goodwill at this time.

Workers are more important than the non essential work that they are being asked to carry out. A persons life is more important than a pothole.

We are amongst the 40,000 staff at JD Wetherspoon who have been laid off after the chain closed its pubs in response to the coronavirus crisis. The government have pledged to cover 80% of wages for laid off workers, but Wetherspoons initially refused to cover the cost of our pay until the government money comes in, threatening us with a wait without pay as long as the end of April. Thanks to pressure from our union BFAWU, supporters online and allies in parliament, Wetherspoons have been forced into a partial U-turn. They’ve agreed to cover wages, though they haven’t given detail yet, and after their original penny pinching response, we want to see exactly what this means. On the rates Wetherspoons pay, we're already facing poverty pay in work - nobody can afford to have money put by for a crisis like this. If Wetherspoons only pay us the 80% of our wages that the government will guarantee, and without the usual bonuses we are paid, many of us will have no way to pay the rent, bills or support our families. Plenty of other companies in the sector are doing much better by their workers. Costa have already promised 8 weeks full pay to cover the gap. Wetherspoons have the cash and could afford to do the same. We want Tim Martin and JD Wetherspoon to : 1) Agree they will shoulder the extra 20% to make up the difference in wages from the 80% the government have pledged to cover. 2) Pay all bonuses that staff are due in full. Please help us and our union BFAWU to put public pressure on our employers to do right by the people who have built the firm's success. Send our boss Tim Martin an email now. ------ Are you a Wetherspoons worker? ------ 🗣️🗣️ *WETHERSPOONS WORKERS ASSEMBLE!* Want in? Join our WhatsApp group to be part of the national campaign of Wetherspoons workers fighting for everything we deserve: https://chat.whatsapp.com/Js8Ljta8fI6L1gUTX0l7Tt