Hundreds of nursing support staff at Mid Cheshire hospitals have been working above their pay grade for years. We are calling on their trust to pay them the wage they deserve and to award back-pay for years of underpayment.

Please show your support by signing this petition and let's send a clear message to Sunderland City Council that they should put right their discriminatory pay practices.

Government contractor ISS at 3 departments - Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, Department for Business & Trade and Department for Science, Innovation & Technology - is pocketing the pay of hardworking members of PCS Union working in cleaning, security and other vital Government services. ISS made a profit last year of £73m and ten board members received almost £1m between them. For our members - the workers that created their profits - they are imposing a real terms pay cut. Our Ministers are happy to let ISS rip us off, profiteer, and leave our members in hardship. But our members won’t accept that and are striking for their fair share. Sign our petition to the Government Property Agency calling of them to intervene and get their contractor to pay a proper wage!

Local government workers are providing vital public services that our communities rely on every single day. They are the key workers who kept the country going throughout the pandemic. Their value to our communities should be recognised by a pay offer that allows them to feed and clothe their families without having to resort to foodbanks or handouts. It is unacceptable council workers are bearing the brunt of the cuts to local government budgets!

Northern Rail has sub-contracted work on the gatelines of some of its stations to a private outsourcing company called Carlisle. This means that two people doing similar work can have totally different pay and conditions. Gateline workers who are employed by Carlise, get less pay, no company sick pay, no membership fo the Railways Pension Scheme, no company leisure travel facilities and are employed using highly exploitative zero hours or annualised hours contracts that leave them in a state of perpetual anxiety, fearing that they will lose precious hours of work. In a recent survey, 58% of Carlisle gateline staff reported that they were struggling to make ends meet and every day they face a rising level of violence and abuse at work.

The University announced on Monday 14 August plans to make £3 million cuts to the staffing budget which could lead to up to 40 job losses in the University’s Executive Office (EO). Cuts of this scale will have a devastating impact on those individuals losing their jobs and their families, but also on the future of the University and the Highlands and Islands’ economy. Many of the staff employed by EO are in roles which deliver critical functions like student support, student experience, finance, and ensuring academic quality. Jobs are also threatened in the University’s academic and research functions in areas such as nursing, optometry, history, biomedical sciences, and rural health and wellbeing. Please join us in fighting back against these cuts which will have a devastating impact on education across the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, and on the student experience of the students studying here.

Workers from Vista Therm, in Lurgan Northern Ireland, are on weeks-long all-out strike action for fair pay, union recognition and dignity at work. Amongst a web of unlimited companies in the British Virgin Islands and Isle of Man these companies no longer disclose their financial accounting. However trade sources estimate the parent company to be worth around £200m. The last time Vista Therm in Lurgan published its accounts was in 2021 and the company turnover then was up 24.6% with profits of £6m. This is a hugely successful business and without its skilled workforce to deliver the finished products it simply wouldn’t be the success that it is today. These workers didn’t choose to go on strike lightly, they were forced to take this action because the company refused to listen to them and engage in any talks or discussion.

Hundreds of nursing support staff at Warrington and Halton hospitals have been working above their pay grade for years. We are calling on their trust to pay them the wage they deserve and to award back-pay for years of underpayment.

The proposal would see the Zoom Beyond travel pass removed on the 1st November 2023. In just three months, they will take away the ability to afford mobility for thousands of young people in South Yorkshire. Almost 35000 people aged 18-21 use a Zoom Beyond pass in our region. In addition, the Board is planning to raise the concessionary fare from 80p per single journey to £1 per single journey in effect from the start of November. This would reduce the ability for so many children across the region to socialise, go to extracurricular clubs, and would most likely lead to a greater proportion of school students being driven to school in car - increasing congestion, air pollution and further contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. SYMCA is currently looking into a Franchised Bus model - taking power away from the executives of profit-driven private companies like Stagecoach and First and placing more of said power in the hands of the directly elected Mayor. The Trams in Sheffield are already being taken into Public Control (I.e., run directly by SYMCA, and therefore more easily scrutinised) this Autumn, and it is looking like the buses will eventually follow. Due to this, the Combined Authority should instead aim to inherit a bus service with concessionary fares it can be proud of! The budget meeting mentions that if the 80p fare had risen with cumulative inflation from its introduction in 2016, it would be £1.20. That is an exciting thing, though! Even if it draws less profit and costs more as a subsidy, it means that South Yorkshire has one of the lowest fares for those up to the age of 18 in the country, and the lowest fare in the country currently for those up to the age of 21! The neglect of public services in the North of England by the government is a parasite to our progress. Ignorance of the needs of those across South Yorkshire mustn't continue. We deserve a flourishing, integrated transport system - supporting everyone from Thorne to Stocksbridge; one that lends a hand to all young people wanting to study, work, go out, or get about for any reason. We should take pride in the fact we are giving our young people the greatest possible chance to succeed, and we must fight to keep it that way.

Childcare and early years education workers have an immense responsibility. They look after and educate the youngest members of our society and help give children the best start in life. But years of Government underfunding have made it harder and harder for childcare workers to stay in the sector, and manage financially. Thousands of childcare workers live wage-packet to wage-packet, struggling to get by. Like many of us in this cost of living crisis, they are now being pushed to the brink by eye-watering bills and soaring prices. Low wages hurt not just childcare workers, but everyone who relies on their help to raise a family. Parents from all sectors need high quality childcare to get by. It takes a village to raise a child. Let’s raise the standards for childcare and early years education workers so they get the pay and respect they deserve. Childcare and early years education workers are just some of many workers who are struggling to get by on low wages. We support the TUC's campaign calling for £15 an hour for all workers: https://www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/raise-the-minimum-wage-to-ps15-an-hour

On 26 May, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) announced a programme of £11 million worth of cuts required in order for the Service to deliver a balanced budget for the 2023/24 financial year. These cuts impact communities across Scotland and include the ‘mothballing’ of ten wholetime fire appliances, the reduction of high reach appliances from 25 to 14, and the scrapping of the dedicated water rescue response covering the River Clyde. They will also see a further significant reduction in firefighter posts across Scotland. Worse yet, SFRS anticipate a further £25 million worth of savings will be needed to be found over the following three financial years up to 2026/27. SFRS have stated that these cuts are temporary, but without significant investment the FBU believe that these 200 firefighter posts and the removal of front line resources are likely to be permanent. The Fire Brigades Union is clear – these cuts will decimate the fire and rescue service in Scotland, undermining the credibility of SFRS as an effective emergency service protecting Scotland’s communities. Firefighters know that these cuts aren’t sustainable. They see the impact of underinvestment in their Service every day and the increased risk to the public as a result. That’s why the FBU has started the #CutsLeaveScars campaign to highlight to politicians and the public what the real impact of these enforced cuts will be. A DECADE OF UNDERINVESTMENT – A DECADE OF REAL TERMS CUTS Since the creation of SFRS on 1 April 2013 the fire and rescue service in Scotland has suffered tens of millions of pounds of real terms cuts. The plain facts are: • In 2012/13 the combined resource budget for the eight legacy fire and rescue services totalled £290.7 million. • The first year of SFRS saw this budget cut by £13.5 million to £277.2 million in 2013/14. • On 19 June 2023, the Minister for Victims and Community Safety confirmed that had the 2013/14 resource budget risen in line with inflation it would total £340.2 million in 2023/24 • The resource budget set for SFRS in 2023/24 is £308.6 million, a £31.6 million real terms cut over that ten year period. • However, using the 2012/13 resource budget figure of £290.7 million as a starting point the FBU calculate that an overall £56.8 million real terms cut has been inflicted upon SFRS over the last 11 years. • Indeed, using the Scottish Parliaments own SPICe calculator the SFRS 2023/24 resource budget would sit at £374.6 million – a £66 million real terms shortfall since 2012/13. The impact of sustained real terms budget cuts to SFRS over the last decade is clear. The service’s own statistics lay bare the reduction of over 1100 firefighter posts in Scotland since the creation of SFRS. The Service have been clear in their own budget forecasting of the impact of further projected cuts. Last October, in giving evidence to the Scottish Parliament Criminal Justice Committee, the SFRS Chief Fire Officer indicated that the impact of the resource based spending review could see the loss of a further 780 full time firefighter jobs and the removal of a further 30 fire appliances across Scotland by 2027. The impact of reduced firefighter numbers and restricted appliance availability have already impacted upon the viability of SFRS as an effective emergency service. From 2015/16 to 2020/21 response times to incidents increased by a full minute, from 7 to 8 minutes. Budget cuts = less firefighters = delayed response times = increased risk to public safety.

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) are planning disrupt the journeys of tens of thousands of visitors to Brighton Pride by cancelling all trains south of Three Bridges next Saturday. They are claiming they can't get the extra drivers for increase capacity due to the overtime ban implemented by ASLEF train drivers. The company has known for months this was going to happen and instead of making alternative plans they have taken the nuclear option of mass cancellations. ASLEF have acknowledged that it would be possible to design a shift pattern that could accommodate the event but GTR are refusing to engage. GTR have enough drivers to cover the event if they were to reallocate from the Peterborough or Cambridge routes and run a shuttle service to London. Their decision to cancel all trains to Brighton will leave tens of thousands of people stranded and will be dangerous for those trying to get home. GTR can create a shift pattern that works but are instead cancelling all trains, they must urgently act to save Brighton Pride.