Industrial news

Members of the UNISON public services union working for the National Probation Service and a number of outsourced community rehabilitation companies in England and Wales staged a two-hour strike in July over a zero per cent pay offer.

The employers “offer” consisted of a small non-consolidated lump sum, but only for the 20% or so of staff at the top of their pay band, and therefore not in receipt of a pay increment. The union warned of further disruption if the employers did not come up with a decent offer.

Members of the PCS civil service union employed on the roll-out of the government’s Universal Credit (UC) programme took two days’ strike action in July over what the union describes as “increasingly oppressive working conditions”.

Around 1,500 PCS members employed at the service centres in Bolton and Glasgow took action, following complaints about a lack of resources, an oppressive management culture, inadequate training, hard-to-reach targets and staff shortages.

The PCS has also warned that strike action at the National Gallery in London will escalate if senior managers and trustees refuse to return to negotiations to avoid privatisation.

And members of the GMB general and UCATT construction unions began a series of one-day strikes at the end of July at Aspire Housing, the Newcastle-under-Lyme based housing association over its threat to dismiss maintenance workers and re-engage them on worse terms and conditions.

www.unison.org.uk/at-work/police-and-justice-staff/key-issues/probation-pay/homepage

www.pcs.org.uk/en/news_and_events/news_centre/news_centre.cfm/universal-credit-staff-to-strike-for-two-days-over-oppressive-working-conditions

www.ucatt.org.uk/workers-vote-strike-action-aspire-housing-newcastle-under-lyme

www.gmb.org.uk/newsroom/strike-ballot-at-aspire-housing