Workplace news in brief

Strike vote Scotland

Unison members in Scotland are being balloted for strike action over pay. This is after a 1% pay offer was rejected.

Unison has calculated that the value of staff pay has been cut by 10% over the last three years and basic living costs have dramatically risen.

75,000 workers in 32 councils are voting at the moment. The ballot closes on 13 August.

Hospital strike

Pathologists at hospitals in Leeds and Bradford were on strike on 16 July over staff shortages. Management is trying to impose new working patterns which the Unite members feel put staff and patient safety at risk.

They also mean substantial pay cuts for some staff, in some cases as much as Ł20,000 a year.

Boris bike ballot

Workers in the Serco Barclays cycle hire scheme in London have voted decisively for strike action and action short of a strike.

This is because the company has imposed a 2% pay increase, new shift patterns and other detrimental changes to working conditions.

At the moment the RMT members are operating an overtime ban in an attempt to bring the company to meaningful negotiations.

Portsmouth

Unite members at Portsmouth International Port have voted unanimously for industrial action over plans which could cut their pay by Ł1,300 a year.

The Port is owned by Portsmouth city council. The management wants to reduce staff costs by 10% by cutting staffing levels.

This will have a big impact on the efficiency of the Port, which provides important revenue for the city council as a whole.

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Finance appeal

The coronavirus crisis has laid bare the class character of society in numerous ways. It is making clear to many that it is the working class that keeps society running, not the CEOs of major corporations.

The results of austerity have been graphically demonstrated as public services strain to cope with the crisis.

The government has now ripped up its 'austerity' mantra and turned to policies that not long ago were denounced as socialist. But after the corona crisis, it will try to make the working class pay for it, by trying to claw back what has been given.

The Socialist Party's material is more vital than ever, so we can continue to report from workers who are fighting for better health and safety measures, against layoffs, for adequate staffing levels, etc.
When the health crisis subsides, we must be ready for the stormy events ahead and the need to arm workers' movements with a socialist programme - one which puts the health and needs of humanity before the profits of a few.

Inevitably, during the crisis we have not been able to sell the Socialist and raise funds in the ways we normally would.

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