Workplace news in brief

Anti- academies march, London, 23.3.16 , photo S Wrack

Anti- academies march, London, 23.3.16 , photo S Wrack   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Academies action

As figures emerge estimating that turning all state schools into academies will face a £1.1 billion funding shortfall. George Osborne unveiled plans to turn 16,800 state schools into academies in the budget. But figures obtained by Labour from a parliamentary question suggest each transformation from school to academy costs £66,000 on average adding up to over £1 billion.

Teachers and junior doctors are in discussions about joint action against the government. NUT conference at Easter received a letter of support from Yannis Gourtsoyannis of the British Medical Association’s junior doctors’ committee after the teachers’ union voted to back a ballot on strike action over the government’s academies plan.


Refuse revolt

96 gross misconduct disciplinaries in the last year – that’s the scale of management bullying and intimidation that forced Sheffield’s bin workers to take strike action for the first time in 17 years on 1 April. Over 100 Veolia refuse workers were on the picket line from 6am to demand an end to the regime of fear that has workers with 20-30 years’ experience frightened about getting hauled in on any pretext. Management has been using CCTV cameras, not for health and safety as the union agreed, but as “spies in the cab”.

Driver for 17 years Paul Cox said, “Management treat us like dirt. One told us: ‘I don’t like Sheffield and I don’t like bin-men’! They didn’t think we would strike, well they started this and now we’re going to finish it. If it’s not sorted then next time we should stay out for a week.”

Alistair Tice

Stop the slop

Salford Royal Hospital is officially an “outstanding” hospital. Its CEO, Sir David Dalton, is David Cameron’s favourite. So we shouldn’t be surprised to see privatisation rearing its ugly head here. Currently patient food is prepared in the hospital kitchen. The trust wants to close the kitchen and outsource food preparation. Patients – and the trust itself – will forever be at the mercy of outside contractors. Hospital workers in Unison are determined to thwart these plans and have organised a lively ‘Stop the Slop’ campaign with an online petition, postcards and public meetings.

Paul Gerrard