“Almost daily strike action across sectors ranging from transport to the NHS is to take place in the run-up to Christmas and beyond amid continuing deadlock between unions, employers and the government over pay and conditions.”
Royal Mail workers, university lecturers and staff at sixth-form colleges have already taken action this month. Communication Workers Union (CWU) members will carry out single days of action up and until Christmas Eve. Members of the University and College Union (UCU) at 150 universities have been on strike, following up a 48-hour strike last week with a 24-hour stoppage.
The action at colleges is being organised by the National Education Union (NEU), whose members include those working at 77 sixth forms in England, who they say have suffered a pay cut of an estimated 20% in real terms since 2010.
Monday 5th December
More than 1,000 security workers, members of the GMB union who work for the security company G4S and deliver cash and coins to some of the UK’s biggest banks and supermarkets, are to take part in a 48-hour strike in their push for a 15% pay increase.
Wednesday 7th December
Teachers from the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association and NASUWT unions will begin the first of two days of strikes in a dispute over pay.
Thursday 8th December
Bus drivers on Metroline, which covers routes in north and west London, could go ahead with strike action if they reject an improved pay offer from the company. Teachers at Scottish secondary schools hold their second day of strikes.
Friday 9th December
Bus workers for Abellio, whose services are largely focused in the south and west of London, are to stage their latest strike after three days of action in late November.
Also on strike are Unite bus drivers at Metroline, unless an improved pay offer is accepted and postal workers in the CWU.
Saturday 10th December
Abellio Bus workers in the south and west of London will be on strike again.
Sunday 11th December
Postal workers in the CWU are out again.
Monday 12th December
A strike by Unison members will take place in Northern Ireland across ambulance and other NHS services.
Tuesday 13th December
Members of the RMT union working for Network Rail and 14 train operating companies are to stage the first day of strikes. Workers from another transport union, the TSSA, will also take strike action in their ongoing national rail dispute over pay, job security and conditions. Their strikes on this day will affect Avanti West Coast lines.
The first of a number of strikes by staff at the government’s Rural Payments Agency (RPA) will also take place. Also in the civil service, workers including driving examiners and call centre staff will begin rolling regional walkouts at the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, starting on this date in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Wednesday 14th December
Another day of multiple strikes, including RMT members working for Network Rail and 14 train operating companies; TSSA members on Avanti West Coast lines; postal-worker members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and staff at the Rural Payments Agency.
Thursday 15th December
The first in a series of stoppages by up to 100,000 nurses, which will have an impact across 53 NHS organisations in England, will take place over their demand for a pay rise of inflation plus 5%.
Friday 16th December
Security staff working for Eurostar, who are members of the RMT, will begin the first of four days of walk-outs in the run-up to Christmas in a pay dispute. Action is also expected by RMT members working for Network Rail and 14 train operating companies; Unite bus drivers at Metroline, depending on whether an improved pay offer is accepted; Abellio Bus workers in the south and west of London; TSSA members on Avanti West Coast lines and staff at Rural Payments Agency.
Saturday 17th December
Strike action will be taken by members of the TSSA working for c2c, which serves more than two dozen stations between east London and South Essex; RMT members working for Network Rail and 14 train operating companies; Abellio Bus workers in the south and west of London; and TSSA members on Avanti West Coast lines will also be taking action.
Sunday 18th December
Members of the RMT will start an overtime ban across the railways, which will run until 2 January, meaning RMT be taking industrial action for four weeks.
Members of the TSSA union will begin taking industrial action short of a strike affecting Avanti West Coast lines. Eurostar security staff will also be on strike.
Tuesday 20th December
Strike action by nurses from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN).
Action by ambulance and other health staff is also possible amid talks by unions over a coordinated effort.
Thursday 22nd December
Cleaners who are members of the RMT union will begin the first of a number of days of strikes rail at firms including Avanti. Eurostar security staff will also be out.
Friday 23rd December
Eurostar security staff, cleaners for a number of rail companies and postal-worker members of the CWU are all due to take action.
Saturday 24th December
Postal worker members of the CWU are due on strike.
Saturday 31st December
RMT members working as cleaners for a number of rail companies are due to take action.
Additionally, “the Fire Brigades Union is also planning to ballot its members after rejecting a 5% pay rise. And with millions of workers facing a cost of living emergency, the GMB union – which represents some of the ambulance workers who voted this week to strike – warned that “the government needs to listen” to their concerns.
“The PCS, representing civil servants including Border Force officers, Passport Office staff and National Highways employees, has also backed strike action but is yet to confirm dates.”
There has never been a better time to strengthen the links between the Labour Party and trade unions. To this end, the Campaign for Labour Party Democracy have drafted a model motion for Party branches and other bodies to consider:
This Branch / CLP notes that:
the Labour Party was founded by trade unions to give a political voice to working people, their families and their communities.
that the Labour Party has always been a partnership between Labour Party members and working people, through their affiliated trade unions.
that the formal link with the trade union movement gives Labour a foundation in thousands of workplaces across the country – together, the affiliated trade unions bring the collective voices of nearly 4 million working people to the heart of our Party.
since the Tories came to power 12 years ago, in-work poverty, low pay, and financial insecurity have become rampant. Incomes have stagnated and many workers have experienced real terms pay decline. In-work poverty has hit new highs, with one in six working households in poverty. Wages have suffered a decade of stagnation – the worst in over a century.
restrictive anti-trade union laws, most recently the Trade Union Act, have made it harder for unions to organise and stand up for their members. These restrictions mean workers are denied their fair share of the wealth they create, whilst a lack of collective representation has led to a race to the bottom. The right of unions to operate effectively in the workplace and take strike action where necessary, in each sector of the economy, is vital for achieving fairness, dignity and democracy at work for all.
This Branch / CLP believes that:
the direct link to working people, through the affiliated trade unions, makes our Party unique, and gives us a direct insight into the lives of the people we seek to represent.
the Labour Party and the affiliated trade unions are both stronger when we work together.
only Labour Governments, with a strong trade union voice in the Labour Party, can create real, lasting change for working people.
in the last Century, that partnership between the unions and Labour brought about the NHS, the Equal Pay Act, the National Minimum Wage and so much more.
the 21st Century brings so many challenges – a hugely unequal society, poverty pay, insecure work, struggling public services, unaffordable housing and a radically and rapidly changing world of work – it is only by working together, through the collective power of trade unions and the Labour Party, that we can rise to them.
that as trade unions face an ever more difficult landscape due to the actions of the Tory Government, the Labour leadership must be uncompromising in their support for trade unions and their members taking action, including public support for their demands for no real terms pay cuts
the link with the trade unions must be strengthened, not weakened.
that there is a responsibility on all elected Labour representatives to show support for workers that in struggle by attending picket lines
that this Branch / CLP should commit to support the formal link with the trade unions at every level of the Party.
that this Branch / CLP should undertake to strengthen our own links with local affiliated trade unions.
Therefore this Branch / CLP resolves:
to strengthen the link between this CLP and local affiliated trade unions by undertaking a programme of work, led by the CLP TULO Officer, including:
inviting a series of trade union representatives to address our General Meeting on their industrial and campaigning priorities;
identifying shared campaigning priorities, and seeking to build a joint campaign between the CLP and local trade unions;
working with local unions to get trade union members to join our campaign activities, and get more involved in the Party.
to strengthen the trade union link locally by supporting the rights of local affiliated trade unions to be part of the decision-making processes of our CLP through collective, delegate-based structures, and by consulting local trade unions when drafting submissions to the Party’s policy development process.
to support the trade union link more widely, by opposing any attempts to reduce the role of the affiliated trade unions in the Labour Party.
to encourage every member of the local Party to be a member of an appropriate affiliated trade union, and to communicate with all members of the Party to ask them to join an appropriate affiliated union, and to update their union membership info on the Labour Party’s membership system.
to work together with local unions to build a campaign team to win a Labour Government.
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