GMB

Employer attacks on workers' pay is the main issue at stake.

Teachers in the NUT are walking out over their pay deal which was supposed to be revised when inflation rose, but the government refused: effectively cutting their wages.

Council workers will be protesting against the new pay and grading system imposed by Birmingham council last week, affecting 40,000 staff.

UNISON has branded the structure discriminatory. Though it was designed to end wage inequalities, some workers will lose up to half their pay.

Last week Nottingham Indymedia spoke with Barbara, who has worked in Nottingham's libraries for many years. In this interview she voices her anger over the decision by the City Council to introduce uniforms for library staff. More so, she talks about the ever degrading library service and the bully tactics deployed by City Council managers to keep its staff in line..

The striking bin staff had been complaining about management bullying after staff refused to double their workload due to lack of vehicles and under-staffing. As part of what workers called management's "bully tactics", four refuse workers had been moved onto different crews sparking anger amongst the depot and leading to the wildcat action.

Staff at the Hollingdean Depot downed tools on Wednesday morning in retaliation to having tightly-knit crews broken up by managers. Four men have reportedly been moved from one lorry to another as management try to address the problem. Another worker said his cousin, who also works at the depot, had been "punished" for having time off sick by being put onto another shift.

If they go ahead with the walk-out it will shut down the airport. More than 80% of staff, including firefighters, engineers, airside safety and air traffic control staff, have backed a ballot calling for industrial action.

Both unions will hold a consultative ballot of members on whether they will accept the 2.475% offer, announced last month after six months of negotiation, an increase on employers’ initial bid of 2%.

They would only ballot for industrial action if GMB’s 250,000 local government members and Unite’s almost 100,000 council staff reject the offer.

The Watton and Swaffham Times reported that rubbish is mounting up outside homes in Breckland because binmen are locked in an industrial dispute.

Waste went uncollected at a number of properties on Monday and there are fears the bin backlog could spread to other homes in the district after its rubbish collection teams began a “work to rule”.

During the most recent major conflict between Asda and an outside body, a dispute between the company and the GMB led to bug detectors being deployed by unionists during negotiations to avoid surveillance by managers.

JJB boss Whelan is notoriously anti-union and pro-poverty. His own personal fortune of £200 million is creamed from the low wages of his own staff. In 1997 workers forced JJB to increase wages. In 2006 the workers at the Wigan distribution depot took five days of strike action to secure improved and fair pay for all employees.

Building workers met in London on Monday evening 27th Nov to discuss possibilities for union organising during the preparations for the 2012 Olympics.

Members of all four unions associated within the construction industry were present at the meeting called by the newly-formed Building Workers Rank and File Committee.

1) The fact that eastern European workers got involved. So far capital has more or less managed to use the eastern European countries as a large pool of labour force which could be mobilised for short term projects like large construction projects or the seasonal work in the harvest.

JJB, the sports retailer owned by former footballer and Wigan Athletic FC Chairman Dave Whelan, has been accused by the GMB union of breaking laws that prohibit employment agency staff from doing the jobs of strikers.

The GMB union said 266 of its members were on the picket line outside the warehouse in Martland Park, Wigan, in the early hours of the morning.

There will also be a ban on overtime from Tuesday morning as workers protest against a 3% pay rise.

Union negotiators are seeking a higher basic rate for staff and are calling for equal access to a bonus scheme.

The GMB said 266 workers at the JJB distribution warehouse in Martland Park, Wigan, are taking action on Tuesday and Thursday.

There will also be a continuous ban on overtime from Tuesday morning as workers protest against a 3% pay rise.

Union negotiators are seeking a higher basic rate for warehouse staff.

They are also calling for equal access to a bonus scheme.

Swissport, the multinational company that holds the contract to supply baggage handling at Stansted Airport, is using the employment system to exploit its migrant workers, denying them basic rights such as sick and holiday pay, as secondary companies take further large cuts from their wages for accommodation and "administration fees".

DHL is planning major restructuring which could lead to 3,000 permanent staff being replaced with around 2,500 casual workers. Around 700 of the jobs under threat are expected to go in Scotland. The strike would include delivery centres in Paisley, Kilmarnock, Bellshill and Mossend.

GMB shop stewards at a meeting today in Manchester voted unanimously to commence the balloting process for a national strike in Asda Wal-Mart to secure collective bargaining at the 20 distribution depots and to secure payment of the 2005 bonus and safe work rates.

Trade unions at the Great Western Hospital were told today (4 May) that the Trust needed to make £2. 2m in savings per annum as a result of a financial deficit. The Trust is required to achieve a balanced budget this year and faces a potential deficit of £5m.