Pay 2008
Articles about disputes over cost of living pay rises in the UK in 2008.
Civil servants back industrial action over pay
A prolonged programme of industrial action, hitting civil and public services across the UK moved a step closer today, as PCS members backed strike action in a dispute over the government's 2% public sector pay cap.
80% of those balloted supported action short of strike, and 54% of those taking part in the ballot backed union plans for industrial action, which includes national civil service wide strikes, targeted strike action and overtime bans.
Work to rule starts to bite at Criminal Records Bureau
Industrial action by 450 workers at the Criminal Records Bureau in Liverpool is causing major backlogs in work according to managers.
It is understood that a report prepared for Home Office officials after the first week of a work-to-rule describes significant arrears in work which could considerably delay prospective nurses, teachers and social workers obtaining the necessary clearance to work with children and vulnerable adults.
The action has hit:
NHS workers balloting for industrial action
Thousands of members of the Unite union working in the National Health Service are being asked if they will take action, including strike action over a three-year below inflation pay offer.
After the ballot closes on 12 November, Unite will have a 28-day 'window' to take action that its members have voted for.
Inflation: rising prices and the 2% pay ceiling
An analysis of the use of inflation to attack workers' conditions.
If the government were to announce that it was cutting the wages of all workers - public and private sector - there would presumably be uproar. And yet this is exactly what they have done by calling for ‘pay restraint’ and insisting all wage rises are capped at 2%. Make no mistake, a sub-inflation pay ‘rise’ is a pay cut. No amount of statistical trickery changes this simple fact.
London: thousands of bus drivers strike
5000 bus workers with Metroline and First Group walked out at 3 a.m. this morning in a row over equal pay causing massive disruption across the capital.
The drivers will be out on a 24 hour strike to protest at the huge pay disparity between the 18 London bus companies.
Several sources report solid support for the action, with very few drivers crossing picket lines, many routes completely cancelled and others running only minimal services.
Ladbrokes staff strike against pay offer
Staff at a Ladbrokes betting call centre on Merseyside are staging a 24-hour walkout in a row over pay.
The union Usdaw said hundreds of workers at the site in Aintree were set to strike from 0500 BST on Sunday. It said staff were unhappy after being offered what it said was a below-inflation pay rise of 3%.
Eleven London bus garages join strike action
Unite members at a further eleven bus garages in London are set to join the 3,500 bus workers who have been taking strike action on Friday 10 and Wednesday 22 October.
The 2,500 Unite members who work for Metroline voted 88.5 per cent in favour of strike action in a recent ballot by the union. Unite submitted a London wide claim to all bus operators in March of this year to challenge the current system whereby drivers (and other grades) performing identical jobs within the TfL regulated industry, receive hugely varying pay and conditions.
Conciliation staff in one hour stoppage over pay
More than 700 members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) working for the conciliation service ACAS took part in a one hour strike on Friday (26 Sep) in a dispute over pay.
The stoppage, between 10. 30am and 11. 30am hitting offices across the UK and the ACAS helpline, follows delays in settling this year’s pay and a pay offer of 2% which will result in real term pay cuts.
This year’s pay increase was due on 1 August and follows a 10-month hold up to last year’s 2007 pay increase.
Local government pay: unions cave in
Following a sham "consultation" exercise UNISON negotiators, backed by Unite and the GMB, have called in government arbitrators ACAS to make a binding agreement which members will be unable to vote on.
Following one of the UK's biggest strikes in years, when half a million council workers walked out for two days against a sub inflationary 2.45% pay offer, unions have blocked further action.
Scottish councils back on strike alone
Local authority staff in Scotland are set to return to picket lines for another day after the employers refused to up their pay offer.
The strike will take place across Scotland on Wednesday 24 September. The move follows the earlier action on 20 August, which came after 150,000 members rejected an offer of 2.5%.
