TGWU
Canary Wharf cleaners to ballot for strike action
Cleaners at some of Britain's leading banks and financial institutions are to vote on strike action after a long-running campaign to make bosses improve working conditions and pay them a living wage.
The cleaners' union T&G announced the ballot - which will begin on Monday - at a rally today (Friday) in London's Canary Wharf, where the invisible army of 850 cleaners help to maintain some of the world's costliest real estate while being paid a pittance.
UK: 1 million workers strike to defend pensions
Tuesday 28th March 2006 saw over a million workers take part in the largest one day strike in Britain since the general strike of 1926.
Every town, borough and city in the country saw workers set up multiple picket lines to defend their pension rights.
1.5million set to strike today over pensions
Workers across more than nine different unions are set to strike today over an attack on the local government pension scheme, with the Labour government planning to increase the age workers can retire at.
You can read the background to the strike here on libcom.org news:
http://libcom.org/news/article.php/uk-pensions-strike-170306
You can also check out our new in-depth feature on the pensions crisis, currently under construction here:
http://libcom.org/pensions
libcom.org news
1995: The JJ Foods Strike
On October 31st 95, forty five workers at JJ Fast Food Distribution Ltd. in Tottenham were sacked for joining the T&G.
JJ FOODS STRIKE
Dinner ladies may strike
A group of dinner ladies based in Hackney who claim they are being underpaid are threatening strike action.
The cooks and catering assistants based at 27 schools in the London borough are currently employed by contractors, but say they do not receive the same rates as those directly employed by the council.
Tube cleaners shafted by Blue Diamond
A £20 million contract to clean London Underground stations has been terminated after it was revealed hundreds of cleaners had been underpaid.
Blue Diamond, Britain's largest independent cleaning firm, had been paying about 400 workers £5.05 per hour instead of the agreed £5.50. The three year contract, which started in October last year, was for cleaning the District, Circle, Metropolitan, Hammersmith and City and East London lines.
Heathrow: Three day strike at Terminal 5
Construction workers for Laing O'Rourke at the Heathrow Terminal 5 site are likely to begin a three day strike from Tuesday morning at 6.45 until the same time Friday morning over their ongoing pay dispute.
Workers have rejected Laing's offer of 67p/hour bonuses, demanding the £1 awarded to other workers on the site some time ago.
An overtime ban has been in force since 28th January. This is the most recent of a series of strikes at Terminal 5, and will be a joint action by members of the GMB, TGWU and UCATT unions.
BACKGROUND
* Heathrow building workers set to strike again
Heathrow building workers set to strike again
A second strike by workers building Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport looks set to go ahead.
On Tuesday, employers Laing O'Rourke offered scaffolders and labourers an extra 67p an hour in bonus pay - short of union members' call for £1 an hour.
But GMB and Transport and General Workers' Union said until members are balloted, the strike will take place.
Hundreds are expected to walk out on Friday and Monday for the second time.
The GMB stated:
Tesco fuel drivers to strike over jobs
Transport workers delivering fuel to Tesco forecourts are to stage a two-day strike in a row over jobs.
The Transport and General Workers Union said drivers based at Purfleet in Essex, Avonmouth and Cardiff will walk out next Wednesday and Thursday.
The 140 drivers fear their jobs, pay and conditions are under threat because of plans to transfer their employment from Wincanton to another firm, TDG.
On Thursday, TGWU spokesman Ron Webb confirmed the action would take place.
Textile workers strike in Long Eaton
The TGWU has warned that textile workers could stage further action after they walked out of work yesterday in a strike over pay.
Dozens of workers at Nylatex downed tools because they claimed they had not had a pay rise in four years and that management had not budgeted for any increase this year.
At noon, 12 workers on the morning shift walked out of the Long Eaton firm two hours before the end of their shift, and the same number of workers on the afternoon and night shifts did the same.
