Unison
Manchester nurses strike for Karen Reissman
Nurses today began a rolling strike after their union leader was sacked for speaking to the media.
More than 150 staff, who care for 1,000 seriously-ill psychiatric patients, are on picket lines across Manchester and say they will not return to work until senior nurse Karen Reissmann is reinstated.
The strike follows the decision of Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust bosses to sack Ms Reissmann on Monday.
UNISON back down despite vote for strike action
Despite zero concessions from employers and a vote in favour of strikes, public sector union UNISON have backed down from announcing strike action over an across the board pay cut (also known as a below inflation "pay rise").
Citing the low turnout and the close result of the ballot, the UNISON National joint council rejected industrial action by a large vote. The result stood at 51.6% in support of action, with a 24.4% turnout. However, many members did not recieve ballot papers in time - or indeed at all - as a result of the recent postal workers dispute.
700 health workers to strike in defence of their union rep
700 health workers, mainly nurses, will be out on strike again for 3 days Wednesday 31st October, Thursday 1st November and Friday 2nd November.
UNISON members who work for Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust are protesting about the ongoing suspension of their branch chair and national health executive member, Karen Reissmann.
Manchester nurses continue strikes in defence of suspended colleague
Manchester mental health UNISON members will be on strike again on Thursday 18th, Friday 19th and Monday 22nd October.
This coincides with the disciplinary hearing for their branch chair, Karen Reissmann. There will be a mass lobby of the hearing Thursday 18th October 8am, at the Trust’s headquarters (Chorlton House, 70 Manchester Rd, Chorlton, Manchester M21 9UN) where the disciplinary hearing will take place.
In a statement, UNISON said:
Unions angry at below inflation pay offer
The government is to hold down public-sector pay increases to about 2% over the next three years, provoking the fury of trade unions, which have already been threatening a "winter of discontent" unless the government relaxes pay norms in the next round of negotiations.
The pre-budget report commits the Treasury to "public pay settlements consistent with the government's achievement of the government's inflation target of 2%" and urges departments to ensure "total pay bills represent value for money and are affordable within departments' overall expenditure plans".
Midlands: health boss to get pay increase while workers face pay cut
Hospital workers in Leicestershire were shocked and outraged by the news that interim Chief Executive for the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Derek Smith, will be paid £100,000 for three months work. Meanwhile, Wolverhampton healthworkers face a pay cut.
- but they weren’t surprised.
UNISON, who represent 5,500 healthworkers in Leicestershire, described the decision to pay Mr Smith such a huge amount of money as “an insult to the commitment and dedication of ordinary healthworkers”.
NHS Trust sets date for Reissmann disciplinary hearing
Talks between UNISON and Manchester’s mental health trust broke down on Monday (Oct 1st) when the Trust announced they will hold a disciplinary hearing for Karen Reissmann, a trade union activist, in 2 weeks time.
Striking nurses lobbied their board last Thursday and were told their trust had “made approaches to Unison Regional Centre regarding ways of halting the industrial action”. When they met yesterday (Monday) UNISON regional officers were merely informed that the trust was to convene a disciplinary hearing for Karen the week beginning 15th October.
Notes on working at a sixth form college library, London 2005-2007
Between 2005-2007 a member of the libcom group worked term-time in the library at a Sixth Form College in London. This article/interview documents his attempts to organise his workplace and touches on some wider issues around working in education in the UK.
So where did you work? What was it like?
Since some of my friends are still working there, and I hope there is still some organising going on, I won't identify the college directly, but some background information would be useful.
Manchester mental health staff strike again
After a similar strike just over two weeks ago, hundreds of mental health workers in Manchester are going on strike for a second time today in a row over the suspension of union official, Karen Reissman.
Reissmann, a psychiatric nurse, was suspended in June for allegedly bringing Manchester Mental Health and Social Care Trust into disrepute.
The union Unison said she was suspended for speaking out against job cuts and government policies. The NHS trust has said it is a private employment matter. About 700 workers staged a similar three-day strike last month.
Local government unions break ranks over latest offer
Trade unions GMB and Unite have split from Unison over their response to the increased offer from local government employers for English, Welsh and Northern Irish staff.
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.
