Unison
Public sector workers reject pay offers
Local government workers have rejected a "pitiful" 0.5% pay offer as college staff turned down a 1% cost of living pay rise.
The offer to council workers is worth just 3p an hour to 150,000 low-paid workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Young members' officer for Wirral local government branch Lara Rowlands said: "An extra 3p an hour is nothing. We deserve a decent offer to help us survive during these difficult times.
ACAS awards 2.75% local government "pay rise"
Unions reacted with glee as Acas awarded local government workers a pay rise of just 2.75% - the tenth year in a row that local government staff have received a below inflation settlement.
Despite the ACAS offer award being significantly below the official rate of inflation (let alone the real cost of living) and just 0.3% above the employer's offer, UNISON were unable to hide their delight at the end of the dispute. The union's press release stated:
Local government unions submit derisory pay claim
UNISON, Unite and the GMB request a cost of living pay rise for council workers for 2009-10 of just 0.9%.
The unions represent more than one million council staff in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the claim covers all grades of workers in local government, from refuse collectors to teaching assistants, parks staff to librarians, and comes as local government unions and employers begin binding arbitration over last year's pay claim.
Cost of living pay increase struggles interview, 2008
An interview between Freedom newspaper and Steven Johns, libcom editor, local government worker and UNISON convenor analysing the UK pay disputes of 2008.
This year's big public sector pay disputes seemed to be gearing up for a fight, then fizzled out. What happened?
Work-to-rule on Leeds bins
Refuse collectors and street cleaners in Leeds will be taking industrial action over the Christmas period.
The GMB union said its members would be "working to rule" from 27 December, with Unison members doing the same from 29 December.
Pay: what went wrong in 2007?
Libcom's analysis of what went wrong with the industrial disputes over the rising cost of living in 2007, and how to do things better in 2008.
A 'Summer of Discontent', Gordon Brown preaching pay restraint, union leaders talking about 'co-ordinated strike action', sound familiar? It should, because exactly the same things were being said last year.
Scottish Water workers vote on industrial action
Scottish Water workers are being balloted on industrial action after the employer imposed a below inflation pay rise which had not been agreed.
The imposition of a 3% rise over 15 months – worth 2.4% over a year – ended six years of partnership working between the company and staff.
"This pay cut is simply not acceptable when inflation is rising – recently reaching 5.2% - energy prices are rising by anything up to 30% and food by 11%," said branch secretary Steve Scott.
Scottish council workers vote on new pay offer
150,000 local government workers in Scotland are being balloted to see if they accept an improved pay offer of 3% following two one-day strikes.
Members of UNISON, Unite and the GMB are being consulted on the new offer which was made after their previous "final" offer of 2.5% following the well observed industrial action.
UNISON, the largest union is recommending members reject the offer.
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%.
