Wales
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%.
Youth workers say no to pay cuts
Youth and community workers for local councils have rejected the employers offer of a below inflation pay "rise" of 2.45%.
The offer is for employees on JNC pay and conditions, which includes workers in youth clubs and Connexions advisers, and was rejected by both UNISON and the youth workers' branch of Unite, the CYWU.
UNISON has launched a campaign for fair pay for youth and community workers, while the CYWU is to ballot its members for industrial action, asking:
Half a million council workers strike over pay
Local government workers across England, Northern Ireland and Wales struck for two days alongside civil servants against sub-inflation pay rises.
More than 500,000 workers were on strike on July 16 and 17, bringing disruption to schools, town halls, refuse collections and libraries throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
"This has been a fantastic response from our members," said UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis. "Local government workers have shown their anger and resentment towards this pay offer.
Cardiff landfill site workers walkout
Rubbish lorries were unable to dump their waste at Cardiff’s biggest tip this morning, following a walkout by workers.
The lorries were turning up at the site at Lamby Way only to find the weigh bridge blocked by workers. The workers took the action in support of two members of staff who had been disciplined. One of the men has now been moved to another job by management, amounting to a demotion, and it is this move which sparked the walk out.
Wales: Paramedics in unofficial overtime ban
Ambulance crews covering south east Wales are refusing to work any overtime for four weeks to highlight staff shortages in the service.
The BBC reported that paramedics say they are worried that patient safety is being compromised because the service is dependant on their willingness to work extra hours.
It is understood hundreds of staff in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan will take part in the unofficial action.
The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust said it was trying to address concerns.
300-strong wildcat in Milford Haven ends
Workers at South Hook LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) have gone back to work following a 26-hour stoppage in support of a colleague who claims to have suffered from racial abuse on site.
The Western Telegraph reports:
Three hundred men working for Shaw stopped working at 10 am on Thursday, and marched on the offices of main contractors Chicago Bridge and Iron. The men came out in support of fellow worker, Omar Mohamed, who alleges that he has suffered racial harassment from workers from another company sub contracting to CB&I.
1831: Merthyr Tydfil uprising
In 1831, Merthyr Tydfil, iron workers struck against redundancies, rising prices and bailiffs, leading to several thousand workers involved in riots that led to bloody suppression by troops and mass arrests.
Two articles on the riots are included, by local historian Bob Saunders, and an excerpt from the Newgate Calendar:
THE MERTHYR RISING 1831
Bob Saunders
BACKGROUND
John, Augustus, 1878-1961
A biography of British artist and Bohemian Augustus John, with particular focus on his connection with the anarchist movement.
Augustus John and the Anarchists
Augustus John has often been cited as one of a few from the British artistic and intellectual milieu to have identified themselves with the anarchist movement. But Augustus John’s relationship with that movement was as ambivalent as his own life.
Selectron workers sit-in
Workers at the Selectron Cwmcarn factory in South Wales staged a sit-in yesterday upon the arrival of the company's European Vice President.
The company announced at the end of March that it would close the factory in South Wales, making 150 people redundant, many having worked there for more than 25 years.Selectron has already reduced the workforce from 700 in the past five years, and sent many contracts overseas including one last year to Singapore.
Hospital cleaners stage walk out
Cleaners and catering staff at a hospital in Neath, Wales, staged a 24-hour strike in protest yesterday at what they say is a decrease in working hours.
Staff at Neath Port Talbot Hospital, contracted by OCS Ltd, say they have been told their hours are to be cut. Officials from trade union Unison said the 140 staff affected are angry and added an independent report recommended hours should in fact be increased. But a spokesperson for OCS denied there had been a cut in working hours.
