Personnel Today monitors the latest developments concerning major industrial action in different sectors, outlining who is on strike and when, whether pay offers are being accepted, and the results of trade union members’ ballots.
Who is on strike and when?
Aviation
Border security
Civil servants
Doctors
Further education
Nurses
Radiographers
Rail
Retail and distribution
Teachers
Universities
Rail strikes are back on the timetable as train drivers’ union Aslef announced another rolling strike across 16 train operating companies for three days in early May.
Most other strike action across the UK has simmered down with senior doctors in England having accepted a revised pay offer from the government.
Consultants and SAS doctors in Wales had scheduled to walk out from 16-18 April, but the Welsh government announced on 9 April that it had agreed with the British Medical Association to suspend strikes to allow negotiations to take place for all NHS doctors, including junior doctors.
Junior doctors’ strikes took place in Wales on 25-29 March and in Northern Ireland on 6-7 March 2024; their colleagues in England last walked out on 24-28 February.
The rail strikes were seen as a litmus test for the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act 2023 which has now become law, forcing trade unions to adhere to minimum service levels set by the government following consultations in rail, ambulance and border security.
The minimum service level for rail was set at 40%, but only one train operator played with the idea of using the new rules. Aslef announced a further five-day strike at LNER when it showed signs of issuing work notices to its train drivers, but cancelled the additional action when LNER informed the union it would not impose minimum service levels.
The Labour Party has pledged to repeal what has been nicknamed the “anti-strikes act”, together with the Trade Union Act 2016, which introduced longer notice periods for industrial action, a six-month expiry deadline for ballot mandates, and higher ballot thresholds for public services.
Industrial action in fire, health, education, transport, border security and nuclear decommissioning sectors require the support of at least 40% of all those entitled to vote in the relevant ballot and at least a 50% turnout in order to be valid.
Finding cover for striking workers is now much harder. Since August 2023, employers are no longer able to engage agency workers to cover striking employees, following a judgment by the High Court. The court ruled on 13 July that it was unlawful for the government to repeal laws last summer banning employers from using agency workers to cover for staff, but since then the government has renewed its plans with a fresh consultation to repeal the ban.
Here, we provide an overview of all major industrial action across the UK, including strike dates, ballots and pay offers…
Last updated: 25 April 2024, 2:00pm
HEALTHCARE
Doctors
Junior doctors
In England, after the British Medical Association (BMA) and the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) held four days of strike action from 24-28 February 2024, the BMA has said “now is the moment” for the government to come forward with a credible offer on pay for junior doctors.
Junior doctor members of the BMA in England have voted to extended their strike mandate for another six months. It will now expire on 19 September 2024. For the first time, junior doctors also approved action short of a strike (ASOS).
HCSA members’ strike mandate runs until June 2024. Junior doctors, members of both the BMA and HCSA previously went on strike on 3-9 January 2024, 20-23 December 2023, 2-4 October, when BMA consultants also took industrial action, 20-22 September, 11-15 August, 13-18 July, 14-17 June, 11-15 April and 13-16 March 2023.
Pay vs inflation
Junior doctors are demanding their pay be restored to 2008 levels, potentially meaning around a 35% pay increase, although more recent reports have suggested that the BMA would consider pay gradually being restored over several years.
The government accepted the pay review body’s recommendation of 6.5% for 2023-24, which was imposed in September 2023.
BMA Cymru Wales rejected a 2023-24 pay offer of 5% – below the pay review body’s recommended 6.5%. Its junior doctors held a 72-hour walkout from 21-24 February and a 96-hour strike from 25-29 March.
On 9 April 2024, the Welsh government announced that it was entering negotiations with the BMA for all NHS doctors. Planned industrial action is suspended during the negotiations.
First minister Vaughan Gething said: “We recognise the strength of feeling among BMA members and that industrial action is never taken lightly. This is a government that listens and engages to find solutions. I prioritised a meeting with the BMA directly alongside the cabinet secretary for health to reinforce our commitment to that partnership approach.
“We currently face the most severe financial situation in the devolution era which makes our task far harder. Despite this backdrop, we have worked to identify a way forward that I hope will lead to the successful resolution of this dispute and ensure that doctors can return to work in NHS Wales.”
Dr Oba Babs Osibodu and Dr Peter Fahey, co-chairs of the BMA’s Welsh junior doctors committee, said: “This is a significant step forward. It is sad that we had to take industrial action to get here, but we are proud of members for demonstrating their resolve in pursuit of a fair deal for the profession.
“Whilst we are optimistic and hope to quickly resolve our dispute, we remain steadfast in achieving pay restoration. Until we reach a deal, nothing is off the table. We will continue to work hard to reach an offer that is credible to put to members who will ultimately have the final say.”
In Scotland, members of the BMA and the HCSA accepted the government’s latest pay offer backdated to April 2023. The Scottish government offered a pay uplift in 2023-24 of 12.4%. On top of the 4.5% pay award already made for 2022-23, it takes the package over two years to a 17.5% aggregated pay increase.
In Northern Ireland, BMA junior doctor members voted 97.6% in favour of strike action, and a 24-hour strike took place on 6-7 March 2024.
Consultants
The British Medical Association, Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association announced the end of their year-long pay dispute with the government on 5 April 2024 after an improved pay offer for NHS consultants in England was made in early March. The BMA said its members in England voted in favour by 83%, describing the offer as an improvement on one rejected earlier this year. It includes changes to the review body on doctors’ and dentists’ remuneration (DDRB).
Both unions recommended their members accept the improved offer in electronic ballots closing on 3 April. The deal builds on changes to the consultant pay scale in the original offer and now includes a 2.85% (£3,000) uplift for those who have been consultants between four and seven years. Under the original offer in November 2023, these doctors received no additional uplift on top of the 6% recommended by the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB) last summer. There are also reforms of the DDRB included in the offer.
Consultants in England last went on strike on 2-4 October. The three days of strike action coincided with a walkout by junior doctors. The action followed strikes by consultants that took place on 24-26 August and 19-20 September.
In November, the HCSA announced that its consultant and SAS members had voted 77% in favour of strike action. The ballot on strike action saw 76.9% vote in favour and 23.1% against.
In Wales, BMA Cymru Wales has rejected a 2023-24 pay offer of 5% – below the DDRB-recommend 6.5%. Consultant doctors have voted in favour of strike action, the first of which was scheduled for 48 hours from 7:00am on 16 April to 18 April. This action has now been suspended to allow for negotiations (see junior doctors).
Dr Stephen Kelly, chair of BMA Cymru Wales’ Consultants committee said: “The Welsh Government’s recent efforts to reach an end to the pay dispute are encouraging and so we have called off our planned strike for now whilst we allow time and space for negotiations to take place.
“We’re hopeful that we can reach a deal that sufficiently addresses years of erosion to our pay to help retain senior doctors in Wales but remain ready to strike if we’re not able to do so during negotiations.”
In Scotland, the BMA warned in late March 2024 that was “increasingly clear” the Scottish Government would only negotiate once a formal dispute was opened and strike action was threatened.
Consultant doctors in Northern Ireland are being balloted on industrial action, the BMA has announced, with the vote closing on 10 June 2024. The decision to move to a formal dispute and balloting members was taken following an indicative ballot of members where 77% of consultants who responded said they were willing to take industrial action.
SAS doctors
The BMA has rejected a pay offer for specialist, associate specialist and specialty (SAS) doctors in England, following a majority no vote in a membership referendum.
In a referendum of BMA SAS members, which took place between 29 January and 28 February, 62.3% rejected the offer. The BMA’s SAS Committee has signalled to ministers that it is willing to continue talks in order for the government to put forward an improved proposal that may be acceptable to members.
HCSA SAS members have also rejected the pay offer.
BMA Cymru Wales has rejected a 2023-24 pay offer of 5% – below the DDRB-recommend 6.5%. SAS doctors have voted in favour of strike action, the first of which was scheduled for 48 hours from 7:00am on 16 April to 18 April. This action has now been suspended to allow for negotiations (see junior doctors).
Dr Ali Nazir, chair of BMA Cymru Wales’ SAS doctor committee said:
“As a committee, we felt that this latest development goes someway to understanding the strength of feeling of our members. We will work hard to reach a settlement that sufficiently meets the expectation of our colleagues who have faced real terms pay cuts of up to a third since 2008-09.”
Ninety-four per cent of SAS doctors cast their ballots in favour of an industrial action mandate that will last until September 2024.
General practitioners
On 17 April, GP leaders at the BMA wrote to NHS England to say they are entering into a dispute over changes to the general medical services (GMS) contract for 2024-25. The doctors’ union is warning that industrial action could be on the horizon unless urgent improvements are made.
In the letter, Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, chair of the BMA GPs committee, said the decision came after almost 100% of more than 19,000 GPs and GP registrars who voted in a referendum said they did not accept the 2024-25 GMS Contract which was imposed on 1 April 2024.
One of the main areas of concern is the ongoing difficulties GPs have in recruiting more family doctors. Practices already have access to funding that lets them hire more staff, but not GPs. The BMA says the contract could have changed this.
Bramall-Stainer said: “GPs and their patients want the same thing. We want patients to be able to see their family doctor, quickly and easily, in a practice that is local to them, well-staffed and resourced, and safe.
“This contract imposition will do untold damage to our profession, making it harder for surgeries to stay open and give the care our patients need. We don’t want to take any kind of industrial action and hope it can be avoided, but the further NHS England and the government get from working with us on solutions, the closer GPs get to taking action.”
Nurses
In England, the NHS pay deal has been accepted by the NHS Staff Council, with two of the main unions accepting the deal but notably the Royal College of Nursing rejecting it. The RCN announced on 27 June 2023 that its national strike ballot in England had failed to reach the 50% threshold required. Unlike its previous strike mandate, the ballot was organised nationally across England.
This “aggregated” ballot meant the legal threshold applied just once to the entire voting membership as opposed to each NHS employer. The RCN said it did this as it would have allowed for an even larger walkout than RCN members have staged previously. Of those who did vote, 84% – more than 100,000 nurses – voted in favour of strike action.
Three months after the RCN’s first-ever day of strike action in England, members rejected the government offer of a one-off payment for 2022-23 worth between £1,655 and £3,789 and a 5% consolidated pay increase for 2023-24. That pay award was imposed regardless.
Members of Unison and the GMB accepted the offer, but Unite members also rejected it with 52% voting against it.
Scotland
Members of the RCN in Scotland accepted the pay offer from the Scottish government. The RCN and GMB unions’ members accepted a deal for a 6.5% pay rise from April 2023 as well as a 7.5% increase for 2022-23.
Wales
RCN Wales members narrowly voted in favour (52%) of the Welsh government’s pay offer, which includes various non-pay elements regarding the use of agency staff, flexible working, advanced rostering, on-call standby, recruitment and retention bonuses, and additional hours. The vote closed on 31 August 2023. This acceptance means that the RCN is no longer in dispute with the Welsh government regarding the pay awards for 2022-23 and 2023-24. Unite and GMB members in Wales also narrowly accepted the Welsh pay offer.
Northern Ireland
RCN members have rejected the pay offer tabled in February 2024, but other health unions have accepted it. Unite, Unison and trade unions representing midwives, radiographers and physiotherapists voted to accept.
Following the restoration of the Northern Ireland Executive, health workers in NI were offered a 5% pay increase and lump sum of £1,505 for 2023-24 backdated to April 2023.
Radiographers
Members of the Society of Radiographers (SoR) walked out at 37 trusts for 24 hours on 3-4 October 2023 after pay talks with the government broke down, but have not walked out since.
In Wales, the SoR is running a consultative ballot on a fresh pay offer from the Welsh government, which it is recommending members accept.
SoR members in Northern Ireland have accepted a pay offer tabled in February 2024.
A large majority of SoR members in Scotland decided to accept their latest pay offer, with 88% voting yes in the consultative survey.
EDUCATION
Teachers and schools
England
Teachers in England did not go on strike in the autumn 2023 term after all four teaching unions accepted the government’s pay deal for 2023-24.
On 13 July, Rishi Sunak announced that the government would accept the pay recommendations made by the School Teachers’ Review Body (STRB) and the four teaching unions – the National Education Union (NEU), the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) and the NASUWT – accepted the deal. For 2022-23, the government offered teachers a £1,000 lump sum payment and a 4.3% rise for most teachers for 2023-24. This is on top of a 5% rise received in September 2022.
Wales
Seventy-three per cent of NEU teacher members in Wales who responded to the union’s consultation voted to accept a pay offer from the Welsh Government, ending their dispute.
Members of NAHT Cymru also accepted a new workload agreement alongside the pay offer and additional funding.
Scotland
The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS), the nation’s main teachers’ union, is calling for good faith negotiations from employers and the Scottish government and the delivery of a fair agreement by the due settlement date of 1 August 2024.
The teachers’ side of the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers, which has representatives from four unions (the EIS, NASUWT, Community and the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association), has submitted a pay claim of 6.5% for 2024-25, across all career grades “without differentiation or discrimination”, to Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and the Scottish government.
The unions say the pay claim is slightly above the current rate of inflation, and is seen as a modest step towards restoring teachers’ real-terms pay, as set out in the Teaching Profession for the 21st Century agreement in 2001.
Last year, EIS members voted to accept a pay offer to end its long-running series of strikes. They accepted a 7% rise backdated to April 2022, a further 5% in April 2023 and 2% in January 2024.
Northern Ireland
In March 2024, teaching unions in Northern Ireland recommended their members accept a breakthrough pay offer following the re-establishment of the Northern Ireland Executive. Five unions in the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council (NITC), the NEU, NASUWT, NAHT, Ulster Teachers Union (UTU) and the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO), put the offer to their members.
At a meeting of the Teachers’ Negotiating Committee on 9 April 2024, the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council formally accepted Department of Education’s offer for 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24.
The pay offer, announced on 11 March 2024, includes a new starting salary of £30,000 from September 2023, made possible by reorganising the lower end of the pay scale. Teachers and school leaders on all other points will receive a consolidated pay award equating to a cumulative total of 10.4% plus a consolidated £1000. The award is based on an increase of 1% for 2021-22, 5% for 2022-23 and 4.1% plus £1000 for 2023-24.
Industrial action
Higher education
On 6 November, the University and College Union (UCU) failed to secure a new strike mandate following a re-ballot of its members across the UK. While 68% of members at 140 universities voted in favour of strike action, the turnout was 43%, short of the required participation threshold.
The UCU and the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) held three sets of talks in July but failed to come to any agreement in the 2023-24 pay round.
The UCU had announced that staff at 140 universities were to go on strike during freshers’ week on 25-29 September, but most branches did not take part. UCU announced in September that only 42 universities would face industrial action.
UCU withdrew its marking and assessment boycott in September 2023. The UCU was asking for RPI plus 2%. The UCEA has said this “is far beyond the sector’s affordability”. It argues that this year’s pay uplift of 5-8% was already “at the very edge of its mandate” and that the award was delivered six months early.
Some localised strike action, ballots for strike action and marking boycotts, mainly in relation to job cuts are taking place by the UCU at universities including Kent, Sheffield Hallam, Goldsmiths, Winchester, Northumbria and Portsmouth.
Further education
At the end of November 2023, the University and College Union (UCU) welcomed pay deals of up to 10% that its members have voted to accept at 60 college employers in England.
UCU members at five colleges in Cleveland, Redcar and Stockton-on-Tees have renewed their mandate, with 94% of members voting for strike action in a long-running dispute over the 2022-23 pay award. It comes after staff took six days of strike action and rejected the employer Education Training Collective’s (ETC) latest offer which did not improve pay but was limited to an extra two “wellbeing days”, and additional points on pay scales from 1 August 2024. ETC has offered a increase 3% for 2022-23, with an additional 1% from May 2023.
In Scotland, college lecturers, members of the Educational Institute of Scotland’s Further Education Lecturers Association (EIS-FELA), have voted in favour of industrial action with 85% voting in favour of action short of strike (ASOS) in support of a campaign for a fair pay settlement, while 77% supported strike action.
Rolling strikes begin on 16 April 2024 for three weeks until 3 May with each college affected one day per week. Full details of strike dates and college locations are available here.
In February, EIS-FELA wrote to college employers and the Scottish government expressing outrage at threats to withhold pay during ASOS, which includes lecturers withholding results.
More than 2,000 support staff, members of Unison, including librarians, IT specialists, administrators, cleaners, canteen workers and estate management staff, at 21 colleges in Scotland went on strike on 29 February in a row over pay and jobs.
In Northern Ireland, lecturer members of the NASUWT have voted to reject a pay offer of 5% plus an unconsolidated payment of £1500. Eighty-seven per cent voted against it on a turnout of 63%; 71% said they were prepared to take further strike action and 93% said they were prepared to take further action short of strike.
RAIL WORKERS
Railways
Aslef strike dates 2024
Aslef has announced another round of rolling strikes between 7 and 9 May 2024 at 16 train operating companies. The train drivers’ union’s members last walked out from 5-8 April.
There will also be a six-day overtime ban in place, with members refusing to work rest days on 6-11 May.
This follows one-day strikes on 1 March at two government-owned train operating companies – LNER and Northern – for their “persistent failure to comply with existing agreements”. Aslef has held another strike on LNER on 20 April and an non-contractual overtime ban from 19-21 April.
On 18 April 2024, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) announced it had rejected a below-inflation 2024 pay offer from Network Rail of 3.5%. The union said the benchmark measure of inflation used for negotiations is the November RPI figure which was 5.3 per cent.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “Network Rail is once again making an offer that represents a cut in living standards as pay is not keeping up with the rising costs of rent, mortgages, energy, food, and other essentials. As a result, RMT is calling for urgent fresh negotiations and a much-improved offer for this year.”
On 30 November 2023, the RMT announced that its members had voted to accept a pay deal in the long-running dispute with train operating companies across the UK. Across 15 rail companies, represented by the Rail Delivery Group, an average of 89.6% of RMT members voted in favour, on an aggregated turnout of 79%.
The Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) accepted a revised offer from the Rail Delivery Group, representing 14 train operating companies, and cancelled its industrial action.
TSSA held further strike action at ScotRail in a long-running dispute over on-call working arrangements. Strikes took place on 30-31 March for operations team managers in the latest stage of a dispute going back to late 2021. Similar action took place in December 2023.
Scotrail workers are also being balloted for strike action over driver-only operated trains, the RMT has announced. More than 100 conductors affected by Scotrail’s plans are being balloted.
In Northern Ireland, the GMB, Unite and SIPTU unions confirmed that their members have voted to reject as inadequate a pay offer made by Translink. The increase would have offered workers a 5% increase plus a non-consolidated payment of £1,500 for the 2023-2024 financial year.
Bus and rail workers voted with majorities of approximately 70% to reject the pay offer. Following the ballot result, the unions are holding fresh talks with Translink management to seek a resolution to the dispute.
Transport for London
TSSA has confirmed that strike action at London Underground by members working as customer service managers will go ahead this week after the company failed to compromise in crunch talks.
Walkouts took place on 10 April 2024, and also 11 April for any members whose shift commenced the day before.
Train drivers’ union Aslef has cancelled its strikes on London Underground after two days of productive talks with management facilitated by Acas. Strikes had been scheduled for 8 April and 4 May 2024.
On 7 January 2024, the RMT announced that it was calling off the remaining strikes scheduled for 5-11 January on the London Underground following a breakthrough in talks with Transport for London. The move came as London Mayor Sadiq Khan was understood to have found £30m to fund the deal, but the new money has angered other rail unions.
The RMT had already secured a further six-month mandate for strike action on London Underground in a long-running dispute over jobs, conditions and pensions, with 95% of members having voted ‘yes’ on a 54% turnout and 52% of all those who were balloted voted ‘yes.’
RMT won a pay rise for London Overground staff working for Arriva Rail London. Workers voted in favour of accepting the latest offer in a referendum ending their pay dispute – all planned strike action has been cancelled.
CIVIL SERVICE
On 7 March 2024 the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) announced a ballot of 160,000 civil servants in 171 government departments and public bodies after the government failed to meet its demands over pay, pensions justice and job protection. The vote closes on 13 May 2024.
Among the departments that will be affected are all government departments including the Cabinet Office, Acas, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, and the Supreme Court.
Among the union’s demands are an inflation-proofed increase plus a degree of pay restoration and pay equality across departments. The union is seeking a living wage of £15 per hour minimum; London weighting of £5,000 minimum; a minimum 35 days’ annual leave and a shortening of the working week. It also wants to agree on measures to deal with low pay, particularly the impact of statutory rises in the national minimum wage eradicating the civil service grading structure at the three most junior grades.
PCS members took more strike action at The Pensions Regulator (TPR) from 28 February to 1 March and 4-6 March 2024. But strikes scheduled for 13-15 and 18-20 March were suspended after TPR agreed to enter into meaningful negotiations.
PCS members have walked out for more than 50 days at TPR over the past year. PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “PCS welcomes the commitment shown by TPR to get back round the table with our negotiators. We look forward to making genuine progress towards an agreed settlement that will see our members rewarded fairly for their work.”
The dispute is on the imposition of a 3% pay settlement and TPR’s refusal to engage further with the union. On 1 November 2023, PCS announced that 95.7% of its members working for TPR in Brighton had voted in favour of further industrial action. Turnout was 75%.
The FDA has reached an agreement with the Cabinet Office on a significant new pay offer for the Civil Service Fast Stream. The deal will see 68% of FDA Fast Stream members receive close to or over 10% in the first year, and 75% see close to or over 10% in the second year of the deal. It is currently balloting members on the offer, with a recommendation to accept.
More than 1,000 Jobcentre security guards, members of the GMB union who are employed by G4S under contract to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are walking out on 7-8, 13, 20 and 28-29 May over a below-inflation pay offer.
PCS members working in 700 Jobcentres across the UK working on the DWP security contract are being be balloted from 1-15 May for strike action over pay. They are seeking a pay rise for all 200 members employed by G4S Solutions, as well as reinstating the pay differential between grades because supervisors currently earn just one penny more an hour than the security guards they oversee.
Border security
The PCS union has announced that a strike due to take place by more than 600 Border Force officers at Heathrow Airport from 11-14 April has been suspended.
Members of PCS, who carry out immigration controls and passport checks, had voted to take strike action over proposed changes to rosters and their working conditions. They voted by 89.7% in favour of strike action and 94.4% for action short of a strike.
In a PCS strike notice issued to the Home Office on 28 March of its intention to induce members to strike, PCS outlined which Border Force roles would be participating. Following the Home Office’s desire for clarification and in a spirit of collaboration, PCS has suspended the planned strikes.
If a strike were to go ahead, the Home Office could impose minimum service levels on the Border Force after new regulations were enacted in December 2023.
PCS is currently challenging the legislation in the courts. PCS has said it will vigorously defend our members’ right to strike if ministers try to impose a work notice.
PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “This is a significant move on the part of PCS that demonstrates a genuine will to work constructively in devising a new roster system that is acceptable to our members, particularly those with disabilities or those with caring responsibilities.
“This does not end the dispute. It is an opportunity for the Home Office to demonstrate they are genuinely seeking a resolution.”
Retail and distribution
Asda
Industrial unrest at supermarket giant Asda has spread to a fourth store, with workers – members of the GMB union – voting in favour of industrial action at Brighton’s Hollingbury superstore.
Nearly 200 workers at Asda’s Lowestoft branch are scheduled to strike for 48 hours on 10-11 May 2024 after a majority of 87% voted for industrial action, on an 80% turnout.
Keith Dixon, GMB regional organiser, said: “GMB members used to be proud to work for Asda, but this once great supermarket is being driven into the ground. Standards across stores are falling – there are thousands of health and safety breaches, including blocked fire exits, fire routes, and fire extinguishers, along with faulty fire alarm systems.
“Meanwhile an estimated eight million worker hours have been cut across Asda stores, so things are only going to get worse. Asda workers have had enough and are flexing their industrial muscle to make bosses do something about it.”
Around 170 workers in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, walked out on 29-30 March 2024. The strike has been triggered by cuts to hours and “an increase in a bullying management culture”. Also, around 100 GMB members went on strike at Asda in Gosport, Hampshire, in February.
In March 2024, almost 10,000 Asda employees received incorrect payslips due to an IT error, with some missing up to two weeks’ wages. An internal memo to store managers said that the issue relates to a holiday pay calculation error which emerged after the retailer moved to a new payroll system.
Amazon
Workers downed tools at two Amazon sites in March. Members of the GMB union at the Coventry fulfilment centre and the new flagship facility in Birmingham took strike action on 19-20 March and 27-28 March respectively.
GMB members held strikes at Amazon’s Coventry warehouse, involving most recently around 1,000 workers, for more than days during 2023. Ninety-nine per cent of the distribution workers who took part in the ballot voted in favour of extending the strike mandate earlier this year, on a turnout of 54%.
Amazon could be forced to recognise a trade union for the first time in the UK, after the GMB submitted a second formal bid to the body that regulates collective bargaining between workers and employers. The Central Arbitration Committee can force employers to recognise a trade union if more than 50% of the workforce are members.
After more than a year of industrial action, GMB says its membership at the Amazon UK Services’ Coventry fulfilment centre has grown significantly and the union is “confident of surpassing the legal threshold for recognition”.
On 26 April 2024 the GMB announced it was taking legal action via employment tribunal to prevent what it alleged were attempts by Amazon to dissuade people from joining the union or into cancelling their membership. Company bosses were said to have erected QR codes in Amazon fulfilment centres which generated an email to the union’s membership department requesting that membership is cancelled. The GMB also accused Amazon managers of forcing workers to attend hour long anti-union seminars to listen to anti-union messages on work time.
In June 2023, the GMB union withdrew its first CAC application for recognition at Amazon’s Coventry warehouse, accusing the retail giant of employing “dirty tricks” to ensure the union could not secure the necessary membership threshold.
Morrisons
Approximately 1,000 Unite members working as warehouse stock controllers, cooks, canteen staff and administrators are being balloted for strike action in a dispute over pensions pay. Staff are based in warehouses in Cheshire and Wakefield and perform essential roles that ensure lorries are loaded and shelves are filled in the nearly 500 supermarkets and convenience stores run by Morrisons.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite is focused on our members’ jobs, pay and conditions and these unmerited changes to workers’ pensions will leave our members worse off every month. Unite will not stand for such behaviour from any employer, let alone one like Morrisons who is raking in massive profits in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis. Its flagrant profiteering and then cutting our members’ take-home pay is a disgrace.”
Aviation
Nearly 800 members of Unite are taking part in a week of strike action beginning 7-13 May at Heathrow Airport. The workers are in dispute over the outsourcing of their roles on 1 June in passenger services, trolley operations and campus security.
Unite members at AFS, an airline refuelling company, are also striking on 4-6 May.
Every effort is made to keep this article up to date with the latest developments.
Last updated: 25 April 2024, 2:00pm
Employee relations opportunities on Personnel Today
Browse more Employee Relations jobs