Transparency & Corruption, Health, U.K., Portugal, Moldova, Armenia

Health workers around the country, many of them employed by private contractors and among the lowest paid, have had to resort to strike action to ensure they get a £1600+ (€1870) lump sum payment that was paid to most directly employed staff last year. Action has just paid off for members of UNISON and Unite in Dudley in the West Midlands where until recently their employer, Mitie, had refused the payment. UNISON members were also successful following their action in the South West against the contractor Sodexo and Wiltshire Health and Care, a company jointly owned by three NHS trusts. UNISON

Public service unions have organised one of the biggest strikes and mobilisations in Northern Ireland for many years as they try to put pressure on the UK government to stop delaying a pay offer for public service workers. The government claims that its hands are tied by the political stalemate in the province and the lack of a functioning Assembly. The unions argue that this is an excuse and that the money is available to make a pay offer immediately. EPSU affiliates UNISON, Unite, GMB and RCN are involved in the action, along with NIPSA, RCM, CSP, SoR, BDA as well as the teaching unions

In a long-running dispute over pay, the BMA doctors’ union has launched a six-day strike involving junior doctors – the occupational category that covers a wide range of qualified doctors and consultants. The union is seeking a deal which will compensate for the 26% decline in real pay for junior doctors since 2008. The strike began on 3 January and will be the single, longest strike action in the history of the National Health Service. Meanwhile, the RCN nurses’ union is maintaining its dispute over pay from last year and has strongly criticised the health ministry for a delay in beginning

Members of the STAL local government union are mobilising for a busy end to the year with a series of actions to push for improved pay and conditions. In Coimbra there is a long-running strike related to special payments for workers in municipal swimming pools while transport workers are demanding decent facilities for drivers and are on strike on 14-15 December. Municipal workers in Almada will mobilise on 21 December over pay and the cost of living while waste workers take action on 22, 23 and 26 December in Oeiras against unilateral changes to shifts and working time. Finally, workers at

The UNISON trade union has secured upgrading and back pay for 60 healthcare assistants employed in accident and emergency services at the Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust in North East England. This is part of the union’s national campaign to secure the appropriate grading for workers on band two of the national pay scale, but who have been undertaking clinical duties falling under band three. In this case the workers are set to receive around £3,000 (€3.500 in back pay). Managers at the Trust have also agreed to enter negotiations with UNISON in the new year aimed at re

Both the SINTAP and STAL unions have expressed discontent with the pay increase on offer for public service workers in 2024. The overall wage bill will rise by over 5% with increases ranging from 3% to over 6% depending on position in the pay scale. The two unions argue that this level of increase will not compensate for the recent loss of purchasing power because of higher inflation. STAL estimates a 5.1% fall in real terms in 2022-23 alone. SINTAP has called for a re-opening of negotiations while STAL has called a national strike for 27 October. The strike, also supported by the Frente Comum

Members of the UNISON, Unite, GMB and RCM trade unions joined five other unions in coordinated strike action over pay on 21 and 22 September. Workers in the province are frustrated by the low level of pay offered to civil service workers, the complete lack of a pay offer in the health service and the continuing problems with staffing shortages. The unions are particularly frustrated about the fact that many public service workers in England, Scotland and Wales have aleady accepted pay offers and that the pay gap between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK is increasing. The ETUC sent a

While some of the major disputes in public services have been or are being resolved, several significant strikes and protests over pay are still taking place. Various groups of non-teaching staff in schools, colleges and universities are all involved in action. Workers in colleges in Scotland have a rolling campaign of action while those in schools, organised by UNISON, Unite and GMB are planning strikes at the end of September. Non-teaching staff in universities in England and Wales will also walk out at different times in September and the beginning of October. Other disputes involve

Although the pay deal covering most workers in the national health service in England has been accepted, this does not cover all groups and not all unions are happy with the deal. The result of the most recent ballot by the RCN nursing union delivered an 85% vote in favour of further industrial action but the restrictive rules on turnout imposed in UK legislation mean that any action would be illegal. However, members of the Unite trade union in different parts of the health service are still taking action while junior doctors and consultants, covered by different pay arrangements are also

Strike action could be on the cards across local government in England and Wales as members of the main trade unions – UNISON, GMB and Unite – have rejected the £1925 (€2215) flat-rate pay offer. Meanwhile, action over pay is continuing in the National Health Service in England where Unite is continuing its campaign to get pay negotiations re-opened with targeted strike action in hospitals and the ambulance service. The RCN nursing union is balloting its members in England over further action while RCN members in Wales have also rejected the separate pay offer there. In central government, PCS

The campaign of industrial action over pay, jobs and pensions by the PCS trade union is set to continue following a new strike ballot. The union managed to secure reach the threshold required for public sector strike action in 106 government departments and agencies. In Scotland, with separate negotiations on pay, PCS members have accepted an increased pay offer delivering a total increase of at least £2200 (€2535) for all staff earning £36000 (€41455) or less. The guarantee of no compulsory redundancy for all staff is extended to 31 March 2025 and there is a commitment to review the lowest

The long-running industrial action in central government sees another national strike on 28 April with the PCS union expecting 133,000 civil servants in 132 departments to walk out. This is the third full national mobilisation in a campaign over pay, jobs and pensions that began last year and has involved targeted action in a wide range of departments and agencies. In a separate action members of PCS, Unite and UNISON at the Care Quality Commission, the body that monitors health and care services, took a day’s action on 17 April over pay, following a campaign of action short of a strike. The