Transparency & Corruption, Health, Central government, U.K., 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

The PCS trade union is set to launch a ballot for industrial action on 18 March as a first step in a renewed campaign around pay, jobs and working conditions. The union has around 150,000 members in over 200 bargaining units across the civil service and has been successful in recent years in securing support for targeted strike action despite the strict UK ballot rules covering public services. The ballot will close on 13 May and there will be a special meeting of the PCS national executive on 15 May to consider the results. The union’s key demands include: a cost-of-living rise, with an

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

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

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

The SINDLEX trade union federation has been negotiating for three years to try to secure improvements in pay and conditions for a range occupations in the Ministry of Interior including police, prison staff, emergency workers and firefighters. The union is calling for pay commensurate with these workers’ responsibilities and competences. It also wants the government to end the moratorium on recruitment and tackle the serious understaffing that has led to pressure on remaining staff and high levels of overtime which often goes unpaid. EPSU sent a letter to the Prime Minister in support of the

PCS the main union in central government is running a ballot of members with a recommendation that the current campaign of strike action be suspended pending local negotiations on pay. The union is pleased with the results of the targeted industrial action that began last year, delivering a £1,500 non-consolidated cost-of-living payment and a concession from the government that the headline pay figure for 2023-24 will be 4.5% with an extra 0.5% for the lowest paid – more than double its originally intended figure of 2%. However, PCS wants to make sure that all agencies and departments benefit

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

The biggest campaign of industrial action in the history of the PCS trade union has won an improved pay offer from the government and concessions on redundancy and job security. After more than 300 days of targeted action and three national strikes, the union is now consulting over the government’s proposal and how it will be implemented at local level. The key elements include: a lump sum of £1500 in recognition of cost of living pressures in 2022-23, an increase in the scope for local bargaining from 2% to 4.5%, with an extra 0.5% for the lowest paid for 2023-24, and a commitment to further

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