Environment/Climate Change, South East European Energy Community, Local government, U.K.

(May 2016) Most local government workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will get pay increases of 1% this year and next year under a new two-year agreement. Lower paid workers will benefit from higher increases ranging from 1.01% to 6.6% in 2016 and from 1.3% to 3.4% in 2017. while the deal was accepted by Unison and the GMB it was rejected by members of the Unite trade union. Read more at Unison and at Unite

(September 2016) Public services union Unison organised a lobby of Parliament on 14 September, highlighting the situation of school support staff in Derby in central England who have seen their pay cut by 25%. The workers have already taken strike action and Unison is commiting national support to the workers who face a cut in annual salary from £21,000 (EUR 24500) to around £15,000 (EUR17500).

(October 2016) Over 1000 teaching assistants, Unison members employed by Derbyshire council council in central England, took another day of strike action on 6 October in their struggle to stop the council imposing pay cuts of up to 25% (see previous issue of epsucob@NEWS). This is their fourth strike during their eighth week of action.

(October 2016) School support staff employed by Derby City Council in central England took further strike action on 20-21 October in their campaign to revese cuts in salary of up to 25%. Many of the workers are teaching assistants who will only be paid for their term-time work and thus those on level two will see annual salaries fall from GBP 21000 (EUR 23500) to GBP 15000 (EUR 16800) after already having a GBP 1200 (EUR1340) allowance cut in June.

(November 2016) Teaching assistants in County Durham in North-East England have taken strike action for the second time in protest at the local authority's decision to put them on term-time only contracts. This means workers facing pay cuts of up to 23%. Following the two-day action on 23 and 24 November the teaching assistants will continue their industrial action by working strictly to contract. Some teaching assistants are members of the GMB union and voted earlier to accept an offer from the employers.

(January 2017) School support staff in Derbyshire in central England have been involved in two further weeks of strike action in protest at the local authority's decision to cut their pay by up to 25%. The workers, members of the UNISON trade union, took action at the end of last year in a dispute that began over seven months ago (see epsucob@NEWS 14 and 15 October and November 2016).

(February 2017) Public services union UNISON continues to campaign against the pay cuts imposed on teaching assistants in Derby in central England. This week will see the union out on the streets every lunchtime to urge citizens and workers to sign a petition calling on the municipality to return to the negotiating table and to recognise the valuable work being done by this group of workers. The week-long action coincides with the general week of campaigning in support of trade unions organised by the TUC confederation.

(March 2017) The latest government budget has been criticised by the TUC confederation and public service trade unions for offering nothing to public service workers who have seen their pay frozen or falling in real terms over the past 10 years. The PCS civil service union is organising a day of protest on 31 March and is calling for a 5% pay increase or £1200 a year (€1380) whichever is greater.

(May 2017) The UNISON public services union warns of a recruitment crisis in public services if public sector pay restraint is continued. UNISON quotes a new report from the independent Insitute of Fiscal Studies which say that if public sector pay continues to fall compared to pay in the private sector, the public sector will struggle to recruit and retain the workers it needs to deliver public services, and the quality of those services will therefore be at risk.

(July 2017) Seventeen health sector unions have come together to condemn the government's decision to impose the 1% pay gap for another year. Meanwhile, the firefighters' union has rejected a pay offer of 2% this year and 3% in 2018, saying that it fails to take account of the increasing workloads facing firefighters and workers at the Bank of England could go on strike for the first time in over 50 years unless the employer comes up with a better pay offer by the end of the month.

Public service workers across the UK have been involved in number of disputes over pay, jobs and safety. Waste workers in Birmingham and Doncaster are taking or planning action over pay and safety while cleaners at four hospitals in East London are continuting their campaign for a higher pay increase against outsourcing company Serco. Meanwhile in Sheffield members of the PCS civil service union are taking strike action in protest at the closure of a local Job Centre, part of a campaign against government proposals for closures across the country. Finally, janitors in schools across Glasgow

After the recent success of public service union UNISON in getting the courts to end the government's policy to charge workers for the right to take employment tribunal cases, UNISON and the PCS civil service union have celebrated two further court victories. UNISON's second success came in another landmark case that will effectively require employers to consult over workplace restructuring such as redundancies. The PCS victory was in a judicial review of government cuts to the civil service pension scheme which the government now has to withdraw.

Public service unions have stepped up their campaign to end the public sector pay cap for all workers following the government's decision to offer higher pay rises to police, prison officers and firefighters. The unions used the annual meeting of the Trade Union Congress to make the case that all public service workers have seen their real pay decline significantly and deserve a higher pay rise. The FBU firefighters' union has rejected the 2% pay offer arguing that it comes with too many unacceptable conditions.

A new survey published by public services union Unison exposes the pressure faced by home care workers and their precarious working conditions.Three-quarters (75%) of care workers said they had too little time to provide proper care because they are too rushed, often because employers pressure them to fit in an excessive number of visits.The report also highlights the job insecurity faced by home care workers with more than half (52%) on zero hours contracts, and more than three in five (63%) not getting paid for the time it takes to travel between care visits.