U.K.
Employees of the multinational contractors Aramark and ISS are continuing their strike action at the head office of the government's Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in London. The latest five-day action by catering, cleaning, security and portering staff is to put pressure on both the contractors and the government department to pay the £10.55 an hour (EUR 11.55) living wage for London. EPSU sent a solidarity message.
Workers employed by the Aramark outsourcing company at the government's Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) have won their campaign to be paid a living wage. After two months of strike action the company agreed to pay a minimum of GBP 10.55 an hour (EUR 11.75) and also to improve holiday entitlement and sickness benefit. Negotiations covering other workers at BEIS employed by the ISS multinational are still underway.
Public service unions are fighting for better pay from outsourcing companies and to stop further outsourcing. Members of the PCS civil service union are continuing their long-running strike to get outsourcers Aramark and ISS to pay the living wage. They are calling on government intervention to resolve the dispute. Meanwhile health workers in Bradford in the north east are threatening an all-out strike in protest at plans to transfer them to a wholly-owned subsidiary rather than retain them as direct employees of the National Health Service.
Public services union Unison reports further successes in ensuring that outsourced workers are paid at least the living wage as opposed to being stuck on the lower official minimum wage. The living wage is calculated on the basis of the cost of living and there are different rates across the country. The new rate in London is £8.55 (€10.50) compared to the national minimum wage for adult workers (21 and over) of £6.19 (€7.60) an hour. [Read more at > Unison->http://www.unison.org.uk/news/news_view.asp?did=8265] [And at > Unison->http://www.unison.org.uk/news/news_view.asp?did=8259] [And at >