The UK has been engulfed in a range of strike action for well over a year now, and 2024 looks to be no different.
Although some disputes were solved in time for Christmas, disagreements over pay and working conditions remain across a number of industries, with a range of strikes planned throughout January.
Tube Strikes
Despite rail workers finally ending their long-running strikes in December after accepting a pay deal, the RMT has announced that London Underground workers will be taking rolling strike action in the new year after voting by over 90 per cent against a below inflation pay offer.
Strikes will take place from the evening of Sunday 7 January through to the morning of Friday 12 January.
Tfl has said bus, DLR, London Overground and Elizabeth line services may be busier than usual during this time, and may be affected by station closures where stations also serve London Underground lines.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that Tube workers who help bring vast amounts of value to the London economy were not going to put up with senior managers and commissioners raking it in, while they were given modest below inflation offers.
‘The refusal of TfL to restore staff travel facilities and create a two-tier workforce is also unacceptable.
‘Our members have made it clear that they are prepared to take action and we urge TfL to improve their offer to avert disruption in the capital,’ he said.
Junior Doctors
Junior doctors are set to go on strike from 7am on 3 January to 7am on 9 January, in a series of walk-outs.
The move follows another recent 72-hour strike just before Christmas, which ended at 7am on Saturday 23 December.
Emergency care and acute services will still be available, and patients seeking urgent treatment will be seen.
However, NHS Trusts have advised patients to use other non-hospital services for advice and treatment during this period, such as walk-in centres, pharmacies or calling 111.
BMA junior doctors committee co-chairs Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi said:
‘We have been clear from the outset of these talks that we needed to move at pace and if we did not have a credible offer, we would be forced to call strikes. After five weeks of intense talks, the Government was unable to present a credible offer on pay by the deadline.
‘Instead, we were offered an additional 3%, unevenly spread across doctors’ grades, which would still amount to pay cuts for many doctors this year. It is clear the Government is still not prepared to address the real-terms pay cut doctors have experienced since 2008.’
Bin strikes
Unite members working for Cardiff council’s refuse and recycling department have voted overwhelmingly to take strike action for four weeks from Thursday 28 December 2023 – until Thursday 25 January 2024.
The fresh strike action relates to a number of local issues which the council has failed to address, the most prominent being a widespread bullying culture within the department.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘Cardiff council has completely failed to acknowledge that there is a bullying culture within the refuse and recycling department. The council must act urgently to address this.
‘Our members encounter bullying at work every day and they have had enough. The overwhelming vote in favour of strike action is a clear demonstration of how angry they are.
‘Unites support for our members at Cardiff council is unwavering and the workers will continue to receive the union’s total backing.’
Fire Brigades
In Merseyside, the Fire Brigades Union have been taking part in eight days of industrial action since December 27, which is set to continue from January 1-3.
Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary, said: ‘Imposing contracts on firefighters and downgrading working conditions is a threat to public safety.
‘Control room staff have emphatically backed industrial action to defend their conditions and their fire service – and the intransigence of employers gives us no choice but to use that mandate.
‘The cost of resolving this dispute would be minimal. The cost of not resolving it is major disruption to the fire service. I urge Merseyside fire employers to use the time between now and the strike to come forward with a credible offer.
‘The whole of the Fire Brigades Union across the UK stands behind Merseyside control members.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
from News – Metro https://ift.tt/vlBDpxe
0 Comments