Striking bin workers at ABC borough council demand rate rebate for affected households

Posted on August 14, 2024 by unitetheunion

Disruption to bin collection to continue as Armagh depot workforce enters fifth week of strikes over dismissal of shop steward

Refuse workers employed by Armagh Banbridge and Craigavon (ABC) Borough Council are calling for a rebate to ratepayers affected by their strike action. The call was made as their all-out, continuous, strike action called in response to the dismissal of a shop steward enters its fifth week.

Over the period of the dispute the council has saved a huge sum on wages, fuel costs and landfill charges while workers have lost income and residents in the Armagh and Cusher areas have been left with bins uncollected for weeks. The bin workers are calling on the council to provide a compensation payment to ratepaying householders for the absence of council services and the disruption that has resulted from the strike.

The blame for the strike lies squarely at the feet of council management who have adopted an aggressive approach to Unite and its reps– a situation culminating in the dismissal of a Unite shop steward based at the Armagh depot.

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Glen Dimplex workers in Portadown to begin industrial action 

Posted on August 12, 2024 by Unite the union NI

Dispute is a result of proposed site closure, Unite has notified employer of work-to-rule, training and overtime ban

The workforce at Glen Dimplex will commence the first phase of industrial action including a work-to-rule from 00.01am on Friday 16 August. 

The industrial dispute is a result of proposals by Glen Dimplex’s management to offshore work to Lithuania which will lead to redundancies and the potential closure of the site in Portadown. 

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “The workers at Glen Dimplex have been left with no alternative but to take industrial action. The workforce has generated huge profits for Glen Dimplex but now management want to cast them aside and offshore production to make even greater profits. 

“These workers are fighting for their jobs and their livelihoods – they can be confident of the full support of Unite in that fight.”

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Education Authority workers win pay and grading improvement to end industrial dispute

Posted on August 7, 2024 by Unite the union NI

Pay and grading review won by education support workers provides additional £130 million in pay over the next eight months

Members of Unite the union employed as school support staff by the Education Authority have won their industrial dispute over a pay and grading review. The majority of school support workers including bus drivers, classroom assistants, bus escorts, catering cleaning, admin and other school staff can expect to see a significant uplift to pay.

Over the last two years, low-paid education workers in Unite the union have repeatedly taken strike action in demand of a pay improvement. The union entered negotiations with management alongside the other three education trade unions seeking implementation of a pay and grading review. 

The pay award delivers significant increases to the pay of education workers over the next two and a half years and also compounds into members’ pensions and overtime. Entry-level pay rates will be sharply increased which will both aid recruitment, addressing the staffing crisis in the sector, and raise morale.

The union has hailed the result as a historic win for education workers. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham welcomed the outcome: 

“Education workers in Northern Ireland have won a very significant improvement to pay. Members of Unite have been on picket lines on and off for more than two years to achieve this outcome and have had the full support of the union in doing so.

“Without that powerful strike action, these workers would still be waiting for implementation of a pay and grading review first recommended in 2018. Once again, this result confirms that when Unite members get organised and stand up for themselves, they can win real improvements to their pay and conditions.”

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Construction: Unite mechanical members vote to take industrial action

Posted on August 6, 2024 by unitetheunion

Union seeking reversal of austerity-era cut to ‘travel time’

August 6th: Unite, which represents plumbers, fitters and welders working on construction projects throughout Ireland, said today (Tuesday) that members have voted by over 90% for industrial action in pursuit of restoration of the first hour of ‘travel time’. 

Members were balloted for industrial action after talks with mechanical employers (MEBSCA) broke down at the beginning of July.

Payment of the first hour of ‘travel time’ was originally cut as a so-called ‘temporary measure’ following the 2008 financial crash. Although this cut was meant to be reviewed after a year, the review never took place.

A reversal of this austerity-era cut would mean an increase in gross pay of up to 12.7 % at a time of ongoing cost-of-living pressures.

Commenting, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said:

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University Hospital Waterford: work-to-rule deferred pending talks on management proposals

Posted on July 29, 2024 by unitetheunion

Proposals would see laundry workers included in regrading scheme

Unite welcomes management’s decision to engage, but warns action may be resumed if agreement not reached

Trade union Unite, which represents support staff in University Hospital Waterford (UHW), has deferred a work-to- rule by laundry, catering and portering grades. The union said that the action, which has been ongoing since the end of May, was being deferred from noon today to allow for talks regarding proposals received from UHW.

The dispute, which centred on the HSE’s failure to include laundry workers at UHW in a regrading scheme and their decision not to award incremental credits to portering and catering workers, had been exacerbated by the decision to withhold pay increases due from January under the Public Service Agreement (PSA).

As well as indicating that laundry workers will now be included in the regrading scheme, the employer has also now stated that increases due under the PSA will be paid.

However, in a move which Unite considers unacceptable, they are proposing to deduct the period of the work-to-rule from the PSA pay increases.

Unite regional officer Eoin Drummey welcomed the employer’s decision to engage meaningfully with Unite, but warned that the work-to-rule may be resumed if a satisfactory agreement is not reached: He said:

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