strikes

The Solidarity Federation Education Union (SFEU) utterly condemns Leeds University management’s contemptuous disregard for the nationally agreed strike protocols in threatening 100% wage deductions for "partial performance" of duties and in demanding that cancelled lectures be somehow replaced in the future. A strike by definition means the withholding of our labour, not simply re-arranging that labour to another day. Staff members are not paid when they strike - replacing cancelled lectures just adds to the unpaid workload that caused staff to strike in the first place and dilutes the impact of the industrial action. These threats constitute an aggressive escalation and a cruel attempt to gain leverage by imposing punitive measures on staff during a cost of living crisis, which management have cynically attempted to hide behind the facade of “dedication, passion and care for our students”.

SFEU supports the upcoming Further and Higher Education strikes, due to begin on 1 February and to be spread over 18 days between then and the end of March. This is a welcome escalation and our best bet for a positive outcome (short of an all-out strike). This wave of strike action will seriously disrupt teaching right at the beginning of the new semester and beyond, but the key issues of growing casualization, wage theft, pension degradation and untenable workloads remain unresolved, universities need to be held to account. If our voices are still not heard, we need to get behind and implement the marking and assessment boycott, timed for maximum effect in May and June.&nbs

Unite has suspended today’s strike by First Manchester bus drivers after the company made an improved offer in the dispute over pay.

Action planned for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday have also been suspended while Unite ballots its 300+ members on the new offer. If it is accepted the dispute will have ended. If members reject the offer then strikes already scheduled for February 15, 17, 18, 21 and 25 will go ahead as planned.

Strike action began last month in the dispute over low rates of pay. The strike action was highly effective causing considerable disruption to bus services across Greater Manchester.

Starting on Wednesday 1st December, 58 branches of UCU (University and College Union) went on strike for 3 days over issues surrounding pensions, pay, working conditions and pay gaps. A group of SolFed members who are students at Sussex University attended the picket line and took part in direct action in support of all staff who were on strike.

The strike began with a big demonstration and march around the campus, ending at Sussex House - the university’s management building. We attended and waved our red and black flag, asserting an anarcho-syndicalist presence among the students.

Bus drivers employed by First Manchester have announced fresh strike action in their dispute over pay. The new dates for industrial action are a direct consequence of the company’s failure to make an improved offer to resolve the dispute. The new days for strike action are January 31, February 1, 4, 7, 8, 9, 15, 17, 18, 21, 23 and 25. In effect, the 300+ Unite members will be striking for three days a week next month.

The dispute is in regards to pay and First Manchester’s refusal to honour the anniversary date of August 1 (when the pay increase for 2021 was due to come into effect) and to backdate the pay increase from this date. Bus drivers are also unhappy about a new roster system the company is attempting to impose.

Friday the 26th January saw strikers from three disputes in Manchester stage a joint demo and rally. Hundreds of supporters joined the demonstration and attended the rally where strikers from Mears, First Buses and Fujitsu  gave an update on their long running disputes.

Mears Dispute

The Mears dispute involves 180 building workers employed by Mears to undertake housing maintenance work on 12,000 properties in Manchester. The contract was tendered by Manchester council.  The workers took 40 days of strike action last year over pay differentials of up to £3,500 and attacks on their terms and conditions. A further ballot saw an increased majority vote for further 49 days of action, due to end on February 8th.

Union members at Fujitsu have announced a series of strikes—as bosses dismissed victimised reps. The first walkout will begin on Wednesday 24 January. Management sacked two reps over the christmas with one of the reps being dismissed  while he was on compassionate leave to attend a family funeral.

These are just the latest attacks in a long running dispute over compulsory redundancies, victimisation of reps and breaches of a redundancy agreement. IT workers at Fujitsu in Manchester have already taken 27 days action in this long running campaign and plans further  strikes  on Wednesday 24 – Friday 26 January, Tuesday 30 January and Thursday 8 February – Wednesday 14 February. Union members are also taking part in action short of a strike and are working to rule.

Thursday 22nd December saw another picket organised by First bus drivers at the Rusholme Depot in support of their ongoing dispute over pay. Drivers at First's Rushome depot are being paid up to £5000 a year less than colleagues working at the First’s Queen’s Road base just five miles away. The drivers at the Rusholme depot originally worked for Finglands Buses who were taken over by First Manchester in 2013. At the time of the takeover the Finglands drivers were promised parity but after repeated promises by First to harmonise pay, drivers at Rusholme still find themselves being paid 23% less.

Solfed locals have taken solidarity action to express our support of Uber drivers in Jakarta taking strike action today 11.9.2017. Similar actions have been taken by anarcho-syndicalists on 4 continents as a result of a call by the IWA-AIT. Solfed members in London held a picket outside Uber's UK headquarters in Aldgate. Brighton Solfed had previously expressed their solidarity while members in Liverpool and Manchester have been spreading the word about the struggle of Uber workers in Indonesia in a flyposting campaign.  Uber drivers, organising with the anarcho-syndicalist PPAS, are taking strike action, demanding higher pay and an end to highly casualised working conditions. These are the same problems faced by Uber drivers across the world - our solidarity is as international as their capital!