Latest news with #IndustrialAction
The Independent
6 days ago
- Business
- The Independent
Rail strikes resume with bank holiday shutdown on CrossCountry trains
Rail strikes will resume over the August bank holiday weekend, with walkouts planned at CrossCountry trains. Members of the RMT have been called out on Saturday 23 and bank holiday Monday (25 August) in a dispute over what the union calls a 'breakdown in industrial action'. The RMT will also order members not to scan tickets on trains from Sunday 24 August onwards. CrossCountry has a network stretching from Aberdeen to Penzance, with its main hub at Birmingham New Street. It links key cities including Bristol, Manchester, Leeds, York, Newcastle and Edinburgh, and serves London Stansted airport. Eddie Dempsey, general secretary of the RMT, told members: 'I would like to congratulate you and your colleagues again for returning a splendid result in the ballot for industrial action. 'This dispute is about protecting the future of your jobs, the protection of negotiated agreements and the right of your union to represent you effectively.' In previous strikes CrossCountry has maintained a skeleton operation with a sharply reduced number of routes and trains. The Independent has sought responses from Arriva, the company that runs the CrossCountry operation, and the Department for Transport. Last summer, Labour claimed to resolved two years of frequent stoppages by members of the two main rail unions, the RMT and Aslef – representing the train drivers' union. This strike, however, suggests peace might not yet have arrived.
BBC News
7 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Stagecoach North East bus strikes called off after new pay offer
Bus strikes which could have caused "significant disruption" during the summer holidays have been called off, a union has said. About 600 Unite members working at Stagecoach North East had been set to walk out on 11 and 12 August after rejecting a 3.3% pay rise Unite official Steve Cason said following an improved pay offer, it had suspended the industrial action in order to ballot its North East has been approached for comment. The union said if the offer was rejected by its members, strike action which had been planned for 18 and 21 August would still go ahead. Stagecoach previously said staff, including drivers, cleaners and engineers at Busways Travel Services, which is part of the Stagecoach group, had been offered a 3.9% pay rise. 'Deserve better' Unite previously said figures from last year showed Stagecoach recorded a total operating profit of £51.1m - up from £33.1m - and a profit before taxation of £ secretary Sharon Graham said: "Stagecoach is prioritising profits over people and our hard-working members deserve better."The hourly pay for drivers in the North East is £15.01 per those who had voted for strike action are 500 members based at the Slatyford and Walkergate depots in Newcastle upon Tyne, including drivers. The majority of passenger bus services to and from Newcastle city centre operate from these than 80 engineers and cleaners based in Newcastle, Sunderland and South Shields, had been due to take strike action at the same time. Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Daily Mail
14-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Return to the 1970s as Angela Rayner's law could see walkouts triggered by just 10% of workforce
was last night accused of delivering a 'strikers' charter' with new laws which would allow industrial action to be triggered with the support of just 10 per cent of the workforce. Business leaders and political opponents say the Employment Rights Bill, currently being debated in the Lords, should be dubbed the 'Unemployment Bill' because of the burden it will place on already struggling companies. Last week, economic growth figures showed that the UK economy shrank by 0.3 per cent in April, worse than the 0.1 per cent decline predicted. In spite of this – as well as firms warning they are being pushed to breaking point by the Chancellor's £25 billion National Insurance raid – Deputy Prime Minister Ms Rayner is pressing ahead with plans to give staff enhanced employment rights. Central to the plans will be the repeal of Tory trade union laws which will reduce the threshold for strike action and make union funding of the Labour Party automatic – with an 'opt-in' provision – rather than optional. It is likely to see a return to the industrial unrest of the 1970s when strikes could be triggered by a small number of activists. Labour's own analysis says the Bill will cost businesses £4.5 billion a year, l ead to the loss of 50,000 jobs and increase prices in the shops. Union chiefs will also be given a legal right to enter any workplace to recruit and organise, while the 40 per cent vote threshold for union recognition could be slashed to just 2 per cent of staff. The laws pave the way for ministers to decree only one in 50 workers in a bargaining unit negotiating with employers would need to support a union in order for a formal process to start. When combined with the expected abolition of the 50 per cent turnout rule for a strike ballot, the Tories say action could be triggered by as few as one in ten workers. It means that, for example, in an office of 1,000 people, just nine employees could vote – and only five votes in favour – for a strike to be called. The Bill also includes an end to zero hours contracts; the right to unfair dismissal from the first day; strengthened collective redundancy rights; enhanced sick pay; stronger tipping rights; more family-friendly rights, and extra parental and bereavement leave rights. Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith said: 'This Bill should be renamed the 'Unemployment Bill', because that is exactly what it will do. 'Unions will grind the country to a halt, causing havoc with strikes supported by just 10 per cent of the workforce. This is nothing but an extreme union charter that Rayner hopes will take us back to the 1970s. Once again, Labour are putting party first country second – and the grubby quid pro quo at the heart of the deal proves it.' Jonny Haseldine, head of business environment at the British Chambers of Commerce said the legislation 'does not strike the right balance' and provisions in the Bill would be 'deeply worrying for employers'. Mr Haseldine said: 'There's a high risk of consequences that could limit employment opportunities and economic growth. 'The Government needs to help businesses innovate and be more productive. By adding more restrictions the Bill jeopardises all of this – creating a lose-lose scenario for everyone.' He added: 'Planned changes to dismissal rules and trade union ballot thresholds, for example, are some of the critical areas that need to be revisited.' A government spokesman said: 'The old strike laws clearly didn't work, with the UK losing more days to industrial action than any year since the 1980s. Our Employment Rights Bill is fundamental to delivering our Plan for Change.'
