Mark Harper trying to 'encourage' deal to avoid rail strikes
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A Conservative minister has told the RMT rail union not to “hold the country to ransom” as they prepare strikes in the run-up to Christmas.
Nick Gibb told GB News: “It’s a very disappointing decision by the RMT, they were offered a very good pay deal by the employers, eight per cent over two years, which is in line with the kind of pay deals that are taking place outside the public sector.
“So, I think the unions really should call off this strike. It’s inconveniencing people up and down the country in the run-up to Christmas, I think it’s a very poor way of conducting negotiations.”
It comes as members of the RMT said they will walk out from 6pm on Christmas Eve until 6am on 27 December and will press ahead with two 48-hour strikes next week.
The union announced it will put the latest offer from Network Rail (NR) to its members, with a recommendation to reject. The RMT said there had been no improved offer from the train operating companies.
Government understands pressure teachers are under, schools minister says
Schools minister @NickGibbUK told Sky News the government understands the pressure schools are under but strike action by teachers is “not the answer”.
Nurses, trains and Royal Mail: Every strike planned in run up to Christmas
As inflation has climbed steadily throughout year, workers have seen rising prices eroding their earnings – just as employers have been trying to make savings or modernise working practices to cope with increasing costs.
The result? Clashes over pay, redundancies, pensions and terms and conditions.
A new “winter of discontent” had begun even before Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement on 17 November, which left householders everywhere feeling even worse off.
These are the professions and industries for which strike dates have already been announced:
From nursing to postal deliveries, few public services will be unaffected by industrial action this winter
Union leader says its members rely on food banks
Onay Kasab, national lead officer at Unite the Union, said its members rely on food banks and “have decided to do something about it”.
He said members include security guards at Harrods, those who work for bus company Abellio and also people in the NHS.
Mr Kasab told Sky News: “It takes, I think, some brass neck for ministers who have subsidised lunches to be telling our members, who are now relying on food banks, that they shouldn’t be taking action on pay and to somehow imply that we are holding the country to ransom.
“That is absolutely not the case.”
He said co-ordinated action “makes absolute sense”, adding that union members have “significant public support”.
Angela Rayner accuses ‘militant government’ of ‘complete shambles’ amid strikes
Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner has accused the “militant” government of presiding over a “complete shambles” on the railways ahead of further strikes.
She told BBC Breakfast: “These people who are going on strike are going to lose pay, they will lose their pay at a time when they will need it most, they are not doing it at a drop of a hat.
“This is a militant government that is not dealing with the issues and not resolving this strike action, and it’s frustrating.
“The system is absolutely crumbling without the strikes. Anyone who gets on a train now in the North knows that you’re praying if you’re going to get to where you need to get to. Many businesses are now losing staff because they can’t get to work.
“It’s a complete shambles of the government’s making and they really need to get off their hands and resolve this.
“When I speak to the trade unions they’re very clear they do not want to go on strike, they want to resolve this dispute, it’s this government that seems to want to ratchet it up and want to attack workers’ rights and cause this disruption.”
Don’t ‘hold the country to ransom,’ schools minister tells RMT
Schools minister Nick Gibb has told the RMT rail union not to “hold the country to ransom” as they prepare strikes in the run-up to Christmas.
He told GB News: “It’s a very disappointing decision by the RMT, they were offered a very good pay deal by the employers, 8% over two years, which is in line with the kind of pay deals that are taking place outside the public sector.
“So, I think the unions really should call off this strike. It’s inconveniencing people up and down the country in the run-up to Christmas, I think it’s a very poor way of conducting negotiations.
“We would urge the unions to talk to employers, to keep negotiating and not to hold the country to ransom, particularly in December as we get nearer to Christmas.”
Shelter staff ‘at risk of homelessness’ continue two-week strike
More than 600 workers at the homelessness charity Shelter will remain on the picket lines today for the second day of a two-week strike.
They “unprecedented” action by the charity workers was launched after Unite said a 3 per cent pay increase this year has left many of Shelter’s own staff unable to pay their rent.
“It is unforgivable that workers at Shelter find themselves actually being haunted by the prospect of being made homeless,” Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said.
The union has accused the charity’s management of refusing to enter into meaningful negotiations.
Below are pictures from the first day of action:
Nurses must drop pay demands to ‘send clear message to Putin’, cabinet minister says
Nadhim Zahawi switched tack in the battle to avert pre-Christmas NHS strikes by claiming that the industrial action would expose a “divided” UK when a united front is needed over Russia’s “illegal war”.
“This is a time to come together and to send a very clear message to Mr Putin that we’re not going to be divided in this way,” said the Tory party chair.
Referring to those taking part in the strikes, Mr Zahawi added: “They should reflect on this because that is exactly what Putin wants to see – that division. Let’s not divide, let’s come together.”
The comments were condemned by union leaders including the general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, Pat Cullen, who said: “Using Russia’s war in Ukraine as a justification for a real-terms pay cut for nurses in the UK is a new low for this government.”
‘This is a time to come together and to send a very clear message to Mr Putin that we’re not going to be divided in this way,’ says Nadhim Zahawi
DWP staff to strike, with more government departments to follow
Staff working at the Department for Work and Pensions are to take strike action for two weeks over Christmas.
More than 200 members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union working in three DWP offices in Liverpool and one in Doncaster will walk out from 19 to 31 December.
The union said other targeted action at the DWP is likely to follow as part of the union’s national campaign for a 10 per cent pay rise, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms.
The PCS has previously served notice of a month of strike action across 250 sites of the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and the Rural Payments Agency and 12 days of rolling strike action at the National Highways over Christmas and the New Year.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “It’s a disgrace that our members in the DWP – the government’s own employees – are claiming the benefits they pay out to others. The government is in the position to stop these strikes by putting money on the table, and we call on them to do so.”
The PCS will be announcing strike dates in other departments, including the Home Office, over the next few weeks.
Watch: Mick Lynch says Tories ‘corrupting businesses'
Mick Lynch has accused the Conservative government of “corrupting business” as the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) announced Christmas strikes.
Union members will walk out from between 6pm hours on Christmas Eve until 5.59am on 27 December.
The action follows strikes planned for 13,14, 16 and 17 December.
“This government is corrupting business... It’s punishing brewers, restaurateurs, [the] entertainment industry, in return for their ideological pursuit of dispute with the railways and trade unions,” the RMT general secretary said.
Mick Lynch says Tory government is 'corrupting business' amid rail strike action
Nurse strike: Dates to be aware of
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has announced members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will strike on 15 and 20 December. Up to 100,000 workers are expected to take part in the pre-Christmas walkouts.
Only one NHS employer in Wales will not go ahead with strike action. RCN members in England will strike at half the locations where the legal threshold for action was met. The union added that the number of employers affected will increase in January unless formal negotiations with the government are held.
The union is calling for a pay rise of 5 per cent above inflation, saying that despite a pay rise earlier this year, experienced nurses were worse off by 20 per cent because of successive below-inflation awards since 2010.
The RCN’s mandate to organise strikes runs until early May next year.
