We’re a union of half a million members. To get over 50% of members voting at a rate of nine in 10 for strike action is incredibly significant.
Last year the government tried to minimise the impact of strikes in the public sector by passing the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act, giving employers the right to force some workers to come in on strike days to maintain services at a particular level. But there is fresh evidence today this is not working. In a story for the Daily Mail, David Churchill says rail companies are refusing to use the law to lessen the impact of the Aslef strike taking place this weekend. He reports:
MPs called on train chiefs to resign or have funding pulled for failing to use the powers which would force unions to keep 40% of services running during stoppages this week and next.
The deadline for lodging their intention to use the ‘minimum service levels’ laws passed on Monday.
But industry sources told the Daily Mail that bosses for the 16 train firms affected had failed to meet it.
Drivers from the Aslef union will now inflict travel misery on millions with industrial action on different parts of the network between tomorrow and next Tuesday.
Parliament is in recess and there is not much in the domestic political diary for today. The biggest debate in politics today is about whether or not, in the light of the killing of seven aid workers, including three Britons, in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, it is now time for the UK government to declare Israel in breach of international humanitarian law, but most of our coverage of that story will be on our Israel-Gaza war live blog.
If you want to contact me, do use the “send us a message” feature. You’ll see it just below the byline – on the left of the screen, if you are reading on a laptop or a desktop. This is for people who want to message me directly. I find it very useful when people message to point out errors (even typos – no mistake is too small to correct). Often I find your questions very interesting, too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either in the comments below the line; privately (if you leave an email address and that seems more appropriate); or in the main blog, if I think it is a topic of wide interest.
recently threatened to take legal action against Police Scotland unless they delete a complaint against him now recorded as a hate incident.
As PA Media reports, the Scottish government’s community safety minister Siobhian Brown told the BBC this morning that it was an operational matter for the police to decide if the JK Rowling complaint should be recorded in these terms.
a preliminary ballot (an online ballot that have the legal authority of a proper, postal strike ballot), and those results showed 90% support for strike action for an above-inflation pay rise, on a turnout of just over 50%. Kebede said the government should take this seriously.
We’re a union of half a million members. To get over 50% of members voting at a rate of nine in 10 for strike action is incredibly significant.
Last year the government tried to minimise the impact of strikes in the public sector by passing the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Act, giving employers the right to force some workers to come in on strike days to maintain services at a particular level. But there is fresh evidence today this is not working. In a story for the Daily Mail, David Churchill says rail companies are refusing to use the law to lessen the impact of the Aslef strike taking place this weekend. He reports:
MPs called on train chiefs to resign or have funding pulled for failing to use the powers which would force unions to keep 40% of services running during stoppages this week and next.
The deadline for lodging their intention to use the ‘minimum service levels’ laws passed on Monday.
But industry sources told the Daily Mail that bosses for the 16 train firms affected had failed to meet it.
Drivers from the Aslef union will now inflict travel misery on millions with industrial action on different parts of the network between tomorrow and next Tuesday.
Parliament is in recess and there is not much in the domestic political diary for today. The biggest debate in politics today is about whether or not, in the light of the killing of seven aid workers, including three Britons, in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza, it is now time for the UK government to declare Israel in breach of international humanitarian law, but most of our coverage of that story will be on our Israel-Gaza war live blog.
If you want to contact me, do use the “send us a message” feature. You’ll see it just below the byline – on the left of the screen, if you are reading on a laptop or a desktop. This is for people who want to message me directly. I find it very useful when people message to point out errors (even typos – no mistake is too small to correct). Often I find your questions very interesting, too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either in the comments below the line; privately (if you leave an email address and that seems more appropriate); or in the main blog, if I think it is a topic of wide interest.
Source: theguardian.com
