VE Day: Council duties under the Armed Forces Covenant
As we mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day, Geoff Wild, Legal & Governance Consultant, looks at the duties of councils under the Armed Forces Covenant.
Brum council declares ‘major incident’ amid bin strikes
01/04/2025 Birmingham City Council has declared a major incident to address the impact of the bin strikes in a move branded by Unite as ‘disgraceful strike breaking’. |
Unite warns of strike action in escalating pay dispute
29/05/2024 Unite has served industrial action notices to 29 councils in the escalating pay dispute between local government employers and employees in Scotland. |
Unison members accept ‘long overdue’ pay offer
27/11/2023 Council chiefs in Scotland have welcomed a decision by Unison members to accept the latest offer in a long running pay dispute. |
New offer in pay dispute
03/11/2023 More money has been offered in the hope of averting strike action by Scottish Unison members. |
Council chiefs to receive 3.5% pay increase
02/11/2023 Local authority chief executives will receive a 3.5% salary increase backdated to the beginning of April after agreement was reached on this year’s pay award. |
EXCLUSIVE: Unions delay next steps discussion
27/09/2023 Trade unions have agreed to reconvene to discuss their next steps on the ongoing pay dispute within days of GMB’s strike ballots closing, The MJ understands. |
School staff at 10 Scottish councils to strike
18/08/2023 Local authority employees in schools and early years provisions across Scotland will strike for two days next month, GMB Scotland has announced. |
Thousands of education workers vote to strike in Scotland
07/08/2023 Thousands of workers in education and early years services across 10 local authority areas in Scotland have voted to go on strike. |
Pay dispute to stretch into autumn
07/08/2023 The local government pay dispute is destined to stretch into the autumn as trade union Unite warned ‘coordinated industrial action’ was ‘inevitable’. |
Council staff at Newry, Mourne and Down commence industrial action
17/07/2023 Staff at Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, one of Northern Ireland’s largest local authorities, commenced industrial action today (17 July). |
Surrey County Council staff to be balloted for strike action
23/06/2023 Thousands of staff at Surrey County Council are to be balloted for strike action in a dispute over pay, their union has announced. |
Unite in summer strike warning
02/06/2023 Trade union Unite has warned summer strike action will hit key events after talks with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) collapsed. |
Chiefs reject pay offer
31/05/2023 Senior officers have formally rejected the ‘full and final’ pay offer tabled by employers. |
More than 360,000 frontline workers vote on pay strike
23/05/2023 More than a third of a million council and school support staff in England and Wales have started voting on a possible strike over pay. |
'Widespread industrial action' warning
10/05/2023 Unite has warned the Scottish Government and employers there ‘could be widespread industrial action’ without a ‘significant increase’ to the current pay offer. |
Council accused of ‘ripping workers off’
21/04/2023 Strikes by more than 300 low paid staff at Harlow council will continue into next month because the council is ‘ripping workers off’, union says. |
Watchdog staff start work to rule in pay dispute
17/04/2023 Hundreds of staff at the Care Quality Commission were starting a work to rule today in a dispute over pay. |
More than 300 Dundee council workers begin strike
04/04/2023 A strike by more than 300 construction workers at Dundee City Council is going ahead. |
Liverpool refuse collection workers prepare to strike
11/01/2023 Members of the union Unite are set to undertake industrial action in a dispute with Liverpool City Council and Liverpool Streetscene Services Ltd over pay. |
'Fierce resistance' to threatened strike clampdown
06/09/2022 Any attempt by new Prime Minister Liz Truss to outlaw strikes will be met with ‘fierce resistance,’ trade union Unite has warned. |
Coventry bin lorry drivers win 13% pay boost
01/08/2022 The long-running dispute between Coventry council and local bin lorry drivers has now ended with a pay rise for the drivers worth up to 12.9%. |
Fresh strike warning for local government sector
13/06/2022 Unions have warned of more local government strikes. |
Unions demand 'substantial' pay increase
06/06/2022 Councils will be consulted this month after local government trade unions demanded a ‘substantial’ pay increase amid rising costs of food, fuel and household bills. |
Rugby waste and street cleaning strikes end with new pay deal
30/05/2022 Industrial action affecting Rugby Borough Council’s waste and street cleaning services is set to end today as the council and Unite reach an agreement. |
Glasgow strikes suspended as equal pay deal reached
14/04/2022 Public sector unions yesterday suspended all equal pay strikes after a deal was struck with Glasgow City Council to settle the long-running dispute. |
Week-long strike over pay to hit local government sector
08/03/2022 Council workers are expected to strike for a week this month in the first coordinated industrial action to hit the sector in a decade. |
Bin strike hitting 220,000 homes begins in Wiltshire
08/03/2022 A two-week bin strike in Wiltshire affecting 220,000 homes began yesterday after GMB members turned down a new pay offer. |
Unite announces industrial action over pay
28/02/2022 Unite’s local government members will next month stage targetted industrial action at councils where enough members rejected the employers’ 1.75% pay offer for 2021-22. |
National industrial action prospects over pay fade
07/02/2022 A nationally-coordinated wave of industrial action over this year’s pay claim looks increasingly unlikely as the outcome of trade union ballots emerged. |
Coventry bin lorry drivers strike proposal ‘impractical’
15/12/2021 Coventry City Council has rejected a union proposal that bin lorry drivers work for one hour and then go on strike for another hour. |
No deal from last-ditch pay talks
16/11/2021 Last-ditch talks between local government employers and trade unions over this year’s 1.75% pay offer have broken up without agreement, The MJ understands. |
EXCLUSIVE: Employers dig in as they refuse to reopen pay talks
19/10/2021 Council employers have dug in to defend their ‘full and final’ pay offer despite warnings that months of disruption could lie ahead. |
More unions announce strike ballots
06/10/2021 Two more trade unions have moved a step closer to industrial action after members rejected the latest pay offer. |
Scottish union to hold nationwide strike ballot
24/08/2021 Councils in Scotland have been put on notice as Unison ballots members over industrial action. |
Strike action at Ealing ends
05/08/2021 There will be no return to the picket lines after an agreement has been reached between the Unite trade union and outsourcer Serco. |
Unions reject councils’ pay offer
26/04/2021 Scottish members of two trade unions have voted to reject a pay offer from councils, raising the prospect of strike action. |
Union in industrial action threat over large-scale council job losses
09/07/2020 Trade union Unite has warned it could launch industrial action unless Nottingham City Council removes its threat of large-scale redundancies. |
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Local government pay summit to go ahead
30/03/2020 Negotiators hope to keep local government pay discussions on track despite the difficulties posed by the coronavirus crisis. |
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Union and council end dispute amid coronavirus crisis
24/03/2020 Trade union Unite has said its dispute with Veolia over holiday pay for refuse staff working at Tower Hamlets LBC has been resolved. |
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Lincolnshire health visitors to strike amid pay dispute with council
19/11/2019 A number of health visitors in Lincolnshire started a month-long strike yesterday over what they describe as the council’s ‘divide and rule’ policy. |
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Birmingham council and union ‘welcome’ end to refuse dispute
18/03/2019 Refuse collectors who took part in strikes in Birmingham are to be given £3,500 each in a settlement which both sides say has ended the long-running dispute. |
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Birmingham refuse strike called off
04/03/2019 Unions called off a planned strike by refuse collectors in Birmingham today after the city council lost a bid to have the action declared illegal. |
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Hundreds of Birmingham refuse workers to strike ‘weekly’
05/02/2019 Over 300 refuse workers have announced they will begin two days of strike action a week in an escalation of the ongoing industrial dispute with the council. |
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Union rejects Scottish councils' pay offer
20/06/2018 Members of the GMB Scotland trade union have rejected the Scottish local government pay offer, potentially sparking industrial action. |
