EXCLUSIVE: No pay offer until after local elections
14/03/2024 Local government employers will not make a pay offer until after the upcoming local elections in May, The MJ understands. |
Shropshire Council staff offered voluntary redundancy
12/03/2024 Staff at Shropshire Council have been offered voluntary redundancy as part of the local authority's plans to lose 300 full time jobs. |
Brum workers vote for ‘major escalation’ of equal pay dispute
05/03/2024 Workers at Birmingham City Council have voted to strike in what the union GMB describes as a ‘major escalation’ in the campaign to end the equal pay crisis. |
Unions call for 10% wage hike
04/03/2024 A 10% wage rise is the ‘only way to maintain the staff levels necessary to deliver services’, Unison, Unite and GMB say. |
Surrey apologises for £30m payroll problem
01/03/2024 Surrey County Council has apologised after a problem with their new £30m payroll system left staff out of pocket. |
Union urges prospective MPs to back national care service
21/02/2024 Election candidates in the forthcoming general election are being urged to support the creation of a new national care service in England. |
Flexible-work denied to third of women in public sector
15/02/2024 Three in ten (30%) women working in the public sector have had requests to work flexibly denied, new research from Unison has revealed. |
Migrant care worker family ban ‘reckless’, union says
31/01/2024 The Government’s decision to ban migrant care workers from bringing family over to join them in England could ‘spell disaster for social care’, union warns. |
Council set to halve sick pay
26/01/2024 Southend Council is planning to halve the amount of sick pay given to staff in a move Unison has described as ‘callous’. |
Unions call for school inspections to be suspended
21/12/2023 School inspections must be suspended until Ofsted implements recommendations to reform the system following the death of head teacher Ruth Perry, unions say. |
Brum workers consider strike over equal pay delays
12/12/2023 Thousands of workers at Birmingham City Council will today start a ballot for strike action in response to equal pay claim delays. |
Coventry on collision course with union
05/12/2023 Coventry City Council is on collision course with Unite this month, over controversial proposals to end ‘task and finish’ contracts among waste staff. |
Unions plan for January pay claim
30/11/2023 Local government trade unions are aiming to submit their next one-year pay claim in January, The MJ understands. |
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. |
Council ‘saddened’ by proposed job cuts at rail factory
16/11/2023 A council leader has urged ministers to commit to the industrial sector after the UK’s largest rail assembly factory announced 1,330 jobs are at risk in Derby. |
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. |
Plan to axe 750 council jobs ‘extremely worrying’
19/10/2023 Leeds City Council’s proposals to axe hundreds of jobs to help reduce the local authority’s deficit are ‘extremely worrying’, a union has said. |
Unison rejects Scotland’s 10% pay offer
16/10/2023 Unison members in Scotland today rejected local government employers’ latest pay deal, which would have seen the lowest-paid staff receive a 10% wage boost. |
Haringey housing staff to strike
10/10/2023 Housing repair workers employed by Haringey Council will strike this winter in a dispute over pay. |
High street facing ‘terminal decline’, union warns
09/10/2023 The high street may be facing a ‘terminal decline’ as more than 420,000 traditional retail jobs have been lost since 2010, the union GMB has warned. |
Coventry refuse workers to vote on industrial action
04/10/2023 The trade union Unite has notified Coventry City Council that it will ballot 55 refuse workers for strike action and action short of a strike. |
Councils face record £3.5bn shortfall
28/09/2023 Research has uncovered a £3.5bn shortfall facing councils over the next financial year, revealing ‘true scale of the dire state of local government funding’. |
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. |
Unite and council reach deal to end waste strike
27/09/2023 Waste service workers and street cleaners return to work today after negotiations between Tower Hamlets Council and the trade union Unite put an end to industrial action. |
Unions call for £4bn investment in school estate
26/09/2023 In response to the RAAC crisis, trade unions have written to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak urging him to invest £4.4bn per year to improve the school estate. |
Unite suspends strike
22/09/2023 The trade union Unite has suspended a planned three-day strike across education and local government in Scotland after receiving a ‘serious’ pay offer from employers. |
Nottinghamshire waste staff to strike
15/09/2023 The GMB union has announced a week-long strike at waste recycling plants in Nottinghamshire. |
Unions reject latest COSLA offer
14/09/2023 The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) has warned trade unions face a choice between ‘real cuts to jobs and services’ and increased pay. |
Brum braced for Government intervention
12/09/2023 Birmingham City Council is braced for a wide-ranging Government intervention to help rescue the authority’s bleak finances, and improve political and officer leadership. |
Union vows to oppose controversial crackdown
12/09/2023 Local government’s largest trade union has warned any attempt to impose a controversial crackdown will be met with strong opposition. |
Employers reject fresh unions' pay bid
24/08/2023 Local government employers have knocked back a bid from the unions for an improved pay offer, insisting it remains ‘full and final’. |
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’. |
‘Woefully out of date’ mileage rates costing workers thousands
14/07/2023 Public sector staff are being left thousands of pounds out of pocket because ministers have failed to update national mileage rates, according to UNISON. |
Harlow DC reaches pay deal with 300 housing staff
12/07/2023 Over 300 staff responsible for Harlow District Council’s housing stock have ended strike action after a pay deal was reached. |
Union warns of ‘significant rise’ in social care exploitation
10/07/2023 Unison has warned of a ‘significant rise’ in the number of migrant workers who are being exploited in the social care sector. |
Hancock: Whitehall oversight of care was terrible
27/06/2023 Whitehall oversight of adult social care before Covid-19 was ‘terrible’ and officials had no understanding of whether councils could cope, Matt Hancock admits. |
Care providers accused of breaching minimum wage laws
15/06/2023 Unison has accused care staff employers of effectively breaching minimum wage laws by failing to pay workers when they travel between home visits. |
Case for better pay ‘clear cut’, union says
13/06/2023 The case for better pay in local government is ‘compelling and clear cut’, according to Unison general secretary Christina McAnea. |
Austerity left Britain ‘unprepared' for pandemic, TUC say
06/06/2023 Years of austerity left Britain 'hugely unprepared' for the COVID pandemic with tragic consequences, union leaders have claimed. |
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. |
Tower Bridge could close due to pay strike
19/05/2023 Several major London tourist attractions could be forced to close after members of the GMB union voted to strike. |
UNISON launches action figures of ‘unsung heroes’
18/05/2023 Public sector union UNISON has launched a range of council worker action figures to celebrate the ‘unsung heroes’ working on the frontlines. |
'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. |
Dundee workers to strike over outsourcing plan
21/03/2023 More than 300 Dundee City Council workers have voted to strike as they fight plans to outsource services. |
Local government pay offer amounts to 10% cut, union says
07/03/2023 Unite has decided to recommend rejection of the local government pay offer arguing it amounts to a real terms pay cut, and warns of 'growing anger'. |
Social care regulator staff vote for strike action
07/03/2023 Staff at the Care Quality Commission (CQC) have voted to take strike action over pay, their union has announced. |
Lowest paid council employees offered 9.42% pay bump
23/02/2023 Council employees have been offered what the Local Government Association describes as a ‘full and final’ pay increase of at least £1,925 from 1 April 2023. |
Pay spine review 'inevitable,' employers admit
21/02/2023 A redesign of local government’s pay spine is ‘inevitable,’ employers have admitted privately. |
Unions warn many school buildings ‘at risk of collapse’
16/02/2023 A 50% decline in spending on school buildings over the last decade has left many of them unfit for the future, seven education unions have warned. |
Teaching unions’ rejection of pay offer ‘disappointing'
16/02/2023 Local government leaders in Scotland have described the teaching unions’ rejection of their latest pay offer as ‘very disappointing’. |
Scottish council leaders agree new teacher pay offer
15/02/2023 Council leaders in Scotland have agreed on a new pay offer for teachers which it hopes will end the current industrial action. |
Unions call for ‘inflation-busting’ 12.7% pay rise
01/02/2023 Three public sector unions have submitted a pay claim that calls for an above inflation 12.7% pay rise for council employees and school staff. |
Scottish council chiefs warn care reforms could cost 75,000 jobs
12/10/2022 Local authority leaders and unions in Scotland today joined forces to oppose plans to centralise the delivery of care, which they argue could cost 75,000 jobs. |
Homecare workers win mileage payment deal
12/10/2022 Nottingham City Council homecare workers have reached a deal with the council which will see them receive an extra £135 a month for mileage. |
Council ‘disppointed’ by continuing strikes
05/10/2022 Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council has said it is ‘disappointed’ that strike action is going ahead while union members consider a new pay offer. |
Council spends £1.5m fighting equal pay claims
05/10/2022 Derby City Council has spent over £1.5m defending itself against equal pay claims, a freedom of information (FOI) request has revealed. |
Unison members back pay offer
28/09/2022 Members of trade union Unison have voted by 63.5% to 36.5% to accept the national employers’ final pay offer for local government services employees. |
'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. |
Scottish council workers consider 7.5% pay offer
05/09/2022 Strikes that would have affected schools and waste services across a number of council areas in Scotland have been suspended as workers consider pay offer. |
Council bin workers secure 10% pay rise
02/09/2022 Around 100 waste workers employed by Bath and North East Somerset council are set to receive a 10% pay rise. |
Unison to put pay deal to its members
01/08/2022 Unison has vowed to consult its members on the flat rate pay rise offered to all council staff. |
Employers warn against local pay deals
19/07/2022 Councils have been warned against undermining the ‘fundamental integrity’ of national talks by agreeing local deals as pressure grows on pay. |
Council and unions agree ‘strong pay offer’ for lowest paid staff
22/06/2022 Surrey CC's lowest paid staff are set to receive a pay boost after unions and the council finalised a pay offer that sees pay increases on a sliding scale. |
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 workers will be latest to strike
25/04/2022 Refuse, recycling and street cleansing workers at Rugby BC are among the council employees who will walk out on strike this week. |
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. |
Unison calls for above-inflation pay rise for public sector
22/03/2022 The UK’s biggest union has called on Chancellor Rishi Sunak to fund an above-inflation pay rise for public sector workers. |
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. |
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. |
Disruption warning as unions ask for pay talks to resume
15/10/2021 Unions have urged council employers to return to the negotiating table with an improved pay offer amid warnings that months of disruption could lie ahead. |
Unions call for stronger COVID safety measures in schools
11/10/2021 Five education unions are urging local authorities to consider reintroducing safety measures to tackle rising COVID-19 cases in schools. |
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 teachers declare formal dispute over ‘sub-inflationary’ pay offer
01/10/2021 Teachers in Scotland have declared a formal dispute over what they describe as a ‘sub-inflationary’ pay offer. |
£3bn gap looms for councils
24/08/2021 Councils in England, Wales and Scotland are grappling with huge budget deficits totalling more than £3bn for the next financial year, according to research published by trade union Unison today. |
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 urge pinged staff to isolate
02/08/2021 Unions have urged waste and recycling staff to stay at home if ‘pinged’ by the COVID-19 app despite several councils having to reduce or suspend services. |
Vaccinated social care staff no longer required to self-isolate
19/07/2021 Health leaders have been left divided by the Government’s announcement that fully vaccinated social care staff and NHS workers who have been told to self-isolate will be allowed to continue working. |
Scale of council deficits due to pandemic is revealed
14/04/2021 Councils are facing a budget deficit of nearly £1.2bn by the end of the financial year due to the impact of COVID-19, research has revealed. |
Unions reject Scots pay offer
06/04/2021 Trade unions in Scotland have formally rejected employers’ pay offer of an £800 lower-rate pay rise for 2021, dismissing the sum as an unacceptably poor response to staff efforts during COVID-19. |
Unison call for election safety measures
01/03/2021 The Government needs to implement strict measures in May’s local elections to keep staff safe, trade union Unison urged today. |
Employers branded a 'disgrace' over council pay delay
26/02/2021 Council employers have been branded a ‘disgrace’ after they said they would not respond to a union pay claim until after the May 6 elections. |
Unions call for 10% pay rise for council staff
16/02/2021 Three local government unions have called for a wage increase of at least 10% for all council and school workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. |
Councils face funding shortfall for self-isolation schemes
03/02/2021 Funding for council schemes supporting people forced to self-isolate due to COVID-19 do not go far enough, according to new research. |
Scots union calls for urgent meeting to address funding
30/10/2020 Unison Scotland has called for an urgent meeting with Scottish finance secretary Kate Forbes in a bit to address the growing finance crisis. |
Public sector exit cap signed into law
15/10/2020 The £95,000 cap on public sector exit payments was signed into law last night and will come into force on November 4. |
Local government pay deal agreed
21/08/2020 Local government has accepted a 2.75% pay increase, it has been confirmed, despite objections from Unite. |
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. |
Rejection of coronavirus bonus a 'slap in the face'
19/05/2020 A top union official has branded English councils’ refusal to rally behind a campaign for a workers’ coronavirus bonus as a ‘slap in the face’. |
Unite expected to urge council pay offer rejection
11/05/2020 Trade union Unite is expected to recommend that its members reject the employers ‘final’ 2.75% pay offer at a national committee meeting later this week. |
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. |
Union calls for Sanctuary Care homes to be brought ‘back in-house’
14/01/2020 Unite is urging councils who have contracts with Sanctuary Care to bring them ‘in-house’ after a criminal investigation was launched into one of its homes. |
Shell is helping power the journey towards a circular paving industry with Shell Bitumen LT R, a new product for roads that uses plastics destined for landfill as part of the additives to make the bitumen.
Effective Energy Group is now offering its support to the 40 Local Authorities who have received a share of the £430m to deliver their projects on the ground by surveying properties and installing measures.
Dougie Belmore explains how one of the main interfaces between you and Bacs is about to change.