The workers originally voted to strike for three weeks. The strike is impacting five departments
at the factory making blades for the Trent jet engine. The strikers have maintained a picket line
of four pickets in line with COVID-19 social distancing rules.
The Unite union is calling for a reversal of the company decision, or for alternative work
employing the same number of workers to be carried out at the Barnoldswick factory. Rolls
Royce is the major employer in the town, where the jet engine was developed.
UK academic staff at London University to be balloted for
strike action
Academic staff at the University of East London (UEL) will be balloted for possible strike action.
The ballot is to run from November 17 to December 16. UEL wants to cut staff posts by 92. It has
cut 82 posts through voluntary redundancy and the remaining 10 posts would be cut through
compulsory redundancies. Of the 10, seven are academic posts. UEL is claiming it needs to
reduce staff numbers as a result of falling student numbers, citing the COVID-19 pandemic.
The University and College Union (UCU) is proposing to launch a legal challenge of the basis of
discrimination. UCU called on the university to make cuts without resorting to compulsory
redundancies and has criticised UEL for refusing to consider talks brokered by ACAS, the
government mediation service. Four of the academics slated for dismissal are UCU activists.
Strike at Scottish university called off by union
A strike by academic staff due to begin Tuesday was called off by the University and College
Union (UCU).
The university staff on a 66 percent turnout voted by a 77 percent majority to take action
against university plans to cut 130 jobs through compulsory redundancies. In 2017, the
university cut 70 jobs.
The UCU is not opposed to job cuts, only that they are achieved through voluntary redundancies
and reached an agreement to establish a partnership with management to carry out the cuts.
Refuse workers in Doncaster, England to be balloted for
strike action
Workers employed by contractor Suez Recycling and Recovery UK Ltd in the northern city
Doncaster are being balloted for strike action by the Unite union. Workers accuse the company