Pay 2008

The exact details of the agreement seem unclear. The union is clearly attempting to make it look like a victory.

However, the pay offers still remain below inflation and so constitute real terms pay cuts or civil servants. Furthermore, the deal trades off "efficiency savings" (so cuts) with potential pay deals for remaining workers and so will divide the workforce against itself.

A 'Summer of Discontent', Gordon Brown preaching pay restraint, union leaders talking about 'co-ordinated strike action', sound familiar? It should, because exactly the same things were being said last year.

A quarter of a million teachers walked out on April 24, disrupting nearly 10,000 schools in action which inspired many other workers in their fight against the government's 2% pay cap. This at a time with inflation running at around 5% constitutes real terms pay cuts.

However, the NUT then declined to ballot for action coordinated with other school workers in UNISON who struck on July 16-17.

Unite, which balloted 77, 000 workers, said there was a 3-1 vote in favour of industrial action, with just over half backing walkouts. The union said industrial action would start before Christmas although officials would not decide until later this week what form the action will take.

200,000 NUT members have been balloted on whether they are prepared to take "discontinuous strike action" in opposition to the government's plans for below-inflation pay increases. The strike ballot closes today, with the leadership meeting later in the week to consider the result.

The imposition of a 3% rise over 15 months – worth 2.4% over a year – ended six years of partnership working between the company and staff.

"This pay cut is simply not acceptable when inflation is rising – recently reaching 5.2% - energy prices are rising by anything up to 30% and food by 11%," said branch secretary Steve Scott.

Members of UNISON, Unite and the GMB are being consulted on the new offer which was made after their previous "final" offer of 2.5% following the well observed industrial action.

UNISON, the largest union is recommending members reject the offer.

The ballot, which closes on 3 November, would give the union leadership the ability to call further strikes without having to re-ballot of the membership.

It follows a well observed strike on April 24, which coincided with stoppages of civil servants, FE lecturers and Shelter charity workers.

80% of those balloted supported action short of strike, and 54% of those taking part in the ballot backed union plans for industrial action, which includes national civil service wide strikes, targeted strike action and overtime bans.

It is understood that a report prepared for Home Office officials after the first week of a work-to-rule describes significant arrears in work which could considerably delay prospective nurses, teachers and social workers obtaining the necessary clearance to work with children and vulnerable adults.

The action has hit:

After the ballot closes on 12 November, Unite will have a 28-day 'window' to take action that its members have voted for.

If the government were to announce that it was cutting the wages of all workers - public and private sector - there would presumably be uproar. And yet this is exactly what they have done by calling for ‘pay restraint’ and insisting all wage rises are capped at 2%. Make no mistake, a sub-inflation pay ‘rise’ is a pay cut. No amount of statistical trickery changes this simple fact.

The drivers will be out on a 24 hour strike to protest at the huge pay disparity between the 18 London bus companies.

Several sources report solid support for the action, with very few drivers crossing picket lines, many routes completely cancelled and others running only minimal services.

The union Usdaw said hundreds of workers at the site in Aintree were set to strike from 0500 BST on Sunday. It said staff were unhappy after being offered what it said was a below-inflation pay rise of 3%.

The 2,500 Unite members who work for Metroline voted 88.5 per cent in favour of strike action in a recent ballot by the union. Unite submitted a London wide claim to all bus operators in March of this year to challenge the current system whereby drivers (and other grades) performing identical jobs within the TfL regulated industry, receive hugely varying pay and conditions.

The stoppage, between 10. 30am and 11. 30am hitting offices across the UK and the ACAS helpline, follows delays in settling this year’s pay and a pay offer of 2% which will result in real term pay cuts.

This year’s pay increase was due on 1 August and follows a 10-month hold up to last year’s 2007 pay increase.

Following one of the UK's biggest strikes in years, when half a million council workers walked out for two days against a sub inflationary 2.45% pay offer, unions have blocked further action.

The strike will take place across Scotland on Wednesday 24 September. The move follows the earlier action on 20 August, which came after 150,000 members rejected an offer of 2.5%.

Executive members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) unanimously voted to proceed with a formal ballot at a meeting on Friday 5th September.