Just three Labour MPs – at the time of going to pixel – have backed an Early Day Motion petition calling for higher pay for their staff. The move by Lloyd Russell-Moyle, Mary Kelly Foy and Grahame Morris comes amid continued lobbying by the Unite Union parliamentary branch, who this morning sent an unsolicited email to all parliamentary staffers – including those who aren’t members of the union – asking them to join the strike campaign about staffers’ pay. Ironically, the email encourages staff to join the union by contacting the union branch’s membership officer, who works for Labour MP Olivia Blake. Blake has not signed the EDM…
The communique, forwarded to Guido, reiterates the left-wing union’s demand for RPI +2%, amid real terms pay cuts and increased workloads.
The union is set to meet again on 17th February when members will vote on a motion to ballot for industrial action.
MPs, they warn, will be the “focus of the ballot”, since they are the sole employer of the staff proposing strike action. Embarrassing given the membership of Unite Union’s parliamentary branch is almost entirely comprised of those working for left-wing MPs who’ve been supporting strike action in the wider public sector…
A letter sent by the union to IPSA’s chair Richard Lloyd says a motion was passed last Thursday without dissent, at one of the largest branch meetings ever held.
“This branch resolves to begin the process of balloting for strike action and reiterates our call for an RPI +2% pay rise.
Further we call on IPSA to do the following;
• Conduct another independent review into comparable positions and wages
• Review workloads and staff turnover
• Publish the data and the report
• Commit to increase staff wages via automatic uplift, by the amount recommend by the reviewAlthough strike action will need to take place against individual MPs they are not the target of our campaign, they do not set the automatic uplift.”
It’s a shame so few Labour MPs are willing to sign the EDM on behalf of their strike-loving staff…
The parliamentary branch of Unite has agreed to begin the process of balloting to strike. As Guido previously reported, the branch represents primarily Labour MP staff, and is essentially an admission that their left-wing strike-supporting bosses are themselves underpaying staff when they decide to allocate their expenses budget.
One of the largest branch meetings in our history today met and agreed to begin the process of balloting to strike.@ipsaUK have the power to prevent this from happening but have failed to meaningfully negotiate pic.twitter.com/tTAoTQmVBF
— Parliamentary Staff Branch (@unitepsbranch) February 2, 2023
The union is demanding RPI + 2%, meaning an 11% pay rise…
In December, Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said that any additional deaths that occur during ambulance strikes would be the government’s fault. While there are myriad factors behind ONS registered death statistics, weekly deaths for the weeks ending the 13th of January and 20th of January were higher than the same time last year. Both weeks that saw ambulance strikes…
The statistics were flagged by Dr Quinton Fivelman of the London Medical Laboratory, who says that “While far from conclusive, this new data might be useful as one tool in helping to assess the effect of this industrial action.”
“It’s perhaps relevant to note that at-home deaths in both England and Wales increased by 31.5% above average (there were 1,082 excess home deaths) during the week ending 13 January and 28.7% above average (970 excess deaths) during the week ending 20 January. This possibly indicates some complications or issues surrounding ambulance availability, although we must be careful not to draw any firm conclusions without further data.”
Coddle yourself in bubble wrap during the next ambulance strike…
While today may be a fallow day in the endless strikes, the sheer scale of disruption brought about by teachers’ walkouts this week is agitating Downing Street into a major crackdown on the education unions. According to the Mail, Rishi is now considering adding schools to the minimum service level bill going through Parliament. Lesson learnt…
The existing bill will already compel some doctors, nurses, train drivers and emergency responders to work during industrial action. Now, after thousands of teachers walked out across the country yesterday without informing school leadership, it could become mandatory to warn headteachers ahead of time. A Downing Street spokesperson said:
“In terms of the minimum service legislation we are retaining the ability to apply that to education. That’s not a step we are taking in the first instance. Obviously we will keep that under review and look at potential further strike action and disruption.”
Thousands of schools were only partially open yesterday, with parents left in the dark until the eleventh hour. This causes knock on effects in the private sector as parents have to stay home to mind kids…
While George Osborne was busy negotiating a giveaway of the Parthenon marbles, it appears he’d have been better placed adverting strikes by union workers at the British Museum.
This picket keeps getting bigger and bigger 💪 #PCSonstrike pic.twitter.com/bOLVHwfTXl
— PCS Culture Group (@PCSCultureGroup) February 1, 2023
While his workers strike, wealthy George Osborne was unfortunately spotted on the Central Line by a left winger this morning who leapt at the opportunity to confront him face-to-face about his record on austerity. He may have rehabilitated his reputation among the liberal commentariat, less so with hard-left wingers…
Fatima claims she said “f**k you” to the former chancellor while he “pretended that he didn’t see [her]”. At least the government have ministerial cars…
As Labour bask in the chaos of public sector workers’ strikes, they should be careful what they wish for. It appears strike fever has reached their own backyard as their own parliamentary staff are threatening a strike over an unacceptably small pay offer.
This afternoon the Unite Parliamentary Staff branch announced that the 4.9% pay increase approved for them is “grossly inadequate” and “well below the 6.9% average wage increases in the private sector”. Ignoring the fact private sector workers don’t have half the job security, expenses or subsidised food and drink…
With no consultation from @CommonsSpeaker or @ipsaUK on our pay increase, our branch will now be exploring options for industrial action. pic.twitter.com/jGnMbu0hbY
— Parliamentary Staff Branch (@unitepsbranch) January 25, 2023
Unfortunately for Labour, Guido understands the Unite parliamentary branch is almost exclusively the refuge of their own staffers and is unlikely to hurt Tory MPs. While staffers would receive the 4.9% automatically, there’s nothing to stop MPs supplementing that with additional pay rises if they have a few quid lying around in their budget…
Two of Labour MP Grahame Morris‘s staffers have endorsed the threat of strike action, clearly dissatisfied that their own lefty boss won’t increase their pay.
Liverpool councillor and senior caseworker to Mick Whitley MP, Elizabeth Hayden, has slammed the low pay being handed out, saying she can’t wait to vote for industrial action if and when the ballot hits. For the record that’s the same Elizabeth Hayden who once questioned whether the Manchester Arena attack was a Tory false flag attack*…
Among other staffers appearing to endorse the strike action are two working for SNP MPs, a Taiwo Owatemi staffer and a Christian Wakeford staffer. He’ll soon be regretting crossing to Labour as his casework begins to pile up…
*Questions about why an MP has her on the books is an entirely different matter…
