Junior doctors and consultants escalate the action, council workers and higher education workers prepare to strike and more in this week’s industrial bulletin

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Junior doctors in the BMA have voted overwhelmingly to renew their strike mandate for a further 6 months – by 98% on a 71% turnout.

The BMA has announced joint strike action between jun­ior doctors and consultants for the first time in September and October and a rally outside the Tory conference in Manchester on 3 October. The BMA has organised coaches to the rally for strikers from Birmingham, Coventry, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Newcastle, Nottingham, Preston, Sheffield and Stoke so far.

Dr Andrew Meyerson, from the SOSNHS coalition and a rank-and-file BMA junior doc­tor who’s been on strike, told us:

“I think it’s brilliant to link our struggles because they are one and the same. There are a number of consultants who remember the defeat of the jun­ior doctors strike in 2016, and learning the lessons from that we have a stronger BMA now.

“We have a unique oppor­tunity now to stand up to this corrupt government, and stand up for our patients and for the future of the NHS.”

Junior doctors will be on strike on 20-22 September and 2-4 October, and consultants will be on strike on 19-20 September and 2-4 October. Due to the need for emergency care, the doctors and consultants will provide “Christmas Day cover” on the joint strike days.

At a time when the strike wave is on a downward trajectory, the BMA escalating their action and mobilising against the Tories is a breath of fresh air. Their rally in Manchester will be just after the People’s Assembly national demonstration, adding to the festival of resistance.

IN BRIEF

• Unite members employed in 23 local councils across the UK will be taking strike action throughout September after rejecting a paltry pay offer
  
• Over 500 clinical support workers in hospitals in the North West took two days of strike action last week over a failure by the trusts to re-band the workers to reflect the work they actually do and should be paid for. Unison has announced a further 72-hour walkout from Monday 11 September

• IWGB members at the Royal Society of Arts have voted by 93% to strike for the first time in the organisation’s history after rejecting a 2.5% pay offer. The workers say leadership pay packets went up nearly threefold to just under £1m and the RSA has £32m in reserves.
  
• Outsourced cleaners working at three government departments including the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and employed by the notorious ISS took five days of strike action this week after rejecting a 2.2% pay offer

• Over 5,000 Unison members working as support staff in 20 universities in England and Scotland will be coordinating strikes at the start of the next academic term
  
• Refuse workers, street cleaners and parks and grounds workers employed by Veolia and IDVerde for services contracted by Solihull Council began a seven-day strike on Monday to demand fair pay

• Maternity support staff working in the Women and Children’s Division of Southmead Hospital in Bristol voted unanimously to strike and will walk out on 14 and 15 September
  
• Thousands of janitors, cleaners, caterers, classroom assistants and administrative staff working in schools across 11 Scottish councils will be striking on 26-28 September
  
• 2,800 workers in four London NHS Trusts will begin striking next week after the trusts failed to honour a lump sum promised to workers in last year’s pay settlements. The strikers have called demonstrations on Wednesday 13th at 12pm at Royal London Hospital, E1 1FR, and on Thursday 14th at 12pm at Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital, SE1 7EH

THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK

1. Get down to a picket line. See Strike Map to find your nearest one.

• Unison CSWs at Arrowe Park Hospital in Wirral from Monday 11 September – Wednesday 13 September
• GMB maternity support staff at Southmead Hospital, Bristol from Thursday 14 – Friday 15 September
• Unite NHS staff at Barts Hospital, Guys and St Thomas’, and Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Trust on 13-14 September, and East London Foundation Trust on 13 September.
• Unison Camden traffic wardens on indefinite strike

2. Sign a petition

• Support outsourced ISS workers
• Save our ticket offices

3. Pass a motion at your branch

• As the TUC Congress is set to debate supporting the government’s push for escalating the war in Ukraine, the need to call for peace in the trade union movement is more urgent. Download Stop the War’s model motion here

4. Donate to a strike fund

• PCS outsourced ISS workers
• BMA junior doctors

5. Build the People’s Assembly Protest the Tory Conference National Demonstration in Manchester on 3 October and get your branch and fellow trade unionists to organise delegations