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Category: trade unionism

  • Unite hails hot bus win as drivers no longer have to ‘sweat it out’

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/unite-union-hot-bus-win-drivers-temperature-climate-crisis

     Peter Crane, who has driven for Arriva for 22 years, shows a photo of a temperature reading from inside his cab at 44C, as he takes part in strike action at Wood Green Bus station in north London

    BUS drivers have won a groundbreaking agreement after striking over hot weather conditions, Unite announced today.

    Around 1,500 Union members at Arriva North London walked out last month over the dispute.

    They were poised to strike again today but the action was called off after they voted to accept a new deal when Arriva and Transport for London confirmed they will fit air conditioning to Arriva London North buses by May next year.

    They will also no longer be expected to “carry on and sweat it out” if air-conditioning is not working on a diesel or hybrid bus.

    Drivers will only need to complete 35 minutes of driving before the bus is stopped and returned to the respective garage.

    …

    Unite national lead officer Onay Kasab said: “This is an excellent win for our members, who stood together on picket lines to fight for and win an agreement that means that drivers are not simply expected to sweat it out.”

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/unite-union-hot-bus-win-drivers-temperature-climate-crisis

  • PM rejects unions and climate activists’ calls to set maximum workplace temperature

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/pm-rejects-unions-and-climate-activists-calls-set-maximum-workplace-temperature

     Union members and climate activists set up a ‘cool station’ outside Highbury and Islington station to hand out heatwave safety advice to workers [Pic: Immo Klink]

    PRIME Minister Andy Burnham rejected calls to set a maximum workplace temperature by a coalition of unions and climate activists today, as the Met Office predicted this summer will become Britain’s warmest on record.

    The Heat Strike campaign called on Labour to set a national maximum indoor working temperature of 30°C, dropping to 27°C for those doing strenuous work.

    Coalition campaigner Liam Geary Baulch said: “Everyone is feeling the effects of the climate. The government must protect workers when it’s too hot to work and safeguard everyone’s future. 

    “The petitions show people are scared. These heatwaves are causing a national health and safety emergency. That’s why we are urging the PM to put the brakes on now, to stop accidents and save lives. 

    …

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/pm-rejects-unions-and-climate-activists-calls-set-maximum-workplace-temperature

    Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.
    Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.
    Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
    Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
    Power-mad orange gasbag Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
    Power-mad orange gasbag Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.

  • Morning Star Editorial: Heat strikes are a warning — we must change to adapt to a hotter world

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    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/heat-strikes-are-warning-we-must-change-adapt-hotter-world

    HEAT strikes, like those due to begin this Friday by London bus drivers organised in the Unite union, will become more common as long as governments shut their eyes to the scale of climate adaptation needed.

    This punishing summer, now entering its fifth heatwave, is extreme but not unexpected.

    All 10 of the hottest years on record in Britain have been since 2002. The reality of a warming climate has been recognised for decades. The TUC has been urging a legal maximum workplace temperature since 2008.

    Britain is bound by international treaties to seek to reduce the emissions that cause global warming, though serious action to do so has fallen well short of what’s required and open climate denialism is now fashionable again, thanks to an aggressive new right taking inspiration from the anti-science Donald Trump regime in the United States.

    …

    Increased frequency of extreme weather, the see-saw between longer droughts and fiercer floods that are ruining harvests, has not interrupted British governments in their long push to debilitate the public sector, imposing deep cuts on the fire brigade as on every service that cannot be turned into a cash cow for private providers.

    …

    https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/heat-strikes-are-warning-we-must-change-adapt-hotter-world

    Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.
    Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.
    Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
    Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
    Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
    Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.

  • ‘We are in a mobile greenhouse’ say bus drivers striking over heat

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    https://socialistworker.co.uk/trade-unions/we-are-in-a-mobile-greenhouse-say-bus-drivers-striking-over-heat/

    An Arriva bus in north London (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

    Arriva North London bus drivers will be on strike on 26 dates from August to October

    An amber heat health alert came into force across most of England as Socialist Worker went to press on Tuesday.

    The impact of the soaring temperatures on workers’ health and safety has been staggering, with many employers failing to make adjustments for the heat or provide air conditioning in workplaces.

    But bus drivers in north London are refusing to roast for corporate greed.

    …

    A bus driver and Unite rep at Arriva North told Socialist Worker that workers were effectively “working in a mobile greenhouse”.

    He explained that the air cooling systems installed on buses only managed to reduce temperatures by around two or three degrees because they take air from outside and circulate it.

    “Driver cab temperatures can be more than 40 degrees, sometimes up to fifty degrees. The systems are just blowing hot air.”

    …

    https://socialistworker.co.uk/trade-unions/we-are-in-a-mobile-greenhouse-say-bus-drivers-striking-over-heat/

  • Zack Polanski meets unions in attempt to get them to switch party funding to Greens

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    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/30/zack-polanski-meets-unions-in-attempt-to-get-them-to-switch-party-funding-to-greens

    Zack Polanski has said he wants the Green party to replace Labour and is already building links with trade unions. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

    Leader understood to have spoken to 10 trade unions after party claimed working class voters are turning to them

    Zack Polanski has kicked off a charm offensive designed to convince trade unions to stop funding Labour and throw their weight behind the Green party, as he delivered the first in a series of speeches to union conferences.

    The Green leader has had “good conversations” with 10 trade unions, including some affiliated to Labour, according to party sources, and is due to address the University and College Union and the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, not affiliated with Labour, in the coming months.

    The UK’s largest unions – Unite and Unison – were among those that denied negotiating with Polanski and said they remained affiliated to the Labour party. However, Unite is holding internal discussions about its future relationship with Labour before a special conference in 2027 at which it could potentially decide to disaffiliate.

    …

    The Greens have enjoyed a huge boost in polling since their first national byelection victory in Gorton and Denton, and the party’s membership has tripled in England and Wales since last September to about 200,000.

    A Green party source said: “When Zack became Green party leader he said his goal was to replace Labour – and building strong links with trade unions is a central part of that plan.

    “Working class people are increasingly looking to the Greens as the only party which will tackle the cost of living crisis and stand up for their rights. Zack’s first priority is to push unions to stop funding the Labour party – a party which in opposition made huge promises to workers and is now watering down and U-turning on those promises.”

    …

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/30/zack-polanski-meets-unions-in-attempt-to-get-them-to-switch-party-funding-to-greens