Read our report below to find out when industrial action is planned for the coming months.
Junior doctors in Wales: 25 to 29 March 2024
Junior doctors in Wales are scheduled to take industrial action over a 96-hour period from 7am this Monday (25 March) until 7am on Friday 29 March 2024 (Good Friday).
Of the doctors eligible to vote in Wales, 65% responded to the ballot and 98% of those doctors supported the strike.
In a joint statement, Dr Oba Babs-Osibodu and Dr Peter Fahey, co-chairs of British Medical Association (BMA) Cymru Wales' junior doctors committee, said: "Our members have been forced to take this difficult decision because junior doctors in Wales have experienced a pay cut of 29.6% in real terms over the last 15 years."
Amazon warehouse workers: 27 and 28 March 2024
The GMB union has announced further strike dates at two Amazon sites days after GMB members at the company submitted an application for mandatory recognition at Amazon to the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC).
The CAC, the government body responsible for regulating collective bargaining between workers and employers, can force companies to recognise a trade union if more than 50% of the workforce are members.
Strike action took place in Coventry on Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 March, and is scheduled to take place in Birmingham on Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28 March.
Rachel Fagan, GMB organiser, said: “Amazon bosses may have hoped this campaign would fade away, but instead union membership at Amazon has exploded as more and more workers are standing up to demand Amazon listens.
“When Amazon is ready to listen, the message they'll hear is simple; £15 an hour and union rights for UK Amazon workers.”
A spokesperson from Amazon told HR magazine: "We regularly review our pay to ensure we offer competitive wages and benefits. By April, our minimum starting pay will have increased to £12.30 and £13 per hour depending on location, that’s a 20% increase over two years and 50% since 2018. We also work hard to provide great benefits, a positive work environment and excellent career opportunities. These are just some of the reasons people want to come and work at Amazon, whether it’s their first job, a seasonal role or an opportunity for them to advance their career.”
Read more: Greggs, Estee Lauder and EasyJet named and shamed for minimum wage breach
Asda workers: 29 and 30 March 2024
Around 170 Wisbech-based Asda workers, in Cambridgeshire, are due to walk out over cuts to hours and claims of a bullying management culture.
Keith Dixon, GMB regional organiser, said: “Asda Wisbech workers will strike during Easter weekend, one of the supermarket’s busiest weekends of the year.
“They face cuts to hours, non-existent training, toxic management and multiple health, safety and fire failings.
“Cash is being extracted from the business from the top, and workers in stores are on the frontline of the cuts. Asda workers in Wisbech know it’s not good enough.”
An Asda spokesperson told HR magazine that the union’s assertion that ‘cash is being extracted from the top of the business’ is false, as the owners have never taken any dividends out of Asda.
Speaking to HR magazine, they said: “Although we are disappointed by the GMB’s decision to proceed with this course of action, we will continue to engage with them and listen to their concerns.
“While any potential disruption to colleagues and customers is unwelcome, we have comprehensive plans in place to minimise any disruption in the event of industrial action.”
Aslef rail trains drivers: 5 to 9 April 2024
Train drivers who are members of the Aslef union will take part in a series of one-day strikes and a six-day overtime ban.
These come as part of a long-running dispute with 16 train companies over pay.
Aslef members asked train companies for a pay rise, as they last received an increase in pay in April 2019.
Members at Avanti West Coast, East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Trains and CrossCountry are due to walk out on Friday 5 April.
On Saturday 6 April, members at Chiltern, GWR, LNER, Northern, and TransPennine Trains are due to strike.
Members at c2c, Greater Anglia, GTR Great Northern Thameslink, Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, South Western Railway mainline and depot drivers, and at SWR Island Line are scheduled to walk out on Monday 8 April.
Between Thursday 4 April and Saturday 6 April, and from Monday 8 April to Tuesday 9 April, all Aslef members will also refuse to work their rest days.
Mick Whelan, Aslef's general secretary, said: “Many members have now not had a single penny increase in pay for half a decade, during which time inflation has soared and, with it, the cost of living.
“Drivers wouldn’t vote for industrial action, again and again and again, if they thought that was a good offer.”
Read more: P&O Ferries paid some workers £4.87 an hour through agency loophole
Aslef tube drivers: 8 April and 4 May 2024
Tube drivers who are members of the Aslef rail union are due to strike twice across April and May, starting on Monday 8 April and Saturday 4 May.
Aslef represents 96% of train drivers in Britain, and the entire London Underground service will be out of service from 00:01 and finish at 23:59 on each date.
The strike comes as part of tube drivers’ ongoing dispute with London Underground over working conditions.
Finn Brennan, full-time organiser for Aslef on London Underground, explained: “[London Underground] want drivers to work longer shifts, spending up to 25% more time in the cab, and to remove all current working agreements in the name of “flexibility and efficiency”.
"Everyone knows what these management buzz words really mean. It’s about getting people to work harder and longer for less.
“Management has also failed to deliver on commitments given to us on making drivers’ cabs secure, on police numbers on Night Tube, and on training.”
Senior doctors in Wales: 16 to 18 April 2024
Consultant and specialist doctors in Wales are due to strike over pay workplace conditions caused by extreme pressures, and unsafe staffing levels, according to the BMA.
The decision followed a Welsh government offer of a 5% pay rise, though the BMA said for specialist, associate specialist and specialty doctors on more recent contracts, the offer was as low as 2.5%.
Coming up
The following unions could take industrial action in the coming months but have not yet confirmed strike dates.
- BMA: Junior doctors in England
Junior doctor BMA members have voted to extend their mandate for further industrial action. The results of the latest ballot provide the BMA with a mandate for both strike action, and to take part in action short of strike.
- Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA): Junior doctors
The HCSA’s strike mandate runs until June 2024, although no strikes are currently planned.
- Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS): Border Security
PCS has launched a strike ballot across the UK Civil Service in support of its national campaign for better pay, pensions and job protection.
The statutory postal-only ballot is due to open on 18 March and close on 13 May.
- Unison: Surrey County Council
Social workers, teaching assistants, librarians, trading standards officers and others have been balloted for strike action in the coming weeks in a dispute over pay. The workers have requested a 4% pay rise in the council’s overall bill pay.
