Sign the petition to ban all unpaid work trial periods

 
Aberdeen Trades Union Council is calling on delegates, associaltes and their families and friends to sign this petition calling for a ban on unpaid work trial periods.

Unpaid trial shifts are open to exploitation as they can be used by unscrupulous employers to take advantage of vulnerable people looking for a job. Often unpaid trials are for minimum wage jobs and the people applying for them cannot afford to work for free but may have no other option. 

Potential employees might feel as though they can't say no to these exploitative trials without risking their future livelihood. It is unfair to force someone to work for hours without pay for a job they might not even be given. Moreover, there is the cost of travelling to and from the trial shift as well as having to buy a uniform such as a shirt, trousers, plain t-shirt etc. These are things that unemployed people cannot afford to be wasting money on and shouldn't have to for a job that is unpaid. 

Please sign this petition

ATUC sends solidarity to UCU Scotland members on their action on pay

The ATUC sends our solidarity and best wishes to UCU members in higher education institutions in Scotland who will be taking part in industrial action in the form of two strike days on Wednesday and Thursday 25-26 May 2016.     

The strike relates to the current dispute on the national pay claim and the UCU would wish to advise of the following background to the dispute.

Since 2009, staff in higher education institutions in the UK have suffered a 14.5% real terms pay cut set against the cost of living.  Over the same period we have seen year on year above inflation pay increases for many university principals, with increases this year of up to 15%.  The employers’ initial offer of 1% for staff was rejected by UCU and their improved offer, adding a miserly 0.1%, is, in our view, derisory.    Our pay claim also asks employers to work with campus unions to tackle the gender pay gap in higher education and to reduce the proportion of staff on casual and zero-hour contracts. The employers are refusing to engage with campus unions collectively on these matters.

PCS act for Fair Pay in the Scottish Sector.

Aberdeen trades union council sends its solidarity and support to the PCS union as its members embark on a rolling programme of targeted action across the Scottish Government sector as part of a national dispute for which PCS members in UK departments took action on 15 October 2014.

Brian Carroll, of the PCS said, "This is crucial to our sector as our employers and Scottish Ministers continue to impose the same 1% pay cap as the UK government.

 

"Our message to Mr Swinney, the Deputy First Minister is - break the public sector pay freeze!"

The rolling programme began with PCS members in Registers of Scotland taking their one day strike on 8 December, followed by the National Museums Scotland strike on Boxing Day (26 December), closing the museum to the public.

ATUC congratulates the thousands of PCS members striking for fair pay

THOUSANDS of Scottish public sector workers - members of the PCS union - joined a UK-wide walkout to demand an increase in pay. The ATUC had earlier sent greetings and solidarity to the strikers and congratulates the union on a very successful day of action.

Court services were reduced and museums and driving centres closed as members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union protested over what it has calculated as a 20 per cent cut in earnings through a pay freeze and cap in recent years.

Civil servants, council staff and cleaners stood on picket lines across the country, and rallies were held Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The PCS in Scotland said the 24-hour strike had enjoyed large support as people called on ministers to "break with the imposed UK austerity pay cap" in the run-up to the independence referendum.
 

ATUC solidarity with trade unions across the UK striking for fair pay

Aberdeen Trades Union Council sends greetings and solidarity, as almost 1.5 million public sector workers take action simultaneously today 10th July.

Whilst most of the action takes place in England and Wales, the civil service union, PCS has thousands of members out in Scotland, fighting for decent pay for members.

Brian Carroll of the PCS said, " Whether it’s local government or civil service pay, firefighter pensions or teachers’ workloads – the underlying problem is the same: public sector workers are being made to carry the can for the economic crisis.

"Due to pay and pension cuts, some of our members have seen real terms losses in their income of 20% since 2010. Yet the top bosses continue to get inflation-busting pay deals, and a tax cut too.