Who’s on strike today and how will it affect you? Daily update for January 21

The labour unrest continues to rumble in the UK (Picture: Metro.co.uk)

A grab-bag of workers are set to walk out today in the latest chapter of the UK’s months-long labour unrest.

Legal advisers and court associates who are members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), which represents civil servants, are striking.

The HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) runs most courts and tribunals in England and Wales.

The agency has moved to a digital case management system called the Common Platform, which union members see as ‘failing’ and inefficient.

PCS says there has been an ‘alarming increase in reports of stress and anxiety and long working’ since the IT system was rolled out, with some members being overworked.

‘Working through lunches and working late should be the exception, not the norm,’ the union has previously said.

Today, some 300 PCS union members will stage job action across more than 80 courts after the HMCTS refused to fix the ‘many serious issues with the new system’.

Common Platform allows solicitors and barristers, prosecutors and court staff to access case information.

PCS is calling on the HMCTS to prevent new cases from being logged onto the Common Platform, carry out a stress survey of all system users and promise not to cut jobs as the office is digitised.

The agency briefly paused the introduction of the Common Platform in September to resolve the long-running dispute but thawed it out in October.

Picket lines will also be forming outside the whisky giant Diageo’s plant in Leven, Scotland for 48 hours from today.

Diageo produces bar shelf staples such as Captain Morgan, Baileys and Guinness.

Nurses are among countless workers up and down the UK voting for industrial action amid the cost-of-living crisis – though many of their problems are far from recent (Picture: PA)

Workers of the bottling plant who are members of the UK’s biggest union, Unite, are striking today over the introduction of a lower pay rate for new starters.

This isn’t exactly a new problem – Unite says this issue was first flagged through the grievance process in 2019.

Because of the lower rate, the union estimates new engineering staffers are losing around 6% of their pay. The strike will impact engineering support at the plant.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘Diageo recently recorded £4.4bn in profits which equates to a profit of around £157,000 being generated by every employee.

‘They are awash with billions in profit, so to then attempt to cut our members’ pay is a shocking example of corporate greed.

‘Unite will always stand with our members to protect pay, terms and conditions.’

A Diageo spokesperson said 10 weekend shift engineers are taking industrial action this weekend. They denied the company has introduced lowered pay rates.

‘We have well-developed contingency plans in place to ensure the site can continue to operate safely and as planned,’ they said, ‘we remain committed to seeking a resolution to this dispute and are open to further discussions.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

The labour unrest continues to rumble in the UK (Picture: Metro.co.uk)

A grab-bag of workers are set to walk out today in the latest chapter of the UK’s months-long labour unrest.

Legal advisers and court associates who are members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), which represents civil servants, are striking.

The HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) runs most courts and tribunals in England and Wales.

The agency has moved to a digital case management system called the Common Platform, which union members see as ‘failing’ and inefficient.

PCS says there has been an ‘alarming increase in reports of stress and anxiety and long working’ since the IT system was rolled out, with some members being overworked.

‘Working through lunches and working late should be the exception, not the norm,’ the union has previously said.

Courts affected: Aberystwyth 
Aldershot 
Barrow-in-Furness 
Basildon 
Basingstoke 

Birmingham 
Bolton 
Bradford & Keighley 
Brighton 
Bristol 
Caernarfon 
Cambridge 
Cannock 
Cardiff 
Carlisle 
Coventry 
Crawley 
Crewe (South Cheshire) 
Derby 
Dudley 
Durham 
Ealing 
Folkestone 
Gateshead 
Grimsby 
Guildford 
Hastings 
Haverfordwest 
Hereford 
High Wycombe 
HMCTS Osprey House 
Hull and Holderness 
Ipswich 
Kidderminster 
Kirklees (Huddersfield) 
Lavender Hill 
Leeds 
Lincoln 
Liverpool and Knowsley Magistrates’ Court 
Liverpool Civil and Family Court 
Llanelli 
Luton and South Bedfordshire 
Maidstone 
Manchester 
Mansfield 
Medway 
Mid and South East Northumberland 
Milton Keynes 
Mold 
Newton Ayliffe 
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne 
Newport (South Wales) 
North Somerset 
North Staffordshire 
North Tyneside 
Norwich 
Nottingham 
Oxford 
Peterborough 
Portsmouth 
Reading 
Sefton 
South Tyneside 
St Albans 
Staines 
Stevenage 
Sunderland 
Swindon 
Tameside 
Teeside 
Telford 
Uxbridge 
Walsall 
Warrington 
Warwick 
West Hampshire 
Wigan and Leigh 
Willesden 
Wimbledon 
Worcester 
Worthing 
Yeovil 

Today, some 300 PCS union members will stage job action across more than 80 courts after the HMCTS refused to fix the ‘many serious issues with the new system’.

Common Platform allows solicitors and barristers, prosecutors and court staff to access case information.

PCS is calling on the HMCTS to prevent new cases from being logged onto the Common Platform, carry out a stress survey of all system users and promise not to cut jobs as the office is digitised.

The agency briefly paused the introduction of the Common Platform in September to resolve the long-running dispute but thawed it out in October.

Picket lines will also be forming outside the whisky giant Diageo’s plant in Leven, Scotland for 48 hours from today.

Diageo produces bar shelf staples such as Captain Morgan, Baileys and Guinness.

Nurses are among countless workers up and down the UK voting for industrial action amid the cost-of-living crisis – though many of their problems are far from recent (Picture: PA)

Workers of the bottling plant who are members of the UK’s biggest union, Unite, are striking today over the introduction of a lower pay rate for new starters.

This isn’t exactly a new problem – Unite says this issue was first flagged through the grievance process in 2019.

Because of the lower rate, the union estimates new engineering staffers are losing around 6% of their pay. The strike will impact engineering support at the plant.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘Diageo recently recorded £4.4bn in profits which equates to a profit of around £157,000 being generated by every employee.

‘They are awash with billions in profit, so to then attempt to cut our members’ pay is a shocking example of corporate greed.

‘Unite will always stand with our members to protect pay, terms and conditions.’

A Diageo spokesperson said 10 weekend shift engineers are taking industrial action this weekend. They denied the company has introduced lowered pay rates.

‘We have well-developed contingency plans in place to ensure the site can continue to operate safely and as planned,’ they said, ‘we remain committed to seeking a resolution to this dispute and are open to further discussions.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.