Yorkshire Socialist Party members

Unison members working for the Environment Agency (EA) took their second one day strike action on 8 February with pickets at 20-odd offices around the country. They were on strike alongside members of the Prospect union.

They were striking because after a real-terms pay cut of 20% since 2010, they have had a measly 2% pay rise imposed, when RPI inflation is currently over 13%. Not only can’t EA staff afford to live, the agency has big vacancies because they can’t retain staff.

Kevan, the Yorkshire and North East Unison branch secretary said that union membership had increased from 370 to over 500 in the last year, and it is members themselves who are getting others to join.

One of the pickets, Will, said that big corporations like BP and Shell were reporting massive profits from polluting the environment, but the Tory government won’t pay EA workers to protect the environment!

While wanting to promote their own dispute, all the strikers realised that their fight is with the government, so support coordinated action with other unions.