Hannah Ponting, Liverpool Socialist Party

On 26 January, Socialist Party members in Liverpool joined a Unite the Union picket of striking Diligenta workers, at one of five sites currently taking action. Diligenta is a company that provides IT and business support to private and public sector contracts.

Workers explained that the dispute has been ongoing since the 2025 pay deal. That ‘offer’ initially imposed a pay freeze, with the company claiming it could not afford anything more, despite making profits large enough to pay £14 million in dividends to shareholders the same year.

Following a consultative ballot for strike action the company made further offers, including a proposal to backdate pay to the correct date. However, it has still failed to offer workers the correct amount.

In response to the most recent offer, 80% of members turned out to vote within a week, with a decisive 87% rejecting the deal.

Pickets told us this dispute is not “a flash in the pan or a quick argument” but the result of a long-term issue lasting years. Staff on average have been facing 15% real-terms pay cuts going back to 2020.

Over half the membership were out on the picket lines in the freezing cold.

This dispute also highlights a wider lack of transparency from the company. As one worker put it: “Why do we have to take this? Why do we have to just keep getting told what the narrative is?”

One of the workers told us that they appreciated young Socialist Party members showing their support. “If people come down to the picket line they will be welcome. It’s just great if people want to show that level of support”.

Sara Gillman, in Reading, adds:

Even through the very wet, cold conditions on 27 January, there was a good presence of Diligenta pickets in Reading – now on their third wave of strike action. They told us the latest offer from management was a lump sum of £250 and a further 2% this year and then even less next year.

Branch organiser Dan told me they were getting a lot of support and many new members – “This is what unions should be all about!”