Wales

Following one of the UK's biggest strikes in years, when half a million council workers walked out for two days against a sub inflationary 2.45% pay offer, unions have blocked further action.

The strike will take place across Scotland on Wednesday 24 September. The move follows the earlier action on 20 August, which came after 150,000 members rejected an offer of 2.5%.

The offer is for employees on JNC pay and conditions, which includes workers in youth clubs and Connexions advisers, and was rejected by both UNISON and the youth workers' branch of Unite, the CYWU.

UNISON has launched a campaign for fair pay for youth and community workers, while the CYWU is to ballot its members for industrial action, asking:

More than 500,000 workers were on strike on July 16 and 17, bringing disruption to schools, town halls, refuse collections and libraries throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

"This has been a fantastic response from our members," said UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis. "Local government workers have shown their anger and resentment towards this pay offer.

The lorries were turning up at the site at Lamby Way only to find the weigh bridge blocked by workers. The workers took the action in support of two members of staff who had been disciplined. One of the men has now been moved to another job by management, amounting to a demotion, and it is this move which sparked the walk out.

The BBC reported that paramedics say they are worried that patient safety is being compromised because the service is dependant on their willingness to work extra hours.

It is understood hundreds of staff in Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan will take part in the unofficial action.

The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust said it was trying to address concerns.

The Western Telegraph reports:

Three hundred men working for Shaw stopped working at 10 am on Thursday, and marched on the offices of main contractors Chicago Bridge and Iron. The men came out in support of fellow worker, Omar Mohamed, who alleges that he has suffered racial harassment from workers from another company sub contracting to CB&I.

Two articles on the riots are included, by local historian Bob Saunders, and an excerpt from the Newgate Calendar:

THE MERTHYR RISING 1831
Bob Saunders
BACKGROUND

Augustus John and the Anarchists
Augustus John has often been cited as one of a few from the British artistic and intellectual milieu to have identified themselves with the anarchist movement. But Augustus John’s relationship with that movement was as ambivalent as his own life.

The company announced at the end of March that it would close the factory in South Wales, making 150 people redundant, many having worked there for more than 25 years.Selectron has already reduced the workforce from 700 in the past five years, and sent many contracts overseas including one last year to Singapore.