The RMT union has announced that three days of coordinated strike action will impact all those travelling across Britain’s rail networks in early November.
Another three days of strike action are to take place next month after what has been described as a “dramatic U-turn” on a promised pay offer, reports The Manc.
It comes after the RMT union says Network Rail bosses “reneged on their promises” of an improved pay offer, attempted to make “drastic changes” to the working practices of their staff, and sought to impose “job cuts, more unsocial hours, and detrimental rosters”.
The announcement of further strike action comes following what RMT called a period of “intense negotiations” with Network Rail, where it says there was an agreement made that the rail company would commit to an improved offer on pay and working towards a negotiated settlement – before the “dramatic U-turn” was taken.
According to RMT, Network Rail has now written directly to its staff to “undermine delicate talks” and has tried to “rehash a previous deal” that the union says it “categorically rejected”.
Image: Network Rail
RMT called it “a crass attempt” to cut the union out of national negotiations.
Due to this breakdown in communications, RMT has now announced that strikes on Network Rail will now take place on 3, 5, and 7 November 2022 – with a number of significant rail operators set to be affected, including Northern.
“The dishonesty of Network Rail bosses has reached a new low in this national rail dispute,” explained Mick Lynch – General Secretary at RMT.
“On the one hand, they were telling our negotiators that they were prepared to do a deal, while planning to torpedo negotiations by imposing unacceptable changes to our members terms and conditions [and] our members are livid with these duplicitous tactics.
“They will now respond in kind with sustained strike action.”
A £1.6m grant has been given by the government to Leeds City Council to help tackle rough sleeping.
The funding has been allocated to Leeds City Council as part of the Government’s national Rough Sleeping Programme.
The overall target is to help rough sleepovers off the streets by Christmas through providing safe accommodation.
The council have said that voluntary organisations and charities will be able to help them reach this target.
The council report said: "This funding will be used for immediate interventions to ensure all those rough sleeping have an offer of accommodation by Christmas and support longer term sustainment of accommodation.
“The initial target is to provide a suitable offer of accommodation for everyone who is rough sleeping by Christmas 2026.
“Providing a path into supported accommodation and independent living is the key objective and sustaining this independent living with, where necessary, ongoing support to prevent any return to rough sleeping and homelessness.”
The government announcement spoke of the scheme: "The programme is intended to support people experiencing rough sleeping.
"People experiencing rough sleeping may have differing entitlements to housing and support depending on their individual circumstances, including their immigration status and eligibility for public funds."
The funding is intended to help provide immediate support for people currently sleeping on the streets, while also helping them access longer-term accommodation and the support needed to maintain independent living.
By working with local charities and voluntary organisations, the council hopes to ensure people are not only offered a place to stay but are also given the help they need to avoid returning to the streets.
M&S launches massive recruitment drive in Leeds with hundreds of jobs available
Emily Sergeant
M&S has launched a massive recruitment drive across Yorkshire.
With the festive season fast approaching, and most British stores having already unveiled their Christmas ranges for 2026, one of the country’s largest brands has launched a massive UK-wide seasonal recruitment drives to gear up for what is always one of the busiest times of the year for the retail industry.
M&S has announced it will recruit for plenty of new colleagues across the UK.
As mentioned Christmas is one of the busiest moments of the year for M&S, and seasonal colleagues play a ‘vital’ part in delivering that.
Image: Supplied
New recruits will be tasked with helping M&S deliver a ‘brilliant’ service for customers.
Stores with vacancies span the whole of Leeds - including city centre, Moortown, Crown Point, White Rose Shopping Centre and Pudsey.
M&S says the roles are ‘fast-moving and hands-on’, with colleagues required to work together to make sure customers still get the very best of M&S, even at its busiest.
The roles will pay £13.41 per hour, with successful applicants receiving the training, tools and support needed to get up to speed quickly.
“We can’t wait to welcome over 300 new colleagues to our store teams here in Greater Manchester,” commented Zeba Khan, who is the Regional Manager at M&S.
“As we get ready for our busiest time of year, it’s a great opportunity to join us and help bring a magical M&S Christmas to our customers.
“We have a range of opportunities available, whether joining our city centre flagship or our fresh market-style foodhalls. We’re looking for colleagues who are passionate about delivering great customer service and being part of a team.”
Fancy it then? Applications are now open, and you can find out more and apply on the M&S Christmas careers page here.
The Hoot -
19th October 2022 
