UniteTheUnion_TH

Tower Hamlets Unite Branch — representing over 1,000 members across the council and schools. Fighting for fair pay, safe workplaces and dignity at work.

[UniteTheUnion_TH @UnitetheunionTH]

🪧 BeWell Tower Hamlets Strike - 1) It is both unfortunate and regrettable that we have reached this stage.

Unite TH did not want this dispute argued in public or to bring further negative attention to Tower Hamlets Council, However, workers and our members have been left with no other alternative.

Today we publish our open letter to the Mayor & CEO of Tower Hamlets in relation to the ongoing issues with Leisure Services since insourcing.

[Unite London & Eastern @UniteLondonEast]

With management processes in a shambles, a two-tier workforce, and failings on basics like PPE, workers at Be Well leisure centre in Tower Hamlets are pushing back. 📣

We spoke to them as they took their protest to the town hall!

It’s time for Tower Hamlets to listen to them 📣

[UniteTheUnion_TH @UnitetheunionTH]

@elondonnews happy to provide a response on our position and explain the issues of the dispute but just to be clear this is a management and operational issues not an administration issue. We supported the Mayor’s decision to insource and any failings are down to the Senior Management.

[East London News @elondonnews]

Tower Hamlets #BeWell #LeisureCentres have improved since #MayorLutfurRahman took management of the centres in-house. So why has #Unite taken some workers out on #strike?
https://t.co/Dy1pzmRvpT

[UniteTheUnion_TH @UnitetheunionTH]

https://t.co/njxtnEOC16

[UniteTheUnion_TH @UnitetheunionTH]

⚠️ Tower Hamlets leisure centre staff are on strike.

📢 Show your support at their demo:

📍 Tower Hamlets Town Hall
📅 Monday 15 June, 12:00PM

Find out more about some of the issues workers are facing! ⬇️

[UniteTheUnion_TH @UnitetheunionTH]

https://t.co/FpwThEcDW0

[Unite London & Eastern @UniteLondonEast]

⚠️ Tower Hamlets leisure centre staff are on strike.

📢 Show your support at their demo:

📍 Tower Hamlets Town Hall
📅 Monday 15 June, 12:00PM

Find out more about some of the issues workers are facing! ⬇️

https://t.co/6s8vKLRcRj

[Unite London & Eastern @UniteLondonEast]

Great Yarmouth Services workers are being balloted for strike action over poverty pay. The refuse workers who earn pennies above minimum wage are angry at a 3.3% pay offer from the council-owned company.

https://t.co/Uk6A3t5iIb

[Unite London & Eastern @UniteLondonEast]

They would rather be in the lab but this is important.

Unite members at @ICR_London are standing up for fair pay, respect, and investment in the workers behind cancer research. We're not backing down.

[Unite London & Eastern @UniteLondonEast]

ICR STAFF ON STRIKE
📍 Chester Beatty Laboratories, Chelsea
📅 Tuesday 9 June 2026
🕙 10:00 AM

Join the demonstration and support workers demanding fair pay and respect at work.

[UniteTheUnion_TH @UnitetheunionTH]

https://t.co/bXN5jWAIjD

[UniteTheUnion_TH @UnitetheunionTH]

9) None of this should have been necessary.

Workers should not have to lose wages through strike action simply to persuade a public authority to keep the promises it made.

They should not have to stand on picket lines to secure basic dignity, security and fairness at work.

They should not have to fight for commitments that were presented as part of the justification for bringing services back under Council control.

Throughout this dispute, Unite has remained willing to engage, negotiate and find solutions.

That remains our position today.

But responsibility now rests with Tower Hamlets Council to take meaningful action, address workers' concerns and deliver the commitments that were made.

The dispute can still be resolved — but the Council must now act.

[UniteTheUnion_TH @UnitetheunionTH]

8) Unite is therefore calling on Mayor Lutfur Rahman and Chief Executive Steve Halsey to intervene urgently and directly.

This dispute has now reached a stage where meaningful leadership is required.

The Council must ensure that any concerns regarding intimidation or pressure on workers are addressed immediately. It must engage constructively with Unite through representatives who have the authority to resolve the dispute. Most importantly, it must honour the commitments made to workers when Leisure Services were brought back in-house.

Workers need action, not further assurances.

The longer these issues remain unresolved, the greater the damage to workforce morale, industrial relations and confidence in the insourcing process itself.

[UniteTheUnion_TH @UnitetheunionTH]

7) Tower Hamlets Council cannot continue to celebrate insourcing as a success while serious concerns remain unresolved within the service.

The Council has publicly promoted the return of Leisure Services in-house as evidence of its commitment to workers and public services.

Yet workers continue to raise concerns about insecure contracts, staffing pressures, unclear employment arrangements, management practices and the failure to deliver commitments made during the transition.

Those issues cannot simply be ignored because they are inconvenient.

If insourcing is to mean anything, it must deliver tangible improvements for the workforce. Public ownership alone is not enough if workers continue to experience the same insecurity and uncertainty they were promised would end.

That is not what fair work looks like, and it is not what workers were promised.

[UniteTheUnion_TH @UnitetheunionTH]

6) Since the notification of industrial action began, Unite has received reports from workers raising concerns about how some employees have been treated in relation to lawful strike action.

Those reports include allegations that workers have felt pressured, monitored, questioned or subjected to conduct that they perceive as intimidating because they are exercising their legal right to participate in industrial action.

Every worker has the right to decide whether to take part in lawful strike action without fear of repercussions, pressure or intimidation.

Any attempt to identify, isolate, target or discourage Unite members because they are standing together with their colleagues is wholly unacceptable.

Workers must be allowed to exercise their legal rights without interference, and any practices that undermine those rights must stop immediately.

[UniteTheUnion_TH @UnitetheunionTH]

5) The workforce affected by this dispute includes many young workers, casual workers and agency workers who have kept leisure centres operating for residents across the borough.

These workers have continued delivering services despite staffing shortages, operational difficulties, uncertainty around employment arrangements and ongoing workplace pressures.

They have shown commitment to the service and to the communities they serve.

Many have worked through difficult circumstances while continuing to support residents every day.

They deserve secure employment, fair treatment and a clear future. They should not be met with delay after delay while fundamental issues remain unresolved.

[UniteTheUnion_TH @UnitetheunionTH]

4) It is important to be absolutely clear: this dispute is not political.

Unite supported the decision to bring Leisure Services back in-house because we believed it offered an opportunity to improve conditions for workers and services for residents.

In fact, Unite deliberately delayed industrial action during the election period because we did not want legitimate workplace concerns to become caught up in political debate or be misrepresented for political purposes.

Our focus has always been on workers and their conditions of employment.

But there comes a point where remaining silent simply enables problems to continue. Workers have waited long enough for meaningful action and meaningful change.

[UniteTheUnion_TH @UnitetheunionTH]

3) Insourcing was supposed to represent a fresh start.

Our members were told that bringing services back under direct Council control would deliver secure employment, fair treatment, proper contracts, safer staffing arrangements, greater accountability and a workplace built on dignity and respect.

Those promises mattered because many workers had already experienced years of insecurity and uncertainty.

Yet two years after insourcing many employees remain trapped in insecure arrangements, face uncertainty about their employment status, experience staffing pressures and continue to encounter management practices that fall far short of what was promised.

The gap between what workers were told would happen and what they have experienced is at the heart of this dispute.

[UniteTheUnion_TH @UnitetheunionTH]

2) Leisure workers voted overwhelmingly for industrial action, with 100% of those voting supporting strike action.

That result did not happen overnight. It followed months of frustration among workers who were told that bringing Leisure Services back in-house would improve their working lives and provide greater security and fairness.

Instead, many of members report that the commitments made during the insourcing process have not materialised. Concerns continue over contracts, staffing levels, working conditions and the treatment of employees.

Strike action has now begun because workers no longer believe their concerns are being taken seriously. They should never have been forced into this position simply to secure the commitments they were promised.