Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain

The IWGB began in part from dispute with Unite and UNISON stemming from disagreements over how to get better working conditions for cleaners at the University of London, and more disagreements more broadly about how modern trade unions should be run. ==Sectors and organising methods==

The IWGB represents and organises workers in precarious employment, as well traditionally un-unionised sectors of the "gig economy". These include cleaners, couriers and drivers, foster carers, video games workers, and yoga teachers. In addition The IWGB is a campaigning union which has waged a number of high-profile campaigns and is notable for its grassroots activism, and its use of direct action and social media to generate widespread publicity and support. The first General Secretary of the IWGB, Jason Moyer-Lee, described one of union aims as: ==Organising cleaners at University of London==

3 Cosas ("3 Things") was a campaign led by mostly Latin American outsourced cleaners to improve their working conditions at the University of London. The three demands were for annual leave, sick pay, and adequate pension contributions. The strike was notable for gaining support from Green Party leader Natalie Bennett, and the Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn, John McDonnell and Andy Burnham. The strike was noted for its 'red balloons, drums, and a sound system that played samba music, as well as workers turning delivery vehicles away from the gates". Alongside strike action, the IWGB also launched a legal challenge to the University of London over the rights of 75 of their outsourced staff to negotiate their pay and conditions directly with the university itself. The IWGB, with the legal aid of the Good Law Project cited Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights to argue that the university's failure to negotiate directly with their de facto employees constituted an infringement on the right to collective bargaining enshrined in the convention. The case was considered a landmark legal challenge, with the potential to revolutionise the rights of outsourced workers in the UK. In 2017 their outsourced employer Balfour Beatty Workplace agreed to most of the demands. Following further strikes in 2017 and 2018, the University of London released a statement in June 2018 declaring that they would begin to bring some of their outsourced staff back in house. Although the statements were vague on timings, some concessions were made to the IWGBs demands, including an acknowledgement that direct action had influenced the decision. Following the statements, the IWGB organised a further strike for 6 June to keep up the pressure on the university for concrete commitments. ==Organising courier and delivery workers==

The IWGB has argued that 'independent contractors' for Uber, Deliveroo and other delivery firms are in fact 'workers' and has achieved notable court decisions in this area. Deliveroo In June 2018 Justice Simler gave the IWGB permission to challenge a 2017 ruling of the Central Arbitration Committee in the High Court, claiming that it was arguable that the CAC should have considered the rights of Deliveroo riders to bargain collectively as enshrined in Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The IWGB has so far raised just short of £25000 to cover the legal costs of the case. In a separate case, the IWGB assisted Deliveroo couriers in Brighton after they spontaneously protested over a lack of work. The IWGB demanded that Deliveroo implement a hiring freeze, as well as an increase in payment for deliveries from £4 to £5. Following these actions, Deliveroo wrote a letter to their couriers in Brighton stating that they would implement a hiring freeze, unrelated to the demands made by the IWGB. Dewhurst v CitySprint The IWGB supported Mags Dewhurst's Employment Tribunal against CitySprint. This considered whether the claimant was a worker of CitySprint as opposed to being self-employed or a 'contractor'. The IWGB and Ms. Dewhurst were successful and the Employment Tribunal found that Ms. Dewhurst should be classed as a worker rather than self-employed. The Employment Tribunal labelled the contract as 'contorted', 'indecipherable', and 'window dressing', and noted that 'CitySprint ... has the power to regulate the amount of work available and it keeps its couriers busy by limiting the size of the fleet'. The IWGB said this should be seen as a 'test case' and called for the decision to be rolled out across all of CitySprint's employees. CitySprint, who have a network of 3,500 couriers, disputed the verdict and the IWGB's claims stating that: In a later Employment Tribunal case, after CitySprint's courier contract for HCA Healthcare had been transferred to Revisecatch Ltd t/a Ecourier, the tribunal found that as 'workers' Ms Dewhurst and others enjoyed rights under TUPE legislation. Boxer v Excel The IWGB supported cycle courier Andrew Boxer's Employment Tribunal against employer Excel Group Services Ltd. He argued that he was entitled to one week of holiday pay based on his work for Excel, which amounted to £321.16. Excel did not provide witness evidence or attend the tribunal hearing. The firm initially offered to pay the claim for holiday pay "without acceptance of the claimant's claim". This was rejected by Mr Boxer. IWGB v Addison Lee IWGB supported the case of cycle courier Chris Gascoigne in a case against his employer, Addison Lee, in August 2017. Following similar rulings in other IWGB supported cases against Excel, CitySprint, Uber and eCourier, employment Judge Joanna Wade ruled that Gascoigne was to be considered a 'worker' and not a 'self-employed contractor' as Addison Lee had alleged. Jason Moyer-Lee described the case as another 'domino' within the changing law around the gig-economy, signifying progress in the IWGBs aim to ramp up the pressure against these employers. Aslam v Uber BV The IWGB took over an employment tribunal case against Uber in 2017 on behalf of two of 2 Uber drivers, James Farrar and Yaseen Aslam, The remainder of the claimants stayed with GMB union. Prior to an appeal of the case that they had begun the year before. The Doctors Laboratory collective bargaining agreement In March 2018, the IWGB became the first union to be recognised within the gig-economy for collective bargaining. The ruling came within a campaign the IWGB was organising with couriers at The Doctors Laboratory (TDL), a private courier service that works with the NHS to provide delivery services. For many months, TDL refused to recognise the IWGB, before the Central Arbitration Committee ruled on the case, obliging TDL to recognise the union as representative of the couriers. Previous to the ruling, the IWGB had secured full employment rights for a number of their members at TDL. ==Political activities==

Article 50 Supreme Court intervention The IWGB also intervened in the R (Miller) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union case. The IWGB intervened on the grounds that the UK's decision to leave the EU necessitates a debate in Parliament because the UK's decision to leave the EU directly affects its members. The IWGB were allowed to provide a written submission of up to a maximum of 20 pages, and sought the opportunity to present a brief oral submission of no more than 45 minutes, on issues surrounding the UK's decision to leave the EU. Legal Letter on £1 billion DUP Deal In September 2017, the IWGB co-penned a legal letter to the government, claiming that they were required to seek parliamentary approval for £1 billion spending in Northern Ireland under the Conservative–DUP agreement. The IWGB acted on behalf of their members, with Jason Moyer-Lee claiming that: Following the letter, the government announced that they would be seeking parliamentary approval before the release of these funds to Northern Ireland. ==See also==