Buses, bins and ballots: the disputes to watch this autumn

Industrial action in Britain rarely stops for the summer and this year is no exception. As autumn approaches, several disputes remain unresolved, workers in a handful of sectors are still deciding whether to escalate and the legal landscape underneath it all is shifting fast. Here’s where things stand and what’s worth watching over the coming weeks.

North London bus drivers on strike

More than 1,500 Arriva London North drivers, based at eight garages across north, east and central London, as well as Essex, walked out on 14 August over working conditions. The dispute centres on cab temperatures, which the drivers’ union, Unite, says can soar beyond 40C during hot weather, turning a bus cab into what one driver reportedly described as an oven on wheels. Dozens of strike dates had been scheduled across August, September and October, covering more than 40 routes across the capital.

That action was initially suspended but drivers have resumed strike action, amid fears that proposed improvements to air conditioning will not be complete by next summer. About 1,500 members of Unite working across north London and Essex are taking part in a four-day strike from Tuesday to Friday this week and further stoppages are planned for the coming weeks.

Rail action continues on a smaller scale

The RMT has run weekend strikes throughout August on East Midlands Railway (EMR) services, in a dispute over faulty trains the union says have suffered repeated safety failures, including loss of communication between drivers, dispatchers and trackside systems. The union’s general secretary, Eddie Dempsey, said EMR has been sending trains into service that are “likely to fail” and require a full reset, despite the union’s repeated attempts to resolve the dispute through talks. A spokesperson for the Department for Transport has urged both sides to get back around the table, while EMR has apologised to affected customers and said it remains willing to negotiate.

Beyond EMR, nationwide rail disputes have been comparatively quiet this year compared with the disruption of recent summers, though the RMT has also taken “action short of strike” through much of August, meaning disruption may continue in less visible forms even where no full walkout is scheduled.

Local disputes escalate

Away from transport, refuse workers in Birmingham have taken strike action amid allegations of bullying and blacklisting, prompting the council to suspend bin collections entirely across the city. Staff across the Tate galleries have launched week-long action over pay, with some sites forced to close and others running skeleton services during major exhibitions.

These disputes can look parochial next to a national rail or bus strike, but they hit ordinary life directly, with uncollected bins piling up on residential streets and cultural venues losing footfall during the exhibitions that make up a large share of their annual income. They are also a timely reminder that the current wave of industrial action extends well beyond the sectors that make national headlines.

Healthcare remains a pressure point

Resident doctors have been balloting to extend their strike mandate, with further walkouts considered likely if no agreement is reached on pay and workforce numbers. The health service has proved one of the most persistent flashpoints of the last few years and there is little sign that will change before the new year, particularly with winter pressures on the NHS still to come.

The legal landscape is about to shift

Underneath all of this, the rules governing industrial action are changing fast, as the Employment Rights Act moves through its staged implementation timetable.

By 31 August 2026, statutory trade union ballots move to electronic and workplace balloting for the first time, a change unions have long argued will make it easier to hit turnout thresholds and harder for employers to challenge a ballot’s legitimacy on procedural grounds.

From 1 October, the time limit for bringing most employment tribunal claims doubles from three months to six, giving workers considerably more room to bring a claim after a dispute, dismissal or act of discrimination. Claims arising from breach of contract on termination of employment are excluded from this change and remain subject to the three-month limit.

Then, on 30 October, a much larger package of reforms takes effect. Alongside new trade union access rights, covered here, this includes a new statutory protection against detriment for workers taking part in protected industrial action. In practice, this means an employer cannot lawfully discipline, financially penalise or deny career development opportunities to a worker where the sole or main purpose of that treatment is to prevent, deter or penalise their participation in a strike.

The same date brings the repeal of most of the Trade Union Act 2016, along with simplified requirements around ballot and action notices and the removal of the requirement for a picket supervisor, easing some of the administrative burden unions have complained about since that legislation was introduced.

What to watch

Two things are worth tracking closely over the coming weeks. First, whether the paused Arriva bus dispute reignites once drivers vote on whatever revised offer eventually emerges, particularly with the possibility of further autumn heatwaves keeping cab temperatures firmly on the agenda. Second, whether unions in low-density sectors such as retail and hospitality move quickly once the new access rights land at the end of October. Employment lawyers are already telling clients to expect the framework to be tested fast in exactly those industries, where union presence has historically been thin.

Left Field will keep a close eye on these disputes as they develop and will report from the ground where we can, rather than relying solely on statements put out by either side.