Collective action on long hours


Despite the legal protections under the WTR, several groups of workers have used collective action to protest against being forced to work long hours. In 2016, members of the NUJ journalists’ union at BBC World News took part in a 24-hour walk-out in protest at rota changes they said would require them to work significantly more hours, potentially leading to health problems. And general union Unite cabin crew members at Thomas Cook voted to take industrial action over changes that would have allowed them a rest break of just 20 minutes during a duty period of up to 12 hours.