Now for the ‘winter of discontent’: Unions threaten most militant showdown since the 1970s with teachers, doctors and coffinmakers among nearly TWO MILLION who could walkout in coming months
- Two million workers across the UK will likely strike for better pay this winter
- Trades Union Congress expects a motion for unions to unite to pass this week
- Among those walking out could include doctors, teachers and coffinmakers
- The push to strike comes amid soaring inflation and the cost of living crisis
Defiant union leaders are threatening to plunge Britain into a second ‘winter of discontent’ with mass strike action that involves two million workers, bringing the nation to its knees.
Amid the chaos unfurling in Westminster this week, the Prime Minster has been dealt another political broadside, this time by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), in what could be the most militant showdown with the Government since the 1970s.
The dire warning of mass walkouts came as the TUC opened its delayed conference in Brighton today and ahead of a crunch ballot on industrial action between unions, due on Wednesday.
If the vote is backed, it would mean essential public sector workers – including teachers, nurses and junior doctors – would be among those to join the mass strike.
Some groups have already agreed to industrial action, with coffinmakers at the Co-op’s only manufacturing facility in the UK agreeing to walk out in a row over pay, bringing production to a ‘complete stop’.
Meanwhile, the union representing the nation’s teachers has revealed that more than half of headteachers were in favour of striking amid simmering levels of ‘anger and despair’ among school staff.
In an angry attack against the Government, TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady demanded the PM was sacked and a general election was called.
Doctors, nurses and other NHS staff could be among the two million workers set to strike this winter, bringing Britain to its knees. Pictured are NHS staff striking in Bristol in 2016
TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady launched a blistering attack against the Government during the opening of the TUC Conference in Brighton today. She is pictured on Brighton beach on Monday
Addressing her final TUC congress before stepping down, she said: ‘Some say Liz Truss must go. I think they’re wrong.
‘This whole rotten Tory Government must go. The Tories are toxic. It’s time for change.
‘We need a general election now.’
Miss O’Grady warned the TUC was already co-ordinating industrial action, adding: ‘When workers are left with no choice but to vote for strike action for decent pay, I say: bring it on.’
Among those due to be balloted are headteachers. Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), said the union’s members have told him they ‘cannot continue to run their schools in the current circumstances’, and ‘neglect’ of pay and funding is ‘eroding’ education.
Mr Whiteman said he has ‘never heard more anger and despair’ from headteachers.
‘Schools are caught is a vicious spiral. Insufficient pay has contributed to a recruitment and retention crisis. And the failure to fund even the insufficient award this year means that heartbreaking cuts to services will have to be made,’ he added.
‘Less people and fewer services will lead to an erosion of educational quality.’
Teachers could also be joining the walkout after union bosses warned they had never heard ‘more anger and despair’ from headteachers. Pictured are protesters outside Sheffield Girls’ school in February
The NAHT said a survey responded to by 64 per cent of members found 84 per cent indicated they wanted to be balloted on taking action short of a strike, with 55 per cent wanting to be balloted on taking strike action.
Mr Whiteman said he has written to Education Secretary Kit Malthouse to say they are ‘officially in dispute’ and school leaders in England and Wales will be balloted.
He added: ‘It is almost unprecedented for the relentlessly reasonable professionals I know our members to be, but we have no choice but to move to a formal industrial action ballot to establish what next steps they would like to take.
‘No school leader would ever take any industrial action lightly, but they are telling me they feel compelled to fight for the futures of the children and young people in their care.
‘It is no exaggeration to say that the future of education is on the line.’
Meanwhile, coffinmakers vowed to join with the strike action, bringing production to a ‘complete stop’.
About 50 workers at the Co-op factory based at Bogmoor Place, Glasgow, have rejected a pay offer which their union, Unite, said is a ‘real-terms’ pay cut.
Co-op Funeralcare is one of the UK’s biggest funeral directors. Employees will walk out from October 31 every day until November 7 when action will conclude.
Coffinmakers at the Co-op Funeralcare, one of the UK’s biggest funeral directors, will be striking between October 31 and November 7, bringing production to a ‘complete stop’. File picture of a funeral director inspecting coffins
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘The Co-op trades on being different to bad employers; it should not be proposing a real-terms pay cut for their Funeralcare workers, especially when they can well afford to pay fairly.
‘We will fully support our Co-op members in their fight for better jobs, pay and conditions.’
Willie Thomson, Unite industrial officer, said: ‘Co-op Funeralcare have left our members with no option but to take strike action as they have failed to table an acceptable wage offer.
‘We have given negotiations every opportunity to resolve this dispute but the Co-op are failing to recognise the cost of living crisis.
‘Unite’s members are sending a clear message by taking strike action that the wage offer is unacceptable, and they are determined to fight for a better wage deal.’
At the TUC conference today, Miss O’Grady told delegates that Jeremy Hunt may be the new Chancellor, but it was ‘the same old story’, adding: ‘We know who creates real wealth in this country.
‘It’s not hedge fund managers who made a mint by betting on the pound crashing.
‘The real wealth creators are the people of this country.’
Two million workers are set to strike for better pay this winter as expenses surge across the UK. A motion calling to co-ordinate industrial action between unions is expected to pass on Wednesday. Pictured: Striking dock workers in Felixstowe, England on September 27
She said the cap on bankers’ bonuses was being lifted as public sector workers were having their pay driven down and benefits were being cut, describing it as ‘Robin Hood in reverse’.
The union chief added: ‘I have a message for Liz Truss: Working people are proud of the jobs we do; We work hard. We work the longest hours in Europe.
‘Yet, thanks to your party’s 12 years in Government, millions are struggling to make ends meet.
‘We don’t need lectures on working harder. This country needs a proper plan for fairer, greener growth.’
The TUC leader said that with inflation in double figures, the country did not need wage restraint.
‘It’s time for profit restraint,’ she said. ‘Taxpayers helped business with their bills. Now it’s time to make business play their part. No lay-offs this winter.
‘No boardroom bonanzas and no shareholder sprees. Put the cap back on the bankers’ bonuses.
‘Let’s have a bigger windfall tax on greedy energy giants, and don’t just bail out them out – bring them into public ownership.
‘It’s time to do right by the people who’ve done us all proud.
‘They got us through the pandemic, and we owe them. Give public servants a real pay rise now.’
The TUC has placed the blame for large-scale strikes on Conservatives and Prime Minister Liz Truss (pictured October 14), alleging they have introduced ‘new laws to make it harder for workers to protect their pay and conditions’
General secretary of the Trades Union Congress (left) and Unite general secretary Sharon Graham (right) have argued that the ongoing cost of living crisis means workers must join forces to demand ‘fair wages’
Earlier this week Miss Graham revealed she was in conversation with other union bosses about joining forces to secure the best deal for workers.
‘You’ve got ourselves, Unison, GMB – and already you’re talking over a million workers,’ she told The Mirror. ‘The aim is not to strike, the aim is to get money in the hands of workers who are doing a fair day’s work and expect a fair day’s pay.
‘We need to give workers the best chance of getting more money in their pockets so they can feed their families and don’t have a situation like they’re in now. Part of that is unions working together.’
Miss Graham alleged that unions are ‘trying to get money into the hands of workers’ while Miss Truss and her Government are ‘trying to make the rich richer and the poor poorer’.
She argued: ‘You’ve got this crazy situation where you’ve got Liz Truss saying, “let’s have a bigger pie”. There’s no point having a bigger pie if the same people divide it.
‘We should never forget this type of government has presided over things for a long time. It’s become very visible because [Miss Truss] put her foot on the accelerator, but it’s been the direction of travel for many years. It’s a shambles, it’s a horror show. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious.’
Miss Graham added it was ‘sad’ workers need to strike to ensure fair pay.
‘But if unions don’t put a stake in the ground, what else do you do when you’ve got companies making billions and their workers can’t feed their families? You’re left with no alternative,’ she said.
Union leaders allege the Government is ‘picking a fight with unions and working people’ when it should be ‘working with unions’ to deal with the cost of living crisis. Pictured: Aslef picketers at Euston Station on October 5
Meanwhile, the Government is pressing ahead with legal moves to introduce minimum service levels during strikes by transport workers.
The announcement follows months of industrial action by railway workers in disputes over pay, jobs and conditions which has caused travel chaos.
Legislation will be introduced following the PM’s commitment to bring in such a Bill within her first 30 days of Parliament sitting.
The Government pointed out that similar legislation already exists in Western Europe, including France and Spain.
The aim is to ensure transport services including rail, tubes and buses cannot be completely shut down when workers go on strike. The Government said it expects that minimum service levels will come into force in 2023.
A Government source said: ‘The Government stood on a manifesto commitment to introduce minimum service levels.
‘As we have seen only too often in recent months, it is wrong that strikes are preventing hard-working people and families up and down the country from getting to work, doctors’ appointments and school.
‘That is why we are introducing this legislation, to keep Britain moving, ensure people can get to work, earn their own living and grow the economy.’
Rail, Maritime and Transport union general secretary Mick Lynch (pictured on the picket line alongside rail workers on October 8) criticised the Government’s plan to introduce minimum service levels during strikes by transport workers
Unions criticised the move, with many believing it would be unworkable.
Rail, Maritime and Transport union general secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘Further restrictions on the right to strike will only make it more difficult to reach a negotiated settlement in the national rail dispute.
‘We already have the most draconian and restrictive anti-trade union laws in Western Europe. Working people are fed up with the Government trying to make them scapegoats for the country’s problems.
‘RMT and other unions will not sit idly by or meekly accept any further obstacles on their members exercising the basic human right to withdraw their labour.’
Mick Whelan, general secretary of the train drivers union Aslef, said: ‘We know that this Tory Government – in disarray as it is after crashing the economy – is determined to drive down wages and do everything it can to prevent ordinary, decent, hard-working men and women protecting their pensions, their terms and conditions at work and their pay.
‘That’s why Liz Truss, although clearly a busted flush, is determined to try to make industrial action ineffective.
‘The trouble is that Truss doesn’t understand the way the railway works. The train companies don’t want to run minimum service levels because they know it’s a stupid idea. What happens when 100 per cent of passengers try to get on minimum service level trains?
‘It will look like Japan where they cram people in like cattle and the rolling stock will, next day, be in the wrong place which will mess up the normal timetable.
‘The Government claims that similar legislation exists in other European countries, such as Germany, France, and Spain. Yes, it does. But what the Government doesn’t know – or doesn’t choose to say – is that it is not enforced because they know it doesn’t work.
‘If the Government does drive this measure through – and it’s not clear that in the current chaos it will be able to do that – it may find that a lot of drivers call in sick on strike days when the Government wants to run a minimum service.’
The TUC’s push for unified strikes comes as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt (pictured October 15) was brought in to replace sacked Kwasi Kwarteng and restore credibility to Downing Street
Their claims were echoed by Miss O’Grady and Miss Graham who both argue the proposal is an ‘attack’ on unions that will ‘undermine the right to strike’.
‘These proposals will undermine the right to strike and this is an attempt to stop transport workers taking action for better pay and conditions,’ Miss O’Grady said.
‘The Transport Secretary should stop blocking negotiations so rail employers and unions can reach an agreement in the current dispute.
‘But instead Truss and her ministers want to make it harder for workers to win better pay and conditions. It’s a cynical distraction from their own failings.
‘The changes are unfair, unworkable and incompatible with our international commitments. Trade unions will oppose them every step of the way.’
Miss Graham added: ‘This is just another predictable attack on trade unions from a Government that expects the country to take a pay cut. It’s always workers and communities that pay the price’
‘We can all see whose side they are on and their long-term direction of travel. Now it is time to start asking the question – who is this economy for?’
‘Unite is prepared for all eventualities. We will defend workers.’
The push for strikes also comes ahead of a crunch two weeks for the Government, as new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt bids to put together a new fiscal plan – effectively a full Budget – that can restore some order to the chaos of PM Liz Truss’s first few weeks in office. Mr Hunt and Miss Truss are pictured together on October 14
The push for strikes also comes ahead of a crunch two weeks for the Government, as new Chancellor Hunt bids to put together a new fiscal plan – effectively a full Budget – that can restore some order to the chaos of Miss Truss’s first few weeks in office.
While the Chancellor warned of ‘difficult decisions’ and fresh ‘efficiency savings’ for all departments, he declined to get into specifics about potential new cuts or what promises could be axed in a bid to save money.
He told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme: ‘I’m not taking anything off the table. I want to keep as many of those tax cuts as I possibly can because our long-term health depends on being a low-tax economy. And I very strongly believe that.’
One measure being considered is a delay to Mr Kwarteng’s aim of reducing the basic rate of income tax by a year, according to the Sunday Times.
Miss Truss was meeting Mr Hunt at Chequers on Sunday, as rumours continue to swirl of plots to oust the Prime Minister.
But the Chancellor told the BBC that Miss Truss remains ‘in charge’ and insisted voters can still put their faith in her.
‘She’s listened. She’s changed. She’s been willing to do that most difficult thing in politics, which is to change tack,’ he said.
‘What we’re going to do is to show not just what we want but how we’re going to get there.’
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