Unions representing nearly three million people are threatening to bring about coordinated strikes this autumn to cause as much disruption as possible. MailOnline has more.
Several motions tabled by Britain’s biggest trade unions, including Unite and Unison, demand they coordinate their efforts to have the greatest possible impact and ‘win’ the battle for inflation-related pay bumps, the Observer reports.
While the proposals technically fall short of a ‘general strike’, a motion by Unite would task the Trade Union Congress (TUC) with making sure industrial action is synchronised or intentionally staggered to have as great an impact as possible.
The plans come ahead of the TUC congress – the unions’ decision-making forum – which will be held in Brighton from September 11 to 14.
Unite’s call for the body to ‘encourage industrial coordination’ to ‘most effectively harness their union power to win’ is backed by rail union RMT and the Communication Workers Union (CWU), it is understood.
Unison is calling the cost of living crisis a “low pay crisis” and is calling for the TUC to campaign for pay rises “at least in line with inflation” along with a £15-per-hour minimum wage.
Inflation is now at 10.1% and there are predictions it could reach 18.6% next year.
The unions boast nearly 3million members between them, with 1.4 million in Unite, 1.3 million in Unison, almost 200,000 in the CWU, and 80,000 in RMT.
Transport, education, healthcare, the civil service and local government could all be affected by strike chaos in coming months.
Worth reading in full.
Prepare for a second Winter of Discontent. Apparently, the militant trade union activists determined to bring the country to a standstill have forgotten that the last Winter of Discontent helped to persuade the public to give Margaret Thatcher and the Conservatives a massive majority. Expect Liz Truss to put trade union reform front and centre in the 2024 Tory manifesto.
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