Back to 1926: Unions plan general strike
THE prospect of the first general strike since 1926 reared its ugly head yesterday, after trade union leaders clubbed together to fight the toughest public spending cuts in a generation.
Three unions – which represent train and bus drivers, prison officers, and civil servants – said they would support a general strike if the government sacks public sector staff or alters the terms and conditions of their employment.
Bob Crow, general-secretary of transport union RMT, called on other trade union leaders to coordinate industrial action for maximum effect.
He said: “With so many trade unions under attack, it would be an act of folly to allow the government to pick off individual groups of workers.”
“It would be better to stand together and take generalised and coordinated action.”
And Steve Gillan, general-secretary of prison officers’ union the POA, told City A.M. coordinated industrial action was “inevitable” considering the scale of public spending cuts being planned by the coalition government.
“Do I believe there will be a general strike or coordinated action? It’s inevitable,” he said.
Prison officers are banned from striking under section 127 of the Criminal Public Order Act, but Gillan said this “wouldn’t stop” workers walking out.
“If they go ahead with savage cuts, if prisons are privatised – we’ve got a mandate,” he said.
A spokesman for the civil servants’ union PCS said: “This is a wide scale attack on the public sector, with a massive knock-on for the private sector. Strikes are pretty inevitable – it would be best if unions coordinate strike action for maximum impact.”
City A.M. understands that Matt Wrack, the general-secretary of the Fire Brigade Union (FBU), has also refused to rule out backing a general strike.
And some members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and Universities and Colleges Union (UCU) support coordinated action, although neither union has adopted an official stance yet.
Trade unions could engineer a general strike by balloting their members on specific grievances before working together to ensure that all the walk-outs start at the same time. This would be completely legal under existing laws.
The unions made the threats after the Treasury asked departments to draw up plans to slash spending by 40 per cent.
And government plans to change civil servants’ severance terms, bringing them in line with the private sector, have also caused unrest.
Cabinet office minister Francis Maude fears that a wave of public sector job losses could prove hugely expensive due to generous redundancy terms, which offer some civil servants a pay-off equivalent to six years of salary.
The government yesterday denied it was planning to change strike laws to thwart a wave of walk-outs, but left the door open to new legislation in the future.
An official at the department of Business Innovation and Skills said: “As the Prime Minister has made clear there are no immediate plans to change the law.
“Strikes remain at relatively low levels. Of course, the situation may change and any responsible government would wish to ensure the public doesn’t suffer unduly if there is an upsurge in strike action.”
London Mayor Boris Johnson has met with Philip Hammond, the transport secretary, to discuss whether the proportion of workers required to vote before a strike takes place should be increased.