Unions in threat to bring Britain grinding to halt

Published on Monday 13 September 2010 17:22

BRITAIN'S biggest unions have formally backed joint industrial action if "attacks" on jobs, pensions and public services go ahead.

• Hands up for action: Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley, of Unite, protest against cuts. Picture: PA

As anger over the proposed cuts deepened, union leaders put the coalition government on notice that they will bring the country to a grinding halt in an attempt to fight the "reckless and obscene" cuts faced by the public sector.

Delegates at the Trades Union Congress (TUC) conference in Manchester yesterday agreed to co-ordinate action and campaigns to oppose plans to take 83 billion out of public spending in the next four years.

A week after London was hit by Underground strikes, there were warnings some unions are already preparing for stoppages across the whole of the UK.

The vote to co-ordinate action has put millions of workers on a probable collision course with the government.

Already they fear that thousands of jobs will go as a result of the cuts, and there is fury that the government plans to reduce the generous severance conditions to which public sector workers are currently entitle.

Yesterday, it was claimed that 200,000 jobs have already gone as a result of the cuts.

In addition, the plans to overhaul the expensive public sector pensions, ending final salary schemes, has caused anger.

And union officials have claimed that the vulnerable will suffer most as a result of axing public services.

The conference saw union leaders line up one after the other to condemn the policies of the Tories and Lib Dems on the economy and public services.

Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said it was a "lie" that the country could not afford decent public services, arguing that the government was making cuts because it wanted to promote privatisation.

"If there's money available to bail out banks and bonuses, if there's money for war and Trident, there's money for our public services, he said.

"If money is tight, never mind a pay freeze for our members, how about a pay freeze for bankers? We've seen enough of what they've done; we've had enough of their greed and arrogance.It's them, not our members, who should be doing more for less."

Bob Crow, the hardline general secretary of the Rail Maritime and Transport union, who has called for civil disobedience to defend public services, drew loud applause from delegates when he said: "We lie down or stand up and fight."

Gail Cartmail, of Unite, the biggest union in the UK, said unions were facing the "fight of our lives" and warned that women would suffer most from public spending cuts.

Attacks on pensions would set back the equal pay campaign decades and widen the gender pay gap, she claimed.

Brian Strutton of the GMB said a million people could lose their jobs as a result of the "reckless" cuts.

Mr Strutton said the mood of the public would change when spending cuts started to bite, adding that services such as meals-on-wheels, school food and council housing were already being scaled back.

Meanwhile, Mark Serwotka, leader of the Public and Commercial Services union, whose members are most under threat with some government departments looking at cuts of up to 40 per cent, said public sector workers should not take lectures from millionaires.

He added that the real "scroungers" were the rich who avoided paying their taxes.

"Industrial action is inevitable unless the government is prepared to change direction, and if we have to take action, the onus is on us to make sure it is as effective as possible."

Matt Wrack, of the Fire Brigades Union, added: "We have a Cabinet of millionaires who don't use public services. This is not just a war on our people, it is a war on the entire population in the interests of a tiny minority of big business, bankers and the super rich."

Meanwhile, thousands of BBC workers are to stage two 48-hour strikes in a row over pensions, which threatens coverage of the Conservative Party conference and the comprehensive spending review, it was announced yesterday.

Journalists, technicians and other broadcast staff will walk out on 5 and 6 October, when the Tory conference will be held, and again on 19 and 20 October, the date of the spending review.

The action was announced by Bectu, the National Union of Journalists and Unite even though the BBC offered a new concession.

Unions will consult with their members over the next few weeks before meeting on 1 October to decide whether to press ahead with the strikes.

Jeremy Dear, NUJ general secretary said: "If the BBC fails to listen to the continued anger of staff at these unacceptable pensions changes, we will be left with no choice but to strike to stop the pensions robbery.

"Our strong and determined stand against the BBC's pensions robbery has resulted in today's proposals. "

More than 32,000 people have joined Labour since the election, including 10,000 former Lib Dem supporters, the party's acting leader, Harriet Harman, told the congress