Len McCluskey slams Westminster’s ‘greedy society’

THE GOVERNMENT has been accused of creating a “greedy pig society” of tax cuts for the rich and falling living standards for ordinary workers.

A survey by the TUC showed that of the one in three who say their employer does not pay the living wage to all staff, 79% believed they could afford to pay it. Picture: PA

Union leaders attacked the coalition for “betraying” workers, “devastating” public services and allowing millions of people to survive on the minimum wage.

The attacks were coupled with threats of co-ordinated industrial action over the next year as well as campaigns against Conservative plans to introduce thresholds for union strike ballots.

The TUC Congress in Liverpool backed a strongly-worded call for co-ordinated strikes among the growing number of workers involved in disputes over pay, jobs and pensions.

Hundreds of thousands of council workers will strike on October 14, health workers are likely to take industrial action on October 13, and civil servants could also walk out next month.

Len McCluskey, leader of Unite, told the conference: “Workers in our country are today facing the longest drop in their living standards since the 1870s when Disraeli was prime minister.

“But to be fair to him he saw the class divisions in Britain as a problem to be solved. His Conservative successor in Number 10 seems to rejoice in them.

“Because every measure David Cameron and George Osborne take is designed to increase the squeeze on workers’ living standards and widen the already scandalous inequality gap.

“David Cameron used to talk of the Big Society. The truth is he’s created two societies - a society of Bullingdon Bullies, country suppers with Rebekah Brooks, tax cuts for the rich, a society which is a happy home for the hedge fund managers who fund the Tory party.

“On the other hand there’s a society of people in fear of losing their jobs or their homes, fear of paying the heating bills, fear over the future of the National Health Service, where the Government strips away any protection the poorest can still cling to.

“That’s not so much the Big Society, more like the Greedy Pig Society.”

Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said the lives of workers were being “crushed” and their wellbeing ignored.

He said: “Our people don’t want to strike, but if it is the only way to get to the table, the only way to be heard, then strike we will.

“We are making it clear that we will stand up for our people. We’ve been let down by the Tories, but we expect no better. We were betrayed by New Labour, and we expect more.”