Unions are hell-bent on strike says Danny Alexander

CABINET minister Danny Alexander has accused some trade union leaders of being “hell-bent” on strike action with little regard for the interests of their members.

The Treasury Chief Secretary said the government would be contacting 2.5 million public sector workers directly over the coming weeks to “explain to them directly” the latest improved pensions offer.

Public services are set to be hit by fresh strikes at the end of the month after union bosses declared last week that a more generous offer on pensions reform was not enough to call off planned industrial action.

Mr Alexander said the coalition government wanted to appeal directly to union members.

He said: “In a sense the most important here are not the trade union leaders, they are the individual nurses, teachers, civil servants.

“This week and over the next couple of weeks, we will be communicating directly to 2.5 million public servants across the country to explain to them directly what it is the government is offering. In a sense, in these people’s hands is the decision whether or not to go on strike.”

Mr Alexander, a Liberal Democrat, said if public sector workers visited the Treasury website to see for themselves the detail of the latest proposals they would find a “generous, positive offer that will protect the value of public service pensions for 25 years to come”.

He added: “I think most of the unions, the moderate unions, want to reach an agreement, but there are some who seem desperate – hell-bent if you like – on strike action.

“What we need to make sure is the interests of public servants are not set aside in the interests of trade union leaders who want to go on strike.”

Brian Strutton, national officer of the GMB union, said: “I’m not sure what Danny Alexander intends to put to the public sector workforce or why.

“The proposals from last week are by his own admission incomplete and they have yet to be tested for suitability or legality or how much they will cost or how they will be paid for.

“He ought to wait until we have a finished product.

“As for the claim that union leaders are hell-bent on strike action, I would take great exception to any suggestion that I wasn’t negotiating in good faith on behalf of the GMB members I represent.”

Meanwhile, construction workers from across the country will take part in a protest this week in the latest stage of a simmering row over pay and skills.

Organisers said thousands of electricians, plumbers and engineers are expected to join the demonstration in London on Wednesday.

Unions say that de-skilling and pay cuts are being imposed by a group of construction firms and have been staging protests at building sites across the UK in recent months, including Sellafield in Cumbria, Grangemouth and Ratcliffe power stations, and Blackfriars and King’s Cross railway stations in London.

Unite is planning to ballot its members at the building giant Balfour Beatty for industrial action.

National officer Bernard McAulay said: “Employers should stop bullying their workers and withdraw their intention to dismiss workers who do not sign away their livelihoods.

“These employers need to pull back from the brink and get back around the negotiating table to bring stability back to the construction industry.”

The workers will hold a rally at Blackfriars station before marching to the House of Commons to lobby MPs.

The Heating and Ventilating Contractors Association said it was working with seven major British construction firms to introduce a new single national agreement next March to replace five separate deals drawn up 40 years ago in the building engineering services sector.

Chief executive Blane Judd said: “The claims by the Unite union that the new proposed agreement will lead to what it calls massive pay cuts and workers heading for the sack are total fiction.

“No-one will take a pay cut – in fact 30 per cent will see an increase in their pay packets, and no-one will lose their jobs. Unite demands that construction employers get back to the table for talks, which is frustrating given that the union walked away in May and our door has remained open for six months.

“While I’m in favour of lawful marches, I do hope that those considering coming to the capital have a strong grasp of the facts from the employers about the agreement, and not just the union’s skewed views.

“The agreement is about responding to changes in the construction industry.”