THE BRITISH Trades Union Congress has warned of strikes as “a last resort” to oppose billions in spending cuts, but top leaders pulled back from threats made by more radical elements to launch a general strike against the plans.
The TUC leadership met yesterday to debate the response to the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition plans to cut £80 billion (€93.2 billion) in spending, which they warn will cause the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs in the public sector, reduce wages and pensions and threaten to push the UK back into recession, unless the government backs down.
Earlier, cabinet office minister Francis Maude charged that unions were “looking for a fight” with the government and left open the possibility the government would tighten up legislation surrounding the calling of strikes.
“The laws are in place and any changes to it [sic] are a last resort. I would like to see unions moving from the looking-for-a-fight approach to one that exists on the Continent where they see themselves as public partners,” he said.
Public and Commercial Services general secretary Mark Serwotka – who has been the loudest in declaring workers should be united in opposing cuts – said industrial action would be a last resort, adding opposition would be more effective if co-ordinated.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said union leaders would now meet monthly to discuss the impact of cuts, which have already seen local authorities in Manchester, Liverpool and elsewhere announce thousands of redundancies and cutbacks in services.
Mr Barber said chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne has pulled back from plans to force public sector workers to pay more for pensions in the March budget: “They have proposed that there should be discussions that will take place over the next few months,” he said, after the meeting in Congress House.
Unison leader Dave Prentis said the unions would negotiate collectively with the government on pension issues: “The one area which ignites and unites the unions more than anything is this attack on the pensions. We’ve got one priority, to look after our members in the face of the onslaught,” he said.
The TUC has announced it will hold a rally in Hyde Park in London on March 26th to protest at the cutbacks, with some saying it could attract an even bigger attendance than the million-strong rally that protested former prime minister Tony Blair’s decision to go to war in Iraq in 2003.
The TUC will join with the National Union of Students and the University and College Union in a protest in Manchester against the decision to raise tuition fees.
TUC assistant general secretary Kay Carberry will warn opportunities for the young must “not be sacrificed as the economy struggles to get back on its feet following the recent recession”.
There were fears another rally in London not backed by the National Union of Students could turn violent. It is due to finish at Millbank, where thousands of students stormed Conservative Party HQ in November. This left scores of students and police injured and has led to prosecutions.
Last week, former chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, Sir Hugh Orde, now the head of the Association of Chief Police Officers, warned police could be forced into stronger actions against protesters, saying the use of social networking sites, such as Twitter and Facebook, had brought “a whole new dimension to public order”.
