A wave of economic unrest in the 1970s threatened to spread by rail in public services as unions representing teachers and NHS workers warned of potential industrial action against pay.
As the country prepares for railway strikes on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, in which half of the network will be closed, the largest teachers’ union, the National Education Union (NEU), told the Observer that unless it receives a pay offer, many closer to inflation on Wednesday, he will brief Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi on his plan to vote for its 450,000 members. The move could lead to strikes in schools in England in the autumn, the union said.
Another flare-up could come this week when millions of NHS staff up to the level of senior nurses receive their offer of an annual salary that is expected to be significantly less than inflation, which is currently 9.2%.
The country’s largest union, Unison, representing NHS staff, said the government now faces a choice between offering a deal close to inflation or triggering a mass exodus of staff, combined with possible industrial action in hospitals, at a time when they are already heavily congested.
T-shirt announcement while Unison members take part in the TUC national demonstration in central London. Photo: Yui Mok / PA
The prospect of public service strikes has risen as inflation has risen to double digits, but the finance ministry is desperate to keep public spending and public sector payments under control.
The sense of crisis deepened last week when the Bank of England said inflation would rise to 11% this autumn, even after rising interest rates – which in itself will lead to an increase in mortgage payments, which will increase the crisis by the cost of living. Final offers for teachers, NHS staff and millions of others in the public sector are expected to be between 3% and 4%.
Kevin Courtney, joint secretary general of the NEU, said last night that unless the government proposes “significantly” more than 3% of Zahawi, announced earlier this year, the union will vote for its members to assess reactions and then may organized a second vote specifically on industry action.
“If there is no significant improvement at 3% – which will leave an 8% difference with inflation this year alone – we cannot avoid a vote. The mood among teachers has changed. Last year, the issue was mainly workload. This year is workload and pay.
“Teachers do calculations to see what their hourly pay is. Wages have already fallen by 20% compared to 2010. The strains are visible. One in eight new graduate teachers leave in their first year. “
Last night, another teachers’ union, NASUWT, joined these threatening strikes, saying that if its demands for pay were not met, it would also vote for members of industrial action in November in England, Scotland and Wales.
Unison Secretary-General Christina Macanea said the quality of NHS services in England was at stake because staff would leave if they did not receive a fair pay increase. “The government has a simple choice. Or it gives a reasonable reward by investing in staff and services and reducing delays for patients, “she said. “Or risk a potential dispute, growing labor shortages and increasing suffering for the sick.
Every day I have children in my class who return to homes where they don’t have enough to eat Frankie Brown, teacher
Yesterday, thousands of people gathered at an event organized by the TUC in central London to demand action from the government regarding the cost of living crisis. Ben Robinson, 25, who works for a housing charity, and Frankie Brown, 24, a teacher, were at the protest. Brown said: “Every day the children in my class return to homes where they don’t have enough food.
Robinson said: “We have residents who come to our offices who choose between feeding their children – not themselves – and paying rent and heating. This is not a choice one has to face in one of the world’s largest economies. “
Network Rail said yesterday it plans to resume talks Sunday with the Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) on what has been described as the biggest shutdown of the rail network in more than three decades.
Tim Schoveler, chief negotiator for Network Rail, said railway chiefs were working to prevent an “unnecessary and harmful” strike on pay, jobs and conditions. Senior sources say some progress has been made in the talks, but RMT said yesterday that the strikes would continue as planned.
RMT Secretary General Mick Lynch said: “Despite the best efforts of our negotiators, no viable solutions to the dispute have been reached.
Transport Secretary Grant Shaps said the railways were on the verge of major disruptions that would cause misery across the country: “Children taking exams will face further distraction from changing their travel plans. And vulnerable people with long-awaited hospitalizations may have no choice but to cancel. ”
Prior to the rail strikes, Eurostar became the last operator to cancel trains: a total of 41 were fired between next Tuesday and Saturday, putting holidays at risk for France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The company said it saw “unprecedented levels of contact by phone, email and social channels” since its announcement.
Gatwick Express trains will not run on strike days, but the limited Southern and Thameslink services between London Victoria or London Bridge and Brighton will run at West Sussex Airport.
Most operators plan some form of skeletal service during the three strike days – Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 7.30 to 18.30. But Merseyrail said today that none of its trains will run in those days, nor buses. The only other operator that has canceled all services so far is Caledonian Sleeper.
Schaps said workers were committing an “act of self-harm” by leaving, that union bosses were forcing them to do so “under false pretenses” and that strikes were the “last thing” they had to do.
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