Europe

Europe

British trade union leader warns strikes could last until Olympics

01 December 2011 00:25 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The leader of Britain’s largest trades union warned on Wednesday that industrial action against coalition government plans to reform pensions for public sector workers could go on into the Olympics, APA reports.

Len McCluskey, the leader of the Unite union, the largest in Britain and Ireland, told Xinhua that unless Prime Minister David Cameron’s coalition government made some concessions over its plans to change pension arrangements for public sector workers, industrial action could roll on into the Olympic period in July next year.

McCluskey told Xinhua, "If this government continues to be intransigent then we will have rolling strikes into the early part of next year, into the spring, into the summer -- who knows what the Olympic Games will bring if we haven’t resolved this issue by then."

McCluskey was speaking on a picket line outside St Thomas’s Hospital in central London, where hundreds of workers, ranging from clerical staff, doctors, paramedics and technicians, had joined the one-day strike.

Strike action was a last resort for workers, said McCluskey. A total of 30 unions joined the strike, including unions such as the National Association of Head Teachers whose members had never gone on strike before.

McCluskey said, "Health sector workers are committed to patient care, and nobody wants to take strike action but it is a demonstration of people’s frustration."

He called for the government to take notice of the strike, and to recognize the strength and anger of the strikers.

"We can only hope that the government, which is supposed to be governing on behalf of the people will listen to their people. So I am hoping the government will take a step back, will be more flexible, and get down to meaningful negotiations so that we can resolve this issue," said McCluskey.

Fellow trades union leader Dave Prentis, the joint general secretary of the Unison union, was keen to resume negotiatons over the pensions changes with government representatives. Prentis’s Unison has the largest membership of any union among British workers.

He believed the strength of the strike would improve the unions bargaining position, and he was not yet considering strike action next year.

Prentis, who spoke to Xinhua as he visited a picket line of paramedics in central London, said, "We are hoping that the coalition government will listen. Something like 61 percent of the public are supporting us. We are looking at that public support and that will drive this coalition into real meaningful talks with us through December. It is only if they failed that we would think about what we will do in the future."

The British government said talks to resolve the issue with trades unions would continue.

Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister who is leading negotiations, said on Wednesday, "Claims this morning that there are no negotiations going on are simply not true. There were formal discussions with the Civil Service unions on Tuesday, and there will be formal discussions with the teaching unions on Thursday and health on Friday."

Unions have been in negotiations with the government over the pension plans since the beginning of the year.

Government reform plans designed to save money and ease pressure on the public spending deficit, which is predicted to be 127 billion pounds for 2011/12, would see increased payments into pension funds, workers retiring on a career-average pension rather than a final-salary one, and an increase in the age at which workers are eligible for pensions.