The general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has presented Britain with an unwelcome new year’s gift. Paul Nowak warned on Thursday that unions could begin to co- ordinate strikes, bringing a “rolling wave” of industrial strife to different sectors on the same day. This month is already due to be blighted by strikes among rail workers, bus drivers, driving examiners, traffic officers, ambulance workers, nurses and, in Scotland, teachers. Nowak’s talk of co-ordinated action threatens to up the ante and pit unions more directly against the public to put pressure on the government.
After months of inconvenience and worse — about 35,000 operations and appointments were cancelled before Christmas because of strikes, according to NHS figures — public sympathy for the picketers is wearing thin. Most people differentiate between railway workers and Royal Mail posties, who are relatively well paid, and nurses, whose pay has been depressed for several years and whose role commands a more emotional response. They also see mass NHS staff shortages and realise there is a demand-and-supply problem. Even then, though, the Royal College of Nurses’ demand for 19 per cent is unrealistic. In July the government accepted an independent review body’s recommendation of a flat £1,400 for all NHS England staff except doctors, backdated to April, representing an increase of 4 to 5 per cent in basic pay. Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt are right to worry that diverging from that under strike pressure could set a precedent for other unions. They should, and probably will, be forced to concede some ground on health workers’ pay. But doing so will no doubt embolden the hard-left RMT, which represents rail workers, and other unions.
As well as burning their cash stockpiles, unions are taking a risk by hitting the people they are supposed to serve and blaming the government. While affluent commuters, well versed in home working since Covid, roll their eyes at train strikes and plan around them, blue-collar employees have to take time-consuming routes to work, and small businesses feel the pinch. With 7.2 million people on waiting lists, those in need of operations or serious care are already going private where they can — and those who cannot are suffering in silence. A walkout by Border Force workers last month made minimal impact when military personnel and other civil servants were drafted in, but leaked figures suggest there fewer passengers were detained than usual, raising security concerns. This winter of discontent is driving a wedge through society, widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots. Both sides are losing access to the services their taxes fund which is dangerous territory for all right-thinking politicians.
The easy answer is to point at Downing Street and say that Sunak must pay up. But that would not be financially feasible — and it would not actually be desirable, other than in the case of health workers. If unions are allowed to hold the public to ransom and win, they will simply do it again and again.
Another factor is in play too. There has been a sense that unions, scenting a dying government, are using their position to heap political pressure on the Conservatives and help Labour. Co-ordinated strikes would confirm this suspicion and might well harden public sentiment further. Going without because of a pay dispute is one thing. Going without because you are collateral damage in a political campaign is another. Sir Keir Starmer deserves credit for moving Labour towards the centre ground, but the party remains financially and emotionally dependent on unions.
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in a speech to the TUC last October the Labour leader vowed to “tear up” anti-strike legislation, including the Trade Union Act, which sensibly says that ballots must achieve at least a 50 per cent turnout from eligible members to be valid. Sunak is now considering further legislation to impose minimum service levels on strike days. He knows Labour will oppose this and calculates weary voters will back him.
Families endured a hard 2022, with the war in Ukraine stoking inflation and rising interest rates putting strain on mortgage-holders. The government has provided a support net on energy. Taxes are up. But there is a limit to the state’s ability to protect everyone, and in the case of most strikes Sunak and Hunt have little choice but to stand firm. Unions should bear in mind that by eroding the public’s trust in services, they hurt the most vulnerable and jeopardise long-term support for the industries and workers they represent.
