UK unions form alliance to rally opposition to spending cuts


UK trade union leaders asked the public to join millions of workers in a campaign to halt Prime Minister David Cameron's budget cuts, the most vocal opposition yet to what the government says will be the biggest squeeze in spending since World War II.

Union chiefs including Mark Serwotka of the Public and Commercial Services Union and Dave Prentis of Unison, which together represent about 1.7 million mostly public-sector workers, today said they have begun work to coordinate action and build support for public demonstrations. The unions want to be ready to act as soon as cuts are announced next month.

"We're deadly serious about making alliances with all the unions at the congress for a campaign of resistance the like of which we have not seen in this country for decades," Serwotka, PCS general secretary, told reporters in Manchester, England, were the Trades Union Congress is holding its annual convention. "We do not accept the argument that the country's about to go down the pan unless public-sector workers lose their jobs."

Widespread public support for the unions' campaign would threaten to derail Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne's program that has so far won the backing of bond investors and ratings agencies. Unions want the government to clamp down on tax evasion by the rich, scrap the nation's nuclear weapons and invest in programs that boost economic growth instead of making cuts to services.

'Progressive Alliance'

"We want to form a progressive alliance to make the case for an alternative," said Brendan Barber, general secretary of the TUC umbrella group that represents almost 6 million workers. "I don't think people have woken up to it. When the cuts start to bite starting in April 2011, there will be a real search for an alternative to the government's strategy."

Barber said opposition to the government's academy schools program, which saw unions, parents and school governors working together at a local level to limit the take-up of the plans, was a model for how unions could work with the users of public services to oppose cuts. The unions will use grass-roots campaigning to make the case for maintaining public spending and investment, Serwotka said.

Osborne is due to map out cuts to government departments of as much as a quarter in the Comprehensive Spending Review on Oct. 20. In June, he outlined proposals to cut spending and raise taxes by as much as 40 billion pounds ($US61 billion) a year. Together with plans set out by Labour Party predecessors, the measures will suck 113 billion pounds out of the economy by 2015.

'Most Stimulating'

Osborne has embarked on his own campaign to win support for the cuts and yesterday said the budget consolidation plan has already delivered lower real interest rates, improving the ability of businesses and households to borrow.

"Having low interest rates is the most stimulating thing you can do for the economy in a situation like this," said Osborne, speaking in an interview on "Charlie Rose," scheduled to be broadcast Sept. 13 on Bloomberg Television.

Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT rail union, called for a return to the type of street protests that led to the abandoning of the poll tax and contributed to the ousting of Margaret Thatcher as prime minister in 1990. Those protests, which peaked with a riot in central London, included hundreds of local protests in Conservative Party supporting districts, Crow said.

"We need a campaign of civil disobedience to stop these cutbacks taking place," Crow said. "It could be anything from Batman climbing up Number 10 to Spiderman going up Buckingham Palace."

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Imcrook, spend some time reading up about Bob Crow.

He's been around for decades (like most of the jobs for life Union heads) and is responsible for countless days and weeks where I, like many others, have been unable to get to work because he has called his train and underground tube drivers out on strike.

He loves disobedience, he HATES the Conservative Party, and he cares little for the British public and disrupting the system.

He is on the LEFT of the Labour party, he is a former member of the Socialist Workers Party, and if it weren't for Mrs Thatcher's new laws on the Unions striking ability he would paralyse the country without a second thought.

He was described by the Daily Mail as "The most dangerous man in Britain" a few years ago.

Take anything that old Socialist says with a pinch of salt.

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There is nothing good about Crow.
He is a thug.

He has also needed police protection from commuters during one unnecessary rail strike.

Even Tony Blair, head of the Labour Party, described him as 'obstinate' and 'unrealistic in his aims'.

Sod the millions of people Crow heaps misery on by ruining their attempts to get to work eh?

As long as these blue collar reprobates can have the day off.

I hate the RMT with a passion.

Andrei.Hicks wrote on Sep 13^th, 2010 at 9:28am:



andrei you have said heaps of times that you don't use public transport so how would a transport strike stop you from going to work?

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Suppose “the faithful” said the same about Arthur Scargill; pity Bob Crow hasn’t taken heed of the lesson Margaret Thatcher gave to Scargill and his comrades.