Union salutes strikers

(16/07/08) All over England, Ireland and Wales, thousands of offices, depots, town halls and schools are closed as a result of action by UNISON members, deputy general secretary Keith Sonnet told a joint union rally in London.

“We salute UNISON and Unite members for their solidarity – the majority are low paid and they can’t afford to lose pay,” he pointed out.

“But our members are fed up. They are fed up with privatisation, fed up with outsourcing; fed up with marketisation and fed up with being taken for granted.”

He told the rally of 2,000 strikers in Friends Meeting House, Euston, that local authorities could afford to make a fair settlement – they had £3 billion in unallocated reserves – money achieved through efficiency savings by our members.

“If there is the political will, there is a way to settle this dispute by negotiation. But we will not accept employers refusing to negotiate or to make a decent offer. The message from today is that we will keep up the fight and together we will win.”

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