Boris Johnson has pretty much refused to work ever since the cost of living crisis erupted. But we know his pay hasn’t been docked. When working people go on strike, they lose pay. It’s always a big deal, and it’s a difficult decision for any worker.
Taking a stand, withdrawing labour, and losing pay, sends a clear message to employers that they won’t be taken for granted. They won’t be exploited. They won’t put up with declining pay and standards. They won’t be used.
Workers take industrial action when they have collective strength and the backing of their union. It’s a last resort, when the hard work that goes into negotiations isn’t met with fair offers from employers.
That’s why, at our recent service group conferences and our national delegate conference, I set out in the strongest terms, that UNISON members had my full support and the backing of our whole union to challenge employers when insulting pay deals are offered.
I told everyone to get strike-ready. Being strike-ready is powerful. Look what happened in Glasgow – a successful industrial action ballot over the long-running equal pay dispute.
A massive 96% of those who voted were ready to strike again and on the eve of their walkout, their employers finally saw sense. Our Glasgow members smashed through anti-trade union ballot thresholds.
Just last week, refuse collectors in Harlow also returned a successful industrial action ballot. And today, Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Trust, and St Monica’s Trust care homes in the South West, will face their first of several days without some of the essential workers they rely on.
Outsourced OCS workers are fighting for pay parity and St Monica’s Trust care workers are defending their pay, after plans to fire and rehire on £400 less a month were announced.
Underpaid, overworked and undervalued, but by withdrawing their labour, everyone can see exactly how important their work is. Important work that should be paid, fairly, for.
The Tory government will label striking workers as ‘militant’ and ‘holding the country to ransom’. But we know that only shows their contempt for working people, and amounts to lazy game-playing politics that feeds division.
But we’re not as cynical as the Tories. We believe the British public have more heart than them, and want public service workers to be treated with dignity and respect. The TUC have already reported a surge in membership interest with online enquiries into trade union membership increasing by 700%.
We know from experience that our disputes often galvanise support. We’re seeing signs of that in Scotland right now, as our members are balloted over the miserly local government pay offer of 2%.
This is because when workers are told they’ll only get pay offers that’ll be wiped out by inflation, and when they’re forced into declining standards of living, they know their trade union will be on their side
Trade unions are the solution, not the problem
