Working people are at a turning point where they are not prepared to be “mugged off” with low pay any more, Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, has said.
O’Grady said there was an increasing number of strike ballots at the moment, and that while many end in a deal, joint action can show the strength of feeling of workers and bring disputes to an end sooner.
Asked about the potential for coordinated strikes in the next six months, O’Grady said: “We don’t take strike action to be ineffective. Unions are constantly discussing what is the best way, because it’s in nobody’s interest to have a prolonged dispute. It’s better for everybody if we can show the strength of feeling and that workers are joining together. That’s more likely to get the employer to the table ready to do a fair deal, whether that’s the government or private sector.”
She highlighted discontent about pay across many different sectors, including university lecturers, shop workers, cleaners, rail workers, posties, and call centre workers because of the cost of living crisis.
“People feel they made huge personal sacrifices during the pandemic, often facing pay freezes, with a nod and a wink that they would be seen all right at the end of it. But many have been treated like dirt. So of course people are angry,” she said.
“I feel encouraged by the determination I see,” she said. “I think there’s a long fuse, but when it goes, it really goes. The government should not underestimate that real determination that I see from working people that things have got to change. I think it’s growing. I think people … there is just that turning point when people know they’ve been mugged off and they’re not prepared to accept it any more. I think that’s what we are seeing now.”
O’Grady warned Liz Truss not to underestimate the strength of feeling among workers who have endured pay stagnation and real terms pay cuts for years. She called Truss the “P&O prime minister” over concerns that No 10 will be prepared to roll back workers’ rights such as the working time directive and a “reverse Robin Hood” over her plan to cut taxes in a way that will benefit the rich and companies more.
The general secretary said the plan to tighten strike laws was a “recipe for chaos because I think she underestimates working people.”
Asked if the new laws could increase the potential for illegal strikes, she said: “I have great confidence in working people’s ingenuity. If people feel they have a just cause, you can’t legislate to stop that feeling.”
UK workers won’t be ‘mugged off’ with low pay any more, says Frances O’Grady | TUC | The Guardian
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