Unions blame Government as strikes attain highest degree for 30 years
The Government’s function in industrial disputes has been criticised by trade unions forward of the anniversary of the primary strike by railway staff.
Latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures present there have been 3.7m working days misplaced in labour disputes within the UK within the 11 months to April, the best quantity in an 11-month interval in additional than 30 years.
One union official mentioned the Government is “completely to blame” for the wave of walkouts throughout the nation nearly each week since a 12 months in the past.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) staged their first stoppage on June 21 final 12 months in a dispute over pay, jobs and situations.
READ MORE: Fresh teachers strike in England next month as pay dispute rumbles on
That dispute, which stays unresolved, is seen as the beginning of a stream of high-profile strikes by staff starting from barristers, academics, nurses, junior docs, college lecturers and civil servants, to cleaners and posties.
That determine will improve with strikes persevering with on the railways, NHS, schooling and Civil Service, and the prospect of extra motion by nurses.
Peter Turnbull, professor of administration and industrial relations on the University of Bristol Business School, mentioned: “This first anniversary marks an important milestone in the UK’s contemporary industrial relations history.
“More than three-quarters of the days lost came from transport, storage, information and communications, but daily life has also been affected by strikes in our schools and universities, the NHS, and Civil Service.
“After the longest period of falling real wages since records began, pay has understandably dominated the headlines, but the causes of these ongoing disputes run much deeper after years of austerity, consequent work intensification and falling standards of service provision.
“All strikes are eventually ‘settled’, but workers will remain unsettled by this prolonged period of industrial action for years to come.”
The PA news company has interviewed normal secretaries of a number of unions which have taken motion, and they’re all important of the Government in addition to employers.
Pat Cullen, of the Royal College of Nursing, mentioned: “In the last year we have seen levels of strike action that few people could have imagined, with next month marking a year since the RCN announced it would ballot its members.
“That ballot led to unprecedented action from nursing staff who are standing up for their patients – they will no longer tolerate the low pay that fails to attract and retain people in the profession and puts patients at risk.
“In the final days of our ballot for further action, new polling has shown public support for nurses striking is unwavering, with support actually rising since the eve of the first strike in December last year.
“Nurses are seeing that the public backs them, while the fact that public support has risen should urgently focus attention in Downing Street.”