Labor has been accused of ‘playing politics’ with people’s lives after it tried to cripple measures to minimize strike disruption.
The opposition has tabled amendments to legislation that would guarantee minimum service levels during walkouts – in a bid to prevent the proposals from becoming law.
But the Tories have warned that blocking the legislation could prevent Britons from going to hospital or children from going to school.
Business Secretary Kevin Hollinrake told the Commons the Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill was not “radical”, but “reasonable” and “proportionate”.
Labor has been accused of ‘playing politics’ with people’s lives after it tried to cripple moves to minimize strike disruption
Unions and barons go on strike for lack of change
On Wednesday, hundreds of thousands of teachers, train drivers and civil servants will stage coordinated strikes in Britain’s biggest day of industrial action for more than a decade. A new strike was also announced last night after firefighters voted to leave, with the union leader warning he could not rule out people dying.
Mr Hollinrake told MPs that if the government wanted to resolve disputes, it had to be done in an “affordable” way. He added: ‘An inflation-matching pay rise of 11 per cent for all public sector workers would cost £28billion – that’s just under £1,000 on everyone’s bills [household.
‘I say, that’s on top of the Opposition’s spending plans, which have already added £50billion annually of recurrent costs on to our economy and that’s on top of a situation [where] we already have a deficit of £175 billion.
The Tories have warned that blocking the legislation could prevent Britons from going to hospital or children from going to school
On Wednesday, hundreds of thousands of teachers, train drivers and civil servants will stage coordinated strikes in Britain’s biggest day of industrial action for more than a decade.
“What we’ve seen in recent months is that you can’t take the markets for granted. This level of borrowing is absolutely unsustainable.
But Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner said the bill – which she dubbed the ‘Layoff of Nurses Bill’ – was ‘irrational’ and ‘unworkable’.
She told the Commons that the legislation would not stand up to scrutiny and would give “broad powers to a power-hungry Secretary of State”.
Ms Rayner added: ‘This bill is an attack on our fundamental British freedoms. It is from a Prime Minister who is hopelessly overwhelmed, desperately blaming British workers for his own failures. There has been no possibility of any real review, no impact assessment and there is absolutely no justification for it.
John Leach, deputy general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) addressed protesters outside Downing Street against the new strikes law
“The government’s claim that this is about safety is offensive to all key workers, and for the sake of every nurse, teacher and firefighter in the UK, I urge every member of this House to vote with us on our amendments.”
But Tory MP Luke Hall told the Daily Mail: ‘The country is fed up with Labor playing politics with its daily life. Labor’s vote shows where their allegiances really lie – with their paymaster union barons, not the Britons they prevent from going to hospital, sending their children to school and going to work. The Labor Party is unquestionably a protest party. Keir Starmer needs to develop a backbone and stand up to the unions.
It came as the fire union chief warned he could not rule out people dying during strikes planned for next month. Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), said the government and employers were “compromising public safety” by not offering a pay rise.
He added: “We hope it doesn’t come to that.”
Seven unions, also representing university professors, bus drivers and security guards, will withdraw tomorrow. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has warned this could see up to 500,000 workers on strike as protests also take place across the country against the bill. This included thousands of people who marched past Downing Street last night.
No10 yesterday warned that the wave of strikes was having a detrimental impact on the economy and would hit businesses which have ‘already suffered badly’ during the pandemic.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman also called on unions to call off planned strikes and said a planned walkout by teachers was “deeply disappointing”. He added: “Children have been among the hardest hit during the pandemic when schools had to be closed. It is particularly difficult to have the ability to enter classrooms taken away.
n The BBC faces strike action over changes to local radio.
Around 1,000 journalists could opt out of reforms that would see local stations share more production and the loss of more than 40 jobs. Members of the National Union of Working Journalists are heading for a formal ballot with pencil action starting March 13.
