A Strike In The UK
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has triggered a Public sector strike set to be largest for a generation
Up to two million public sector workers are staging a strike over pensions in what is set to be the biggest walkout for a generation.
Schools, hospitals, airports, ports and government offices will be among sites disrupted, as more than 1,000 demonstrations are due across the UK.
It would “achieve nothing”, Downing Street said, calling for more talks.
…GMB union leader Paul Kenny said: “As well as the shameful unfairness of further pay restraint on already hard-pressed public sector workers, the chancellor’s announcements will push the possibility of a pensions deal further away.
“The [pension] contribution rises government want are plainly unjustified and unaffordable, while moving the goalposts on retirement age mid-negotiation smacks of deliberate deception. No doubt this will boost the strike turnout tomorrow.”
The problem is that the public sector workers were in negotiations with the government, and Chancellor George Osborne just unilaterally imposed all kinds of new limits on pay and changed the retirement age. Those were supposed to be part of the negotiations.
It has reached the point that the Conservatives are not viewed as taking negotiations seriously by the workers.
2 comments
Osborne is looking to shed over half a million public sector jobs at a time when the economy is screwed and is doing nothing to rein in the obscene pay rises of top CEOs. No surprise given his origins and party. The Lib Dems are doing nothing to soften the blow.
Add a half million people to the unemployed and then wonder why the economy won’t pick up, that’s Austerians for you, totally oblivious to reality. They don’t really understand the economy or fiat currency.
You make cuts when the economy is moving ahead, not when it is creeping along. They are pushing the UK back into a recession.