The Government’s new anti-strike bill is not only an attack on a fundamental right – the right to withdraw your labour – but a full-frontal assault on working people.
Let’s be clear, nobody wants to go on strike. Nurses, ambulance workers, firefighters, teachers, transport workers and civil servants are members of our communities and they care deeply about serving our society.
They only consider taking industrial action when they are pushed to breaking point – and that’s exactly what this Tory Government has done.
After crashing the economy, sending people’s mortgages and rents skyrocketing, and presiding over more than a decade of austerity, lost growth and collapsing living standards, this Government is now picking a fight with trade unions because they hope it will divert attention away from their shameful record in office and the cost-of-living emergency they helped to create.
The reality is the Tories would rather see the country paralysed and public safety put at risk than engage in good faith with the trade unions, who collectively represent millions of working people.
It speaks volumes that the economic hit from these strikes is far greater than the cost of reaching a fair and reasonable pay settlement with frontline public sector workers.
Throughout the pandemic, our NHS staff and keyworkers went above and beyond – making the most extraordinary and unimaginable sacrifices to save lives, protect the most vulnerable and keep our towns and cities moving.
As many now struggle to put food on the table and heat their homes, after having their pay effectively cut over the last decade, there is a moral obligation to do right by them.
You can’t clap for nurses one day and threaten to sack them the next. It’s not credible, it’s not moral and it’s not in tune with what the British people want.
The Government’s plans are not only wrong, but they simply won’t work. You don’t end strike action by passing undemocratic legislation, but through meaningful negotiation.
In London, we’ve always sought to maintain positive relations with the trade unions, who play a vital role in our society as advocates for working people - people like my dad, who, as a bus driver for many years, was brilliantly defended and represented by his reps as a trade union member.
Our constructive approach in London hasn’t just benefited workers, but all Londoners. Not only have we negotiated a new minimum pay deal for London’s 25,000 bus drivers, but because of our constructive dialogue and the way we’ve treated workers with respect, we’ve managed to reduce the number of days lost to strikes than would have been the case under the previous Mayor.
Trade unions have been a powerful force for social change throughout our history, securing fair pay, dignity at work and crucial protections for members – from sick pay and maternity leave to paid holidays and important health and safety legislation.
Instead of demonising our frontline public sector workers and trying to deliberately provoke further industrial action, the Government should ditch its anti-strike legislation and engage meaningfully with Britain’s trade union movement.
Doing so would be the best and most honourable course of action for our keyworkers, our capital and our country.
