'Britain must stand together to protect right to strike as Tories attack'

29 January 2023 , 19:00

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TUC general secretary Paul Nowak is leading the Protect the Right to Strike campaign (Image: PA)

The right to strike is a fundamental British freedom.

Striking workers won us the 8-hour working day and equal pay for women.

Even when workers do not go on strike, it gives them the power.

The right to strike brings employers to the negotiating table. And it underpins thousands of successful pay negotiations every year.

But the Conservative Party is hellbent on attacking the right to strike.

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The anti-strikes bill will mean that public service staff can be sacked for taking part in democratic strike action. That’s wrong, unworkable, and almost certainly illegal.

It will lead to lower pay across the economy and pay disputes that drag on for longer. Even the government admits this.

Conservative ministers applauded public service staff during the pandemic. And they promised that key workers would be rewarded once it was over.

But with this bill, they have gone from clapping to sacking.

This attack comes not only in the middle of a cost of living crisis. It also follows a decade of pay cuts for nurses, teachers, firefighters and other public sector staff.

But so far ministers have failed to table a fair deal on public sector pay. And this bill will make it much easier for them to refuse negotiations in the future.

Teachers in the NEU are holding a strike day on Wednesday to coincide with the TUC campaign (Getty Images)

If your job is not yet mentioned in the bill, don’t assume you are safe. Once it becomes law, it will be very easy for ministers to extend it to other workers too.

We are calling on all workers to stand together on this. The right to strike must be protected – otherwise, no worker is safe.

That is why on Wednesday we are campaigning across the nation to Protect the Right to Strike.

Workers and their unions are holding rallies up and down the country. And I will visit Downing Street with key workers to call on the government to abandon their attack on working people.

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With your support too, we can all protect this British freedom – the right to strike for fair pay and conditions.

More information on the Protect the Right to Strike campaign can be found here.

Paul Nowak