Mass Strike Ballots Will Go Ahead, Say Unions

Unions say they will go ahead with ballots for mass strike action over pensions, after talks with ministers fail to reach a breakthrough.













Several unions are holding votes on a "day of action" on 30 November, in protest at plans to increase pension contributions by public sector workers.

They say changes the are unfair and financially unnecessary.

But ministers insist that pension contributions must be increased to make schemes sustainable.

The meeting, between the TUC-led delegation and Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander and Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude, followed months of inconclusive discussions.

'Not appropriate'

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber told the BBC there had been no "dramatic change", with the two sides still "a long way apart", but promised there would be further talks.

He added: "Unions will continue to step up their efforts with the ballots of their members and planning of industrial action.

"But we remain absolutely committed to this process, to try to see if it's possible to reach a negotiated settlement without the need for that industrial action."

Nine unions - including Unison, Unite, the Fire Brigades' Union, Prospect and the GMB - announced at the TUC's annual conference last week that they were preparing to ballot for industrial action or to register "trade disputes" with the government.

Four others who took industrial action in June - the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, the National Union of Teachers, the Public and Commercial Services Union and University and College Union - do not need to hold another ballot if they want to strike.

And the National Union of Head Teachers - which has never organised a strike in its 114-year history - announced on Thursday that it would ballot members, starting on 29 September.

'Constructive proposals'

However, the British Medical Association Council said on Wednesday that it had decided this course was "not appropriate" for its members, but did not rule out "industrial action of some kind in the future".

A Cabinet Office spokesman said: "We are totally committed to genuine engagement with the unions. We have a lot to talk about and there are proposals on the table for discussion."

He added that unions had to make "constructive proposals", saying: "It is extremely disappointing that the TUC is calling on union members to lose a day's pay and go on strike while serious talks are still ongoing."

Asked to condemn the strike plans in an interview with New Statesman magazine, Labour leader Ed Miliband - who was jeered at the TUC conference last week when he declined to back calls for action - said: "I'm not going to get into hypotheticals about strikes that may or may not happen.

"What I'm going to do is say government has a responsibility to properly negotiate and they're not doing it and they've got to do it.

"The unions have to make their own judgement about what they do."

Union Leaders Warn Of 'Long, Hard And Dirty' Battle Over Pensions

Ministers accused the unions of jumping the gun because negotiations on the pension shake-up are continuing.










Delegates at the TUC conference in London voted unanimously for co-ordinated opposition to public-sector pension reform. Leaders of 10 unions subsequently announced their intention to ballot their members on industrial action, and revealed plans for a nationwide 'day of action' on 30 November.

Trade union leaders warned that the dead will be left unburied and rubbish uncollected as they announced plans for the biggest programme of strikes for a generation over the Government's decision to cut public sector pensions.

Officials raised the spectre of the 1978-79 "Winter of Discontent" as another 10 unions announced that they will ballot more than 2m members on industrial action.

The first "day of action" will be held on 30 November, the day after the Chancellor George Osborne unveils his autumn economic statement. Action will include one-day walkouts to lunchtime rallies, and is expected to range from senior civil servants to dustmen.

Workers being balloted include firemen, hospital and ambulance workers, police support staff, teachers and lecturers, care workers, meals-on-wheels staff, prison officers, refuse collectors, street cleaners and cemetery workers.

Four unions representing civil servants and teachers held a one-day strike in June, and yesterday the University and College Union announced that 77 per cent of its members had voted in favour of action over pensions.

Students at 67 universities could face disruption from next month, including a work-to-rule by lecturers, who may set exams but refuse to mark them.

After the TUC conference in London voted unanimously in favour of co-ordinated action, 24 public sector unions agreed their detailed strategy at a "council of war".

They are preparing for a "long haul" running through to next summer, with warnings that the London Olympics and celebrations to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee could be disrupted.

"We are talking about something that is long and hard and dirty," said Brian Strutton, national secretary for public services at the GMB. "We are assuming this will be a huge setpiece conflict running for a long time."

Ministers accused the unions of jumping the gun because negotiations on the pension shake-up are continuing. They said the talks could continue until December so there was no justification for taking action in November.

Downing Street said the proposed action was "very disappointing", while Mr Osborne appealed to the unions to halt what he called "this deeply irresponsible action".

Ministers said they would not back down on their plans to shave £2.8bn a year off the pensions bill by 2014-15 as this would unsettle the financial markets. But they said they were open to "different ways of cutting the cake".

However, on the final day of the TUC conference, union leaders queued up to condemn the Government's stance and declared that the talks were making no progress.

Brendan Barber, the TUC general secretary, said there was "huge anger" over the pensions proposals and said 30 November would see "the biggest trade union mobilisation in a generation".

He added: "We remain absolutely committed, in good faith, to seeking a fair, negotiated settlement of this dispute so that this action will not be necessary. But the Government needs to understand the strength of unions' resolve."

Labour urged both sides to step back from the brink.

Angela Eagle, the shadow Chief Treasury Secretary, said: "Ministers must show a willingness to conduct proper and meaningful negotiations rather than pursuing a path of deliberate confrontation. But unions should also demonstrate they intend to exhaust every option of reaching a settlement."

Autumn Of Strikes Edges Closer

Unions have moved closer to an autumn of strikes as the Government was warned it faces a huge campaign of civil disobedience over spending cuts and "attacks" on workers' rights.













Millions of public sector workers could be taking industrial action in protest at planned changes to their pensions, possibly on November 29, when the Government announces its autumn financial statement.

An announcement could made within days of widespread ballots for action, heralding the biggest outbreak of industrial unrest for decades.

Plans to co-ordinate industrial action will be discussed at the TUC on Wednesday, but sources said a large number of unions were now moving towards balloting for strikes.

At the conference on Monday, delegates agreed to consider a legal challenge against the coalition, alleging breaches of international labour law, and to campaign against "anti-union" legislation.

Officials lined up to attack the Government over its spending cuts and moves to strengthen laws against strikes and other forms of union action.

Paul Kenny, leader of the GMB union, said that if the Government brings in more laws, it would be in response to strikes against public sector pensions, which he warned looked set to be joined by millions of workers.

He said: "Bad laws have to be broken. Civil disobedience in protest at erosion of civil liberties and freedoms have a place in our history. Millions of people inside and outside of trade unions can and will fight. If going to prison is the price to pay for standing up to bad laws, then so be it.

"We will give politicians the biggest campaign of civil disobedience their tiny minds have ever seen."

Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite, said unions should not "meekly accept" anti-union laws, adding: "If tax avoidance is lawful and unpunished, let's plan for anti-union law avoidance in the same spirit."

Scrap 'Reckless And Needless' Public Sector Reforms, Says Ed Miliband

Labour leader tells PM that money spent on elected police chiefs and NHS shakeup could be better spent recruiting frontline staff.



Ed Miliband and David Cameron clash at PMQs.

The prime minister, David Cameron, admitted that stand-alone elections for police commissioners will cost an additional £25m as he faced a barracking from Labour's Ed Miliband over "reckless and needless" public sector reforms.

Cameron faced accusations of "wasting money" which could be better used to recruit thousands of extra police officers, as he sought to defend moves to introduce elected police commissioners.

A plan to bring in elected police chiefs is set to go ahead after Liberal Democrat peers, who had been delaying the Tory initiated policy, accepted safeguards introduced into the legislation.

In a move likely to irritate many on the Conservative benches who feel their party is making too many concessions to Lib Dems and too few to their own side, the legislative delay will mean voting for the new posts will take place in November 2012 instead of at the same time as local elections in May.

The Labour leader told Cameron he was "making a bad policy worse by wasting money" after the prime minister said staging separate elections in November would cost £25m – money Cameron stressed would not come out of police budgets.

As MPs prepared to debate amendments to the health and social care bill on Wednesday afternoon, Miliband also criticised the NHS shakeup and urged the prime minister to "scrap both of these disruptive and dangerous plans".

Miliband told Cameron at the close of a heated exchange: "The truth is, under this government we are seeing two reckless and needless reorganisations of our public services, police numbers down and waiting lists up.

"Under Labour we saw police officers up and waiting lists down. Why don't you do the right thing for the future of our public services and scrap both of these disruptive and dangerous plans?"

Miliband seized on reforms to health and policing as MPs gathered for the first prime minister's questions session since July.

Regarding the cost of delaying the elections for police commissioners, Cameron told Miliband: "It is important to get this policy right and to make sure it works."

Turning the tables on Miliband, Cameron asked him why Labour was "so frightened of elections".

Cameron said the plan involved scrapping police authorities, which would save money, and accused Labour of making a "U-turn".

Labour previously had plans for "directly elected representatives to give local people more control over policing", said Cameron.

Miliband said: "We know what the public up and down this country know: this is the wrong priority for the country. What did we see during the riots? We saw visible, effective policing."

He went on: "The prime minister tells us we cannot afford the current police budget, we have got to cut the number of police officers by 16,000.

"But he tells the country it can afford £100m and more as a result of his decision to waste money on 42 elected politicians earning over £120,000 a year. That could pay for 2,000 extra police officers.

"Isn't the truth that this is the wrong priority at the wrong time for the country?"

As Miliband later moved on to the controversial health reforms, Cameron joked: "I'm not surprised you want to change subjects because on policing you were having your collar felt because you have done a complete U-turn on the policy you used to be committed to."

The Labour leader said the number of people who had to wait more than six months for an operation had gone up by more than 60% since Cameron entered Downing Street.

Cameron insisted the amount of time people were waiting for an outpatient operation had "actually gone down".

"As you know, we have targets for 90% of people to get their treatment within 18 weeks and those targets are being met," he said.

And he insisted the health reforms were now backed by a number of leading professional health groups as well as former Labour health minister and surgeon Lord Darzi – to the dismay of Miliband, who accused him of being "on another planet".

The Labour leader said the British Medical Association, the Royal College of GPs and the Royal College of Midwives "all rejected your bill".