Union chief demands summit with Rishi Sunak to end wave of strikes
Paul Nowak is demanding a No10 summit with Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt to end the wave of strikes sweeping the nation.
The new TUC boss told the Sunday Mirror in an exclusive interview: “The PM must get me and union leaders into the room to sort this out.
“We’ll go to No10 tomorrow. The ball is in his court.”
Mr Nowak says ministers want to settle pay disputes but are being stopped by the PM and his Chancellor.
And he urges the two men at the top to follow the example set by private sector employers who have reached pay agreements with their workforces.
Teachers, civil servants and train drivers walk out in biggest strike in decade
That’s why Wednesday’s day of action walkouts by nearly 500,000 teachers, civil servants, college staff and train drivers only involves public workers.
But it will leave schools, government departments, universities and transport paralysed for the day as workers protest proposed anti-strike laws and demos are held across the country. A petition signed by 220,000 people will be delivered to Downing Street.
Mr Nowak, 50, added: “I’m not interested in going to No10 for tea and sympathy or beer and sandwiches. If this was the private sector they would be asking what has gone wrong and how can we fix it and get people back to work.
“This is action none of us wants to take but action we have been forced into. These are the people who hold our communities together. They cannot afford another year of real terms pay cuts.”
"I’m not interested in going to No10 for tea and sympathy or beer and sandwiches." (Reach Commissioned/Steve Bainbridge)And if Mr Sunak was to agree to the meeting it could stop further days of action from going ahead.
Mr Nowak said: “We’re all in this together. When physios and paramedics don’t have money in their pockets they can’t spend it in shops and restaurants and bars. It’s the Treasury which needs to unlock this.
“One in three teachers leave the profession within ten years of qualifying and there are 300,000 vacancies in the NHS and social care. Those problems are not going to fix themselves. This Government has got its political priorities wrong.
“They have forgotten the art of negotiation and the art of compromise.
“ Rishi Sunak saw the positive power of working with unions for creative solutions during the pandemic. But he seems to have forgotten the lessons of that.”
Mr Sunak wants to neuter the effects of strikes by insisting in minimum service levels which would see workers sacked if they refused to cross picket lines for a strike-breaking shift.
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But Mr Nowak says the PM is wrong to cite similar laws in other countries as justification for this one.
He added: “In Italy there is a constitutional right to strike and no one can be sacked for doing so. In France all it takes is a letter to employers for a strike in 48 hours.
“If this makes it to the statute book we’ll challenge it in the courts. And if one worker loses their job over this it will just prolong disputes and worsen industrial relations. It’s bad law.
“It creates uncertainty for workers and employers. And it’s not a good look for the government to be dragged kicking and screaming through the courts.”
The TUC boss is happy with the support he is getting from Labour which would repeal any anti-strike legislation if Keir Starmer becomes PM. He said: “No one is saying Keir should come down to a picket line and get a selfie with our members.”
And contrary to Tory claims, today’s industrial chaos is not politically motivated.
Mr Nowak added: “Some union members now frustrated by this Government voted for them. This is not about politics, it’s about fair pay.
“This Government is trying to bully people back to work rather than listen to them.”
TUC figures show that Britain is now in the grip of the longest pay squeeze since the Napoleonic War and real wages will not get back to their 2008 level until 2027.
That means each worker is losing an average £3,500 annually over the next four years.
Merseysider Paul Nowak first joined a union at 17, became the youngest vice president of the Wirral Trades Union Council at 19, and was sacked as a BT agency worker for union activity at 22.
He has been with the TUC 22 years and succeeded Frances O’Grady as General Secretary four weeks ago. He new represents 6.4million union members, half the number of those during the 1979 Winter of Discontent.
His ambition now is to create a bigger, stronger, more diverse union membership. Wednesday will be his first big test in the new job.
The National Education Union is bringing out 300,000 teachers, the Public and Commercial Services union another 100,000 civil servants who will be joined by 70,000 lecturers in the University and College Union and 10,000 ASLEF and RMT train drivers.
It comes against the backdrop of the ongoing row over Tory chairman Nadhim Zahawi ’s taxes.
Mr Nowak said: “Our members will be amazed that someone has got £4.8million laying around they can pay in back taxes and penalties to HMRC.
“My brother and my son work together in a small building firm. If they hadn’t paid their taxes HMRC would be down on them like a ton of bricks.”
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