'Nobody should be fired if they take legal action to win a better deal at work'

16 February 2023 , 21:12

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Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (Image: STEVE ALLEN)

Over the past few weeks ­hundreds of thousands of public-sector workers have taken strike action.

This is not a decision they have taken lightly.

During that time I’ve stood on picket lines with paramedics, teachers, civil ­servants and many other key workers who have been pushed to breaking point.

Public sector pay has been cut or frozen – in real terms – for the last 13 years.

Let this sink in for a minute.

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The average public servant is now earning £200 a month less – when you factor in inflation – than they did in 2010.

More than a decade of pay ­suppression is having a devastating impact on the workers who keep our public services going.

Nurses are telling us they can’t afford to heat their homes and keep food on the table.

Ambulance workers from the GMB union outside the Houses of Parliament on January 31 (PA)

Hospitals, schools and fire stations are having to set up food banks for staff. That alone should be a source of shame for the Government.

And every week dedicated frontline workers are quitting our schools, hospitals and emergency services because they cannot take any more.

Many are exhausted. Many are simply not being paid enough to live on. That’s why public sector workers are taking industrial action – often for the first time in their working lives.

But instead of getting around the table with unions to negotiate for fairer pay, PM Rishi Sunak is trying to force his Strike Bill that attacks the right to strike through Parliament in a matter of weeks.

This spiteful new legislation would mean that when workers democratically vote to strike, they could be forced to work – and sacked if they don’t.

The right to strike is a fundamental British liberty.

Nobody should lose their job if they take lawful action to win a better deal at work.

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With inflation running rampant the last thing working people need is for ministers to make it harder for them to secure better pay and ­conditions.

Rishi Sunak’s Bill is undemocratic, unworkable and very likely illegal.

That’s why it’s vital that we stand up for the right to strike.

Public servants have been left with no option but to take industrial action. And they are not only defending pay and conditions – they are protecting the public services we all rely on too.

Our message to the Government is this – stop attacking the right to strike. Make no mistake, the biggest threat to public safety is the staffing crisis in our public services.

The strikes are our last hope of preventing more staff reaching their limit and walking out for good before they burn out.

Instead of scheming up new ways to attack working people, the Prime Minister and his Chancellor should stop hiding in their Downing Street bunker and get around the table with unions and get pay rising across the economy – starting with a decent pay rise for public sector workers.

Paul Nowak