Unison chief’s ‘call to arms’ warns of long fight over public-sector cuts

Dave Prentis tells union that coalition war on public services will be met with sustained industrial action Dave Prentis, the head of the UK’s biggest public-sector union, has stepped up the strike rhetoric, promising the government a campaign of industrial action without precedent and telling his annual conference: “This is our call to arms.” The leader of Unison said there would be sustained strikes until the government backed down on its controversial proposals to overhaul public-sector pensions. The campaign to “break the pay freeze, stop the jobs cull and send this coalition packing” would be extended. Prentis accused David Cameron of defending the interests of “fat cat bankers” and sacrificing low-paid public-sector workers. But he also fiercely attacked the Labour party, threatening to withdraw support unless the party backed the union campaign. He said of the government’s action on public services: “They’re cutting further now than Thatcher dared. For them it’s unfinished business. They’ve declared war on our public services – with Tory donors, City firms, hedge funders back in the heart of government.” He pledged support for the four unions holding a one-day strike next week and said: “If the government fails to listen, to heed our warnings, to negotiate in good faith, I say, David Cameron, you ain’t seen nothing yet. We will strike to defend our pensions. A campaign of strike action without precedent. Yes, we hope for the best. Yes, we will negotiate. But we plan for the worst. Our preparations are well advanced, but there is more to do. “This is our union’s call to arms. When you get back to your branches, prepare for action. You have a massive job to do; deciding in regions what action to take, millions of leaflets to distribute, winning the argument with the public, recruiting new members to the cause. Strike action will need to be sustained. And the political and public campaigns intensified. “The fight of our lives may be an overused cliché, but conference, this is it. A fight we can win, a fight we must win, and together a fight we will win.” Last week talks on pension reforms between the unions and ministers, with Prentis chairing the union delegation, threatened to collapse after the chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, unilaterally announced a deal. Prentis then told the Guardian there would be the biggest strikes since 1926, with rolling action across Britain should the government refuse to back down. In his speech in Manchester, Prentis said: “To those who say name the day, I say a day won’t be enough. To those who say, negotiate, I say anytime, anywhere, for as long as it takes. To Danny Alexander. Boffin or buffoon? He may have done us a favour. The world now knows what they’re about. A 50% increase in pensions contributions – not a penny into the pensions funds. A 50% reduction in benefits. All workers to work longer, and if you happen to be privatised – well tough. You can’t take it with you. And to add insult to injury, 300,000 women finding out on the radio that their state pension age will go up, yet again, to 65, then to 67, and more. They will lose thousands. And it’s daylight robbery. “So Danny, I say if your intervention last week was designed to enrage our members and increase the chances of a strike – it worked”. And to Cameron, Osborne and Clegg I say, don’t underestimate the outrage and anger of our members, at the savagery of your gratuitous attack on our pensions – to pay more, get less, work longer. The anger and outrage.” He issued a message to the government on NHS reforms, saying: “We want the bill scrapped and we will fight you every step of the way, until [Andrew] Lansley tosses it back in the bin, where it belongs.” On Labour he said: “It’s about breaking a political consensus that says markets know best. In truth, Labour built the bridge over which the Tories now march. In future, [it's about] only supporting labour candidates who support our values, our union, our people.” Union officials said this would not mean withdrawing funding from the Labour party (they have donated more than £400,000 in the past year) but instead refusing to endorse constituency candidates who did not promise to back the campaign, including industrial action. Trade unions Public sector cuts Public sector pensions Public sector pay Dave Prentis Danny Alexander Polly Curtis guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 21, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.