London strike: Liz Truss vows crackdown as Sadiq Khan says government ‘deliberately provokes’ unions – direct business

By On Aug 19, 2022

Liz Truss pledges ‘crackdown on debilitating strikes’

The front-runner to become Britain’s next prime minister has made clear his views on unions: he has agreed to tweet a report that he intends to complicate the strike.

“The new law will make it harder to call strikes and also ensure minimum service levels are maintained on public transport,” according to a report by the Daily Express, a newspaper that is strongly pro-government and supports Truss in the Conservative leadership race. .

Changes to the rules could include increasing the threshold for strike action – which is already quite strict in the UK – and limiting the number of strikes unions can take once they have received voting support.

He will push through the change “within a month of becoming Prime Minister”, Express reported.

The European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) described Britain’s strike laws as “complex and multi-layered with detailed regulations introduced by Conservative governments over the years”. This includes a requirement for 40% of the total workforce (including those who did not vote) to vote in favor of the action.

If a strike is carried out in an essential public service, 4⃣0⃣% of the total workforce must vote in favor of the action.

️👮🏽‍♂️Police are also restricted in terms of union membership and right to strike. There are also further restrictions on postal workers, sailors and prison officers. pic.twitter.com/1wBOOAUbGl

UK government announces £130m of bus funding in latest bailout

The UK transport department has announced a £130m fund for the UK bus network to cover the revenue shortfall caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The cash will help to cover six months of operations by the private company running UK buses from October 2022 to March 2023, the government said.

Bus companies – like other parts of Britain’s struggling public transport industry – have struggled to get customers back on their routes after passenger numbers slumped during the coronavirus lockdown.

The government gave bus providers their first bailout (worth £400 million) in April 2020 to protect routes while passenger numbers fell. Since then the value of available funding for 160 companies has reached £2 billion, the government said on Friday.

Grant Shapps, secretary of transportation who has a busy day, said:

At a time when people are worried about rising costs, it’s more important than ever that we save these bus routes for the millions who rely on them for work, school and shopping.

The Passenger Transport Confederation, a lobbying group for the bus and coach industry, may surprisingly welcome the money. A CPT spokesperson said:

Today’s announcement will help bus operators and local authority partners to balance a reliable and affordable service network in the short term as the bus network adapts to new travel patterns.

In the long term, we will continue to work closely with the central government and local governments to encourage old and new passengers to board state buses, ensuring they are provided with the best possible service.

Diane Abbott, a former colleague of John McDonnell in the shadow Labor cabinet under Jeremy Corbyn, is one of several lawmakers who have joined workers in the picket line today.

Sam Tarry, the Labor MP for Ilford, lost his job in the shadow cabinet for defying party leader Keir Starmer’s order that front seats not attend picket lines. On Friday he posted another photo of himself with striking workers in London.

Solidarity with workers @RMTunion and @unitetheunion striking today in London to protect jobs and pensions and fight for better pay and conditions.

Your struggle is the struggle of workers above and below the country who are fed up with the relentless assault on their rights. pic.twitter.com/PvGzZI2KlM

Bell Ribeiro-Addy, another leftist Labor MP, visits the picket line in Brixton, south London.

Proud to join the @RMTunion picket line this morning at Brixton Station.

Solidarity with all striking London Underground workers to defend their terms, conditions and job security. pic.twitter.com/km36zUFGVs

Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the UK government had to adjust public sector salary increases to inflation.

Matching inflation to the consumer price index of 10.1% per year would imply billions of pounds of extra spending, and many economists including the Bank of England would argue that itself would feed into higher inflation.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, he said:

I think that’s the only way we can protect them [households] from drowning in, in some cases, poverty.

McDonnell said the roots of discontent go back 12 years to the global financial crisis, and the austerity policies brought in by Conservative governments in its aftermath. He says:

There was a buildup of whole ranks of unions, some of whom had never been on strike before, faced with members saying to them, ‘We cannot survive on the wages we have today’.

We need to prove our wages against inflation. The union responds to its members.

McDonnell argues that most of the inflationary pressure facing the UK comes from external factors, citing the Bank of England. Those pressures have come from supply chain disruptions caused by the Covid-19 lockdown (especially in China) and a spike in energy prices accelerated by fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin will cut gas supplies to Europe as part of his response to his policies. isolation of the country after the invasion of Ukraine.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps blamed the union for not providing members with salary offers for the strike in London.

The union found support from members for the strike, having received 91.1% of the vote in favor in a ballot at the end of June which drew 53.1% of the electorate.

But Shapps wants unions to offer members an 8% pay increase over two years. That is significantly lower than the inflation rate of 10.1% in one year, and therefore would imply that workers are receiving pay cuts in real terms.

This is certainly very disturbing, especially in the current capital where the strike is focused. But look, overall I don’t think there’s any reason to go on this strike at all.

A very fair payout offer has been discussed across the wider network by 8% over two years. This is not mandatory redundancy in exchange for modernizing work practices that should have nothing to do with the ark.

If only the union bosses actually made that offer to their members, I’m pretty sure this strike would be over.

Sadiq Khan has become the talk of the media these days. He told BBC London he believed the current government was “anti-London”.

This builds on previous criticism that the government is using strikes as an opportunity to provoke unions into industrial action that may not be popular with some segments of the population.

Of course I understand their concerns. I am a vocal person about the concerns that Londoners, including transport workers, businesses, have about some of the conditions the government is trying to attach to.

I think this is the anti-London government. I think they are trying to use this as an opportunity to provoke the unions, and I am afraid we will fall into the government’s trap.

What today is doing is giving the government an opportunity to criticize unions, transport workers […] The innocent Londoners caught in the crossfire.

Liz Truss’ plan to “crack down” on strikes by British workers (following directions set by her predecessors) comes with workers across the country considering industrial action.

Workers at airport security and garbage collection are among those considering action today. They will add to a long list of sectors where workers have increased the likelihood of a strike or taking action this summer.

These sectors include (inhale): lawyers, tram drivers, train drivers, railroad workers, bus drivers, post office workers, telecommunications technicians, doctors, teachers, nurses, civil servants, airport field staff, check staff -in and hospital. cleaner.

Workers doing garbage collection in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead were the latest to announce a walk-out. GMB members will go on strike on August 31 and the suspension will continue until Serco’s employer makes a better salary offer, the union said on Friday.

The union said the 6% offer had been rejected by members, adding that pay rates in the region were below those of neighboring authorities.

Nikki Dancey, GMB regional official, said:

This is one of the most expensive areas in the country to live in and this salary offer does not reflect that, nor the current rate of inflation, or the cost of living crisis that goes with it.

There is also some evidence that strikes ultimately benefit workers. Airport security staff at Leeds Bradford Airport have suspended the strike so workers can be consulted on better pay offers.

GMB members are set to leave for three days next week as payouts follow a 93% vote in favor of industry action.

Joe Wheatley, GMB negotiator, said:

Following a number of commitments made by Leeds boss Bradford to increase salaries, we now need to fully consult our members working in airport security.

The GMB strike committee has agreed to suspend the planned strike action next week to give us the facility, time and space to consider new, improved offers with our members.

Liz Truss pledges ‘crackdown on debilitating strikes’

The front-runner to become Britain’s next prime minister has made clear his views on unions: he has agreed to tweet a report that he intends to complicate the strike.

He will push through the change “within a month of becoming Prime Minister”, Express reported.

If a strike is carried out in an essential public service, 4⃣0⃣% of the total workforce must vote in favor of the action.

To add to the transportation disruption, Thameslink reported this morning that all paths through Royston were blocked… by balloons.

The balloon got caught in an overhead cable, the train operator said. Thameslink, run by Govia, is the UK’s largest rail franchise, operating lines such as between Bedford and Brighton via London.

️ We’ve been told that the balloon got stuck in the power line above in Royston.

Your trip will be delayed by up to 15 minutes.

The balloon has been removed, and the path has been reopened. Here are the offending items:

Sorry for the delay today, we hope you get moving as quickly as possible.

Tickets will also be accepted on alternative Thameslink/Great Northern routes to help reach your destination. pic.twitter.com/R8GNbiGbZS

There was heavy road traffic in some areas of London as people tried to find their way around the strike, according to BBC Radio London.

Here are some of the worst queues this morning as #TubeStrike – #A4 into town from Hammersmith to Earl’s Court, all approaches to Holland Park Roundabout, #A501 Grays Inn Rd towards King’s Cross and The Highway approaching Tower Bridge pic.twitter.com/8rd4F49vNu

Sadiq Khan says government may be ‘deliberately provoking’ London strikes

London Mayor Sadiq Khan accused the British government of “deliberately provoking” tube, overhead and bus strikes which he said could jeopardize the capital’s recovery from the worst of the coronavirus pandemic.

“I’m afraid the government is almost deliberately provoking industrial action in London,” Khan said in an interview with Sky News on Friday morning.

Khan oversees Transport for London (TfL), which employs many workers on the London subway and overground trains that went on strike on Friday. The Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers Union (RMT) is negotiating with TfL, but at the same time TfL is negotiating its long-term funding with the government.

The government had to step in to save TfL, which normally relies heavily on fare revenue, after ticket sales slumped at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. RMT leader Mick Lynch said workers were stuck in a “stalemate” between the government and the mayor.

In a separate interview with the Press Association, Khan said:

I am frustrated with today’s strike. It is Londoners, commuters and regular businesses that will be affected today as we try to get a recovery.

If we talk in January, the number of people using tubes was about 45% compared to pre-pandemic [levels].

Now over 70%, I fear that next week when public transport is full, we will have fewer people using public transport which limits our ability to make a full recovery faster.

RMT union leader Mick Lynch said he was “deeply sorry” that people were facing disruption from the strike, but added that workers needed to protect themselves from being “cut to pieces by employers, and by the government”.

He said transport workers were “making a stand” and warned that there was likely to be more industrial action, amid 10.1% annualized consumer price index inflation that sent real wages down for millions of workers.

Lynch said (via the Press Association):

So we’re making that stand on behalf of our members, but many other workers in the UK are suffering from some very similar things and you’re going to see waves of action like this. We couldn’t stand and watch our condition get chopped up. Otherwise, it will just be a race to the bottom for all British workers.

Lynch, who is secretary general of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, also said negotiations over a new salary deal in the new year could be a “very difficult” period.

We haven’t had any payment issues on the London Underground at this time as we are still on a long term deal which is dependent on the final payment agreement, but we will have a payment agreement going into the new year, where we will be looking to negotiate.

It will be a very difficult period. So the problems involved in the London Underground may become more serious and precise at TfL, because they don’t get funding from the government, it’s going to be difficult.

RMT leader Mick Lynch: TfL workers caught in ‘stalemate’ between government and mayor

Union leader Mick Lynch has criticized the way the capital is run when he says Transport workers for London have been caught in a “deadlock” between the government and the city’s mayor.

TfL has been forced to negotiate short-term funding packages repeatedly with the Westminster government to make up for the shortfall in tariff revenue since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Lynch on Friday said mayor Sadiq Khan “offered terms and conditions of our members as hostages to obtain funds from rail, as well as bus services”.

Asked if he thought there would be any offers to workers on pay and conditions, Lynch said:

We hope so. They should bring us to the table so we can talk about their problems, but right now there is a big dead end.

The stalemate began between two authorities, namely the government and the mayor. It was very difficult for us to know what was going on. There was no meaningful discussion between us and the employer because the employer did not know how much money would be earned. That’s not the way to run a big global city.

We have to have a solution that allows the people of London to have a proper transport system and the workers in that system are guaranteed their future.

Railway reforms at the heart of several strikes will be enforced by law if workers do not agree to the new deal, the transport secretary has suggested.

Asked by Sky News if mandatory layoffs were on the table for railroad workers, Grant Shapps repeated accusations that “union barons” were to blame for failing to make offers to their members.

Shapps also claims that outdated work practices need to be updated, adding: “If we can’t implement those modernizations, we will have to force those modernizations, but we prefer to do so through the offers that are actually made to their members.”

He gave an example of an offer made to RMT members for an 8% salary increase over two years, which was reportedly blocked by senior union members including RMT secretary general, Mick Lynch, without giving it to its members.

You can read the full report here:

Further from Transport for London’s Nick Dent, this time responding to RMT’s claim that the transport operator is in secret negotiations with the government about job cuts and pensions.

Dent said TfL had been working with ministers “throughout the pandemic to try to secure a long-term funding settlement for London”.

TfL has lived by word of mouth since the start of the pandemic, when it lost billions of pounds in revenue as people moved away from the tube. The government has stepped in with recurring short-term bailouts, but not without cost: TfL has been forced by ministers to seek savings and review pension funds in previous emergency funding rounds.

TfL is usually run by the mayor of London, who since 2016 has been the Sadiq Khan of the Labor Party.

We of course carried out these negotiations in secret. They are sensitive to the market. We have explained it very clearly to the union.

But we have worked with all unions, including RMT, we have been very open and transparent about the impact of the pandemic on our finances over the last few years.

We have assured them that we will continue to update it. But most importantly, we have assured them that there are currently no proposals to change the TfL pension scheme, and if there are proposals in the future, of course they will be consulted in detail. They will be very closely involved.

Nick Dent, London Transport’s director of customer operations, said it was a “tough day” for travel in the capital.

He told Sky News (via the Press Association):

It’s going to be a tough day. We have done everything we can to avoid this strike happening today.

Unfortunately, the disruption will be quite significant to London today. We advise customers not to travel by Tube at all.

Downing Street denied yesterday that ministers were deliberately seeking a political fight with rail unions, as both sides further strengthened their language and the RMT chief warned the stalemate could continue “indefinitely”.

No. 10 and the Department of Transport (DfT) have faced accusations from opposition parties for not seriously trying to find a solution to the rail strike, instead using harsh language and trying to blame Labor for union actions, reports the Guardian’s Peter Walker, Pippa Crerar and Tom Ambrose.

But with no sign of the strikes abating, and other sectors planning or considering action, Downing Street denied the government was seeking resistance.

“The priority is to make sure people using public transport can get to work, school and hospital without such distractions,” said the No 10 source.

However, in a particularly savage statement, a DfT spokesman accused RMT of “choosing to cause misery and disrupt the daily lives of millions of people rather than work with industry to agree a deal that will take our railways into the 21st century”.

You can read the full story here:

There are 8.8 million people in London out of a total UK population of around 67 million, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), so transport strikes in the capital affected the vast majority of British workers.

Transport for London (TfL) advises people to avoid traveling by Tube whenever possible, and only traveling across the network if essential.

Tube: a severe nuisance on all fronts. Little or no service throughout the day. No Tube Night

London Overground: started late. No Night Above Ground

Elizabeth Line – normal service from 07:00; some trains may not stop at all central stations after 22:30

DLR: service to the Bank runs 7am-6:30pm. All other services are running normally

Buses: affected services in west and southwest London and parts of Surrey. Impact on the following routes: 9, 18, 33, 49, 65, 70, 71, 72, 85, 94, 105, 110, 116, 117, 148, 203, 211, 216, 220, 223, 224, 235, 258 , 265, 266, 272, 281, 283, 290, 293, 371, 404, 406, 411, 418, 419, 423, 440, 465, 467, 470, 481, C1, E1, E3, H17, H22, H32 , H37, H91, H98, K1, K2, K3, K4, K5, N9, N18, N33, N65, N72, N266 and S3. There is no Night Bus service on the affected routes

National rail services across the UK are also likely to be affected throughout the day due to yesterday’s strike by 45,000 rail workers mainly from the National Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers Union (RMT) and the Transport Payroll Staff Association (TSSA), in a long-running dispute. regarding salary, work, and conditions.

There will be very little service before 08:00, and the disruption usually means that many trains are in the wrong place the morning after – which in itself has a knock-on effect even when workers return.

Transport secretary threatens imposition of rail reforms

Railroad reforms will take effect if workers don’t agree to a new deal, transportation secretary Grant Shapps said.

The Conservative Party has repeatedly targeted unions with criticism, in a move that the Trade Union Congress said was deliberately “fight” for election purposes.

Shapps is likely to remain secretary of transport until at least September 5, when the leader of the new Conservative party – likely Liz Truss if recent opinion polls are correct – will be in place. There is little sign that there will be a change in attitude under the new leader.

Asked Friday by Sky News if mandatory redundancy is on the table for rail workers, Grant Shapps said (The Press Association reports):

The deals that are on the table actually mean for the most part no mandatory redundancy at all.

If the [union] isn’t ready to put the deal into your membership, we’ll never know if the member will accept it.

What I know and can say for sure is that if we can’t resolve this in the way we propose, i.e. ‘please put a deal on your membership’ then we will have to move to what is called section 188; it’s a process that really needs this change to take effect so that it becomes a mandate. That is the direction it is moving in now.

Shapps claims that outdated work practices need to be updated – a characterization of the industry disputed by unions, who argue that employers are trying to use modernization as an excuse to reduce members’ salaries and real conditions. Shapps said: “If we can’t get that modernization, we’ll have to force that modernization, but we’d rather do it through the offers that are actually made to their members.”

London strikes start; surprise increase in retail sales in Great Britain

Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of business, economics and financial markets.

Travel in the British capital will be severely disrupted on Friday as workers go on strike over pay and conditions.

Members of the RMT and Unite unions working on the above-ground pipelines and rails will go on strike. Unite members on bus routes in the capital managed by London United also went on strike in a separate dispute over wages.

RMT boss Mick Lynch, perhaps the most prominent supporter of the strike in the media, has joined the workers on the picket line this morning:

Separately, retail sales in the UK rose unexpectedly in July, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Retail sales volume rose 0.3% in July, following a 0.2% decline in June (which was revised down from a 0.1% decline), the ONS said.

The bump was not expected by economists, who had forecast a 0.2% decline in July, with inflation above 10% expected to eat into consumers’ purchasing power.

But the overall picture of a slowing consumer economy remains: sales volume was 2.3% above February 2020 pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) levels, but down 3.3% over the past year.

We will have more details for you soon.