London The trade union confederation TUC has threatened strikes in the New Year amid a stalemate over pay in Great Britain. “If the government refuses to negotiate, we will take further industrial action in 2023,” TUC general secretary Paul Novak told the BBC.
And workers felt they had no choice but to go on strike to avoid real wage loss. Everything is getting more expensive, Novak said, with the cost of electricity, groceries, fuel, rent and mortgages going up. “The only thing that hasn’t increased is wages.”
Unions are demanding a wage hike in line with inflation, which was last seen at 10.7 percent. The government denies this. Such an increase cannot be financed and will further fuel inflation.
There have been repeated strikes in many sectors for months. At the beginning of January, railway workers want to stop work again, and fresh strikes have been announced in the health sector as well.
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According to a study by the Trades Union Congress (TUC), workers have lost an average of around £20,000 (€22,650) since 2008. Healthcare workers are particularly hard hit.
A conservative government would have created a vicious circle
“We can’t go on like this,” TUC boss Novak told the PA news agency. “We cannot be a country where nurses have to use food banks while bankers get unlimited bonuses.”
The Conservatives, who have been in government for 12 years, are responsible for the vicious circle of “stagnant growth, stagnant investment and stagnant wages”. “It’s time for a real, long-term economic plan that rewards work, not wealth,” Novak said.
Further: Britain in Crisis: A Journey Through a Weary Kingdom
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