Turmoil ahead as unions threaten summer of chaos
FROM soaring inflation to government debt, the economic problems that face this country are serious enough. But now another form of trouble is looming.Across the rail industry, unions are threatening a wave of strikes that could bring Britain to a halt.
The potential for a summer of chaos reflects a new militancy in response to plans for a major overhaul of the transport network. Since the advent of Covid, demand for train services has fallen dramatically, with passengers down by almost a third on pre-pandemic levels.
Despite massive state subsidies, savings have to be made to keep the system viable. So Network Rail plans to cut spending by £2billion a year through 2,500 jobs cuts, the closure of ticket offices and reform of pensions.
All too predictably, unions have reacted with fury. In defiance of commercial realities, they want the culture of lavish, taxpayer-funded bailouts to continue. If not, they could inflict weeks of misery on the travelling public and disrupt vital supply chains.
Already the left-wing RMT is warning of the biggest dispute in modern rail history. As the row over jobs and pay escalates, its 40,000 members are being balloted on industrial action.
ACCORDING to one industry insider, the vote – which is due to close on 24 May – will result in “a stonking mandate” for a strike.
Indeed, the Government is now braced for a prolonged disruption that, at its worst, could lead to power cuts, food shortages and petrol pumps running dry.
Such is the concern among ministers, they have set up a cross-departmental task force to draw up contingency plans.
Confrontation is precisely what some of the RMT’s bosses want as they enact their revolutionary fantasies of the class struggle. Assistant General Secretary Eddie Dempsey, who sees himself as part of the vanguard of the proletariat despite his pay package of £108,459, recently declared: “We are trying to create a culture of civil disobedience in this country.”
But political belligerence is not confined to the RMT. Manuel Cortes, head of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association, predicts Britain could soon be engulfed by the biggest stoppage since the 1926 General Strike.
And the drivers’ union ASLEF – notorious in the 1970s for walkouts – is gearing up for a fight over its claim for a hefty pay increase. “I feel the coming months are going to be difficult,” says ASLEF’S General Secretary MickWhelan.
Nor is the rail network the only arena for turmoil. In Whitehall, civil service unions are whipping themselves into a frenzy over proposed job cuts and working conditions.
Last week Mark Serwotka, head of the Public and Commercial Services Union, said that “taking national strike action is very much on the table”. One of the prime reasons for huge backlogs at the DVLA is union disruption.
Similarly, university lecturers’ union UCU is engaged in strikes and boycotts over pensions and pay, while there have also been recent stoppages by criminal barristers, Northern Irish teachers, London Tube workers and Post Office staff.
In a further indicator of this new climate of agitation, union membership went up in 2021 by 118,000 to 6.6 million, the fourth annual increase in a row.
The unions pretend to be the voice of the oppressed workingclass, but in truth they are often nothing more than the defenders of public sector privilege.
Those on the state payroll, Whitehall bureaucrats and academics enjoy higher pay, shorter hours, greater security, longer holidays and far better pensions than many in the private sector.
Far from improving fairness, union demands will not only widen the chasm but also worsen the cost-of-living crisis because enhanced pay and the protection of working practices in the state machine will have to be met by increased taxes.
SOME argue that to prevent more chaos, the Government should impose an outright ban on strikes in public services. But the right to withdraw labour is essential in a democracy.
Yet there is a far more effective way to restrict the unions’ capacity to create misery.That is to end their traditional immunity – unique among British organisations – from legal action for damages arising from their conduct. If the RMT could be sued by commuters or businesses for the costly aggravation they cause, they would think twice about holding strikes.
A new sense of restraint would prevail, exactly what is missing in the current atmosphere of irresponsibility.
‘Unions are often just defenders of public sector privilege’