Fury as union boss denounces Tories’ ‘Nazi’ strike laws
A UNION leader provoked fury last night after he compared proposed new anti-strike laws to those in Nazi Germany.
Mick Whelan, general secretary of the train drivers’ union Aslef, said the Tory plans smacked of 1930s Germany when union leaders were ‘rounded up, imprisoned and in some cases executed’.
Only hours after making the remarks, his union announced yet another 24-hour strike on the London Underground. Drivers will walk out on August 5 over pay and shifts, causing chaos for commuters and costing the country millions of pounds.
Last night Cabinet minister Chris Grayling condemned the remarks as ‘extremely distasteful’.
The latest salvo comes ahead of the publication tomorrow of government plans to curb the power of a small number of militants to hold the country to ransom.
Business Secretary Sajid Javid will publish the Trades Unions Bill which will impose minimum turnout thresholds on strike ballots. The law, which has been fasttracked to combat fears of a wave of antiausterity strikes, would have outlawed around three quarters of recent action.
Mr Whelan said it was ‘shameful’ that the government was ‘coming after’ the trade unions, who he said stand up for ‘ordinary working people as well as the oppressed’.
‘It smacks of Germany in the 1930s when trade union leaders, and activists, were rounded up, and imprisoned, and, in some cases, executed,’ he said.
‘The Nazis banned unions, and strikes, in 1933, and that is what the Tories are trying to do now. They want to effectively neuter the unions – the only part of civil society now able to fight back. They know we are the only thing that stands between them and a return to Victorian values – tax cuts for a very few at the top of the pile, and a life on minimum wage for the rest of us.’ Leader of the Commons Mr Grayling responded: ‘Saying that our plans – to stop for example, hard-working Londoners being held to ransom during the Tube strikes – are akin to the actions of the architects of the Holocaust is disrespectful in the extreme to its victims.’
Tube drivers from Aslef will walk out at 9.30pm on August 5 in the latest action over moves to make the Tube operate around the clock. The union was one of four that staged a 24-hour strike last week, crippling services on Thursday.
Firms warned the action would cost the economy millions of pounds in lost income. John Allan, chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: ‘Many small companies proved their flexibility and resourcefulness last week. Nevertheless, there will be further damage to the economy and millions of pounds lost to businesses if this strike goes ahead.’
A Department for Business spokesman said: ‘People have the right to know that the services on which they and their families rely will not be disrupted at short notice by strikes supported by a small proportion of union members.
‘There should be a balance between the interests of union members and the needs of people who depend on their services.’
However general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, Frances O’Grady, said the Bill ‘should worry anyone who cares about civil liberties.’