Kwarteng: workers “bribed” to strike

Rail unions have been accused by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng of “bribing” workers to go on strike this summer.

Kwarteng said that daily ‘strike pay’ provided to compensate those taking part in industrial action had been doubled by unions including Unite, which he claimed was “advertising its £70 a day strike pay” to staff.

“It’s obvious that trade union chiefs have been quietly amassing a war chest to effectively bribe workers into unleashing a summer of strike chaos,” he told the Sunday Telegraph on June 19.

According to the newspaper, the RMT has also built its own ‘war chest’ worth some £22 million, by investing in hedge funds, international banks and the oil industry. This is “despite its socialist campaigning”.

The union defended itself by stressing that investment decisions are “democratically decided” through its structures.

A spokesman added that it supported nationalising the banking industry, and that the RMT represented members in the oil and gas industry “who do the work that make huge profits”.

The attacks on the unions followed a tit-for-tat claim made by TSSA General Secretary Manuel Cortes on June 13 that Network Rail was in fact bribing workers not to participate in strike action.

He claimed to have seen a video in which senior managers had told staff that they would receive double pay plus an extra day of annual leave if they fulfilled a role on strike days.

“Our members will see their petty bribes for what they are - a shameful, underhand attempt to divide and rule,” said Cortes.