Sturgeon ‘bribes’ TUC with £250k of taxpayers’ cash
PLAY AGAIN IN TOMORROW’S
THE SNP has been accused of using taxpayers’ cash to ‘bribe’ Scotland’s trade unions away from Labour by helping them fight the Tory Government.
Nicola Sturgeon announced last week that the Scottish Government will hand £250,000 of public money to the Scottish Trades Union Congress to help it oppose the UK Government’s new laws on industrial action.
But critics last night said it was wrong to spend taxpayers’ cash on making it easier for unions to strike and claimed it was an SNP ploy to get them to abandon their traditional support for Labour.
The award comes at a time when vital public services are cash-strapped and also follows weeks of misery for commuters due to rail strikes, as well as rising levels of industrial action.
The money will be handed to the STUC umbrella group representing 600,000 affiliate members across the country.
In Nicola Sturgeon’s Programme for Government, unveiled last week, she said: ‘We will continue to work closely in partnership with trade unions to develop a constructive and productive partnership, in contrast to the approach being taken in Westminster through the Trade Union Act.
‘We will invest £250,000 in the trade union movement to support modernisation that will allow them to engage in a positive way, helping to mitigate the impact of the UK legislation.’
But Scottish Tory MSP Alex Johnstone said yesterday: ‘The UK Government is right to pursue this Bill, which is in the interests of the public and workers who don’t want to get swept away with industrial action.
‘Unfortunately, it seems both the SNP and Labour would like to make it easier for strikes to take place. That’s a crass approach, particularly bearing in mind the upheaval strikes on transport have caused north of the Border in recent times, and will raise concerns the SNP is trying to bribe the unions.’
Eben Wilson, director of TaxpayerScotland, said: ‘This is a disgraceful politicisation of an important social issue.
‘It’s moot whether the government even has the power to intervene. It appears to be buying opposition to a legislative act. For any government to align themselves with a special interest and support their privileges, against those who pay taxes, is quite out of order.’
In recent months, college and National Museum of Scotland staff and train conductors have all downed tools, while teaching unions have threatened strike action.
But Dave Moxham, deputy general secretary of the STUC, said: ‘It’s not about making industrial action easier or harder. We are more concerned about the amount of red tape being loaded on unions.’
A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We are working with the STUC on how best to utilise this funding to mitigate the negative impacts of the Trade Union Act and support trade unions to work with us and the Fair Work Convention to foster fairer workplaces.’