No wonder workers are taking action
Slough Trades Council supports the industrial action of all its delegated unions.
We have joined the RMT pickets at Slough station and supported CWU members of BT/Openreach at Slough Telephone Exchange.
We will continue to do so.
Recent months have seen a profound surge in strike action across the country.
Recent ballots have shown high turnout and equally high votes in favour of strike action.
Workers do not want to go on strike – they lose pay – and they do not set out to inconvenience the general public.
But they have no other option as employers are unwilling to budge and there is no desire from government to take any responsibility to ensure they are paid a real wage.
The political consciousness of the general public has grown significantly, given the news of the eye-watering profits and pay levels of top earners, the CEOs and the shareholders of energy companies and privatised public utilities.
One example is BT where the CEO received a 32 per cent pay rise with the company making a first quarter 2022 profit of £400m while paying £750m in shareholder dividends.
No longer do people believe the media mantra that they are facing another day of disruption caused by the ‘greed’ of the trade unions.
Instead, they are more likely to believe that workers are forced to lose another day’s pay due to management attempting to worsen their terms and conditions and refusing to pay them a wage that reflects inflation.
Both Tory candidates for the role of PM have said that they will bring in legislation to rule against industrial action and bring in agency workers.
Trade unionists already have to abide by strict anti-union laws. If the new PM wants to help resolve the situation, a more conciliatory approach would be a better option.
We live in an unequal society where ordinary people were already struggling to make ends meet but with the rise in inflation their future is little short of dire.
Massive energy bills will create anxiety and fear with many people having to decide between eating and heating.
People feel insulted that the same water companies making vast profits would prefer to dump raw sewage into the water supply than mend the leaks.
Our country is in chaos.
The failures of privatisation are becoming increasingly evident.
There is no lead or intelligent plan to target the problems we are witnessing. The two PM contenders compete in order to win votes while the existing PM prefers to be out of the country.
Research by the independent think tank, the High Pay Centre, and the Trades Union Congress revealed that the median CEO is now paid 109 times that of the median UK full time worker.
According to the head of the High Pay Centre, directors’ financial rewards are ‘a big part of the cost of living crisis’.
No wonder workers are rising up to demand a fair wage.
The TUC has seen an increase in union membership as people realise the value of collective action and solidarity.
If you don’t belong, now is the time and if you aren’t working, join Unite Community.