Unions will coordinate the strike if the government does not discuss wages, TUC president proposes UK News

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The new general secretary of the Confederation of Trade Unions said there could be a “gradual wave” of industrial strikes next year as unions coordinate strikes on the same day.

Paul Novak took over as chair of the Trades Union Congress during the biggest outbreak of industrial unrest in a generation, with health, railroad, civil service, education and postal union leaders growing angry at the lack of government ministers’ involvement.

Nowak told Sky News the strikes “could end tomorrow if the government is ready to have serious and reasonable discussions about wages”.

He warned of further unrest if ministers did not come to the negotiating table, saying unions had a “responsibility” to support striking workers, “which in some circumstances means coordinated industrial action”.

“Our unions will continue to talk in the new year about how best to support and coordinate the unions that are taking this strike,” he said.

“In some cases it would mean unions going on strike the same day and in others it would be an escalating wave of industrial strike action.”

The interview came as railway cleaners and road traffic officers became the latest sectors to join the nationwide strike.

Railway, bus and postal workers joined nurses, ambulance workers and other NHS staff in striking in December. Teachers, civil servants, national highway employees, airport baggage handlers and homeless charities’ employees have also left work.

Nowak has challenged the government and employers to work with unions to end what he describes as a “nightmare of living standards” in Britain.

He warned that workers faced two decades of “lost wages” unless the country changed course.

In an interview with the Press Association news agency, he said that strikes are usually resolved through negotiations, but added that the government refuses to come to the negotiating table.

“We want to see public services where workers are adequately rewarded and respected,” he said. “There is overwhelming support for NHS workers, so it’s not good enough for government ministers to continue to put their fingers in their ears.”

Nowak said the government appeared “blind” to the NHS staffing crisis, stressing that he would make it a priority to meet the prime minister and other cabinet ministers to try to help resolve the many controversies raging across the country.

To mark his appointment, TUC has published a new analysis that it says shows workers are experiencing the longest real wage pressures in recent history.

Her study suggested that workers have lost £20,000, on average, in real wages since 2008 as a result of wages not keeping pace with inflation, and by 2025 the loss will be £24,000.

Photo: Paul Nowak

Nurses have lost £42,000 in real income since 2008, midwives lost £56,000 and paramedics £56,000, with workers facing another year of “wage misery”, according to the TUC.

Nowak said striking workers were “left no choice” after more than a decade of pay cuts, and accused ministers of “sabotaging efforts to reach compromises”.

He said the Conservatives’ decision to cut public sector salaries had left workers “extremely exposed to the cost of living crisis” and added to the staffing crisis in the NHS, education and other public services.

Nowak said he was “horrified and excited” to succeed Francis O’Grady as general secretary, adding that his priority would be building a “bigger, stronger and more diverse” trade union movement.

Read more: Public sector salary increase – who decides and how?

He added: “Today I’m issuing a challenge to government and employers – to work with unions to end the nightmare of living standards in Britain.

“UK workers are on course for two decades of lost wages. This is the longest squeeze on earnings in modern history.

“We can’t go on like this. We can’t be a country where nurses have to use food banks, while city bankers get unlimited bonuses.

“Unless wages rise across the economy, families will continue to lurch from one crisis to the next.

Unions are ready to work with good employers to drive growth, living standards and productivity.

“For too long we have been trapped in a vicious conservative cycle of stagnant growth, stagnant investment and stagnant wages.

“It is time for a proper long-term economic plan that rewards work, not wealth.”

Meanwhile, Nowak told The Mirror that workers are at a “focal point” in the strikes and are prepared to strike until the summer because they “have no alternative”.

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In an interview with the i newspaper, he said unions could boycott next year’s negotiations with wage review bodies.

Wage review panels are made up of experts in their field without political affiliations who take evidence from a range of sources, including unions and employees.

However, the bodies are appointed by ministers and there are concerns about their credibility.

“Unions are concerned about the credibility of wage review bodies and are actively considering how or should they get involved in the coming year,” Nowak said.

It comes a day after Mark Sirotka, general secretary of the Public Services and Trade Union representing Border Force staff, told Sky News the strike was likely to become “coordinated and synchronized”.

He added, “If we go into 2023 with millions of people in poverty at work, including government employees, something must be done.”

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