Tag Archives: mark serwotka

Opinion: Trade unions, pensions and Labour

I have been following very closely the pensions dispute as it unfolds and one of my concerns is public sector workers could lose a lot of pay through strike action in what I am starting to believe is a political strike which they cannot possibly win.

I am also a little surprised at the way the government have handled things so far and, as a former national union representative, I have been amazed at times by their ineptitude.

Further confirmation I am afraid that the Tories and sadly many in our party don’t understand the real world of industrial relations.

So why do …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 56 Comments

Opinion: Cable’s GMB speech encapsulated coalition tensions

The Business Secretary Vince Cable’s speech to the GMB annual conference last Monday received significant attention. Some media coverage would have us believe that the senior Lib Dem had brazenly threatened trades unions with serious curbs on their strike powers. In fact, Cable had qualified his brief hint of this possibility with the admission that present circumstances merited no government action.

Within the context of unions’ criticism of government cuts to jobs and services, Cable’s introduction to the table of the possibility of changes to strike law may have been a strategic manoeuvre intended to dissuade industrial action planned

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged and | 13 Comments



Recent Comments

  • User AvatarStephen Hesketh 19th May - 9:20pm
    The Government and Europe should act immediately to stamp out this barbaric treatment of girls and women. Those communities practicing it should be targeted with...
  • User AvatarPaul K 19th May - 9:06pm
    There's a fundamental instability at the heart of the coalition. We want to show that coalitions can work, and the Tories want to show that...
  • User AvatarHelen Tedcastle 19th May - 8:59pm
    @ Eddie Sammon: "we are basically wild animals and will always compete for resources. " I'm assuming you mean this and are not being sarcastic....
  • User AvatarJonathan Calder 19th May - 7:02pm
    Thank you! :)
  • User Avatarpaul barker 19th May - 6:56pm
    It sometimes feels as if we have a 4 Party debate with one Party of Government, us & 3 protest parties.