A leading Dundee trade unionist has called on all public sector workers to go on strike this month in a fight to protect jobs, pensions and services against government cuts.
Rory Malone, of Dundee Unison, believes widespread industrial action will “bring the government down” and force Westminster to think again when it comes to pension reform and other measures earmarked for the public sector.
He said, “We are urging all workers to take part in sustained industrial action that we shall win. It’s not just for a single day, but will continue beyond that and will force the government to change its views.
“It will bring the country to a stop.”
The comments come hot on the heels of a defiant statement from the president of Unison, Angela Lynes. During the union’s national conference in Manchester, Ms Lynes, who works as an administration officer for Glasgow City Council, said public sector workers are taking hits from “all angles”.
“Our activists are giving huge amounts of their time and energy over to defending our members at their hour of need and working to halt the destruction of public services,” she said.
Unison has pledged to stand behind teachers and civil servants scheduled to go on strike on June 30 aided by a £20 million fighting fund.
The 290,000-strong Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) will join teaching unions in a walkout over pay and pensions, while the transport union RMT has already voted in favour of a series of separate strikes.
With Unison, the UK’s largest union with 1.3 million members, also pledging to support the strike, the country could witness vital services grind to a halt.
Ms Lynes believes the government is at fault and accused ministers of being determined to hit public sector workers with a “triple whammy” by wanting staff to pay more, work longer and get less money come retirement.
“The economy is being dragged back towards recession by a chancellor who refuses to accept the need for a Plan B, despite all the evidence that Plan A is not working,” she continued.
“There is a refusal to listen to the pain experienced by our sisters and brothers in Greece, Portugal and Ireland, where austerity has simply driven the economy into an ever-deeper crisis.
“Instead, growth has stalled and is even stopping the government from hitting its own deficit targets. Counter-productive, self-defeating and wrong and the effect is felt every day by real people.”
Ms Lynes added, “ULast year at conference I said that our mantra should be ‘never show your fear, always show your fight’.
“Well, this year the fear is evident. Now it is time to fight.”