Union leaders promised a “summer of discontent” unseen after the general strike of 1926, before a series of “coordinated” strikes designed to wreak havoc on railways, roads and airports.
The Barons of the Union are accused of taking advantage of rising inflation to threaten further strikes in other sectors up and down the country.
Each government agency has been instructed to draw up contingency plans to deal with any subsequent crisis, which includes ensuring that supermarket shelves do not remain empty and construction work on major projects is not stopped by freight train disruptions.
On Wednesday, Unite announced a coordinated strike in the London Underground and Transport for London on June 21st, which will stop the capital on the same day as RMT members shut down the national rail network.
A third railway union, TSSA, which represents the control room of Network Rail and maintenance workers, said it also plans to vote for members.
Manuel Cortes, Secretary General of TSSA, said: “The disorder will be incomparable. I don’t think we will see anything like this after the general strike in 1926. This is the last time the three unions have come together. And we will coordinate our actions. No doubt it will be a summer of discontent.
“If that happens, I will have a strategy to cause the most possible interruption.”
In addition to the train strikes, more than 40,000 BT workers will be voted on June 15th for what would be the first national strike in the former state telecommunications monopoly in 35 years.
The vote was convened by the Communications Workers’ Union, which is also seeking to release a ballot of 115,000 Royal Mail postal workers on a separate payroll.
Baggage handlers at Stansted Airport may also go on strike after rejecting a four per cent pay rise. Unite has warned that Ryanair’s flights could “face serious disruption this summer” as a result. Unite and GMB members also voted for check-in staff and ground staff in Heathrow over the British Airways strike.
Add Comment