United Kingdom

Three members of the Labor frontbench oppose the ban on support strikes

At the time, six members of the shadow front bench, including Mr Mishra, attended an RMT picket in violation of the ban and were reprimanded by party officials. They remain in office.

Union bosses and Labor MPs said Sir Keir must now “pick a side” and back specific strikes.

Sharon Graham, leader of the Unite trade union, said: “If I were talking to Keir right now, I would say to him: which side are you on? Because the reality is that if I closed my eyes sometimes I wouldn’t know if Labor or the Tories were talking.

“I’m very disappointed – horrified, to be honest – and I think it’s something that Labor will have to think about seriously.”

Left-wing campaign group Momentum said on Monday that the “partial reversal of his picket ban” was “simply not enough for Starmer to show that Labor is on the side of working people”.

“Starmer should immediately announce Labour’s support for BT, rail, postal and other workers who are taking strike action to protect their livelihoods during a cost of living crisis and advocate for inflation-proof pay rises across the board “, the organization said.

BT and Openreach workers are on strike nationally over a pay dispute after the CWU rejected a £1,500 pay rise for all workers.

Dave Ward, general secretary of the union, said: “As BT Group workers have been forced to take historic strike action in defense of their living standards, just as the working class in the pandemic, people will step in when employers and politicians fail , and are willing to put need before greed.

“We urge all sympathetic members of the public to attend pickets in their area and get involved to help others.”