UNITE has revealed that Harrods is the ‘first employer’ to threaten staff with the new law allowing agency workers to break strikes and engage in union busting.
A letter sent on August 8th to staff working in store services, engineering, maintenance and security, states: ‘Recent legislative changes relating to the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations now allows agencies to provide temporary workers to perform duties normally performed by a worker who is on strike. We are therefore no longer restricted from engaging temporary workers should any industrial action take place now or in the future.’
Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘Harrods’ attempts to use this new legislation to bully our members doesn’t change a thing. Unite is prepared for all eventualities and our members at Harrods will receive the full backing of the union in their fight for a fair pay rise.’
However, the government is consistent in its union busting approach!
Responding to a national newspaper interview with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘Grant Shapps is a dreadful minister who is continuing his dereliction of duty by issuing idle threats, against railway workers, all for the sake of trying to save his fledgling political career.
‘Instead of sitting down with RMT and the rail industry to find a negotiated settlement to this dispute, Mr Shapps has politically interfered to prevent a deal.
‘Now, he is threatening our members with P&O style fire and rehire and the reintroduction of Driver Only Operated services, which will lead to a fall in safety standards and job losses.
‘If Mr Shapps proceeds on this course, RMT will use the industrial mandate it has from its 40,000 members in this dispute to take more strike action in the coming weeks and months.’
On the threat to bring in minimum service levels on trains during strikes, Lynch added: ‘When these proposals become law, there will be the biggest resistance mounted by the entire trade union movement, rivalling the general strike of 1926, the Suffragettes and Chartism.’
On Friday, the TUC published a new analysis showing that ‘energy bills are now expected to cost more than two months of average take-home pay in 2023 – unless the government intervenes.
‘Average take-home pay (after tax) will be £2,054 per month in 2023 based on Bank of England forecasts, so at £4,108, two months’ pay will be less than the £4,200 predicted cost of energy bills per household in 2023.
The TUC is calling on the government to bring trade union and business leaders into the Treasury to devise an urgent response to the crisis together – just as happened during the pandemic.
The statement continued: ‘Today the union body is publishing proposals for urgent cost of living support.
‘Stop the October energy price cap increase: Without intervention, the typical family bill will rise by £1,500 from October. The government should step in to cover the cost of the increase in full – at an estimated cost of £38.5bn.’
The TUC says the revenue raised from the windfall tax can be significantly increased to help cover this cost. But this must not be a no-strings handout to energy retailers.
Instead, government should reform the energy system, taking the energy retailers into public ownership and requiring new pricing structures that make basic energy needs affordable. The cost of nationalising the energy retailers, at £2.85bn, is significantly less than the costs of mitigating price rises.’
The TUC calls on the government to: ‘Fund pay rises in the public sector that keep up with inflation: The Treasury should announce it will fund government departments and local authorities to provide pay rises across the public sector that keep up with inflation.
‘This will protect millions of households from surging prices. And it will help prevent a recession by maintaining consumer spending and supporting businesses confidence.’
This the Tories will never do!
Now is the time for action! Already the ‘Enough is Enough’ campaign has been launched backed by the trade unions. Mick Lynch, RMT General Secretary, and Dave Ward of the CWU are to address a rally at the Clapham Grand venue on Wednesday evening.
Already more than 100,000 people are threatening to cancel their direct debits from October to protest against rising energy prices, in a movement that will be bigger than the anti-Poll Tax movement that brought down Thatcher.
In fact, the TUC Congress is set to meet in Brighton on Monday 12th September. This must be lobbied by tens of thousands of workers and youth demanding that the TUC calls a general strike to bring down the Tory government and bring in a workers government that will expropriate the bankers and oil company bosses and bring in a socialist planned economy that will be able to provide for all the needs of the people.
The TUC must call a general strike on Monday 12th September. Organise now for tens of thousands to lobby the TUC on September 12th. There is not moment to lose!
