Unions call for £15 minimum wage ahead of new 'Winter of Discontent'

The TUC, which represent unions with 5 million members, said inflation and energy bills mean that people will see the “longest and harshest wage squeeze in modern history”.

This autumn could see unions representing civil servants, doctors, nurses, lawyers, and staff in local government, ports and railways all take to the picket line over pay and working conditions, setting up a showdown with the next prime minister.

Union sources last night poured water onto the idea of a general strike, saying that it was practically impossible due to the current trade union laws.

However, they noted that due to the alarming predictions that inflation would hit over 18 per cent next year, further unions will begin to ballot their members.

Coordinated action could see thousands of workers on strike from different sectors on the same day ahead of Christmas.

The PCS union for civil servants announced last month that it will hold a six-week ballot on 26 September, on the Monday of the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool.

The union is due to ballot employees of individual departments, as it has a greater chance of seeing walkouts as a result, as an attempt to get the whole civil service to walk out would be unlikely to hit the 50 per cent turnout needed for industrial action.

An indicative ballot in May found that 81 per cent of members supported strike action over pay, but only saw a turnout of 45 per cent.

The Yorkshire Post understands that the union has not ruled out coordinated strike action where civil servants from separate departments will all walk out on the same day.

One union source said that some of their members were “terrified” that they would be moved to London because they won’t be able to afford the cost of living.

This week the Telegraph reported that both the Home Office and the Cabinet Office are preparing contingency plans for a cross-government strike.

On Monday economists at Citi said they expected inflation to rise to 18.6 per cent at the start of 2023 due to rises in energy bills, the highest rate for almost half a century.

“There’s a lot to play for between now and then,” said one union source, “of course the lowest paid are going to feel this, but if you’ve got inflation at 18 per cent everyone feels it, the middle classes will feel it, everyone.”

“If people can't pay their bills, and they've got employers making record profits, or a government that's not even trying to address it in any meaningful way, then that's what creates another winter of discontent.

It is understood that other civil service unions are mulling whether they may look to ballot for strike action in the face of inflation.

Frances O’Grady the TUC’s General Secretary said: “After a decade of abject failure by successive Conservative governments to get pay rising, working people face the longest and harshest wage squeeze in modern history

“We can’t keep lurching from crisis to crisis. Working families need long-term financial security – that means reversing the destructive trend of standstill wages.”