by René Lavanchy

GRASSROOTS demands for co-ordinated strike action by unions look set to increase at next week’s TUC Congress in Brighton, as union delegations debate how to demand that the Government improve its public sector pay offers.

Six unions, including Unison, the PCS civil service union and the National Union of Teachers have submitted motions to the congress in Brighton calling for joint action against a two per cent pay policy, as official inflation figures show it is approaching 4 per cent. A final composite motion has yet to be decided, and it is uncertain what action it could produce.

But shop stewards told Tribune this week that whatever the wording, they hope the TUC will – unusually – directly co-ordinate simultaneous industrial action that could paralyse schools, council services, the civil service and other sectors.

Dave Harvey of the NUT executive said: “NUT members recognise that unions acting in a co-ordinated way are up for taking co-ordinated action. We did take co-ordinated action at the beginning of summer and we’d like to take that again.”

“There’s obviously more of a mood this time than this time last year. It’s time for the TUC to step up to the mark. Hopefully the composite will include that as an instruction to the general council.”

Jon Rogers of Unison’s national executive committee agreed: “It needs to happen if we’re to get a better public sector pay deal than we’ve got at the moment.” But he expected that the final motion would be too vague to lead to action, adding: “People need convincing that the union has a strategy to deliver a better pay deal.”

But a Unison spokesperson said they were looking at the possibility of co-ordinated action. “The difficulty we then have is in delivering that locally, to support measures to co-ordinate action where possible and legal,” they said.

An official at the PCS union, which has been particularly supportive of other unions’ industrial action this year, said: “We see this year being a little bit different. Inflation levels are so far above Treasury forecasts that all unions have difficult issues over pay. There’s a very deep anger on the ground.”

He added that the NUT and the University and College Union had expressed keenness to support them in future action.

The Government may face a series of strikes this autumn, as the NUT prepares to ballot members and Unison’s local government pay talks show little sign of progress. The PCS is also balloting for strike action across the civil service.

National Health Service unions also want to re-open pay negotiations after complaining that the 8 per cent pay deal agreed in June has been eroded by inflation.

Jim Greenwood, a Unite shop steward and NHS maintenance worker, said: “There’s a feel that we should be doing something together. The dustbin men have been out on strike – people have said ‘why weren’t we supporting them?’

But he complained that a bad deal by union officers this year had left little option for strike action now. “It’s a toothless agreement, a complete waste of time. How do we take industrial action over a re-opener clause? We can’t take industrial action over the pay review body.”