Mick Lynch: 'Repressive' govt declaring 'class war' on working people with mini-budget
General Secretary of the RMT Mick Lynch warns the UK is on the brink of having "the most right-wing, extreme and militant government" ever, one that's "declaring class war on ordinary people" with its mini-budget.
The Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng put himself on a collision course with trade unions yesterday by announcing plans in the mini-budget to legislate to require them to put pay offers from employers to a vote of members.
Amid a wave of industrial action by hundreds of thousands of workers, he told the Commons it is "unacceptable" that strike action is causing so much disruption.
Other European countries had minimum service levels to stop "militant trade unions" closing down transport systems, he said.
Kwasi Kwarteng told MPs the Government would do the same, "and go further", adding: "We will legislate to require unions to put pay offers to a member vote to ensure strikes can only be called once negotiations have genuinely broken down."
Speaking to Ben Kentish, Mr Lynch said: "The right to have local democracy, the right to have a Parliament with our peers was lead by the trade unions, and if they shackle the unions in this country, there will be no democracy.
"It will pave the way for a resistance free, oppressive society."
Mr Lynch continued: "And I believe we're on the brink now of having the most right-wing, extreme and militant government we've ever had that is declaring class war on ordinary people, by lifting the cap on bankers, lifting the progessive tax policies we've had since the second World War, and is going to bring in a barrage of cuts to our public services."
Shortly after Mr Kwarteng made his comments yesterday, the Transport Salaried Staffs Association and Unite announced fresh strikes in a long-running rail dispute over jobs, pay and conditions.
All the major rail unions are now taking strike action on October 1, threatening a complete shutdown of the network for the first time since the row flared earlier in the year.
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