Unions plan co-ordinated strike action over pay

Trade Unions are threatening an autumn of co-ordinated strikes over pay which could bring public services grinding to a simultaneous halt

Gordon Brown and his Chancellor, Alistair Darling, will come under fire at next week's TUC conference over a pay restraint policy that has limited public sector workers to a 2 per cent pay rise while inflation is running at more than 4 per cent.

Union leaders have been discussing a joint plan of attack, bringing out staff across different public services on the same day, throwing schools, councils, nursing homes and other services into simultaneous chaos. The revolt is likely to be fuelled by August's inflation figures, due out as the TUC is meeting in Brighton, which are expected to show another rise in the cost of living.

'Public sector workers feel they're languishing around the 2 per cent mark when inflation is at 4 to 5 per cent, and by any standards that is a pay cut,' said a senior TUC source. 'There is a political price to be paid for those people who feel the government is punishing them.'

Four key unions have tabled motions to the conference demanding the TUC's ruling council co-ordinate strike plans, including Unison; the PCS, which represents civil servants; the National Union of Teachers; and the University and College Union, representing lecturers.

A Unison spokeswoman said that the major unions had already discussed how to co-ordinate strikes, adding: 'It's not easy to do, but it is something we have on our radar in terms of what might make action more effective.'

Teachers and civil servants experimented with co-ordinated industrial action in April, but the prospect of a significant number of unions co-operating to embarrass the government marks a serious escalation of the dispute.

Union leaders are angry that Brown continues to insist that wage restraint is necessary to keep down inflation when, they argue, the pressure on inflation is from food and fuel prices, not rising salaries. Brown will hope to defuse the revolt by unveiling his rescue package for homeowners and those facing rising fuel bills. However, some unions are pushing for a broader plan to save jobs and avert recession, with criticism likely of the Bank of England's focus on reducing inflation instead of keeping unemployment down.