Further strikes will be seen over the coming year, as the government’s spending cuts begin to bite.
This is according to the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), which has warned of widespread disruption during the spring.
Mark Serwotka of the PCS told The Times: “The more of us that stand together against the cuts, the more problems we can create. Unless you look like you want a fight, they won’t negotiate.”
The anti-cuts movement is gathering pace, with a growing number of local actions seen in recent months. Major unions are planning to call a general strike for March, which could shut down services to an unprecedented degree.
2010 saw a series of public sector strikes, with Tube workers staging particularly high-profile walkouts. It is widely presumed that the frequency of these actions will increase during the first few months of 2011.
Meanwhile the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development has warned that total UK unemployment could reach 9 per cent. The group has said that the government’s planned cuts will cause 1.6 million job losses over the life of this Parliament.
