Trade Unions Should Feel Confident For Public Sector Disputes
The Social ReviewDec 17, 2022
The Facts
British Prime Minister Sunak said on Sunday that he will not rule out reopening the pay deal for nurses when meeting health workers' leaders. He signaled for the first time a willingness to address their demands for pay increases.
Sunak is under increasing pressure from members of his Conservative Party to improve wage offers to healthcare staff and is leading a government under fire for its response to the UK's biggest wave of industrial labor movements in decades.
The Spin
Left narrative
Not only have nurses and frontline workers borne the brunt of the pandemic, they now face a government trying to nickel-and-dime them out of a necessary and well-deserved pay increase. Even worse, while dealing with record-high inflation and a buckling healthcare system. Public sector wages have stagnated profoundly under conservative governance. This unacceptable exploitation of essential workers needs to stop.
Right narrative
Unions must face the fact that every day they stay on the picket line puts the lives of countless Britons at risk. The government is scrambling to find solutions to the economic crisis sparked by COVID and inflation, as well as the market destabilization induced by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The unions are simply not playing fair by ignoring the reality of current economic circumstances — this is a safety issue.
