UK's biggest union backs coordinated fight against govt cuts
As the new British government calls for $9 billion in cuts from public spending, unions are looking at banding together to fight. Unite delegates at the annual conference said that they were willing to work with other unions to fight the cuts. A spokesman for Unite warned that any action would have to be done properly to avoid legal action of the type that slowed airline strikes earlier this year. Unite represents over 250,000 public sector employees. The Public and Commercial Services union, which is Britain's largest civil service union, announced last month that it would launch a campaign against job, pay and pension cuts, and that it would work with other unions to do so. The University and College Union also said that it was not ruling out strikes if an agreement hinging on job security could not be reached, saying that they were working with the National Union of Students to fight education cuts, and would not be opposed to coordinated action.
See "UK's biggest union backs coordinated fight against govt cuts", Kylie MacLellan, Reuters, May 31, 2010