Catherwood LibraryILR School

British public sector union Unison sent out strike vote ballots to its 800,000 members yesterday, predicting that a proposed July 17 one-day nationwide strike would be approved overwhelmingly. The Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) and GMB general union are expected to ballot the combined 200,000 local government council workers they represent within the next two weeks on whether to join the July 17 strike. With the unions insisting on a six percent raise for their lowly paid members, and the local government employers’ association holding to their final offer of three percent, it looks as though a confrontation---disrupting education, road maintenance, housing benefit office, cemetery, parks, and social services---may be inevitable.