Today
I was outside Havering Town Hall on one of the many picket lines across
Havering. Gathered outside in the pouring rain were a large crowd of Havering
public sector workers, a sample of the 2 million workers on strike today.
These
workers are the people that provide key services to all of us on a daily basis.
They are the social workers who look after our sick and needy, the teachers who
educate our children, the firefighters who safeguard our homes and the refuse collectors
who keep our streets clean. Put simply, our society could not function without
these people. We all owe them a great debt of gratitude. They aren't asking for
that though, they are just asking for a fair pay deal.
That’s
why these workers were on strike today. The average home help worker has had
their pay cut in real terms by £2,199 since 2010, the average refuse collector
by £2,950. In a time when everyone is feeling the toll of this cost of living
crisis I don’t know how anyone can argue that that this is fair.
The
Tories believe it is though. The Tories have offered just a 1% pay increase,
another cut in real terms meaning, yet again, these workers will lose more
money this year.
So
what is the Tory solution to this? Make it harder for workers to go on strike. David
Cameron has announced that plans to introduce a threshold on the number of
union members needed to take part in a strike ballot in order for it to be
legal will be in the next Tory manifesto. Of course this law won’t apply to UK elections
where, for example, a London Mayor could still be elected with just 17% of the
vote, as they were in 2012.
It
appears the dividing lines are very clear.
I will
always support workers who fight for fair pay and conditions. That is why I was
out showing solidarity at Havering Town Hall today. The value that the workers
on strike today have to all of us is much more than a 1% pay increase.
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