Union Leaders Warn Of Campaign Of Strikes

Britain's trade union movement has warned the Government that it faces a huge campaign of civil disobedience against cuts in pensions and public services.

The 143rd TUC Congress , meeting in London for the first time since 1902, is debating demands for co-ordinated strikes in an "autumn of discontent" and a campaign against Coalition spending cuts.

In a move aimed at saving money and - according to some union leaders - lowering the conference's profile and reducing the impact of militants like Bob Crow , the TUC is meeting at its London HQ, Congress House, instead of a traditional venue like Blackpool, Brighton or Manchester.

But the three-day conference is still expected to back demands from left-wing union leaders on Wednesday for strikes in October and November against reform of public sector pensions, even though talks between the TUC and Government ministers are still going on.

There will also be fury over moves announced by ministers at the weekend to speed up moves towards raising the retirement age to 67.

Union leaders have today lined up to attack the Coalition over its spending cuts and moves to strengthen laws against strikes and other forms of union action.

Paul Kenny, leader of the GMB union, said that if the Government brings in more laws, it would be in response to strikes against public sector pensions, which he warned looked set to be joined by millions of workers.

He said: "Bad laws have to be broken. Civil disobedience in protest at erosion of civil liberties and freedoms have a place in our history.

"Millions of people inside and outside of trade unions can and will fight. If going to prison is the price to pay for standing up to bad laws, then so be it.

"We will give politicians the biggest campaign of civil disobedience their tiny minds have ever seen."

Len McCluskey , general secretary of Unite, said unions should not "meekly accept" employment laws, adding: "If tax avoidance is lawful and unpunished, let's plan for anti-union law avoidance in the same spirit."

Steve Gillan, general secretary of the Prison Officers Association (POA), said his members were particularly affected by some of the most "restrictive" employment laws in Europe, because since 1994 it has been illegal for them to strike.

He attacked the previous Labour government for not reversing the laws, accusing it of "abandoning" decent, hard-working people.

Mr Gillan revealed that the POA will be taking a case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to win the right to strike, but he warned that the union will support strikes by prison officers over issues such as pensions.

The TUC's moderate general secretary Brendan Barber said "deep fractures" in Britain's society were laid bare by the recent riots which swept through English cities.

He said Prime Minister David Cameron was wrong to simply brand the riots "criminality pure and simple".

"What happened in August actually revealed deep fractures within our society - a society that ranks among the most unequal anywhere in the developed world, where a super-rich elite have been allowed to float free from the rest of us, where a generation of young people are growing up without work, without prospects, without hope," he said.

In a further speech later today, Mr Barber will call for a "movement for the alternative" against Government spending cuts and calls to scrap the 50p tax rate.

"We've seen the deepest cuts in the UK since the 1920s," he will say.

"Deeper cuts than in any country outside of those with sovereign debt crises. And cuts that would make even Margaret Thatcher look like a spendthrift.

"We were told 'we are all in this together'. But the cuts have hit middle and low income workers in both private and public sectors, and have hardly been noticed by those who did so well out of the banking bubble."

On tax and banking reform, Mr Barber will say: "Let's make the case for tax justice. Let's say loud and clear to the Chancellor that plans to cut tax for the richest one per cent by scrapping the 50p rate are a disgrace - and we will fight them tooth and nail.

"And on a day when the Vickers Report fails to deal with what really needs to be done to transform our banks, let's argue for real reform of our financial system, turning the banks from casinos that enrich themselves to utilities that serve us."

Mark Serwotka , general secretary of the PCS public sector union, claimed last week that "millions" of workers would strike against cuts in their pensions.

But speaking on Murnaghan on Sky News on Sunday, Unison leader Dave Prentis struck a more moderate tone, saying that strikes over pensions would be a "last resort".

And Danny Alexander, Treasury Chief Secretary and one of the Government ministers involved in talks with TUC leaders about public sector pension changes, dismissed strike threats as "sabre-rattling".

But another strike is being threatened by Mr Crow, firebrand leader of the RMT transport union, over proposals to reform the railways drawn up for the Government by Sir Roy McNulty in a value-for-money study.

"McNulty would leave no rail worker and no section of our industry unscathed whether they work for the train operators, Network Rail or one of the many sub-contractors," said Mr Crow.

"Everyone has a stake in this campaign and, if the Government decide to push on with the plans, we are making it clear that every worker will be balloted for action right across the rail industry."

On Tuesday, Ed Miliband will address the conference and answer questions from delegates and could face a union backlash over failing to back strikes over pensions and his proposals to curb the voting strength of the unions at the Labour Party Conference.