Sponsored by
George Mudie: Inequality of sacrifice inspires an echo from the days of discontent
THIS week sees the first serious public sector strikes since Labour came to power. They are a protest over the level of salary increases fixed for the next three years.
Predictably, these wage awards are below the official level of inflation, and well short of the true increase in the cost of living if fuel and food prices were properly represented in these figures.
They are limited one day strikes, but they will nevertheless be seized upon by a re-invigorated right wing media as the first signs of a new winter of discontent – and the continuation of the disintegration of the Brown Government.
As a former trade union official who participated in those destructive events during the 1970s, the action being taken this week is of a completely different industrial and political nature.
Faced with member unhappiness over the pressure being felt over family budgets, the trade union leaders are rather wisely heeding calls for protest by holding these limited days of action.
If there is a political side to the events, it is more of reminding the Labour Government that their core support is feeling badly neglected.
This is far from the persistent industrial and political problems that Harold Wilson and James Callaghan, as well as Ted Heath when he was Prime Minister, experienced throughout their troubled decade.
Apart from letting off steam, will the action have any effect? Not if recent government actions are the yardstick. Ask any police officer. They went to arbitration and won, only to see the Home Office refuse to accept the adverse decision. Nurses have settled rather than pursue a fair, but unattainable award. Members of Parliament underwent an independent review with the view to fixing their salaries to some agreed anchor which avoided them ever having to vote on their wages again. The completed review was rejected by the Government.
Against that background, this action will not persuade the Government to increase the offer to town hall workers. Not because paying these largely low paid workers a decent increase would cause any direct economic damage, but rather that it would send a dangerous signal to other groups that the Government was weak and open to pressure.
This is a bit reminiscent of the way Margaret Thatcher stood up to an ill advised strike by postmen. She used that prolonged dispute to give a clear warning to other unions that they would have little likelihood of success if they, too, took action, and that they had to be prepared for a hard struggle.
Only the miners had the spirit to take on Thatcher, and they would have won a famous victory if they had settled when a deal was on the table halfway through the strike and the Government had momentarily lost its nerve.
Now, facing a crisis with oil and gas supply lines growing more expensive and insecure by the day, there must be quiet regret how political virility destroyed not only communities, but also a secure domestic energy source.
One effect it should have is to raise the age-old questions about the fairness of salary levels in this country. It amazes me to examine the national budget and realise how a downturn in the City can have such a direct effect on government income.
Bonus payments are so large that they make a significant difference to the national finances when they fall. It should be sobering to any fair-minded person that two-thirds of workers earn less than the average salary of 25,000 and six million people earn less than 10,000.
Recently, it was revealed that Jenny Abramsky, a retiring BBC director, had been given a 4m pension pot which will give her a pension of 190,000 a year. This was defended by the BBC director-general Mark Thompson, struggling selflessly to survive on an annual salary of around 850,000, who said: "Some potential candidates almost roll on the floor laughing when you talk about levels of pay."
At the same time as Thompson was weighing his wage packet, he was making journalists redundant. This is one part of the public sector presumably that the Government overlooks.
Directors and chief executives of major firms saw salary increases last year of over 30 per cent while the humble library assistant threatened the stability of the economy by an increase in salary of 0.9 per cent.
These abuses and anomalies fuel anger and corrode relationships not only within firms, but in society at large. The earnings figures do show that public sector workers have received salary rises greater than the private sector, although last year saw them receive the lowest award since 1994.
The working family tax credits, when paid correctly, have helped make work profitable for many, and, of course, the minimum wage has stopped widespread exploitation. All decent measures which, with the 10 years of a growing economy and high employment, have created an atmosphere of general contentment.
But now the economy is faltering, people are hurting and a new mood of discontent is upon us. When your family budget is under pressure, you look with more of an interest to see whether everyone is feeling the pain. Against that wider picture, public sector workers are justified in questioning the fairness and the equality of sacrifice.
George Mudie is the Labour MP for Leeds East. He is a former leader of Leeds City Council and is currently a member of the Treasury Select Committee.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Three-inch blanket of snow heading our way today
- Alan Shearer in list of favourites for Leeds and England jobs: Latest odds
- Barnsley’s Keith Hill invokes Fawlty Towers over link with Leeds job
- McCormack feels United search can be narrowed down
- Redfearn throws down gauntlet as queue builds at Elland Road
- Rival chips in with £500,000 to restore the original Harry Ramsden’s
- Visit from Princess as Serbian culture celebrated
- SportsTalk: Leeds United’s manager search, Super League and Calcutta Cup
- Libraries aren’t like supermarkets, they are magical places where dreams begin
- Strategic review will lead to job losses at Yorkshire Bank
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -1 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light rain
Temperature: 1 C to 6 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
