Labour victory looms closer, it is becoming ever more obvious that the new government will be locked trade unions, most notably those in ine public sector The Labour response to Tory plans to "phase in" pay review body awards to teachers and NHS professionals - effectively slashing the value of this so-called "inflation-busting" settlement -was predictable: Gordon Brown, as on almost everything else, will stick to Tory policies.
This announcement produced the first sign of any resistance from an otherwise supine trade union caucrship, who have for several years (it seems decades) abandonca any otner poncy our waiting for a Labour government.
They chose fully, but UNISON national officers and General Secretary Bickerstaffe made it clear that they will be demanding the full settlement of the review body increases regardless of which government gets in.
The only concession that has New Labour is the scrapping of the costly and ineffective system of local pay bargaining Trust by Trust. But it is clear that one of the main reasons for this policy switch has been pressure not from the unions, which pay millions cach year to sustain the Labour Party, but by the right wing Royal College Nursing, which is not even affiliated!
Councils
The same union leaders are under pressure in local government. where cuts totalling hundreds of muons are oeing pusnca througa by Labour-led councils obediently following orders from Frank Dobson and Blair's merry Millbank crew to keep their heads down and wait for the election. has told them forcefully that Labour will suck to lory capping" limits on council soonuing, and will carry through with Kenneth Clarke's cuts for the next two ycars.
This means thousands of jobs will face the axe in the what ought to be the 'honeymoon' period for a Worse still, one of the consequences of the spending cuts, if Kent's Labour-led council is anything to go by, could be a growing drive towards the privatisation olf social services, implying a massive loss of public sector tobs and a wholesale reduction in the range and quality of services for the most vulnerable people.
Add to this the shameful Labour U-turn over the Tory Private sult in mainstream NHS hospitals being owned and run for profit by private firms (see page 6), which reveals New Labour as a softer touch for profit-seeking City consortia than even the Tories.
Kumour has it that Shadow Health Secretary was less than happy at being called upon to ditch the Party's principled opposition to PFI: but this is little consolation for leaders of unions such as UNISON, which has just reinforced its line of opposition to PFI - encourfailure of the scheme to deliver any or tac promisca new nospital buildings.
LIBEBATION