Union leaders to debate calls for general strike

Debate: Ed Balls will address union conference today
12 April 2012

The Government will today be accused of attacking workers through its public spending cuts as union activists debate calls for a general strike.

Delegates at the annual conference of the Communication Workers Union will call for campaigns and strikes with other unions to halt the cuts.

A motion to the conference in Bournemouth calls on the TUC to organise a 24-hour general strike, saying it will take industrial action on the scale recently seen in Greece and France to make the Government change its policies.

Speakers at the conference will accuse the Government of hitting women the hardest by cutting pensions and childcare support, and warn that services such as libraries, youth clubs and sports centres were facing cuts or even closure because of the austerity measures.

The union, which represents postal, telecom and finance workers, will be pressed to forge closer links with anti-cuts campaign groups as well as with students who have been fighting higher tuition fees.

Another motion to the conference today calls for an end to the controversial police practice of "kettling" demonstrators during protests.
Delegates will warn that the containment tactic is being increasingly used by the police and will urge forces to develop alternative methods which do not infringe people's "fundamental rights" of liberty and security.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls will address the conference today.

Leaders of the University and College Union (UCU) will meet today to discuss the next steps in their bitter dispute over university pensions, which could lead to industrial action affecting exams and admissions.

UCU members have already taken part in a series of one-day walkouts at various universities, but union officials are now warning that continuing this line may not be enough, and that more serious industrial action may be needed.

This could include action that disrupts exams and the university admissions process. Today's meeting of the union's higher education committee comes ahead of its annual congress next weekend.
Thousands of council workers will take industrial action this week, including strikes, in a row over terms and conditions, hitting refuse collection, street cleaning and other services.

Members of Unite and Unison at Southampton City Council will take action after claiming that thousands of workers face being sacked and re-engaged on substantially lower terms and conditions.

Meanwhile, members of the Public and Commercial Services union will start voting this week on whether to stage strikes in protest at cuts in jobs, pay, pensions ans services.

PCS leader Mark Serwotka has warned that more than 750,000 workers could join a 24-hour walkout on June 30 as part of growing industrial unrest against Government cuts.

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