LONDON (Reuters) December,4 – The British government is considering using the military to keep public services running if key workers, including the state’s National Health Service, go on strike, it said. The leader of the ruling Conservative Party said on Sunday.
The UK is already grappling with industrial action in many sectors but is facing strikes by thousands of UK nurses and ambulance workers who are due to leave the UK later this month over wages and working conditions.
The government has repeatedly urged workers to stop striking and cannot afford to raise wages to cover inflation, and even if their demands could be met, such a hike would only accelerate inflation. He said he would.
“Our message to the union is ‘Now is not the time to strike, it is the time to try to negotiate. But if not, it is important for the government… It’s about having a contingency plan,” Nadim Zahawi told Sky News.
“We’re looking at the military. We’re looking at a special response force…shock capability,” he said, adding that the military could be called in to drive the ambulance.
Alex Baldock, chief executive of UK electronics retailer Currys (CURY.L), said his company is using Royal Mail (IDSI.L) “for now” to mitigate the impact of the strike. said not to use.
Workers at postal and parcel company Royal Mail have gone on strike several times this year over wages and conditions, with more strikes planned for this month.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in power for just over a month, faces a raft of problems, including what could prove to be a lengthy recession in the run-up to an election that opinion polls suggest the Conservatives will lose.
The Sunday Times newspaper reported that Sunak could revive plans to curb the right to strike for public sector workers, including NHS staff, teachers and firefighters, while the Sunday Telegraph said pharmacists could be drafted in to help patients if health workers strike later this month.
The main opposition Labour Party called on the government to negotiate with public sector workers, with Bridget Phillipson, Labour’s education policy chief, saying teachers were “right to argue for a better deal in terms of pay”.
Teachers across Scotland have carried out strike action for the first time in almost 40 years after talks on a pay deal broke down, and hundreds of thousands of teachers and education staff in England and Wales are voting on whether to strike in a dispute over pay and funding.
Zahawi again blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine for fuelling energy price rises and double-digit inflation, calling on public sector workers to “come together”. “We already have a minimum security level for deliveries, but the NHS will address all contingency plans,” he said.
