The emergency committee meets due to strikes in England: the army can intervene
In England, the Emergency Committee was convened because of the possibility that strikes could seriously disrupt life.
According to the BBC report, the government announced that soldiers could be on duty during the strike by border guards and ambulance officers who will attack airports.
Postal and railway workers, nurses, ambulance officers and paramedics, passport control and border security staff at airports are among those who have announced they will go on strike this month.
Assistant Cabinet Secretary Oliver Dowden, who chairs the government’s emergency committee (COBRA), has called on unions to call off “harmful” strikes.
“The government will do everything possible to mitigate the impact of the strikes, but the only way to avoid disruption completely is for union bosses to go back to bargaining and call off harmful strikes,” Dowden said.
The unions are demanding a reasonable amount of wage increases, which are melting in the face of inflation due to the high cost of living and no raises for years.
The prime minister’s office stated that the recommendations of the independent boards were taken into account and that the government was concerned that the wage increases would cause a rise in inflation.
The Public Employees Union (PCS), which represents 75 percent of passport control officers at airports, announced it will go on strike between December 23 and 31 demanding a 10 percent wage increase. Gatwick, Heathrow, Manchester, Birmingham and Cardiff airports will be affected by the strike.
To minimize travel disruptions during the holiday season, military personnel were trained as passport control and border security guards.
SOLDIERS SENT TO HOSPITALS
As paramedics and hotline officers went on strike in coordination with the ambulance workers’ strike on December 21, soldiers began to be sent to some hospitals to get used to the work.
Keir Starmer, leader of the main opposition Labor Party, accused the government of “doing nothing”. “The duty of our armed forces is to defend our country, but they have to save the Conservative ministers who have paralyzed the country,” said the party’s defense spokesman, John Healey.
Healey asserted that military personnel forced to serve within the country could negatively affect national security.
STRONG ANTI STRIKE LAWS
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, in his speech in parliament last week, announced that they were working on new “tough laws” against strikes.
“If the union leaders continue to act unreasonably then it is my duty to take action to protect the lives and livelihoods of the British people,” Sunak said.
No details of the law were provided. However, it is said that options such as banning strikes in some key sectors and making the conditions for unions to go on strike more difficult can be considered. In addition, it is planned to impose a minimum service requirement during the strike in key sectors where strike decisions can be made.
UNION CALL
Unions, on the other hand, are asking ministers to meet with each other to negotiate wages, not with each other. Pat Cullen, leader of the nurses’ union (RCN), which will stage the biggest nurses’ strike in British history, said they could stop their strike this week if the health minister agrees to negotiate “serious” wages with them.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said he was “ready to talk to the nurses union” but that the union should also accept the independent board’s proposed pay increase. The salary increase suggested by this board is around 4-5 percent.
The nurses union decided to go on strike on December 15 and 20 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, demanding a 19 percent pay increase. Some 100,000 nurses are expected to take part in the action, which will be the largest strike in the union’s history. Emergency services will continue during the strike.