Is Scotland facing a summer of discontent?
Talks are due to take place on Wednesday after Scottish councils called for additional government funding so they can offer staff a bigger pay rise.
Firefighters say a 2% pay offer is "insulting" and are also talking up strike action, while Scottish nurses close their strike ballot this Thursday.will have more to say the following day about stepping up their "withdrawal of goodwill", while they lack the legal right to strike., with their replacements hired on much weaker contracts.
That should give workers a lot of leverage to demand higher wages, and that's what they've been getting in some privately-run sectors, such as haulage. In construction and finance, it's been a bumper year for bonuses. The term suggests a parallel with the Winter of Discontent in 1978/79. There were thousands of strikes, and around 30 million working days were lost to industrial action.Inflation was running high, although lower than it runs today.
Those generations may be less likely to know that "winter of our discontent" is Shakespearean - the opening line from Richard III. It was, incidentally, to welcome the end of that winter. It's easier to focus a campaign on a cabinet minister than a faceless chief executive, whose accountability was to shareholders overseas.
The signs from the Tory leadership candidates are of further measures to constrain trade union power - once more evoking the spirit of Margaret Thatcher. With budgets already tightly stretched to meet commitments for public services and welfare payments, while without further borrowing powers and no appetite for further income tax increases, Scottish ministers see themselves as constrained by spending decisions made at Westminster.
An important element of strike action or other disruption to public services is securing public support. The risk unions take is of alienating the public with the inconvenience of cancelled trains, or bins going uncollected.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Liz Truss extends poll lead over Rishi Sunak after public sector pay plan U-turnThe YouGov survey published today also found that almost nine in 10 Conservative members have now made up their minds how they will vote ahead of ballot papers going out this week.
Read more »
Liz Truss widens Tory lead over Rishi Sunak amid U-turn over civil service pay cutsTory leadership hopeful Liz Truss has widened her lead over rival Rishi Sunak despite being forced to U-turn on her controversial plans to cut the pay of public sector workers.
Read more »
Carstairs asking retired staff to come back to work amid staffing crisisThe high security hospital houses some of Scotland's most dangerous patients.
Read more »