The new hard-left chief of Britain’s largest commerce union has steered she may spark mass walk-outs subsequent 12 months that will cripple the economic system. Writing within the Guardian, Unison chief Andrea Egan hailed her election victory as a “huge opening” for forcing radical change.
She condemned some on the high of the Labour motion for contributing to the decline of staff’ rights and furthering Margaret Thatcher’s “blows” towards the union motion. Ms Egan, who was expelled from the Labour Party in 2022, mentioned she is placing all employers “on notice”, together with Wes Streeting’s Department of Health and Social Care. She vowed to make use of Unison’s measurement and sources “without hesitation” to win concessions for its members, together with a menace to scale up its organising.
Threatening to steer mass public sector strikes in 2026, she writes: “We are the biggest and best-resourced union in the country; there’s no reason for us not to be among the most industrially formidable.
“This will include a wide-ranging strategic review of taking strike action across the labour movement, leading to our adoption of the best methods to win.
“I will also launch a new strike-ready conference, convening workplace reps from across Unison to forge new organising approaches in the fight for better pay.”
Unison represents hundreds of thousands of staff within the public sector, together with lecturers, NHS staff and native authorities employees.
Ms Egan received the Unison election earlier this week, ousting the incumbent centrist Christina McAnea.
Her victory was perceived as one other main blow for Keir Starmer, whose celebration has benefited from hundreds of thousands in donations from the union.
Unison’s new chief has pledged to launch a “comprehensive review” of the union’s relationship with Labour, and withdraw funding from Labour MPs who “fail to stand against welfare cuts and other attacks on members’ living standards and policies”.
She has additionally spoken positively about Jeremy Corbyn’s new Your Party, warning that many Unison members will “see the potential of a viable various to Labour for the primary time”.
She additionally issued a contemporary demand for Keir Starmer to “act now” over the Palestine Action starvation strikers.
And she pointed to the potential of a Labour management election subsequent 12 months, warning that swapping Keir Starmer for Wes Streeting “or anyone else from the right wing of the party would be no solution to the gigantic challenges facing the country”.
“What’s needed is a radical change in approach based on the labour movement’s core values.”
https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/2148924/Andrea-Egan-threat-strikes