Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the head of Britain’s armed forces, said it would be “slightly perilous” to expect them to be used routinely in the event of strikes by public sector workers.
In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Radakin said the use of armed forces to provide cover for striking workers would not impede operations, but suggested personnel should be allowed to get on with their day-to-day jobs.
The co-ordinated walkout was called by the three main ambulance unions – Unison, GMB and Unite.
All three are taking action on 21 December. GMB union members will go on strike again on 28 December.
Meanwhile, Royal College of Nursing (RCN) members are due to walk out for a second time on 20 December in parts of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, following action on 15 December.
RMT-Generalsekretär Mike Lynch kündigte landesweite Streiks für den kommenden Dienstag, Donnerstag und Samstag an. Es wird mit mehr als 50.000 Streikenden gerechnet. Am Dienstag wollen auch die Beschäftigten der Londoner U-Bahn für 24 Stunden die Arbeit niederlegen.
The week of planned strikes across the country will impact London Underground (Tube), Overground, Elizabeth line and national rail services across the UK between 21 and 26 June 2022. Only around half of Britain’s rail network will be open on strike days, with a very limited service running on lines that will only be open from around 07:30 until 18:30.
This strike action comes as part of separate disputes with both the RMT over pensions, jobs and conditions, and with Unite over pay.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has told members to prepare to “shut down the rail system” with strikes on 21, 23 and 25 June, after a ballot of 40,000 members last month resulted in staff at Network Rail and 13 train operating companies voting overwhelmingly for full-scale industrial action.
About 10,000 more RMT members in London will also hold a further tube strike on 21 June, in a coordinated move designed to head off possible job cuts at Transport for London and in the national rail network.
Amid intense behind-the-scenes arm-twisting today, public services union Unison broke ranks to declared it will oppose the leader‘s Brexit fudge.
But the Momentum pressure group appears to have handed Mr Corbyn a lifeline by signalling its activists will be in his camp, rather than with the Remainers.
In a shock split, its founder Jon Lansman made clear he did not agree with the decision, tweeting that ‚members should feel free to vote with their conscience‘.
A source close to Corbyn tells me he expects the block vote of the unions to defeat that motion on Monday when put to conference, although another source told me the two giant unions, Unison and Unite, are no longer as one and Unison may peel away from Unite and abstain.
The revelations come a day after the Labour leader was forced to step in to save Tom Watson’s job, after Jon Lansman tried to scrap the post of Labour deputy leader.
The Momentum chief launched a shock attempt to remove Mr Watson – with the support of the Unite union – at a meeting of Labour‘s ruling national executive committee on Friday night.
Trade unions and Labour members are set for a major clash at the party‘s annual conference over Brexit, PoliticsHome understands.
The Unite general secretary has been issued the unprecedented invite to No10 as the Prime Minister desperately tries to win support for her deal.
A union source said GMB leader Tim Roache and UNISON‘s Dave Prentis had also been invited for one-on-one talks on Thursday.
(17.12.2018)
The private intervention comes at a fractious time for the party, as the leadership agonises over what its tactics should be if Theresa May loses a vote on the Brexit deal in parliament.
McCluskey is an influential figure in the party and several of Corbyn’s most trusted staff are former Unite members and close to the union leader, including the party’s general secretary, Jennie Formby, the adviser Andrew Murray and the chief of staff, Karie Murphy.