Militant unions yesterday threatened to break the law in order to force Theresa May out of Downing Street.
One hard-Left leader demanded that millions of workers down tools, declaring: ‘They’re not going to lock us all up.’
The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union called for a nationwide train strike to bring the transport network to a halt.
And Unite leader Len McCluskey warned he would break strike laws to protect his members’ interests.
Backing: John McDonnell (left) with Unite’s Len McCluskey (right) yesterday
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell also spoke at the rally outside the Trades Union Congress (TUC) to give Labour’s blessing to a wave of strikes against the public-sector pay cap.
He said his MPs would be on picket lines to show ‘solidarity’ with the ‘struggle’, and appeared to give support to co-ordinated action. The incendiary comments came as it emerged that:
- Almost 50 union barons take home salaries topping £100,000;
- Unions have given Labour £27million since Jeremy Corbyn became leader;
- Allies of Mr Corbyn are set to use this month’s Labour conference to entrench the hard Left’s power over the party.
TUC delegates in Brighton will this week debate a series of motions calling for co-ordinated strikes over public-sector pay. Yesterday militant union barons gathered at a rally outside the TUC organised by the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN).
The meeting was titled: ‘Fight together to scrap the 1 per cent pay cap and get the Tories out.’
Ronnie Draper, of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union, called for laws against turning out to support other unions’ industrial action to be ignored, saying: ‘They’re not going to lock us all up – there aren’t enough jails.
‘We should be balloting for a general strike. We can take part in a general strike that is co-ordinated action. There’s nothing illegal about it. Nothing the Government can do about it.
‘We need something that’s going to be a threat to government. Yes, if it needs bringing the Government down, then all the better.’
Sean Hoyle, of the RMT, pledged a repeat of the first national rail strike. He said: ‘I make this promise to the government: The RMT will have a quasi-national rail strike just like 1911 all over again.
The Shadow Chancellor was attacked by Tory MP Julian Knight, who said Mr McDonnell’s stance was ‘outrageous’
‘We will co-ordinate and we must stop the transport system in this country. Last year I stood here and said, “Any trade unionist with any sense would want to bring down this working class-hating Tory government.” Every union should stand side by side with the RMT union when we march and we say to the Government and the private operators: F*** you, f*** you and f*** you.’
He also branded Mrs May a murderer for pushing through austerity that he said had caused the Grenfell fire tragedy. Mr McCluskey told delegates Unite was prepared to break the law to take on employers and the government.
He said: ‘Unite is proud to be a fighting-back union, to be a union that is afraid of no one. We will stand shoulder to shoulder with any workers in struggle.
‘That is why we took the issue out of our rule book about always acting inside the law.
‘We took that out because we know that if the bosses and the privileged elite want to push us outside the law, so be it. It won’t stop us standing up.’
A Unite spokesman said he was referring to legal changes that mean a union ballot is valid only if turnout is higher than 50 per cent, rather than secondary picketing.
Mr McDonnell attends a protest against working conditions and the use of zero hour contracts in central London
Mr McDonnell told the rally he had toured the country to support strikes including workers from British Airways and McDonald’s.
He told the NSSN that Labour would back industrial action to force the Government to overturn the pay cap, saying: ‘We’ll be in Parliament supporting you and we’ll be on the picket line supporting you as well.’
And he vowed to back unions that worked ‘together’ on industrial action – an apparent endorsement of co-ordinated strikes. Labour did not respond to calls asking whether the Shadow Chancellor had been supporting co-ordinated action.
Tory MP Julian Knight said: ‘It is, frankly, outrageous that John McDonnell is encouraging trade union bosses to shut down public services with a wave of strikes.’
n A total of 45 union barons are taking home six-figure salaries while the workers they represent struggle, according to an analysis. The TaxPayers’ Alliance found five union bosses earn more than the Prime Minister’s £150,402.