UK Civil Service Unions Threaten Brown With Strike

BRIGHTON, England - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown could face strikes by more than a million civil service workers in his first year in power unless the government backs down over pay and job cuts, trade unions warned on Sunday. Any widespread industrial action would be a disaster for newly-crowned Brown as he seeks to build on improved public support for the ruling Labour Party ahead of any election following the departure of Tony Blair this summer.

Brown, the mastermind of much of Labour's economic policy in its decade in power, has insisted public sector pay rises should be linked to the government's 2 percent inflation target, but unions say this does not reflect the true rise in living costs.

The government has also been slashing thousands of civil service jobs in a money-saving drive.

"There is no reaction our members can have but to move towards industrial action -- coordinated across public services," Unison general secretary Dave Prentis told reporters in Brighton on the eve of the Trades Union Congress summit.

Unison, which represents 800,000 local government workers, said it would ballot its members by the end of November with a recommendation to take industrial action.

The Public and Commercial Services union, which represents about 300,000 workers in central government, said it would ballot members this month unless the government made concessions.

"If it's quite clear that the government is not prepared to seriously listen to our grievances, we intend to use this week to talk to as many unions as we can," said PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka.

"We will join up with others to make that action more effective."

ELECTION SOON?
Union leaders are also concerned Labour could lose the next election and the chance of an historic fourth term in power if relations do not improve.

Labour relies on much of its financial and grass roots support from union members, and TUC leader Brendan Barber warned on Friday the government could pay a heavy political price if it repeated this year's public sector pay squeeze.

Speculation over an imminent election has grown over the summer as Brown basked in Labour's improved popularity since the change in leadership and as government competently handled a terror bomb plot and a foot-and-mouth disease scare.

"Brown has got off to a stunning start -- it's certainly looking like an election within months," said Tony Woodley, co-leader of Britain's largest union Unite, a key Labour affiliate.

Blair had grown increasingly unpopular with unions and the public over the war agenda in Iraq and Afghanistan and a perceived subservience to the United States.

Any failure to make concessions on pay and job security in the public sector could spoil Brown's honeymoon and hand back the initiative to the resurgent main opposition Conservative Party, Unite said.

"If you are going to upset workers who are core Labour supporters, I think it's just stupid," said Unite co-leader Derek Simpson.