The British police force was used to break the miner's strike of the 1980s. Some of them boasted about the amount of overtime money they got and held up a bunch of five pound notes to strikers. Things are a little different today. "Rank and file police officers demanded last night that their right to strike be reinstated as relations with the government fell to a 30-year low. The move highlights mounting unrest in the public sector over pay as unions threaten an 'autumn of discontent' for Gordon Brown. ...The Police Federation, with 140,000 members, the Fire Brigades Union and the prison officers' union are to meet to discuss a joint campaign to highlight grievances over what they say are below-inflation rises. ..Last night the federation said its members wanted the right to take industrial action unless the Home Office agreed to a more favourable pay deal. 'You can only bite people so much before they want to bite back,' said Alan Gordon, the federation's vice-chairman." (Observer, 2 September)
Perhaps the government could recruit miners to break the police strike. Oh, we forgot there are not enough miners left! RD
The Glasgow & Edinburgh Branches Blog. Towards a better understanding of the world, in order to change it.
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