Wigan MP Lisa Nandy has visited striking workers just days after Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer sacked one of his shadow ministers over comments he made on a picket line.
Sir Keir has previously banned Labour frontbenchers from joining strikes. But Nandy, the shadow levelling up secretary, was pictured speaking to Communication Workers Union (CWU) members from BT and Openreach on a picket line in her constituency this morning (Monday).
About 40,000 CWU members are taking part in 24-hour walk out today in response to ‘real-term pay cuts’ that union bosses say have left some employees relying on food banks amid the cost of living crisis. Ms Nandy is understood to have informed the leader’s office in advance about her plans to visit the picket line.
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A source close to Ms Nandy said she wanted 'to show her support for constituents campaigning for better pay and conditions at a really tough time'. They added: "As Keir said in the Mirror piece yesterday, we support their right to do that, and what they need now is a Labour government so they don't feel like they're on their own when times are tough."
Labour MP Sam Tarry, who was fired from his senior role as shadow transport minister last week after he attended a picket line, tweeted that it was 'great' to see Ms Nandy joining striking workers. He added: "Senior Labour politicians need to demonstrate loud and clear that our Party is on the side of ordinary working people who are fighting back against this anti-worker Government."
Following Mr Tarry's dismissal, Labour said the decision had been taken after the MP breached "collective responsibility" rules by making an unauthorised media appearance. Sir Keir has since faced a wave of backlash from both the unions and the left-wing of his own party for the move.
However, writing for the Sunday Mirror yesterday, the Labour leader said he supported the right to strike - and that his support went beyond 'sentiment and a photo opp'. He added that Labour 'must go from party of protest to a party in power - then hand that power to workers'.
Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) are only the latest to begin strike action in recent weeks. Already branded the ‘summer of discontent’, it has been warned that the country is on the cusp of seeing levels of industrial action unseen since the winter 1978, which was characterised by widespread strikes by private, and later public sector trade unions.
Experts have even predicted that thousands more workers in both the public and private sector will ballot for strike action in the coming weeks and months. Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) at BT Group said they were striking for the first time in 35 years after having been offered a ‘real-term pay cut’ from bosses, despite the company announcing a £400m profit in the first quarter of the year and a 32pc pay rise for CEO Philip Jansen.
The workers, who were classed as ‘critical workers’ during the pandemic, said they had been offered a ‘far-below-inflation’ flat rate pay settlement of £1,500pa. Ian Tomlinson, Branch Secretary at CWU Manchester, said: “We were promised a pay award to match our hard work [during the pandemic] and it turned out to be an enforced £1,500 that we had no say over.”
He added: “BT are really going to have to change their position because the damage to the brand and the image of their workforce has been proportionate. It has caused a lot of distress to our members.”
BT said that it had been in ‘exhaustive discussions’ with the union over pay and described its £1,500 offer as the company’s ‘highest pay award in more than 20 years’ for workers. A BT spokesperson said: "We have confirmed to the CWU that we won't be reopening the 2022 pay review, having already made the best award we could. While we respect the choice of our colleagues who are CWU members to strike, we will work to minimise any disruption and keep our customers and the country connected."
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