Labour MP Glenda Jackson attacks strikers
Glenda Jackson has hit out at striking workers, who she accused of “playing into the government’s hands” by launching the biggest walk out in a generation.
Glenda Jackson has hit out at striking workers, who she accused of “playing into the government’s hands” by launching the biggest walk out in a generation.
The Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn urged trade unions to get off the picket line and return to the negotiating table to work out a better deal on pensions.
The veteran MP said: “I am not supporting this strike.
“I think they are playing into this government’s hands, and they want to damage employment law and will use the strike to strengthen their cause. And I am totally opposed to that.
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“I’m afraid this will be counterproductive, and the people who will suffer the most are the people who the trade unions need to have on side.”
The strike was called over planned changes to pension which would see employees work for longer and pay more to draw a pension that is based on a career average salary rather than a final salary pension.
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An estimated two million workers from 24 separate trade unions walked out to protest against these changes, but Ms Jackson said the low turnout in the unions’ ballots suggested that support was in fact low.
She said: “The number of trade unions engaged is less important than the number of their members engaged.
“So many people’s lives are going to be disrupted; this has played into the government’s hands.
“They should have continued with negotiations.”
