Unions are close to organising co-ordinated strike action “very soon” following the “horror story” of the past few weeks, a union boss has told Sky News.
Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, accused the government of “aiding and abetting” employers earning millions in profits but not handing that to workers.
She confirmed Unite, the UK’s second biggest union after Unison, has been in talks with other unions after the RMT and Unison have also been talking about strike action.
Ms Graham told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday programme: “I think there could be up to a million people on strike very, very soon.
“What we’re seeing – and I think we just have to take this back as to why people go on strike – is that they [the government] can put in all the anti-trade union they want, they can pretend it is union barons pressing big red buttons but this is about anger, anger in workplaces, both in the public sector and in the private sector.”
Asked if the UK could see a general strike, where multiple sectors organise strikes at the same time, this winter, Ms Graham said: “We could see multiple strikes this winter but what people call it is really up to them.
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“There will be multiple strikes and I know in my own union there have been 450 strikes in less than a year, 90,000 Unite members have been out on strike, £200m has been won back in the pockets of those workers.
“That is the job of trade unions, that’s what we should be doing and that’s what we’re doing more and more of, so I can see that that will escalate.”
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Many of Unite’s members work for the NHS and Ms Graham said doctors and nurses going on strike is “a very real option that is now being looked at”.
She also criticised new Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who faced multiple NHS strikes when he was health secretary under David Cameron and Theresa May over junior doctor contracts.
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‘It was a mistake to fly blind’
“I don’t know what his plans are for this country as chancellor but anything towards privatising the NHS or anything that is going to make poor people poorer, that really is a difficulty,” Ms Graham said.
She added: “I think that we are witnessing a horror story, to be honest.
“It’s like watching a film behind your hands and every time you look there’s something worse happening and I think that we’ve got a real problem on our hands.
“Jeremy Hunt is not the answer to what is happening here.
“Jeremy Hunt, if you heard him yesterday, was talking about a second round of austerity and I think what people will not put up with, after the 2008 financial crash this country went through 10 years of austerity, 10 years of pain, 10 years of struggle, workers and their families – and they did that because of a financial crash.”
Image: Junior doctors protest outside the Department of Health while Jeremy Hunt was health secretary
Ms Graham said there now needs to be a “change of government” but admitted she thinks Ms Truss and the Tory government will be “clinging on right to the very end”.
She said Labour has a real opportunity to win an election now but warned it is not a “moment to play safe”.
“This is not a moment to say okay, they’re doing so badly we just have to sit on the sidelines here,” she said.
“This is the moment to take this by the scruff of the neck, to say this is what we need to do, to come up with a solution to these problems and to really lay out what Labour’s stall is.
“Get some mettle, lay out your stall and say what people should vote for not just what they should vote against.”
Worldwide stock markets have plummeted for the second day running as the fallout from Donald Trump’s global tariffs continues.
While European and Asian markets suffered notable falls, American indexes were the worst hit, with Wall Street closing to a sea of red on Friday following Thursday’s rout – the worst day in US markets since the COVID-19 pandemic.
All three of the US’s major indexes were down by more than 5% at market close; The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted 5.5%, the S&P 500 was 5.97% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite slipped 5.82%.
The Nasdaq was also 22% below its record-high set in December, which indicates a bear market.
Ever since the US president announced the tariffs on Wednesday evening, analysts estimate that around $4.9trn (£3.8trn) has been wiped off the value of the global stock market.
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Mr Trump has remained unapologetic as the markets struggle, posting in all-caps on Truth Social before the markets closed that “only the weak will fail”.
The UK’s leading stock market, the FTSE 100, also suffered its worst daily drop in more than five years, closing 4.95% down, a level not seen since March 2020.
And the Japanese exchange Nikkei 225 dropped by 2.75% at end of trading, down 20% from its recent peak in July last year.
Image: US indexes had the worst day of trading since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pic: Reuters
Trump holds trade deal talks – reports
It comes as a source told CNN that Mr Trump has been in discussions with Vietnamese, Indianand Israelirepresentatives to negotiate bespoke trade deals that could alleviate proposed tariffs on those countries before a deadline next week.
The source told the US broadcaster the talks were being held in advance of the reciprocal levies going into effect next week.
Vietnam faced one of the highest reciprocal tariffs announced by the US president this week, with 46% rates on imports. Israeli imports face a 17% rate, and Indian goods will be subject to 26% tariffs.
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China – hit with 34% tariffs on imported goods – has also announced it will issue its own levy of the same rate on US imports.
Mr Trump said China “played it wrong” and “panicked – the one thing they cannot afford to do” in another all-caps Truth Social post earlier on Friday.
Later, on Air Force One, the US president told reporters that “the beauty” of the tariffs is that they allow for negotiations, referencing talks with Chinese company ByteDance on the sale of social media app TikTok.
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Tariffs: Xi hits back at Trump
He said: “We have a situation with TikTok where China will probably say, ‘We’ll approve a deal, but will you do something on the tariffs?’
“The tariffs give us great power to negotiate. They always have.”
Global financial markets gave a clear vote of no-confidence in President Trump’s economic policy.
The damage it will do is obvious: costs for companies will rise, hitting their earnings.
The consequences will ripple throughout the global economy, with economists now raising their expectations for a recession, not only in the US, but across the world.
The court ruled to uphold the impeachment saying the conservative leader “violated his duty as commander-in-chief by mobilising troops” when he declared martial law.
The president was also said to have taken actions “beyond the powers provided in the constitution”.
Image: Demonstrators stayed overnight near the constitutional court. Pic: AP
Supporters and opponents of the president gathered in their thousands in central Seoul as they awaited the ruling.
The 64-year-old shocked MPs, the public and international allies in early December when he declared martial law, meaning all existing laws regarding civilians were suspended in place of military law.
Image: The court was under heavy police security guard ahead of the announcement. Pic: AP
After suddenly declaring martial law, Mr Yoon sent hundreds of soldiers and police officers to the National Assembly.
He has argued that he sought to maintain order, but some senior military and police officers sent there have told hearings and investigators that Mr Yoon ordered them to drag out politicians to prevent an assembly vote on his decree.
His presidential powers were suspended when the opposition-dominated assembly voted to impeach him on 14 December, accusing him of rebellion.
The unanimous verdict to uphold parliament’s impeachment and remove Mr Yoon from office required the support of at least six of the court’s eight justices.
South Korea must hold a national election within two months to find a new leader.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the main liberal opposition Democratic Party, is the early favourite to become the country’s next president, according to surveys.