[News] Laura Kuenssberg: Is this the new winter of workers' discontent?

[[Depo] @ Cselites.com]

"A grassroots revolt of working people."

That's what's coming, according to one union leader who told me a wave of strikes is on the way, driven by "real people in real pain" thanks to the pressures on the economy.

Skirmishes and strife between the government and public sector aren't exactly unusual. But the list of disputes is staggering when it's added all together.

And unrest is affecting the private sector too. Currently taking action or planning to are:

If you're young enough not to remember that time there were months of widespread walkouts bringing misery in freezing temperatures, rubbish in the streets and gruesomely, even a gravediggers' strike.

There was a general sense of chaos that turned to political disaster for a Labour government that was trying to hold pay deals down to help control soaring inflation.

It paved the way for Margaret Thatcher to capture No 10 and rein in the unions.

Those were the days of mass union membership: they had more people and much more power. What might happen in the next few months would be an echo of that extraordinary period but not an exact replica.

It's the same fundamental issue though - the government is short of cash and trying to hold down pay to control spiking inflation.

But workers feel they can't make ends meet without bigger pay rises and are determined to protest.

Link: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-63769098