New TUC chief warns crippling strikes could hammer Britain until the summer

Strikes could last until the summer if workers don’t get a better pay deal, the TUC general secretary has warned. 

Paul Nowak, 50, who has recently replaced Frances O’Grady as head of the Trade Union Congress, said millions of workers had ‘no alternative’. 

Mr Nowak suggested that there could be more crippling strikes in 2023 than there have been in 2022, which has seen significant disruption across several major industries. 

Unite and GMB are already refusing to submit evidence to pay review bodies as their remit is set by the government.  

Newly appointed General Secretary of TUC, Paul Newak, said the solution to the strikes lies ‘in the hands of the government’ and said action could continue through next summer

Recent workers that have been on strike include transport staff, border force officials, nurses and ambulance drivers and Royal Mail workers

Mr Nowak said to The Mirror that he was demanding a ‘proper review’. 

‘When you’ve got over a quarter of hospitals with food banks for their own staff, that’s got to say something’s broken.

‘When it delivers pay rises that run at half the rate of inflation, that doesn’t feel like a fair or independent process to our members.’

He added that the solution lies in the ‘hands of the government’ and that without agreements more sectors could see strikes.  

Ministers are refusing to reopen negotiations for 2022 pay deals, but the union chief said workers were not prepared to close the discussion. 

The union leader said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who he negotiated Covid support packages with, had forgotten the lessons of the pandemic and was now the ‘biggest barrier’.  

Mr Nowaz slammed the Conservative government for ‘deflecting the fire’ and being ‘disingenuous’ about the effects of NHS strikes.  

The union chief said the Prime Minister was the ‘biggest barrier’ to a settlement and said unions were prepared to fight to keep 2022 pay deal discussions open

Mr Nowak signalled that union leaders are prepared to strike through to next summer. 

‘They’re prepared to do that and I’ll tell you why. It’s not because union leaders are prepared to do it. It’s because our members are telling us they’ve got no alternative.

‘They can’t afford another year of real-terms pay cuts.’

The union chief said a £15 minimum wage was the ‘bare minimum’ and added that he didn’t think it was a lot to ask for the people who are working some of the toughest jobs in the economy. 

‘I think it’s the bare minimum that people need to have a decent standard of living and we shouldn’t be ashamed for asking for it.’

He shrugged off government claims that increases in wages was causing rocketing inflation.  

Mr Nowak dismissed the row over Keir Starmer banning Labour frontbenchers from joining picket lines, suggesting that it was more symbolic than substantive.

‘For me, that commitment Keir made to reverse any anti union legislation… is far more important than a frontbencher turning up and getting a selfie on a picket line.

‘I don’t know any dispute anywhere that’s been solved because a shadow minister has turned and had their picture taken for 15 minutes.’

The new union chief said claims that strikes were essentially a general strike were a ‘disservice’ and a ‘red herring’. 

‘I think they want to fight culture wars that our members aren’t interested in.’

Who is TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak? 

Paul Nowak, who has recently taken on the position of general secretary at TUC

Paul Nowak, 50, first joined a union at 17, when he was a part-time staff member at ASDA. He worked in call centres for BT and Cheshire County Council and as a hotel night porter. 

He was a member of the first intake of TUC’s Organising Academy in 1998, alongside Sharon Graham, General Secretary of Unite and Roz Foyer, the General Secretary of the Scottish TUC. 

Then aged 26, he made his first big leap into union leadership when he became an organiser for BIFU, which is now part of Unite. 

Mr Nowak joined TUC staff in 2000, moving through the ranks to become  regional secretary for the north of England and then Head of Organising. He was appointed first Assistant General Secretary in 2013 and then Deputy General Secretary in 2016. 

He is married with three grown-up children and lives on the Wirral. Mr Nowak is a lifelong Everton fan and enjoys playing the guitar. His favourite songs to play are All About You by McFly or Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison, although he also enjoys composing his own music.