GMB national secretary Andy Prendergast has refused to rule out coordinated action with other unions and has threatened they will be looking for “maximum impact.”
Downing Street is urging the public sector unions to stop the “unnecessary” strikes amid the “impact” this will have on the “people of this country.”
The Fire Brigades union has also announced that they will be balloting their members, more than 10,000 ambulance workers and more than 100,000 nurses are set to strike in the coming weeks.
GMB national secretary Andy Prendergast told Sky News, “We will be talking to other unions… we will be looking to make sure that this has the maximum impact.
“We will be making sure that emergencies are covered, but ultimately, the Government needs to listen.
“The public of Britain deserve better, the NHS members deserve better, we need to see something happen very fast.”
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said, “We are concerned about the impact strikes by multiple unions will have on the people of this country as we head into the Christmas period.
“We recognise that these are challenging economic times but public sector pay awards must be affordable for the taxpayer.
“We want them to keep engaging with employers, to keep talking so that we can come up with a resolution and put an end to some of this unnecessary strike action.”
Transport Minister Huw Merriman appealed the rail unions in the House of Commons on Thursday to call off their action over the Christmas period.
He warned, “It is still possible for the unions to take the strike action down so that people can get to see their loved ones across the country, businesses can reopen and recover after the terrible time that they have had.
“December for many companies is their time, it’s make or break time, if they don’t get a December in they may not see January.”
Prendergast blasted the government and said that public sector workers are fed up being “talked down to” by MPs as they are refusing to listen to their concerns.
He said, “Even Winston Churchill talked about the right to strike being a fundamental one, and yet we have a load of public schoolboys who run the Government who quite frankly are not interested in listening.
“They have to start listening. This is an issue that affects every single person in Britain. So many of us rely on the NHS.”
