Unions are calling on the new Conservative minority government to abandon its cuts agenda and to shore up employment rights. The union comments came as key government figures acknowledged a string of manifesto commitments will have to be shelved or revised after Theresa May’s bid to increase the government’s majority backfired dramatically.
RMT general secretary Mick Cash said: “This election has sent out the clearest possible message that the British people have rejected the Tory programme of cuts, austerity, privatisation and division.”
He added the union was now calling for “an immediate halt to the push to axe the guards on our trains. That was a political policy driven by the Tory Party and should now be buried under the weight of votes that have racked up against Theresa May and her programme. There is no mandate for diluting safety on our transport services.”
Firefighters’ union FBU said Theresa May’s “disastrous election result will mean the end to a round of cuts that, had they continued, would have cut fire and rescue service funding in half over a decade.” FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: “Theresa May now has no mandate to continue with the policy of endless cuts that put the safety and health of the public at risk.”
He added: “Our members are very proud of the fire and rescue service, but it now needs investment, not more decimating cuts.” TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “This election was about bread and butter issues – what needs to change for ordinary working people.”
She added: “The next government must deliver a new deal for working people. They should implement popular policies from the campaign – like banning zero-hour contracts, pushing up the minimum wage and delivering a long overdue pay rise for nurses, midwives and all public servants. And it’s clear that there is no mandate for a no-deal Brexit. The government should go back to the drawing board and negotiate a Brexit deal that puts UK jobs, decent wages and workers’ rights first.”
