Despite sitting on £11 billion in bank accounts (£3 billion of which is unallocated) employers aren't willing to negotiate with UNISON and the Transport and General Worker's Union (TGWU) over a higher pay rise. In a live television interview with Sky News' David Crabtree, Caroline Johnson from Birmingham's UNISON claimed workers across the country have made £5 billion worth of 'efficiency savings' over the last year and it would cost a lot less than this to pay workers an above inflation pay rise.

Gordon Brown has set a pay rise limit of around 2% in the public sector whilst pay rises in the private sector are around 4%. In response to government claims that public sector pay demands will fuel inflation, it's worth looking at the pay rises and bonuses bosses have paid themselves and the speculation going on in the markets over commodities such as food whilst UNISON members have had below inflation pay rises for the last ten years.

A mobile billboard with the words 'Strike for Fair Pay' led the motorcade up to Bristol Road and around the ring road to Bristol Road, up Bristol Street and then surprisingly under the City Centre through the Queensway Tunnel. The 'drive slow' then went past the Fire Station at St. Chads, onto the Bullring and the markets, down Pershore Street to rejoin the inner ring road, then up to Five Ways and ending at the Tower Ballrooms in Edgbaston.

The 'drive slow' ended in a gathering at the Tower Ballrooms with paper sellers, food, speeches and discussion. One of the speeches included a rundown of the 'top ten' of ways to break strike pickets and the excuses people give, which included putting a mobile phone to your head whilst walking through a picket, claiming you weren't in the union and also saying you couldn't afford to lose a days pay. The ability to 'afford to strike' also came up in the Sky news interview, where a local UNISON representative worryingly claimed that their members couldn't afford to take anymore strike action because they are so poorly paid. UNISON members during the discussion also raised the burning issue that their union still pays substantial donations to the Labour Party even though the government is unprepared to support public sector workers.

Perhaps Unison should reconsider paying it’s members money over to the Labour Party which is clearly taking on the role of shafting public sector workers along with all other workers with as much zeal as any Tory party could. Instead they could direct that money, in the form of strike pay, to those members who are prepared to take a stand against what will prove in reality to be at least a 1.35% cut in wages*. But that isn’t really likely to happen when Unison already sits on a large strike fund and other assets that the members never get to see.

*(latest official figures for inflation being 3.8% wage increase being only 2.45)