TUC General Secretary, Brendan Barber
TUC leaders have warned have warned David Cameron that Britain faced a “bleak midwinter” because of public spending cuts at a meeting in Downing Street.
After the meeting, Brendan Barber, TUC general secretary, said a “bleak midwinter” lay ahead for millions of families and their communities.
Brendan Barber said: “On the economy, we emphasised the fundamental disagreement we have with the government’s decision to focus on reducing the deficit. We told him in pretty stark terms that this will have hugely negative consequences for the future of our public services and the fabric of our society and on jobs.”
The union leaders urged Mr Cameron to raise more money from the banks. They also discussed green growth and jobs, manufacturing and equality issues.
Brenad Barber went onto say: “We welcomed the prime minister’s intention to continue this dialogue with similar meetings in the future, and for urgent contact to take place with ministers on Post Office privatisation and public sector pension changes in particular.”
Some union leaders missed the meeting because the wintry UK weather disrupted their travel arrangements – including Len McCluskey leader of Unite, who has urged trade unions to be “preparing for battle” to defend jobs and the welfare state.
