Can Gordon Brown prevent the spread of a wildcat strikes?
The UK government is tonight in direct talks with unions representing the thousands of UK workers who went on strike last week with regards to UK workers effectively being "barred" from UK construction and engineering projects undertaken by some foreign firms. While initially the wildcat strike was confined to one particular oil refinery it has quickly spread and a number of unions are planning to vote next week on sympathetic strike action.
While officially these wildcat strikes are illegal the government has stepped in to investigate claims that Italian workers are being shipped in to undertake UK engineering and construction projects at the expense of UK workers. If the claims are proven there is the potential for a larger union walk out throughout the UK as tensions continue to mount between domestic and foreign workers in the UK.
This could not have come at a worse time for the UK government, highlighting the power of the unions throughout the UK, placing the ailing economy under more pressure and reducing tax revenues at a time when every penny counts. Gordon Brown has also come under severe pressure for his "British jobs for British workers" comment back in 2007 which has come back to haunt him.
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