‘We expect the government to act responsibly and to do it today, not tomorrow, next week or next month’.
Sharon Graham, Unite the Union General Secretary.
As Covid cases rise, Sharon Graham has argued we cannot repeat the mistakes of last year, report the Labour Assembly Against Austerity team.
Unite the Union’s newly elected General Secretary, Sharon Graham, has warned that ‘the government must not repeat the complacency of last autumn.’
Her comments come as new cases of Covid have soared to over 40,000 per day and the 7-day average deaths recorded per day has reached over 100.
She said ‘the NHS is already at breaking point and its staff are exhausted,’ adding that ‘the government needs to do everything in its power to protect the NHS from being overwhelmed this autumn and winter and to keep working people safe. ‘
‘Dozens of Unite members who worked on the frontline have already lost their lives to this disease and we will not stand for a single worker being put at risk again. This union will not hesitate to act to protect our members.
‘Unite has already called for mask wearing to be mandatory on public transport and has highlighted the abuse its hospitality members have received trying to enforce voluntary mask wearing.
‘We expect the government to act responsibly and to do it today, not tomorrow, next week or next month’.
The Government has so far ruled out a move to “plan B” – making masks mandatory in public spaces and reintroducing social distancing despite scientists and others urging them to do so, although the Labour front bench has not yet joined these calls.
Trade unions represent millions of working people in this country, and have again and again been at the forefront of fighting for our health, jobs and livelihoods during this crisis – we must back their demands for action, and Labour should too.
