THE LONDON OLYMPICS is set to become a battleground in the anti-austerity campaign, after top union leader Len McCluskey called the 2012 Games an “opportunity” and a “leverage point that will come into play”.
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“If there is a protest, then the purpose of protest is to bring your grievances to the attention of as many people as possible,” said McCluskey, leader of Unite, the country’s biggest union.
“The attacks that are being launched on public sector workers at the moment are so deep and ideological that the idea the world should arrive in London and have these wonderful Olympic Games as though everything is nice and rosy in the garden is unthinkable,” McCluskey told The Guardian.
“Our very way of life is being attacked. By [the time of the Olympics] this crazy health and social care bill may have been passed, so we are looking at the privatisation of our National Health Service. I believe the unions, and the general community, have got every right to be out protesting.”
McCluskey was vague on what protests he had in mind for the Olympics, but seems keen to link the general campaign against the government’s austerity drive with specific disputes about how much staff are to be paid for extra work during the Games.
Unite represents a large proportion of London bus drivers, who are arguing for a £500 bonus to cover the increased workload and changed shift patterns brought on by the Olympics.
“They will be examining what leverage points we have, and the Olympics will clearly come into play,” he said.
“If the Olympics provide us with an opportunity, then that’s exactly one that we should be looking at.”
