From clashing with a caller who missed a funeral to possibility of a police strike, Henry Riley analyses TUC boss on LBC

1 February 2023, 12:24

Watch again: TUC's Paul Nowak takes your calls

The TUC General Secretary faced a grilling from LBC listeners earlier. Paul Nowak, who has only been in the job for a matter of months, claimed he was still to meet Rishi Sunak, clashed with a caller, Vivian, who had missed their best friend’s funeral, and also refused to rule out supporting police officer strikes.

Regarding the Prime Minister Nowak told Nick Ferrari at Breakfast on LBC 'In Rishi Sunak's first 100 days, he hasn't met union leaders'.

He claimed that in November ‘the Chancellor [Jeremy Hunt] told a Parliamentary Select Committee that he would meet the head of the TUC’, and months later Paul Nowak claims this promised meeting still hasn’t happened.

“He didn’t meet my predecessor Frances [O’Grady], he’s not met me, and he’s not talking to our senior leaders”.

Now, a union boss blasting the Conservatives is hardly a surprise, but when we see education union leaders meeting the Secretary of State Gillian Keegan and Health union bosses meeting Steve Barclay – it is perhaps questionable that neither the Prime Minister nor Chancellor has sought to sit down with the TUC boss – who represents 6 million members.

The phrase ‘de facto general strike’ is one which not just the TUC, but most union leaders bulk at, and are keen to dismiss. Nowak pointed out that the organisation represents ‘48 unions’, and there are only ‘five taking action today’. According to Nowak, action is less a general strike and more, as he put it, ‘a rolling wave of industrial action’.

He claimed unions did not coordinate their actions ‘I don't think Mary [Boustead] has been on the phone to Mick [Whelan] to say - if we all go out of February 1 that would be a good idea'.

Paul Nowak, 50, did appear calm, yet firm, when confronted by a distressed caller. Vivian in Wimbledon was rightly upset when she told of how she ‘couldn't attend her best friend’s funeral’ and ‘missed her daughter’s graduation’ due to strikes. Has Mr Nowak considered that public support may ‘wane a little’, quipped Vivian.

Nowak responded: 'Nobody likes taking strike action... but we've got broken public services', adding he ‘didn’t think’ public support would diminish.

Regarding the opposition Sir Keir Starmer can breathe a sigh of relief… The Labour leader has become accustomed to union leaders shouting about his inaction in recent months. Just weeks ago the RMT boss Mick Lynch told a rally in Central London ‘There’s a big question – where’s the Labour front bench tonight? Come and stand with us’ as he labelled Starmer a ‘vanilla politician in a vanilla suit’.

However, when asked by Robin in Whitehaven about whether Sir Keir should be on the picket line he claimed he supported the frontbench doing ‘more useful things… that really matter’ such as opposing the ‘spiteful’ Minimum Safety Bill as opposed to ‘standing on picket lines getting selfies' – take note Sam Tarry.

After fielding yet more LBC callers concerned about strike action, the phone-in ended in a surprising admission from Paul Nowak regarding police officers.

When asked by Ferrari whether Police Officers should be allowed to strike the TUC boss pointed out that ‘there are countries where officers can take industrial action’, before adding ‘I support all workers being able to support industrial action’. Is this the door being left slightly open for police officers to take future industrial action? The irony of people finally seeing a ‘bobby on the beat’ yet only on a picket line.

In truth, Paul Nowak – who’s trying to create as much noise as possible in his first months in the job – impressed during his first phone in on LBC. Whether he will finally be able to secure a meeting with the top levels of government remains to be seen, but continued high-profile action by the TUC, and reassuring media performances such as this, could make Nowak too difficult for Rishi Sunak to ignore in the future.

Watch the whole phone in in the video at the top of the page.