Lisa Nandy, the shadow secretary, visited striking communications workers on Monday, days after Keir Starmer sacked his shadow transport minister over comments made about a rail picket line.
Starmer has previously told shadow leaders they should not join picket lines for strikes, arguing Labor should be a government party. Nandy is understood to have told the leader’s office in advance that he planned to visit striking BT and Openreach Communication Workers Union (CWU) workers in his Wigan constituency.
CWU members, including call center workers and engineers, are on a 24-hour strike following similar action on Friday. The union has rejected a £1,500 pay rise for all employees, which the CWU says means a pay cut in real terms due to the rising rate of inflation.
Sam Tarry, the shadow transport minister, was sacked by Starmer last week for giving multiple interviews on a picket line in London’s Euston with striking RMT workers, where he suggested they deserved pay rises online with inflation.
Starmer’s spokesman said at the time that Tarry had been fired for making unauthorized media appearances. “This is not about appearing on a picket line. The members of the summit are aiming for collective responsibility. This includes approving media appearances and speaking to agreed front positions,” said the spokesperson
Tarry said it was “great to see” Nandy join the picket line. “Senior Labor politicians must demonstrate loud and clear that our party stands with ordinary working people who are fighting this anti-Labour government,” he tweeted.
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Starmer said in interviews last Tuesday that the ban on shadow ministers attending picket lines remained in place, stressing that Tarry’s sacking was over the interviews he had given. But in an article for the Sunday Mirror, Starmer said he understood that workers were striking for fair pay.
“I understand perfectly why people go on strike to get better wages and better conditions. I support their right to do so,” he wrote. “When I was a lawyer, I represented striking miners for free. Not just sentiment and a photo shoot. I backed my words with action.
“I am now leading a Labor Party that wants to change lives and give Britain the fresh start it needs. That means moving from a party of protest to a party that can win power and then hand that power to workers. I am not asking sorry about that.”
Unions, including those affiliated with the Labor party, have condemned the decision to sack Tarry. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham called it “an insult to the trade union movement”, adding: “Honestly, it would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious.”
Transport union TSSA also condemned the sacking, saying it was “ashamed” of the party.