With firms sounding alarm over worker shortages, the role of unions is shifting from saving jobs to boosting pay and conditions
For employers struggling to find staff, Britain’s worst labour shortage in decades is seen as putting the economic recovery from lockdown at risk. For workers, it comes as a moment of opportunity.
“For the first time in a generation, it’s a seller’s market for workers,” said Andy Prendergast, a national secretary at the GMB. The union organiser, who represents drivers and couriers in the logistics sector, said there was a rush of activity among members pushing for better pay and conditions.
