Markus Andrews

Britain is braced for a summer of “massive disruption” after British Airways workers voted in favour of strike action on the same day that railways were all but shut down by industrial action.Ground staff at the carrier’s Heathrow hub overwhelmingly backed a walkout in their fight to reverse pay cuts imposed during the Covid pandemic.Up to 1,000 workers will be involved in the strike, which the GMB Union said was “likely to be during the peak summer holiday period”. “Holidaymakers face massive disruption thanks to the pig-headedness of British Airways,” it said.Downing Street said further strikes will “only add to the misery being faced by passengers at airports”. A spokesman promised “to look at what contingency measures BA could put in place” to get around the action.It comes as passengers faced a second full day of strikes by transport workers, while Britain’s biggest education union, the National Education Union (NEU), and junior doctors have also warned they may pursue industrial action later this year or next if the government fails to meet demands for improved pay and conditions. Ministers and business leaders are now weighing the potential fallout from a summer of discontent if workers across public and private services strike and win better pay offers.The government is set to push through laws that allow companies to replace strikers’ labour with agency workers as soon as Monday. However, using casual labour to replace striking workers is unlikely to succeed except against the lowest-paid or less skilled workers. The deepening cost of living crisis could provoke further industrial disputes in the coming months, said Yael Selfin, chief economist at accountancy firm KPMG. If this leads to higher pay offers it would “worry” policymakers who set interest rates at the central bank, she added.“The risk of a recession has increased,” Ms Selfin said, adding that higher energy costs and supply chain disruption due to Russia’s war in Ukraine had piled pressure on UK households.Strike action which triggers higher pay settlements “is going to worry the Bank of England” she said.“It’s likely to increase costs and see interest rates going up further and faster. That would spell even deeper weakening, as higher interest rates slow the economy,” Ms Selfin said.Rocketing prices of basic goods and services drove inflation to a fresh 40-year high of 9.1 per cent in the 12 months to May, according to official figures released this week.Wages, meanwhile, grew at around 4 per cent in the three months to April.The pain for households is set to worsen with the Bank of England estimating inflation could reach around 11 per cent later this year.The Heathrow strike involves British Airways ground staff, predominantly low-paid women. Members of the GMB union voted, with 95 per cent in favour of a strike. The turnout was 80 per cent. Members of the Unite union in the same group of workers are also expected to vote for strike action.Insiders have suggested that a first bout of strike action could take place as soon as the weekend of 9 and 10 July, coinciding with the first weekend of summer holidays for many schools in England.”BA have tried to offer our members crumbs from the table in the form of a 10 per cent one-off bonus payment, but this doesn’t cut the mustard,” said Nadine Houghton, GMB national officer. They are demanding that BA reinstates a 10 per cent cut taken from them during the pandemic. They claim “bosses pay has returned to pre-pandemic levels”, with Luis Gallego – chief executive for BA’s parent company IAG – in line for a £4.9m payout this year.”Our members need to be reinstated the 10 per cent they had stolen from them last year with full back pay and the 10 per cent bonus which other colleagues have been paid,” said Ms Houghton.”It’s not too late to save the summer holidays – other BA workers have had their pay cuts reversed,” she said, adding: “Do the same for ground and check-in staff and this industrial action can be nipped in the bud.”Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, whose west London seat is home to many Heathrow workers, told The Independent: “BA used the pandemic to cut wages and so it’s no surprise the workers are seeking to recoup that loss now that operations at the airport are returning to normal and they are facing a cost of living crisis.“The possible use of agency staff will exacerbate this type of dispute and prompt the broadening of any action.”Meanwhile, there was little sign of progress in the rail dispute. “Our members are leading the way in standing up for all working people trying to get a pay rise and some job security,” said RMT general secretary Mick Lynch.”In a modern economy workers need to be properly rewarded for their work, enjoy good conditions and have the peace of mind that their job will not be taken away from them.”It was followed by an announcement that more railway workers are to vote on strikes, threatening fresh disruption in the industry.The Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) served notice to ballot dozens of members at TransPennine Express (TPE) for strike action and action short of a strike in a dispute over pay, conditions and job security.The ballot opens on 29 June and closes in mid-July, so the earliest that industrial action could be taken is 27 July.The TSSA is also balloting its members in Network Rail, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, Northern, LNER, C2C and Great Western Railway (GWR) in an escalating dispute across the railway.A spokesperson for the TUC said: “Working people are at breaking point after the longest and harshest pay squeeze in 200 years. “Despite the cost of living emergency, ministers are determined to hold down workers’ pay – while they turn a blind eye to shocking City excess. “This is the same government that promised us a high wage economy. Holding down pay and attacking unions isn’t going to achieve that. “With the prospect of a severe decline in living standards, it’s only right that workers come together to defend their pay and conditions.”A spokesperson for British Airways said: “We’re extremely disappointed with the result and that the unions have chosen to take this course of action.“Despite the extremely challenging environment and losses of more than £4bn, we made an offer of a 10 per cent payment which was accepted by the majority of other colleagues.“We are fully committed to work together to find a solution, because to deliver for our customers and rebuild our business we have to work as a team. We will of course keep our customers updated about what this means for them as the situation evolves.”The Independent understands that the 10 per cent offered by BA was a one-off payment that would not be consolidated into basic pay. More

Parliamentarians from across Europe have denounced Boris Johnson’s plans to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda as “unethical” and “racist”.In a debate at the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe, delegates expressed deep concern over the Johnson administration’s apparent willingness to breach international law, and to pass a British Bill of Rights which would allow UK judges to override rulings from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).Speakers warned that UK actions would be used by authoritarian states like Russia as pretexts for flouting international treaties and agreements.And German MP Julian Pahlke told the assembly that the protections offered by the ECHR were a response to the horrors of the Nazi era.“The world learned a lesson after World War Two,” he said. “Ignoring the European Court of Human Rights is ignoring the lessons learnt.” Mr Pahlke said: “Boris Johnson led the UK out of the European Union and he’s now leading the UK out of European values.”The debate at the 46-nation body, whose members include all European states except Russia and Belarus, has no legal effect. But comments from MPs reflected widespread concern across the continent at the Johnson administration’s actions not only on Rwanda, but also the scrapping of the Human Rights Act and the threat to override the Northern Ireland protocol.Icelandic MP Thorhildur Aevarsdottir said that Mr Johnson appeared to be trying to act as a “strongman”, but said his actions were in fact a “weak” response to populist pressures.In a message to the UK on human rights, she said: “You warned others about this before. You should look in the mirror now.”Conservative MP John Howell read a statement to the hearing stressing that the government remains committed to the ECHR and human rights.And he said European politicians should be “wary” of information they get from the British media on the issue, claiming: “The press are not to be trusted, to be honest, in this.”But Irish MP Paul Gavan said the UK government’s response to the ECHR ruling which blocked last week’s planned deportation flight had been “appalling and deeply worrying”.He described the Rwanda scheme as “amongst the most cynical, shameful, not to mention racist, proposals ever produced by a member state of the council”.French MP Bernard Fournier said the UK was following “a dangerous path” and its actions would be “instrumentalised” by Vladimir Putin to justify his own breaches of international standards.“It is our duty to remind the United Kingdom of its treaty obligations,” he said. “What credibility would we have in the face of other member states that question decisions if we accept that one of the oldest democracies Europe should be freed from them?”Belgian MP Simon Moutquin told the meeting the Rwanda scheme was “illegal and immoral” and “violates all rules of international law”.And Irish MP Fiona O’Loughlin warned that if member states fail to observe international law, “lawlessness will be the rule”.“Boris Johnson is certainly giving the impression that nothing is sacred in his view,” she said. “Not the Northern Ireland Protocol, the Good Friday Agreement, not the European Convention on Human Rights, nor the European Court of Justice.”And Italian senator Roberto Rampi recalled that the idea of the Council of Europe had first been proposed by Winston Churchill.“This country that was a model for us… has decided to quibble with a decision taken by the court of human rights,” said Mr Rampi.“I could understand they could speak out against it, they could question it, but you can’t adopt legislation to get round that. This decision goes against everything we’ve built together.” More

Boris Johnson will dodge confrontation with the Prince of Wales over his scheme to deport asylum-seekers to Rwanda, which Charles has reportedly branded “appalling”.The pair are to meet on Friday at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (Chogm) summit in the African country, where the prime minister initially told reporters he would explain the “obvious merits” of the plan to the heir to the throne.But Downing Street later backed away from the promise, saying it was “unlikely” Johnson would mention the scheme, which involves flying asylum-seekers who cross the Channel in small boats to Rwanda without first assessing their claim for sanctuary in the UK.No 10 also said the PM did not raise the issue of human rights in talks with Rwandan president Paul Kagame, despite a slew of reports of political repression, alleged assassinations and the imprisonment of critics.Mr Johnson insisted that the east African nation had undergone an “absolute transformation” and said it was “condescending” to oppose plans forcibly to relocate asylum-seekers there.The scheme was roundly condemned at the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe by MPs from across the continent who described it as “unethical” and “racist”.Plans for the first flight were halted at the last minute last week by rulings from the European Court of Human Rights and the UK’s Appeal Court, and further attempts to fly migrants out are not likely to be made until after a judicial review next month.But No 10 said that the policy would not be “at the forefront of his mind” when Mr Johnson joins the Prince for talks over a cup of tea, in their first conversation since reports of the Charles’s private remarks. It was understood that the Prince is also unlikely to bring it up.Despite being in Rwanda for the first time since becoming PM, Mr Johnson was not expected to visit the facilities set up to receive “tens of thousands” of asylum-seekers from the UK once the scheme gets under way.The government in Kigali said it had already received payments under a £120 million economic and migration deal signed by home secretary Priti Patel two months ago, and some of the money had already been spent.Rwandan government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo said: “Because that was intended to prepare for all the accommodations and all the other institutions to beef up the processes – so that’s been done.”A Downing Street account of talks between Mr Johnson and Mr Kagame suggested that the pair were trying to claim success for the scheme, despite the fact that no migrants have yet been removed from the UK.A No 10 spokesman said: “The leaders also praised the successful UK-Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership, which is tackling dangerous smuggling gangs while offering people a chance to build a new life in a safe country.”Mr Johnson defended the scheme, which has been described by Church of England bishops as bringing “shame” on Britain.Speaking to reporters as he prepared to fly to Rwanda, the PM said he hoped the trip would “perhaps help others to shed some of their condescending attitudes to Rwanda and how that partnership might work”.And speaking to broadcasters during a visit to a school in Kigali, he said: “People need to keep an open mind about the policy, the critics need to keep an open mind about the policy.“A lot of people can see its obvious merits. So yeah, of course, if I am seeing the prince tomorrow, I am going to be making that point.”Mr Johnson said he found it “utterly shocking” to see evidence of the 1994 genocide of 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus at a memorial in Kigali.“We must do everything we can to ensure that human hearts never again are allowed to breed such hatred,” he said. More

Weapons and war were the top agenda items in a pair of high-powered diplomatic meetings between the UK and Turkey on Thursday.The visits by the UK’s foreign and defence secretaries to Ankara followed news of the possible collapse of a major fighter jet deal between Ankara and Washington and came amid a crisis in Nato over efforts to include Nordic countries in the alliance.Defence secretary Ben Wallace met his counterpart Hulusi Akar in the Turkish capital. Ahead of a summit in Madrid next Wednesday, Nato allies are seeking to convince Turkey to remove its opposition to allowing Sweden and Finland to join the alliance.They hope to present a united front against Russia as it pursues its four-month war in Ukraine.Likely topics of discussion included a proposal to build fighter engines by Turkey and UK’s BAE Systems, possible construction of a Turkish aircraft carrier modelled on the Queen Elizabeth and sales of the Eurofighter Typhoon warplane.“The defence secretary is meeting his counterpart in Turkey today for routine bilateral talks on cooperation and security issues ahead of the Nato summit next week,” a Ministry of Defence spokesperson said in an email.Foreign secretary Liz Truss also flew to Turkey to meet senior officials, including foreign minister Melut Cavusoglu, to discuss defence industry cooperation as well as Ukraine, the Nato summit and the ongoing conflict in Syria, according to Turkish officials.The visits by the UK officials come at a time of frenetic diplomacy centred on Ankara.Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman visited Turkey on Wednesday. Israel’s foreign minister and future premier Yair Lapid made a hurried trip to Ankara for a long-scheduled visit, even amid a government crisis in Tel Aviv. The visit came just hours after Turkish security forces arrested a number of purported Iranian operatives allegedly planning to harm or kill Israelis visiting Turkey.The Russian attack on Ukraine has transformed the balance of power in Eurasia, disrupting trade routes and energy supply lines as well as security assumptions. The years-long attempt by the US to step back from its dominant role in the Middle East has also prompted regional countries to confer and bolster ties.Talks about the possible sale to Turks of the Typhoon heated up as the US Congress appeared set to throw a spanner into plans to supply the Nato member with F-16 fighter jets. Lobbied by Armenian and Greek players and angered by Turkey’s opposition to Nato enlargement, US lawmakers have voiced concerns about selling advanced weapons to Turkey.Ankara was also removed from the programme to receive next-generation F-35 warplanes after it insisted on purchasing Russian S-400 anti-aircraft technology in violation of American restrictions.Prime minister Boris Johnson phoned Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday to discuss “cooperation in the defence industry”, as well as the Ukraine war, and the visits by the top officials came soon after. More

Government plans to change the law to allow firms to hire agency workers to replace striking staff have today come under fire – including from representatives of recruitment agencies.With ministers braced for a “summer of discontent” as groups including nurses, teachers and mail workers mull industrial action, business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng tabled legislation which will remove a 1973 law banning the use of agency workers as strike-breakers.And transport secretary Grant Shapps said that change would mean future strikes would cause less disruption by allowing “flexible, fully skilled staff to continue working throughout”.Speaking on the second day of strike action by rail workers in the RMT union, Mr Shapps said: “Despite the efforts of militant union leaders, they cannot bring our country to a standstill.”However, government sources acknowledged that the reform would not necessarily prevent disruption in future rail strikes, as employers were unlikely to be able to find temporary workers to fill skilled posts like signalman.And the chief executive of the Recruitment and Employment Confederation, Neil Carberry, said agency workers were unlikely to want to cross picket lines and place themselves at the centre of controversial disputes.Changing the law to allow firms to hire agency workers to replace staff on strike during industrial disputes will not work, the head of the UK’s recruitment body has“It is not something agencies want, and will not achieve the goals the Government claims,” he said.“Inserting agency workers into strikes will only lengthen disputes. It will also not provide the workers that Government wants, and it puts agencies and agency workers in a very difficult position, with potential health and safety and reputational risks to consider.“Agency workers are in high demand, and most will not choose a job that forces them to cross a picket line over another where they do not have to.”TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said that agency workers would be placed in an “appalling and impossible” position if asked to act as strike-breakers.The union organisation has warned that the legislation could breach an International Labour Organisation convention to which the UK is a signatory.Ms O’Grady accused the government of “chasing headlines, rather than acting in the national interest” in the rail dispute. :“The government should be getting people around the table to find a fair resolution to this rail dispute,” she said.“But ministers are more interested in cynically picking a fight with unions than reaching a negotiated settlement.“Having slammed P&O for replacing experienced workers with agency staff, Grant Shapps is using the same playbook.“These plans are a deliberate attempt to undermine the right to strike and to reduce workers’ bargaining power.“Bringing in less qualified agency staff to deliver important services will endanger public safety, worsen disputes and poison industrial relations.” More

Boris Johnson fails to deny he offered Carrie Symonds top jobBoris Johnson has insisted it would be “crazy” for him to resign as prime minister if the Tories are dealt a double-blow in this week’s by-elections, in Wakefield and in Tiverton and Honiton.Speaking to reporters travelling with him in Rwanda, Mr Johnson sought to defy those claiming his electoral stock may have been critically damaged by the Partygate saga, protesting that “it was only a year ago” that his party defied historical precedent to win Hartlepool by-election.“Governing parties generally do not win by-elections particularly not in mid-term,” he said. “You know, I’m very hopeful, but you know, there you go. That’s just the reality.”His comments came as former Brexit minister Lord Davist Frost claimed that we might never get evidence to show “one way or the other” if leaving the EU has been bad for the economy “as there was “so much else going on”.Lord Frost suggested one test of Brexit’s failure “would be if we are still debating this in five or six years’ time in the same way”.Show latest update

1655995256ICYMI: The Tories are at risk of losing more than both by-electionsFor the Conservative Party to lose one by-election would be unfortunate – to lose two would be a sign it is at risk of foregoing its electoral footing, writes Professor John Curtice.Read his full analysis here: Matt Mathers23 June 2022 15:401655994162Collapse in Tory support threatens ‘Conservative Celtic Fringe’ in South-West, poll findsA collapse in Conservative support across the South-West of England could see the party lose 11 seats in a general election – and come within a hair’s breadth of losing the constituency of Jacob Rees-Mogg.YouGov found that Tory vote share in the seats which they dubbed the “Conservative Celtic Fringe” has dropped a remarkable 19 points since the 2019 general election, leaving Boris Johnson’s party on 38 per cent in the region.Our politics editor Andrew Woodcock reports: Matt Mathers23 June 2022 15:221655993303Shocking to see genocide memorials in RwandaBoris Johnson found it “utterly shocking” to witness the images and physical memorials of the genocide in Rwanda as he was led around a museum by survivors.The prime minister bowed his head during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Kigali Genocide Memorial, where the remains of an estimated 250,000 people are interred.Mr Johnson wrote a lengthy message in the visitors book before pausing at the flame of remembrance marking 28 years since the 100 days that saw Hutu extremists claim the lives of around 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus.”It has been utterly shocking to see these images, and so many physical memorials, of the appalling and inexplicable genocide against the Tutsis,” it read.”We must do everything we can to ensure that human hearts never again are allowed to breed such hatred.”Matt Mathers23 June 2022 15:081655991572Rail workers to ‘pause’ and ‘consider’ state of play next weekRail workers will “pause” and “consider” their position next week following three days of walkouts, a union boss has said.Mick Lynch, secretary general of the RMT, spoke to Sky News earlier.Watch some of his interview below: Matt Mathers23 June 2022 14:391655990463Momentum to keep list of Labour MPs who fail to back rail strike Left-wingers in the Labour Party are upping the ante on the party’s MPs to support this week’s rail strike, after Keir Starmer banned frontbenchers from picket lines.Our policy correspondent Jon Stone reports: Matt Mathers23 June 2022 14:211655989556Johnson too busy to visit Rwanda asylum seeker accommodationBoris Johnson is too busy to visit some of the accommodation sites in Rwanda earmarked for hosting asylum seekers deported from the UK, Downing Street has suggested.Mr Johnson is in the African country for the first time since becoming prime minister.But a No 10 spokesman suggested it would not be a good use of the PM’s time to visit the hotels, which are being paid for by UK taxpayers. More

A collapse in Conservative support across the South-West of England could see the party lose 11 seats in a general election – and come within a hair’s breadth of losing the constituency of Jacob Rees-Mogg.YouGov found that Tory vote share in the seats which they dubbed the “Conservative Celtic Fringe” has dropped a remarkable 19 points since the 2019 general election, leaving Boris Johnson’s party on 38 per cent in the region.The figures were released on the day of a by-election in the Devon seat of Tiverton & Honiton, where Liberal Democrats are hopeful of overturning a massive Conservative majority in an area which has been “true blue” since 1923.Out of 41 West Country seats which have been in Tory hands since 2015 and voted Leave in 2016, some 11 would fall to Labour or Liberal Democrats if the YouGov findings were borne out in a general election, with a further four on a cliff-edge.Among those most at risk of loss are environment secretary George Eustice’s Camborne and Redruth, which was held by both Labour and Liberal Democrats under its pre-2010 title of Falmouth and Camborne.Based on the YouGov figures, Mr Rees-Mogg’s North East Somerset would be at risk, but the Cabinet Office minister would be expected to scrape back into parliament by a slim margin.As well as Camborne and Redruth, Labour would pick up both Bournemouth constituencies and the seats of Gloucester, Kingswood, and Swindon South.The Liberal Democrats would re-take Wells, Chippenham, Taunton Deane, and St Ives.And East Devon would be at risk to an Independent who has stood in the past three elections on a pro-NHS ticket and ran Tories close in 2019.In the 41 seats studied by YouGov, Conservatives took a 57 per cent share of vote in 2019, with Labour and Lib Dems neck and neck on 19 per cent.Polling of 813 voters across the constituencies saw the political landscape transformed, with Tories on 38 per cent (down 19 points), Labour on 24 (up 5) and Lib Dems on 22 (up 3).YouGov associate director Patrick English said: “The scale of losses which might occur in the Conservative Celtic Fringe do not come anywhere close to those in the Red Wall in 2019.“But if the Tory seat total takes a hit from its South-Western flank at the same time as it does in the Red Wall former Labour heartlands and across the new Blue Wall front, this Labour and Liberal Democrat pincer movement could become very costly to the Conservatives indeed.” More

Left-wingers in the Labour Party are upping the ante on the party’s MPs to support this week’s rail strike, after Keir Starmer banned frontbenchers from picket lines.MPs will be bombarded with emails urging them to “do their jobs” from Thursday as campaign group Momentum launches a new website to help voters check whether their local representative has turned out.The group will publish “a running, public total of Labour MPs who have backed the strike and turned up to picket lines” so constituents can see what stance their MPs takes.The site will also make it easy for people to write to their local MP to urge them to back the industrial action.It comes after Aslef train drivers’ union general secretary Mick Whelan warned that Sir Keir’s anti-union policy for frontbenchers “may end the party”.The Labour leader issued the no-picket edict to his team over the weekend in a bid to impress voters and pundits who might be sceptical of industrial action.But the move may have backfired, as polling on the industrial action shows the public far more supportive of the walk-out than many expected.One survey by Savanta ComRes found that 58 per cent of people polled believe the strikes are justified, against just one-third (34 per cent) who say they are not. A separate poll by YouGov found that 37 per cent described themselves as supportive of the strikes and 45 per cent opposed, while another survey by Opinium found 41 per cent in support and 42 per cent opposed.Since the polls were conducted RMT general secretary Mick Lynch has also won plaudits for calm and direct media appearances defending workers’ decision to walk out – though it remains to be seen whether this will shift public opinion further.Labour MP John McDonnell, a former shadow chancellor said: “There can be no doubt that the workers of the RMT are absolutely right to strike to protect their conditions and conditions, and there can be no doubt that every Labour MP should be out there on the picket line supporting them. Our Party was founded to stand up for workers and to stand with them. “The responsibility for these strikes lies firmly on the Tories, who have deliberately picked a fight with the rail workers and their union the RMT. It is dangerously irresponsible for this Government to play political games with people’s livelihoods right in the middle of a cost of living crisis.”And Labour MP Zarah Sultana said: “Throughout the pandemic, rail workers kept the country moving, and were rightly celebrated for their essential service. “But now, thanks to this Tory government and greedy profiteers, they face job losses and real-terms paycuts. RMT members can win this fight – but they need the solidarity of each and every one of us. That’s what the labour movement is all about.”Labour MP Richard Burgon added that it was “important that we stand with workers, in the rail industry and more widely, who face the biggest attacks on their living standards in decades and who desperately need a pay rise”.While the Labour Party was founded as the parliamentary wing of the trade union movement, some moderates in the party now believe the cause of organised labour polls badly, and try to avoid overtly associating with it where possible.But several Labour frontbenchers have privately expressed exasperation at the ban on attending pickets, and five are expected to be disciplined by the party machine for breaking ranks.In an email to shadow ministers ahead of the first rail walkout on Tuesday, Sir Keir said: “We must show leadership and to that end, please be reminded that frontbenchers including [parliamentary private secretaries] should not be on picket lines.“Please speak to all the members of your team to remind them of this and confirm with me that you have done so.”Rail workers across train operating companies and infrastructure manager Network Rail are asking for a new pay settlement so that their wages keep up with inflation. They are also opposing job cut. The government has been criticised for not stepping in to help solve the dispute.A Momentum spokesperson said: “The Labour Party was founded over 100 years ago to represent the interests of workers. There is no mandate in the party or the public for Sir Keir Starmer to abandon our very identity. Indeed Labour voters and the wider public back the strike.”Each and every Labour MP now faces a choice – stand with rail workers and the wider labour movement, or leave behind the people we are supposed to represent. Members and workers won’t let them sit on the fence.” More