Comment Editor Dahlia Farzi outlines the increasingly sour relationship between unions and the Labour government.
Since December 2022, doctors have been on strike 11 times, despite being offered a 22.3% pay rise after their 35% demand.
On Rachel Reeves’ first day as Chancellor, she announced “industrial action in the NHS alone had cost the taxpayer £1.7bn [in 2023]”… and vowed to “start a new relationship between the government and staff of the NHS.” This figure apparently did not include the junior doctors’ strikes, which is poised to cost Britain almost £13m for each day of walkouts.
After junior doctors in England planned to stage a five-day strike before the 2024 election, Sunak branded the move “politically motivated”. He believed this was an excuse to ridicule the Conservatives after he defiantly stated there would be “no more negotiation” in 2023. During the election, Labour pledged to end hospital backlogs to meet the NHS standard and to reset relations with NHS staff. A clear dismissal of the Conservatives’ failed approach, “[where] too many patients have seen their treatment affected by strikes.” However, two years later, Health Secretary Wes Streeting branded planned strikes as “unreasonable” as it “risks [the NHS’] fragile recovery.”
In September, BMA members voted to accept a government pay deal worth an average of 22.3% over two years. The 2025/26 pay deal saw resident doctors given a 4% uplift plus £750 “on a consolidated basis.” However, this was seen as part of a “journey to pay restoration” rather than the end of talks.
The BMA announced that resident doctors (formerly called junior doctors) in England would walk out for five consecutive days from 7am on 25 July 2025. Earlier in July, the BMA called for a pay increase of almost 30% to reverse 15 years of poor pay. 90% agreed to vote for strike action with a 55% turnout. An overwhelming motion gnawed at Streeting’s promise of NHS stability. A meeting, however, is scheduled for next week to save face and restore unity.
As tensions rose, public support fell. Since last year, national public support for strikes halved from 52% to 26%, with more than two in five people thinking that the government is doing a bad job at negotiating. Prolific professor Lord Robert Winston even resigned from the BMA over planned strike action, calling it “highly dangerous.” In parallel, Streeting threatened doctors, “the public will not forgive you” if they do strike, following a 28.9% pay rise.
This strike further exemplifies the growing division between the NHS and the government. Strikes reportedly affecting over 200,000 appointments are another blow to the Labour Party. Another Labour promise was to deliver an extra 40,000 NHS appointments a week and to clear the 18-week-plus NHS waiting list backlog within five years. With 15,000-23,000 doctors leaving the NHS prematurely in England alone, and the cost [to replace them] between £1.6- £2.4 billion, retention is another migraine for the Labour government.
To make matters worse, Labour’s largest union donors, Unite, have voted to suspend Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner over her handling of Birmingham’s bin strike row. 800 Unite delegates voted on this motion, highlighting Rayner’s inability to contain union rifts and restore harmony.
The relationship with Unite became complex with the arrival of the new Labour government last year. Unite donated more than £400,000 in the first quarter of 2025-the highest amount in that period by a union, company or individual. They provided even £10,000 to Rayner herself. However, the BBC understands that Rayner stopped paying for her Unite membership in April, thus impossible for her to be suspended.
Unite criticised the party’s general election manifesto, claiming it does not go far enough on protecting workers’ rights. In 2019, it donated £3m to Labour’s campaign, cosying up to former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. The London Economic revealed earlier this week that Unite organisers are “seriously considering” turning to Jeremy Corbyn’s party, a move that could abolish the 126-year relationship. With research suggesting it could pick up 10% of the vote, it could become the country’s most popular party among 18-24 year-olds.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham accused Rayner of “peddling lies and smearing [bin] workers fighting huge pay cuts.” This stemmed from Unite’s accusation that the Council was “firing and re-hiring” workers, leading to potential pay cuts of up to £8,000 for bin workers. A four-month-long resolution finally concluded with the council claiming it had reached its “absolute limit.”
