UK Sleepwalking Into Winter Of Covid Chaos, Unions Warn

Trade union leaders representing 3 million frontline workers have warned that the government risks “another winter of chaos ”, without urgent action to curb the spread of Covid, including mandatory mask wearing in shops and on public transport.

- Heather Stewart

In a joint statement, unions including Usdaw, Unison, Unite, the GMB and Aslef attacked the government’s “laissez-faire approach to managing the pandemic ” after the prime minister insisted it was not yet time to impose fresh restrictions.

“We all want to beat Covid once and for all and to avoid further lockdowns. But without decisive action now we risk sleepwalking into another winter of chaos,” the union leaders said, in a joint statement also signed by the TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady. The intervention from the unions came as:

• Government’s scientific advisers Sage said moving early to tackle rising Covid infections could help avoid harsher measures later on.

• Regional health chiefs broke with government policy to ask members of the public in their areas to wear masks and work from home.

• Official figures showed one in 55 people in England had Covid-19 in the week ending 16 October, a level last seen in mid-January.

The unions’ members largely work in retail, transport, healthcare and other sectors where working from home is all but impossible.

“With hundreds of Covid outbreaks at workplaces being reported to health authorities each week, events feel ominously reminiscent of last winter,” they said. “The government must act now to reduce the spread of Covid. Failure to do so will risk public health, frontline services and the economy.”