Militant union barons plotting 'winter of discontent' in bid to get inflation-busting pay hikes - but hope 'sympathetic' Andy Burnham will become PM and cave into their demands

Published: 15:18, 25 May 2026 | Updated: 15:23, 25 May 2026 Militant union barons are plotting a ‘winter of discontent’ in a bid to get inflation-busting pay hikes, while hoping ‘sympathetic’ Andy Burnham will aid their cause. Union sources today said barons were gearing up for national action which could shut down hospitals, schools and the railways after Labour made it easier to call strikes. Both school and rail union barons are threatening to ballot members in the Autumn and winter if their above-inflation pay demands aren’t met. And health union bosses are expected to hold fresh ballots to keep their doctors’ strikes going until Christmas, with nurses’ walkouts also being threatened at some hospitals. One senior union source said projected rising inflation made strikes more likely because they will be demanding higher pay hikes. They said: ‘Given [CPI] inflation could get above 4 per cent this year, you’re potentially looking at the sort of winter of discontent we last saw under the Tories.’ But they said barons were hoping Mr Burnham, who has pocketed thousands of pounds in union donations ahead of his expected leadership bid, will win the Makerfield by-election and go on to become Prime Minister because he is seen as more Left-wing. Andy Burnham, who is expected to run for the Labour leadership if he wins the Makerfield by-election, is seen as more Left-wing by the unions, who are hoping he  becomes PM  Eddie Dempsey, boss of the RMT rail union, has threatened nationwide strikes unless inflation-busting pay hike with no-strings attached are given to his members  Daniel Kebede has demanded ministers increase their 6.5 per cent pay offer to teachers, which his NEU union has branded an 'insult'  ‘We’d prefer to see Andy in charge,’ they said, adding: ‘There’s more chance of unions getting what they want. ‘There’s an overall sense that Andy is someone who instinctively understands the union movement more than Keir Starmer ever did. ‘That’s the game for trade unions. It’s a holding pattern at the moment though until Burnham is in play. ‘Just about every union would row in behind Burnham to get him over the line. He understands Labour politics in a way Keir Starmer doesn’t.’ Referring to Sir Keir’s U-turn over scrapping the two-child benefit cap, a second union source added: ‘We went to Keir collectively over two years ago about scrapping the cap and he just didn’t get what the whole point of it was. ‘But now, two years later, he’s saying it’s the best thing he’s ever done. ‘I don’t think we’d be in that position with Burnham, he’d understand straight off the bat. It’s the same on pay disputes.’ The RMT rail union is threatening a nationwide strike campaign to get above-inflation pay rises. Eddie Dempsey, the union’s boss, wrote to all his members last month saying he was demanding blanket pay rises higher than the retail price index (RPI) level of inflation with no-strings attached. When he wrote to members RPI was more than 4 per cent, while the officially preferred consumer price index rate was at 3.3 per cent. The latter has since dropped to 2.8 per cent but experts say it could rise above 4 per cent again later this year. In his letter, Mr Dempsey told members: ‘Our message to the Government is clear: unshackle these pay talks and allow meaningful negotiations to take place, or we will escalate our campaign, including moving towards a coordinated ballot for industrial action across all train companies where we will coordinate strikes to maximise disruption.’ The union is understood to be keeping its powder dry while the Labour leadership contest plays out and won’t launch any ballots until after the summer if its demands remain unmet. Similarly, as revealed by The Mail on Sunday, the NEU, England’s largest teaching union, has warned it will ballot members on walkouts from October unless ministers give them a ‘fully-funded pay offer for teachers that exceeds inflation.’ Junior doctors strikes have been lasting for months and the BMA is expected to prolong the campaign until Christmas  Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith has accused Labour politicians of allowing the unions to become their 'paymasters'  The Department for Education has so far offered a 6.5 per cent pay hike for teachers over three years, which NEU bosses branded an ‘insult’, paving the way for winter walkouts. And the British Medical Association is expected to re-ballot resident doctors over their militant strikes campaign ahead of the current mandate expiring in August. The union is also balloting senior doctors, including consultants and specialists, with the vote closing in July. It wants a 29 per cent pay hike for resident doctors, despite getting 22 per cent less than two years ago, and wants a similar settlement for senior doctors. The Royal College of Nursing has also warned nurses at some hospitals could strike later this year over claims some entry level ‘band five’ members spend decades - or whole careers - stuck at that banding. Under Labour’s Employment Rights Act, strikes are to become easier to coordinate. The new law, being phased in over this year and next, scraps the requirement for 50 per cent of members to vote in strike ballots and the need for four in ten to say yes. Instead, just a simple majority in favour of walkouts will be needed regardless of turnout. Mandates for strike action are also being doubled from the current six months to a year, while only ten days’ notice of walkouts needing to be given rather than two weeks. While more than 1million working days have been lost to strikes under Labour, walkouts are yet to be as widespread as under the Tories. Mr Burnham’s office was contacted for comment. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. 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