Large scale strikes against the British coalition government's plans to slash public spending are inevitable, a trade union leader said on Sunday, as unions began forging alliances to increase their influence. The government plans to reduce spending in most departments by a quarter as it tackles a budget deficit totalling 11 percent of national output, and the issue of how best to thwart the cuts is set to dominate the Trades Union Congress (TUC) this week, Reuters reported. Although unions are focusing first on a campaign to exert political pressure by mobilising public opposition to the cuts, Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, said he expected industrial action would follow and should be coordinated. "I think industrial action is inevitable on a large scale unless the government changes direction," he told reporters on the eve of the congress in Manchester. "What we want is coordinated industrial action between those who are affected ... because you will have a better chance of defending yourself than if you try to do it on your own."
