Spring of discontent: UK unions plan mass strikes

Senior union leaders in the UK have warned of a surge in strike action for 2011 on a scale not seen since the campaign to abolish the poll tax.

Mark Serwotka, the leader of the Public and Commercial Services Union, which has over 300,000 members, said strikes in the spring were "inevitable" and could affect the royal wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton.

At a Trades Union Congress meeting next month, union bosses are expected to thrash out plans to create a mass walkout in protest at spending cuts.

The talks will bring together unions which have industrial action ongoing, such as British Airways and London Underground, and urge others to hold strike ballots to tie in with a TUC rally which is due to take place in late March.

Serwotka said, ''We are looking at the spring. The more of us that stand together against the cuts, the more problems we can create. Unless you look like you want a fight, they won't negotiate. The government has to see we are serious.''

Union bosses hope to organise mass walkouts at the end of April, on the few working days sandwiched between the Easter weekend of 22-25 April, the royal wedding on 29 April, and the May Day bank holiday on 2 May.