offices and pushed the protesters behind a barricade. on thursday, ranil wickremesinghe was sworn in as president. now on bbc news, it s time for hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. around the world, there are signs of deepening worker discontent. inflation is outstripping wages, global corporations stand accused of putting profits before people, while many governments see organised labour as a threat. why, then, is the union movement seemingly in retreat? have workers lost their faith in collective action? well, my guest is long time boss of the international trade union confederation, sharan burrow. do workers have problems that unions cannot fix? sharan burrow in brussels. welcome to hardtalk. good evening. good to have you on the show. let s look at what is happening in the world right now. we have a spike in energy costs right around the world, we have rising inflation in many countries and a squeeze on the cost of living. how grim do you think the prospec
new president, despite his unpopularity with the public. he faces the task of leading the country out of its economic collapse and restoring order. his disgraced predecessor, gotabaya rajapaksa, resigned after months of protests. now on bbc news, hardtalk with stephen sackur. more news coming up in half an hour. welcome to hardtalk. i m stephen sackur. around the world, there are signs of deepening worker discontent. inflation is outstripping wages. global corporations stand accused of putting profits before people, while many governments see organised labour as a threat. why then is the union movement seemingly in retreat? have workers lost their faith in collective action? well, my guest is long time boss of the international trade union confederation, sharan burrow. do workers have problems that unions cannot fix? sharan burrow in brussels, welcome to hardtalk. good evening. good to have you on the show. let s look at what is happening in the world right now. we have a spi
of too many central banks raising interest rates. we are not in a period where we can discount the fact that if you have growth way below profits and inflation, then you are, in fact, facing grim economic circumstances. and unless we share prosperity, workers are the victims. but aren t you trying to reinvent economics if you argue that workers pushing for massive pay rises right now is not going to be inflationary? all the evidence over many years suggests that once you get into that wage price spiral, it s very hard to get out of it. well, first of all, look at the wage claims. they re hardly massive demands, given the profits that, as i said, are really driving inflation. that s the key we see. with price rises in energy, with price gouging, with governments who are failing to regulate energy markets, failing to put the windfall tax on profits that we need, and to share that prosperity, then you re creating a low growth future against an inflationary spiral from prices and
well, my guest is long time boss of the international trade union confederation, sharan burrow. do workers have problems that unions cannot fix? sharan burrow in brussels, welcome to hardtalk. good evening. good to have you on the show. let s look at what is happening in the world right now. we have a spike in energy costs right around the world. we have rising inflation in many countries and a squeeze on the cost of living. how grim do you think the prospects for your members, for workers around the world are right now? well, i think you have to take note of workers. they re on strike all around the world. they can t live on the wages that they re being paid. they know that this is a huge injustice when it s profits that are driving inflation. in fact, the union movement has a new term. it s called pro flation , because it s a myth to say that wages are driving inflation. even the eu confirmed just this week that there is no feedback loop between wages and inflation, and it
Election, or people sick of it . The early signs are it looks as though it wont be dissimilar to what we had in 2013. The truth is, in 2013, the turnout was low, around 30 . It looks as though it will be another relatively low turnout election. John, thank you so much. Much more to come for you, that is it for the moment. It is time now for hardtalk. Welcome to hardtalk, im stephen sackur. South africas anc was once seen as an inspirational model for africa. Now its becoming a watchword for infighting, cronyism, corruption and the dangers of one party rule. President jacob zuma stands accused of abusing his power notjust by his enemies but by many erstwhile anc colleagues. My guest today, fikile mbalula, was made Police Minister in a recent controversial cabinet sha keup. As the scandals pile up, are we witnessing the slow death of the anc . Fikile mbalula, in cape town, welcome to hardtalk. Lets begin with a simple question, there is no doubt the anc government is in crisis, who do yo