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
see all the goals later this half hour. good evening. the leader of britain s biggest trade union unite says the labour party needs to get a spine and do more to stand up for working people struggling with the cost of living. sharon graham told the bbc that there is currently no strong voice for workers in parliament and she said people wanted a strong message from labour. the party has not supported calls for pay rises backed by industrial action, but says if it were in power it would join talks between employers and unions. our business correspondent marc ashdown has more. what do we want? 10%! when do we want it? now! could the summer of strikes turn into a winter of discontent? at felixstowe port, 1,900 dock workers are finishing an eight day walk out, impacting uk supply chains for food, clothing and essential goods. there are now calls ahead of next month s gathering of trades unions at the tuc conference for future strikes to be synchronised or staggered to maxim
we ve got a nine year old girl who won t celebrate her 18th birthday. do not protect the killers. an online video appeal from merseyside police after three fatal shootings within a week, including that of nine year old olivia pratt korbel. as the death toll from floods in pakistan exceeds 1,000 a call for more international aid. and ready for lift off a return to the moon for america for the first time in 50 years. this is our generation, we get to say that we did it, if we do this successfully on monday, we have sent a human rated spacecraft to the moon. good evening. the leader of britain s biggest trade union, unite, says the labour party needs to get a spine and do more to stand up for working people struggling with the cost of living. sharon graham told the bbc that there is currently no strong voice for workers in parliament and she said people wanted a strong message from labour. the party leadership hasn t backed industrial action in support of pay rises,