国际英语新闻：Britain's chief trade union leader warns of industrial trouble ahead

LONDON, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- The leader of Britain's trade union movement warned on Saturday that there will be industrial trouble ahead as the government's program to cut public sector spending begins to bite and jobs are lost.

Trades Union Congress' Brendan Barber was speaking ahead of the TUC's annual meeting, which begins on Monday in the northern industrial city of Manchester.

The new coalition government, formed by the majority right-wing Conservative party and the minority left-of-center Liberal Democrats, came to power on May 11 after the inconclusive May 6 general election which ended 13 years of Labor party rule.

The government has set as its main task the reduction of the annual public sector spending deficit from its current record of 153 billion pounds (about 240 billion U.S. dollars) over the next four years.

Barber said in an interview with the Guardian daily newspaper: "At present it is a theoretical debate and the government can point to poll ratings showing public support, but once people begin to see the impact, and reality dawns, I think there will be a real reaction."

He added: "We have got this whole cocktail of issues coming together: a pay freeze, significant job losses -- the Office for Budget Responsibility said there was potential for 600,000 job losses in the public sector -- privatizations, restructuring, a growing sense of job insecurity and the review into the future of pensions. All of that adds up to a hell of an agenda of issues that could give rise to pretty difficult disputes."

The TUC is the umbrella body that represents all Britain's trades unions. It has been in steep decline in terms of numbers of members and political influence for the past three decades.

In the 1970s the TUC represented twice as many workers as it does now, and several of its larger unions fought and won significant industrial disputes.

Barber was backed up by his TUC organization, which put out a lengthy plan of action on Saturday to tackle the government's austerity budget program.

The statement said: "Our case is that the Government's program of cuts, marketization and privatization is a political project, not an economic necessity. The deficit is being skillfully used as an excuse to bring in a program that if put to voters at an election would be overwhelmingly rejected."

Barber had used this point too in his newspaper interview, saying that the Liberal Democrats had opposed cuts of the speed and scale now being enacted, in their general election manifesto.

The Conservatives had fought the election calling for immediate cuts. But by themselves they only won about 36 percent of the vote.

Barber said: "The Lib Dems of course fought the election saying this was not the time for immediate cuts. During the election campaign they supported one of our core arguments that now the priority is to secure a solid recovery. So has the coalition got a clear electoral mandate? Not with 30 something percent of the votes."

Currently, the government enjoys popular public support in its budget cuts, but the pain has not yet been felt, and it is still benefiting from a honeymoon period after the election.

The TUC Congress on Monday marks the first organized opposition to the government since the summer, and could be the precursor to increased criticism.