Unions representing millions of public sector workers threatened strike action over pay on Monday, warning Prime Minister Gordon Brown current policies could herald defeat for his government at the next election.
Firefighters, teachers and health workers joined a mass rally in central London opposite parliament and lobbied MPs to persuade Brown to offer higher public sector pay deals that match or beat inflation.
The unions, a core support base of the Labour Party, said it was alienating the very people who brought it to power.
Brown is battling to restore faith amongst voters squeezed by rising living costs and frustrated with his leadership and an 11-year-old government.
He must call an election by 2010 at the latest. Opinion polls and a drubbing for Labour in May 1 local polls put the Conservatives on course to win.
Speaking to a packed rally, union leaders said their members' living standards were plummeting as food, fuel and housing costs soar while pay offers fail to match inflation.
"We didn't elect this government to rule this way, to watch its core supporters suffer and struggle," said Dave Prentis, president of the TUC, representing nearly seven million workers.
Noting the government's poor ratings, union leaders said they could force change in government policy if united.
Mark Serwotka, of the Public and Commercial Services Union which represents nearly 300,000 workers from coastguards to job centre staff, urged workers to consider industrial action.
