Britain facing widespread strikes as TUC supports co-ordinated action It follows the withdrawal of more than £1m from the GMB in support to Labour. TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady told delegates that the TUC was ready to co-ordinate industrial action where unions wanted it. The warnings came as the Communication Workers Union confirmed it will ballot more than 120,000 of its members over issues linked to the Government's controversial plan to privatise the Royal Mail. The company will be given formal notice of the ballot later this week, with voting due to start on September 20 and the result expected in early October. Firefighters have already voted for strikes over pensions, while teachers are to take industrial action in the coming weeks in a long-running dispute over pay, pensions and working conditions. General secretary Frances O'Grady said Conservatives were fond of referring to PR adviser, Australian Lynton Crosby, as their own Wizard of Oz. What does that make (David) Cameron, (George) Osborne and (Nick) Clegg? When it comes to any vision for a new economy, they are the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion," she told the TUC Congress in Bournemouth. She accused the coalition of trying to divide Britain "Thatcher-style" between those in and out of work and between top rate taxpayers and everyone else. Unions had not been vilified in other countries as they were in the UK, she said, adding that more thoughtful Conservatives were nervous about the "war" on workers. They worry that attacks on unions, on ordinary decent working men and women look high handed, cold hearted and out of touch.