UNIONS will send a “clear and unequivocal message that we will fight to defend the right to strike” if the Tories force through their latest attempt to check working-class power, TUC general secretary Paul Nowak warned today.

The widely condemned Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill reveals Downing Street’s determination to “kick lumps out of our working rights” and must be resisted, he told delegates at the Fire Brigades Union’s (FBU) annual conference.

The legislation, currently going through Parliament, could empower bosses and even ministers to sack workers who refuse to cross their own picket lines.

Speaking in Blackpool’s Imperial Hotel, Mr Nowak said: “If this legislation comes in, I am sure that this conference, our unions and the TUC will send a clear and unequivocal message.

“We will not stand by if any firefighter, any teacher, any rail worker or any civil servant loses their job as a result.

“We’ll fight to defend the right to strike and we’ll fight to defend every single worker who exercises that right,” he added to rapturous applause.

The leader of the union body also slammed the government’s “inhumane, degrading and spiteful” Illegal Migration Bill, which was savaged by peers earlier this week. 

He said: “As the proud grandson of immigrants to this country, I am absolutely clear that our movement should always stand with all working-class people, regardless of who they are. 

“Your members don’t check passports before rescuing them. This country should never, ever turn its back on those fleeing war, persecution and poverty.”

He also echoed FBU demands for justice for the 72 victims of the Grenfell Tower fire ahead of the six-year anniversary of the devastating blaze in west London next month.