The United Kingdom is bracing for a summer of discontent as employees across the country threaten mass walkouts in a fight for greater pay and more favourable working conditions. This week saw the start of the country’s biggest transportation strike in three decades with 50,000 railway employees participating in a strike to demand a minimum hike of seven per cent in pay in order to cope with rising inflation and cost of living.
Thousands of Network Rail staff were joined on 21 June by London Underground (Transport for London, TfL) workers who staged a 24-hour walkout that paralysed the capital and much of the country’s transportation infrastructure. Commuters are set to face further challenges in the near future with more strikes planned later this week.
The union, RMT, argues that the strikes are necessary as wages have failed to keep pace with inflation in the UK. The strike means only about half of the UK’s rail network will be open on strike days with extremely limited service running on those days and continued disruption in between.
At the centre of the storm is the British Government which is refusing to meet workers’ and union’s demands for better pay and work conditions and is failing to come to the table to engage in high-level talks to mitigate any lasting impact. Instead, the scandal-plagued government helmed by Boris Johnson is choosing to focus on increasingly taking rights away from the unions and workers by preventing future strike actions.
The government, who once was ‘outraged’ by shipping giant P&O’s decision to use agency workers as a replacement for its staff following a mass sacking, is now suggesting that untrained agency workers are hired to prevent the country’s transportation system from being crippled. Further to that, the government are insisting that pay rises for the average worker can not happen as it will cause an economic wage spiral which will further fuel rampant inflation. However, at the same time, they are suggesting that a cap on the financial sector and banker bonuses be removed as, “They have had a difficult time during the pandemic” which is only likely further inflame the situation.
There is growing discontent amongst workers up and down the country as the strikes threaten to spill over into other sectors including, postal workers, barristers, teachers, and NHS staff, many of which will hold union-led votes about possible walkouts in the coming weeks.
The Criminal Bar Association which represents lawyers in England and Wales have already voted to begin striking from next week in a row over the amount given to legal aid funding. The four weeks of action begin next Monday increasing by one day per week until a five-day strike from 18 July.
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
