UK rail workers strike again

RAILWAY staff in Britain yesterday staged the latest in a series of strikes, once again disrupting commuters and leisure travellers, as decades-high inflation hits salaries and prompts walkouts across various industries.

The latest action by rail workers, which will be repeated tomorrow, is part of a summer of strike action by the sector and others at a scale not seen since the 1980s under former prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

The dispute over pay rises and working conditions has shown little sign of resolution and is likely to be exacerbated by news this week that UK inflation topped 10% in July for the first time since 1982.

The global impact of the war in Ukraine on energy and food prices, and, to a lesser extent, post-Brexit trade frictions are blamed for the surging cost-of-living crisis in Britain.

Tens of thousands of railway staff are set to walk out over the two days, leaving a skeleton train service and stranding holidaymakers and commuters, even if home-working continues for many office staff after Covid restrictions were lifted. Meanwhile, London transport workers serving the underground Tube and bus network will walk out today, creating three days of travel misery in south-east England.

Among the sectors also calling strikes are dockers at Felixstowe, Britain’s largest freight port, who will start an eight-day stoppage on Sunday.

Inflation has soared worldwide this year also on surging energy prices, fuelled by the invasion of Ukraine by major oil and gas producer Russia.

Mick Lynch, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union, urged the UK government to get involved in talks over pay, jobs and conditions. But a transport department spokesperson blamed union leaders like Lynch for inflicting “misery” on millions, urging them to work with industry “to agree a deal that will bring our railways into the 21st century”.

Some proposed strikes planned for the British summer have been halted after unions and companies agreed pay deals at the eleventh hour. But while British Airways ground staff and plane refuellers at Heathrow airport have scrapped proposed walkouts, other sectors are holding firm.

More than 115 000 British postal workers employed by former state-run Royal Mail plan a four-day strike from the end of August. Telecoms giant BT will face its first stoppage in 35 years and walkouts have recently taken place or are soon to occur by Amazon warehouse staff, criminal lawyers and refuse collectors.

Analysts are forecasting sector-wide stoppages to last beyond the summer as inflation keeps on rising. It comes as teachers and health workers, too, hint at possible walkouts.