LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 16: Protesters from a number of different trade unions take part in a rally against the UK Government’s plans to limit the ability of public sector workers to strike, and are marched outside Downing Street on January 16, 2023 in London, England , seen. (Photo by Guy Smallman/Getty Images)
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LONDON — More than half a million British workers are set to go on strike through Wednesday, with unions in a number of sectors in industrial disputes over wages and working conditions.
These include 300,000 teachers in England who have suffered a real pay cut of at least 23% since 2010, according to the National Education Union; teachers in two unions in Scotland; around 100,000 officers in more than 100 departments, including driving instructors, Coast Guard and Department of Works and Pensions staff; 70,000 university employees, including faculty and security personnel; and around 100,000 train drivers.
Strike action has not been so widespread since a dispute over public sector wages in 2011, when an estimated more than a million workers took industrial action.
Tens of thousands of schools will be closed or partially closed, travel and other services disrupted, while workers will picket hundreds and stage rallies.
Demands vary from union to union, but include wage increases that curb inflation, including to offset historic real wage declines; pension reform; and no cuts in redundancies. The NEU says teaching is in a “crisis” as staff are being forced out of the profession and is calling for a above-inflation pay rise.
Also protesting against a law passed in the lower house of parliament on Tuesday that aims to impose minimum service levels in some sectors, with the possibility of sacking some workers if they refuse to work on strike days when necessary.
Most unions go on strike for several days, some, like the railways, for months. Wednesday was coordinated by unions as a day of mass strikes to send a message.
Strikes by ambulance drivers and NHS nurses follow, demanding not only a pay rise but saying labor shortages have made working conditions nearly impossible.
Postal workers have also gone on strike, and firefighters have voted in favor of future strike action.
Average non-bonus wages in the public sector rose 2.7% between August and October as inflation soared above 10%. This contrasted with a 6.9% pay rise in the private sector, according to national statistics.
While inflation has begun to cool slightly, it remains at historic highs and acute in areas that hit lower-paid workers most. Food price inflation hit a record 16.7% in the four weeks ended January 22nd.
The trade union congress has called the bill “wrong, unworkable and almost certainly illegal”.
Speaking on Wednesday’s widespread strikes, a government spokesman told CNBC: “Since these strikes were threatened, the government is preparing to do everything in our power to mitigate the disruption caused and we have extensive contingency plans in place.
“Of course, the best mitigation would be if the union bosses call off planned strikes, keep talking and come to an agreement.”