40,000 UK Network Rail workers and workers at 13 rail operators have gone on strike over pay in the UK’s biggest rail strike in 30 years.
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LONDON – A days-long rail strike causing severe disruption to travel across the UK could be just the beginning of a summer of strikes, British workers’ unions have warned, as many professions put industrial action ahead of pay.
Around 40,000 Network Rail employees and workers at 13 rail operators went on strike Tuesday in the first of a series of planned strikes. This comes after talks between the operators and UK union RMT failed to reach an agreement on pay, working conditions and potential redundancies.
Just 20% of rail services in England, Scotland and Wales were operational on Tuesday, with more cancellations due on Thursday and Saturday, causing significant disruption for millions of workers and holidaymakers ahead of the summer travel season.
London Underground tubes also ran at limited capacity on Tuesday as staff went on strike.
Unions say the rail strikes – the worst in a generation – are being backed by workers in other sectors and could lead them to step up action amid a deepening standoff between the government and public sector workers.
This could prompt similar strikes by teachers, healthcare workers and local government workers, the TUC, Britain’s main organized labor movement, told CNBC on Tuesday.
“Many public sector workers are waiting to hear what their wage offer will be. Unions in education, civil service and other parts of the public sector have already made it clear that if offers come in well below inflation, they will elect their members for industrial action,” TUC Deputy General Secretary Paul Nowak said.
It comes as the UK suffers its worst cost of living crisis in decades, with wages struggling to keep up with soaring food and energy prices.
UK inflation rose to a 40-year high of 9% in May – a figure the Bank of England has forecast could hit 11% in October. Nonetheless, the government has tried to keep wage increases in the public sector well below.
“Existence crisis” for employees in the public sector
The UK teachers’ union has said the profession is on the brink of an “existential crisis” as workers struggle to make ends meet.
NASUWT has now announced it will elect national industrial action members in November if the government fails to meet its demands for a 12% wage increase this year.
“Teachers are suffering not only from the cost-of-living crisis that the whole country is grappling with, but also from 12 years of real pay cuts that have resulted in a 20 percent shortfall in their salaries,” Secretary-General Patrick Roach said in a statement Sunday.
Nurses are similarly seeking a 15% pay rise, with a spokesman for nurses’ union RCN telling CNBC on Tuesday that pay is a “key factor in recruiting and retaining nurses.”
The TUC said any strike decision would not be taken lightly but urged the government to do more to support those facing wage freezes and real wage cuts.
“We hope that industrial action will not be necessary,” Nowak said. “But we need this Conservative government to acknowledge the damage they have done by keeping public sector salaries low for so long. It has marginalized working people. We have teachers and nurses who rely on panels – this can’t go on like this.”
The UK rail strikes have caused significant disruption for millions of workers and holidaymakers ahead of the summer travel season.
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Talks between Network Rail and RMT collapsed on Monday after the workers’ union rejected proposals including a 3% wage increase in return for changes in workplace practices.
RMT leader Mick Lynch accused the government of “popping” rail operators’ wage offers, instead calling for a 7% to 8% wage increase and warning that industrial action would last “as long as necessary” until workers’ demands are met be.
UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the standoff was “manufactured” by unions and workers went on strike under “false pretexts”. On Tuesday, however, he again dismissed calls for the government to engage in negotiations, saying it was “employers’ job to meet with unions”.
Impact on other industries
The strikes come as the UK economy is struggling to bounce back after the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit-related supply problems. New figures released last week showed the country’s economy contracted an unexpected 0.3% in April, raising concerns of an imminent recession.
Business leaders have said the strikes could have a significant impact on other sectors, particularly those already hard hit by the Covid-19 restrictions.
This week’s train strikes alone could cost Britain’s leisure, theater and tourism industries more than £1 billion ($1.22 billion) as more people stay home, according to trade organization UKHospitality.
Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the rail strikes had turned the ongoing operational headache into a “full blown migraine” for the hospitality industry.
“Restaurants, bars and hotels have already struggled under the strain of sky-high energy prices, supply chain disruptions and ongoing labor shortages, and now the mass strikes will bring fresh financial pain,” she said in a note Tuesday.
“As the transport network collapses, bookings are expected to fall as lucrative lunchtime patrons stay home and revelers cancel reservations over fears of not being able to get home at the end of the night,” she added.