The country is experiencing the biggest strike episode in 30 years. The tone is rising between the railway unions and the Conservative government.
Rail services in the UK are suspended on Saturday, the third day of rail workers’ strikes. Britain’s rail strike, which began on Tuesday and Thursday, is the biggest the country has seen in three decades. The demands relate to wages not following record inflation seen in the UK for 40 years. According to traffic forecasts, only every fifth train will run and half of the routes will be closed. This is limited to a time slot from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Disruptions are also expected on Sunday.
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The chairman of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents UK rail operators, Steve Mongomery advised commuters to travel “only if necessary” and to find out about traffic conditions. The RMT union, which has been called to go on strike, is demanding wage increases in line with inflation, but also denounced the prospect of “thousands of layoffs” and worsening working conditions. “In a modern economy, workers need to be paid well for their work, given good working conditions and reassured that they will not lose their jobs,” warned the organization’s general secretary, Mike Lynch, that the movement could falter in the absence of agreement spread.
The Conservatives come forward
Speaking to Sky News from Kigali, where he was attending the Commonwealth Summit, Prime Minister Boris Johnson assessed that Britons “have a right to expect fundamental reforms”, particularly in the face of “practices which no one but union leaders defends”. . . . His government announced this week its intention to amend the law to allow the use of temporary workers to replace strikers and reduce the impact of social movements, which it considers “disproportionate”.
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For his part, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps tweeted that the RMT was “damaging the lives of people who work hard every day”. This week’s strikes mean an estimated loss of £150m (€174m) for the sector.