London CNN —
Up to half a million workers are on strike across Britain on Wednesday, closing schools, canceling university lectures and bringing most of the rail network to a standstill in what unions say will be the biggest single day of strikes in more than a decade.
Teachers, university staff, train drivers and civil servants – including staff checking passports at airports – are striking in large numbers over pay and working conditions as living standards continue to fall after years of sub-inflation rises.
At the same time, the Trades Union Congress, representing 48 unions, is holding over 75 rallies across the UK to protest a government bill it says is an “assault” on the right to strike. The law provides that in the fire, ambulance and rail sectors, basic levels of service must be maintained in the event of strikes.
The escalation in strikes comes just weeks after the government tried to settle wage disputes in a bid to end the worst wave of industrial unrest the country has seen in decades. Many public sector workers have been offered pay rises of 4% or 5% for the current fiscal year, with annual inflation at 10.5%.
Up to 300,000 Teachers are expected to go on strike on Wednesday, marking the first of seven days of strikes in February and March by the National Education Union, the sector’s largest union. Strikes will affect around 23,400 schools, around 85%, in England and Wales, with many closing in whole or in part.
Wednesday also marks the start of strikes by 70,000 members of the University and College Union (UCU) which will hit 150 UK universities and affect 2.5 million students over 18 days in February and March.
Meanwhile, more than 100,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services Union, which represents civil servants, will go on strike in 123 departments and agencies over pay, pensions and job security.
Only around 30% of train traffic is expected to operate in the UK on Wednesday, according to British railway company Rail Delivery Group, which issued a statement on its website warning that the disruption could stretch into the rest of the week as many trains are not running be real depots.
The strikes will weigh on already slowing economic growth. The UK is likely to be the only major economy to slip into recession this year after posting one of the strongest growth rates among advanced economies last year, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The IMF has slightly raised its forecast for global growth on the back of China’s reopening and an improvement in financial conditions amid a gradual decline in inflation.
However, the Fund has become more somber on the UK.
Research director Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said this was due to higher energy prices, lower productivity due to employment not recovering to pre-pandemic levels, and increased inflation leading to higher interest rates and mortgage costs.
The IMF expects UK inflation to remain above 8% this year, compared with 4.6% in advanced economies and 6.6% globally. The UK economy will contract by 0.6% in 2023, a 0.9 percentage point downgrade from its October forecast.
An economic slowdown and persistent inflation will exacerbate a cost-of-living crisis affecting thousands of workers as wages fail to keep pace with soaring prices.
The average 5% salary increase for teachers this year is inadequate, especially as it follows a decade of “wage erosion” leading to a “crisis of recruitment and retention,” Niamh Sweeny, deputy secretary general of NEU, told CNN.
According to the union, senior teachers’ salaries have fallen 23% since 2010, when inflation is factored in. According to Sweeny, real-world salaries for support workers like teaching assistants have fallen by 27%, and some can make more at their local supermarket than they can in education.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Education replied: “Strike action is extremely damaging to children’s education, especially after the disruption children have experienced in the past two years.”
Sian Elliott, a senior policy officer at the Trades Union Congress, told CNN that the solution to the strike wave was simple: “All that is needed to settle the current dispute is to offer an improved wage deal.”
But instead of resolving pay disputes, the government has “rushed” through parliament an anti-strike bill without proper scrutiny or impact assessment, she added.
Britain’s firefighters voted to go on strike for the first time since 2003, in a sign that labor unrest could escalate further. The Fire Brigades Union has given the government until February 9 to come up with an improved salary offer.
Nurses and ambulance drivers will start a new wave of strikes next week.
— Olesya Dmitracova contributed to the coverage.