Passengers wait for their trains at Stratford station in London on Tuesday morning, on the first day of a strike on Britain’s railways (AFP/Daniel LEAL)
The beginning of a new “winter of discontent”? Many Britons struggled to get to work on Tuesday, the first day of a UK rail strike, facing widespread social unrest over skyrocketing prices.
Train, logistics, Eurostar and border police security officers, but also nurses – for the first time in over 100 years – paramedics etc. As the holiday season approaches the year calls for strikes have multiplied in many sectors to demand increases.
Between now and December 31, no day will be spared from strikes.
The British media is already talking about a new “winter of discontent”, referring to the massive strikes that rocked the country in the late 1970s and caused the British economy to lose the equivalent of tens of thousands of working days.
If we are still far from these levels, with approximately one million lost days since the beginning of the year, in the month of October alone 417,000 working days were lost due to labor disputes, i.e. the level “the highest since November 2011.” This was announced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Tuesday.
As in the 1970s, inflation is at the heart of the demands for better wages. At more than 11%, it hits household purchasing power hard, driven by energy prices, especially under the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In the public service, the nurses are thus demanding a salary increase of over 17% from the state to make up for many years of shortages. A request deemed “prohibitive” by the government. In rail transport, the RMT union rejected a proposal for an 8% rise over two years as it deemed it insufficient in the face of rising prices.
According to the ONS, despite the upgrades achieved in some sectors, wages fell by 2.7% between August and October as a result of inflation.
– “Virtual” Christmas –
Faced with his demands, the government adopted a very firm tone, justifying its refusal to respond to the unions’ demands with the difficult situation of the country’s public finances and the risk of seeing wage increases feed inflation. And he mobilized the army to replace the strikers in certain sectors.
RMT union general secretary Mick Lynch at a rally in support of striking Royal Mail workers on December 9 (AFP/Daniel LEAL)
“Any decision that risks fueling higher prices in our economy will only prolong the difficulties for everyone and will delay any prospect of long-term growth,” Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt said in a press release on Tuesday morning.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose government is trailing in the polls, promised him “tough new laws” to combat the fallout from the strikes.
The government has already “provided significant support” to households to offset soaring energy prices, Transport Minister Mark Harper also said on Times Radio on Tuesday.
He had previously criticized the new “virtual” Christmas, which the strikers were preparing to pass on to Britons prevented from visiting their families over the festive period.
– Understanding –
Two years before the general election, the Labor opposition blames the government. Party leader Keir Starmer accused the executive of “a colossal lack of leadership” for its failure to prevent the nurses’ strike.
According to a Yougov poll published at the end of November, 47% of Britons oppose the strike in transport, when 41% support it, and commuters interviewed by AFP in London on Tuesday at an unusually quiet King’s Cross station, are quite benevolent.
“I understand them completely…it’s difficult for people right now,” said 28-year-old web developer Allan Smith, who was trying to find a plan B to get to Heathrow.
Chris McBride, a 74-year-old former firefighter, considers the government “incompetent” to support households. “I’m retired, I have to be careful about warming up, it’s hard,” he says.
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