London ∙ In Britain, fire force employees are also going on strike. Those who don’t strike for a pay rise are getting to the point where there is nobody in Britain. Only the police and the army remained who did not go on strike.
Railway employees, postal workers, nurses, junior doctors, ambulance staff, immigration officials, school and university teachers and civil servants of various departments are all on strike. Along with them, the fire force officials have also decided to strike.
In a poll conducted by the Fire Brigades Union seeking permission for the strike, 80 percent voted in favor of the strike. With this, the union will go on strike by the end of next month. The indication is that the first strike will be on February 23.
The Fire Brigades Union in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will jointly go on strike. The union estimates that since 2010, fire brigades have experienced a 12 percent reduction in their salaries after adjusting for the cost of living. The position of the union is that an urgent salary increase is necessary to overcome this.
The government is of the view that the strike which endangers the lives of the common people is hopeless and a challenge to the people. If the union goes ahead with the strike, Britain will witness a fire brigade strike after a gap of 20 years.
Even though the entire service sector is on strike, the government is not giving in to the demands of any of the strikers. Instead of increasing salaries as a temporary relief, the government aims to solve the economic recession and inflation through economic reforms. Once this becomes possible, the government hopes that the cost of living can be brought back to its previous level. When the country is going through a major crisis, the government has requested the employees to try to strengthen the service sectors instead of going on strike.
Military service was even sought to counter the strike by immigration officials and ambulance drivers. Through this, the government has sent a message that no matter how strong the struggle, it will not surrender.