Last mobilization to date sparked by record inflation in the United Kingdom: London bus drivers filed a strike notice this weekend for wages, their union Unite announced on Wednesday. Some 1,600 drivers are thus called to stop work on Sunday and Monday, the latter day being a public holiday in the country.
The movement concerns only part of the network of famous red double-decker buses, those operated by the company London United, a subsidiary of the French group RATP via its branch RATP Dev. But it will touch lines serving the Notting Hill district (west of London), where a famous carnival is organized this weekend, the first since 2019. The 2020 and 2021 editions of this event had been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Covid-19. Some 2 million people are expected on site from Saturday to Monday.
Unite says RATP Dev is only offering a 3.6% raise for 2022 and 4.2% in 2023, which is “a pay cut in real terms”. Inflation reached 10.1% in the United Kingdom over one year in July, a record for forty years. It is expected at 13% in October and even according to the Citi bank at more than 18% in 2023.
Social conflicts are on the rise
Unite’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, claimed RATP was “incredibly successful” and could “fully afford to give its employees a decent pay rise, but they refuse”. RATP Dev claims a 12% market share of London buses, via three companies, including London United.
A spokesperson for RATP said the company wanted to “find a solution to this conflict as soon as possible, and urges Unite to reconsider our invitation to return to the negotiating table”.
Social conflicts are multiplying this summer in the United Kingdom, which is experiencing the highest rise in the cost of living of the G7 countries, in particular under the effect of the explosion in gas prices on which the country is very dependent. London Underground workers rallied last week. Dockworkers at Britain’s main cargo port, Felixstowe, are on strike, as are garbage collectors in Edinburgh, Scotland.