Chaos in Britain over biggest rail strike in 30 years

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The biggest British rail strike in 30 years is underway. It will run this Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at least.

It is producing devastating effects on those who want to go to work and on the economy, which is rehabilitating itself after Covid and in the midst of the cost of living crisis.

A historical image synthesizes this strike. Arthur Scargill, an elderly trade unionist who led the miners’ strike against Margaret Thatcher, was photographed in Wakefield, Yorkshire, in support of the strikers. He wore the same cap from his fighting days.

Labor MPs disobeyed the orders of their leader, Sir Keir Starmer, and sided with the strikers. They were led by the party’s number two, Angela Rayner.

British train workers protest at Victoria station in London. Photo: AP

three days of strike

At least 50,000 workers from the RMT trade union group joined the first of three force movements this week. they fold demanding salary increase above inflationwhich exceeds 11 percent in Britain, and against layoffs since July 1.

The workers of Tubethe British subway, joined the strike.

At least 250,000 people are affected by the force measure for not having been able to go to work. Telecommuting returned with full force. At least £1 billion is the cost of the strike measure.

London train stations, where thousands of commuters arrive, who live in the suburbs and commute to their offices, are empty.

A sign indicates that London's Waterloo tube station is closed due to the protest.  Photo: EFE

A sign indicates that London’s Waterloo tube station is closed due to the protest. Photo: EFE

Just the ‘picket lines’ of unionists with their banners, as in Euston, a hub for those arriving from the Midlands. There was the union leader of the strike, Mick Lynch, encouraging the strikers.

Half of the train lines are closed and at half past six in the afternoon they will all close. Only a fifth of the trains are running. But the measure of force will extend throughout the week.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said until the last minute that they could settle the strike.

But hehe talks between Network Rault and RMT unionists broke down on Monday, after the union rejected an unconditional 3 percent wage increase for staff, with a 1 percent increase based on productivity gains.

RMT unionists want at least a 7 percent raise, well below the inflation rate of 11.1 percent.

The kingdom, isolated

Great Britain has been isolated by the lack of railways. Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Dorset, Hull, Chester, Worcester and Hull do not have a connection to London.

Transport Secretary Grant Sharpss said it heralded a return to “the bad old days” of union strikes in the kingdom.

The British suffer, like the Europeans, the astronomical rise in fuel prices, the inability to pay for heating, which many pay annually, food and transport to come to work.

The government advised Britons to stay home. But in a post-Covid kingdom, many have missed vital shifts at hospitals, which are grossly behind in receiving their old patients, from before the epidemic.

Only 20 percent of the trains were running at Manchester station. But its 100,000 daily passengers have disappeared from the station.

Britons arriving at Gatwick and Heathrow airport faced gridlock because they couldn’t get to the interior of the country. They had to stay in nearby hotels because even the rental cars have sold out.

The famous Glastonbury festival will be a failure. More than 200,000 people will not be able to attend and some have already settled in the campsite before the strike.

Talks

“Wage increase of the fund with tax on unexpected profits”, insists the union.

“The government should end Network Rail’s pay dispute with workers, by introducing ‘a windfall tax’ on energy companies, bank bonuses and rail companies,” said RMT union president .

Oxford Circus tube station in central London, also closed due to the strike.  Photo: REUTERS

Oxford Circus tube station in central London, also closed due to the strike. Photo: REUTERS

Alex Gordon called for the measure in response to the “huge profits” being made by the rail sector, insisting it is “not short” of the cash needed to raise wages.

He accused ministers of privately giving “direct instructions” to the rail industry to keep their wage offers at levels workers find unacceptable.

“We are never going to come to an agreement if finance minister Rishi Sunak tells them that railway workers will only be given a 2 per cent wage increase while RPI inflation is 11.1 per cent and it continues to rise,” Gordon said.

Boris Johnson asks for dialogue

Prime Minister Boris Johnson believes that dialogue is essential.

Boris Johnson told the cabinet that changes to the railways were vital to protecting their long-term future.

“We need union leaders to sit down with Network Rail and the rail companies and get down to business,” the prime minister said.

“I say this to the country as a whole: We must prepare to stay the course, to stay the course because these reforms, these improvements in the way we run our railroads, are in the public interest. They will help lower costs for passengers across the country,” he clarified.

Johnson insisted that modernization also benefits workers because “if we don’t do this, these big companies, this big industry, will face more financial pressure, they will go out of business. The result will be that they will have to raise the cost of tickets even more.”

Andrew Haines, chief executive of Network Rail, said the strikes are “devastating” to the country, speaking at an empty Waterloo station: “This is a wasteland. It’s like the darkest days of Covid.” He admitted that the rail strikes are “likely” to continue on Thursday and Saturday. But he added: “I will do everything I can to try to change that.”

Employees of the health service, teachers, doctors, among others, can join the strike.

Paris, correspondent

CB

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