2023-05-12 12:15:29
The UK is in the throes of a series of historic strikes. Galloping inflation put workers on edge across the Channel and it was the turn of the railway workers to protest. They are on strike again this Friday and Saturday in the hope of obtaining wage increases after having rejected the revaluation proposals made so far by the companies.
The train drivers are on strike Friday at the call of the Aslef union, while the maintenance and control agents will strike on Saturday at the call of the RMT union. Rail companies have announced major disruptions and train cancellations. This movement is the umpteenth episode of a social conflict that has been going on for months in the United Kingdom, and which does not only affect rail transport.
Inflation above 10%
Nurses, paramedics, civil servants and other professions have walked off the job numerous times since the fall for pay rises as the cost of living has soared with double-digit inflation for months. While other less representative unions have ended their movement, Aslef and RMT have so far rejected proposals for a 4% salary increase for this year (after +4 to +5% last year), accompanied by changes in working conditions.
“We don’t want to strike (…) we don’t want to come to that, but after four years without a raise we feel we have no choice,” union general secretary Aslef Mick Whelan told the BBC. He accused the government of “bad faith”, of “not talking” to unions and of tying companies’ hands in negotiations. The train drivers plan to disengage again on May 31 and June 3.
Government criticism
The Secretary of State for Transport in charge of rail Huw Merriman estimated on Sky News that the proposal on the table was “good enough”. He also denounced the consequences of the strikes, which could disrupt the arrival of the public at the Eurovision Song Contest which is being held on Saturday in Liverpool, in the north of England and the arrival of Manchester City and Manchester United supporters in London. June 3 for the final of the FA Cup football.
“It’s a real shame to target cultural and sporting events, especially these,” he said. These new walkouts come the day after the announcement of the “temporary” resumption of government control of the services operated by the TransPennine Express company, after an increase in train delays and cancellations. Difficulties put by the unions on the account of the privatization of the rail of the 1990s, while the government accused the behavior of the Aslef union.
#strikes #rail #transport #wages