Britain is set to face a rail strike on Tuesday in what could be the biggest rail strike in 30 years.
Thousands of workers start wage disputes that unions warn could lead to coordinated action with other sectors.
British households are already facing the biggest economic crisis in decades, rising food and fuel prices pushing inflation up to 10%, while the average basic wage is no higher than in 2006, when inflation was adjusted for.
More than 50,000 rail workers will go on strike on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday over pay cuts and job cuts – what unions have called a potential “heat of discontent” with teachers, doctors and even lawyers in a great crackdown. Herald as the beginning of.
“Faced with such an aggressive agenda – cutting jobs, conditions, wages and pensions – the RMT (union) has no choice but to protect our members industrially and stop this race to the bottom,” Mick Lynch, Secretary General of the Railway, Maritime and Transportation Staff (RMT).
He said last-minute talks had failed, meaning this week’s strike would continue and more were planned.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said unions were hurting those he claimed to help.
“By escalating these attacks, they are isolating passengers, ultimately supporting the jobs of railroad workers while impacting businesses and communities across the country,” Johnson said in a statement.
