Great Britain
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Economy is pummelled on the biggest day of action in a decade as civil servants, bus and rail staff, lecturers and teachers go on strike

Half a million strikers brought much of Britain to a standstill on the biggest day of action for at least a decade – giving hard-pressed workers, business and the UK economy another battering.

Walkout Wednesday saw 300,000 teachers, 100,000 civil servants, 70,000 university staff, 12,000 train drivers and 2,000 bus workers down tools.

Thousands protested over pay and conditions in cities including Leeds, Hull, Nottingham, Newcastle, Portsmouth and London.

As the cost of strikes since last summer reached £2billion, thousands of firms were hit by staff forced to stay at home to look after children, or who just could not make it to their office or factory. The knock-on effect hurt pubs, cafes and other firms catering for commuters.

The huge protest came with the UK gripped by 10.5 per cent inflation, soaring bills and warnings from the IMF that it faces the worst recession of all the world’s advanced economies.

And it followed news of thousands more job losses at firms such as Tesco, Asda and British Steel. It piled more pressure on the government to resolve disputes, with The Centre for Economics and Business Research saying this week’s strikes alone cost £94million, on top of the £2billion since June, although estimates vary.

Trade body UKHospitality said its sector was £2.5billion worse off since summer, including £100million lost sales this week. Last month rail minister Huw Merriman admitted it would have been cheaper to resolve the rail dispute by meeting union demands.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch told a rally of NEU teachers in Westminster yesterday: ‘Our message… is every worker needs a pay rise, every worker needs a square deal. And our message is this – we demand, and we are united.’

On a PCS civil servants’ picket line, Cabinet office worker Ellie Clarke, 31, said: ‘I am just one paycheque away from being homeless. We are just living in poverty.’

Staff in more than 120 government departments walked out. Conservative MP and former minister Jake Berry tweeted: ‘I haven’t seen this many civil servants in Westminster since the start of the pandemic. Just a shame they’ve only come in to stand on a picket line.’

Nearly nine in ten schools and sixth-form colleges in England and Wales were partially or fully shut, according to a survey of 1,000 headteachers.

And Jo Grady, general secretary of the lecturers’ union UCU, warned that students might face delays getting their degrees if a threatened marking boycott goes ahead.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman said he was working hard to get the economy back on track and said the impact of inflation and ‘wider affordability’ for taxpayers had to be considered.

‘We want to have further talks with the unions,’ he said. ‘Some of those discussions have been constructive. We have to balance that against the need to be fair to all taxpayers, the majority of whom don’t work for the public sector.’

Unions are also furious at his ‘anti-strike’ bill – passed by MPs but being scrutinised by Lords – to ensure minimum service levels in some sectors are maintained during walkouts.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak handed in a petition opposing the planned new law at Downing Street, flanked by fire brigade and NHS ambulance union representatives.

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