After half a million workers took part in what was nicknamed ‘Walk Out Wednesday’ by unions, today’s strike action is looking a lot calmer.
Yesterday saw the largest coordinated job action for a decade, with state schoolteachers, railway workers, border control staff and university academics walking out.
With civil servants and bus drivers joining, unions estimated some 500,000 workers resorted to striking in response to pay and working conditions.
Today, it’s only teachers in Scotland and bus drivers in London are taking to picket lines.
– Education
Educators in Dundee, Argyll and Bute who are members of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) are taking action as part of a dispute over pay.
EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said: ‘Teachers do not want to be there, and would much rather be in class working to support young people’s education.
‘But, having been compelled to take strike action by the inaction of the Scottish Government and (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) COSLA on pay, Scotland’s teachers are not going to back down.’
– Transport
More than 1,900 Abellio workers who are members of Unite are staging the second day of stoppages that will end Friday.
This will mainly impact bus routes in west and south London.
Transport for London (TfL) said: ‘On strike days, we will aim to run as many services as possible, but we expect disruption.’
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘Abellio is an incredibly wealthy company, whose success is based on the hard graft of its workers. It can fully afford to make a fair pay offer which meets our members’ expectations, but it has failed to do so.
Which London bus services are affected by strikes?
Day routes
3, 27, 45, 63, 68, 109, 130, 156, 195, 196, 201, 207, 267, 270, 278, 315, 322, 350, 367, 381, 407, 415, 427, 433, 464, 482, 490, 969, C10, E5, E7, E10, E11, H20, H25, H28, H26, P5, P13, R68, R70, S4, U5, U7, U9
24-hour routes
24, 111, 159, 285, 344, 345
Night routes
N3, N27, N63, N68, N109, N207, N381
School routes
671
‘Unite is unstinting in its commitment to defend the jobs, pay and conditions of its members and the workforce at Abellio will continue to receive the union’s unwavering support.’
– Other
Elsewhere, grounds maintenance staff in Welwyn Hatfield in southern Hertfordshire are taking industrial action for the fourth day.
Employees outsourced by Continental Landscapes are striking from Monday to Friday and then for a further five days next week following eight weeks of strikes since a pay scuffle ignited in November.
‘Unite’s members at Continental Landscapes play an integral part in keeping Welwyn and Hatfield clean and tidy,’ says Graham. ‘It is entirely unacceptable that the employer thinks it can get away with paying poverty rates of pay.’
With inflation running in the double digits for months – the highest level in four decades – the UK has been paralysed by months of strike action.
The wave has seen some sectors join picket lines for the first time in decades or even in history, including nurses, ambulance services and Amazon warehouse employees.
This followed strikes over the last year by Royal Mail postal workers, criminal defence lawyers, bottling factory staff, driving examiners, airline employees and more – firefighters voted for strike action on Monday.
Many of the striking workplaces are doing so to secure above-inflation pay rises to cover eye-watering food and fuel costs.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has insisted his government is on the side of hard-working Britons’ as his government eyes up anti-strike legislation.
The proposals would enforce ‘minimum service levels’ in key public sectors such as the NHS and schools.
But public support for strike action has remained high. Around half of Brits polled by YouGov back teachers, rail workers and civil servants striking.
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