The United Kingdom faces a fresh wave of strikes this week ranging from junior doctors to university staff on working conditions and pay. Women are also leading the demonstrations and the picket lines.
The waves of strikes that have been continuing in the United Kingdom has reached one of its peak points this week. This Wednesday nurses, junior doctors, ambulance workers, university staff, teachers, civil servants, and rail workers were among the ones in the picket lines.
The disputes have been going on for some time, with the impact of inflation being one of the main concerns.
As the BBC reports the British Medical Association stated that junior doctor roles have seen pay cut by 26% since 2008 once inflation is taken into account
Approximately 70,000 members of the UCU (University and College Union) are also striking at 150 universities around the country. The UCU’s main concerns focuses on pensions, proper pay deal, ending zero-hour contracts, dealing with workload and precarity.
In the case of teachers, the National Education Union rejected a government offer of an extra 1.5% pay rise, plus 1.5% as a one-off payment and are continuing to strike.
It was also not a coincidence that around 133,000 civil servants joined the strikes on 15 March, the day the chancellor reveals the Spring Budget. 124 government departments are joining the strikes. The Public and Commercial Services (CPS) union is calling for a 10% pay rise, better pensions, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms.
Members of the RMT (National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers) and Aslef (Britain’s trade union for train drivers) working on the London Underground are also disputing pay, redundancies, job arrangements and pensions.