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Prospect of all out general strike looms over Britain

Friday, 16 December 2022 6:35 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 16 December 2022 6:35 AM ]

UK Rail Workers Strike

More picket lines and travel disruption as tens of thousands of rail workers across Britain walk out. Represented by the RMT union, for months they have been asking the government for better working conditions and an increase in their pay to match the double digit inflation.

The government says the pay rises are unaffordable, and has promised tough action against the unions. The unions say they're standing firm.

UK faces prospect of general strike

The first in a fresh wave of industrial action has gotten underway in Britain.

This latest round of strikes will show how important our members are to the running of the country, and will send a clear message that we want a good deal on job security paying conditions for our people. We have been reasonable, but it is impossible to find a negotiated settlement when the dead hand of the government is presiding over and blocking a resolution in these talks.

Mick Lynch, RMT Union, General Secretary

The strikes come at a cost to the economy in terms of lost working days, and the right wing media in the UK have been counting that cost. Yet that doesn't seem to have dented public support for the strikers.

The cost of living is going up so they should get a pay rise.

Londoner 01

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Can the British government, headed by the multimillionaire Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak and his austerity budget even come close to fixing the UK economic crisis, which has resulted in many eating pet food?

I can see where the rail workers are coming from, they want to pay rise, they're seeing their bills go up every month and they want to make sure they can support their families. At the same time, the government has a really tricky job on its hands to deal with inflation.

Londoner 02

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Thousands of Britain

I support the strikes and things just because I feel like in certain sectors most a lot of people deserve a pay rise anyway at the moment, especially with inflation, but also as travelers on holiday in London as such, obviously it's been a bit of an inconvenience for us.

Visitor to London

The rail workers walkout comes amid a cost of living crisis that has seen food and energy prices soar to 40 year highs since the start of the Ukraine war pushing millions of Britons into poverty.

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Staff at the crisis hit National Health Service, the NHS, will also be going on strike this week for the first time in more than 100 years. And the number of sectors joining the strike action is only growing.

We may not see a general strike in the traditional sense, but the way things are going, it is likely that the different trade unions will synchronize and coordinate their action to maximize their leverage for a better deal with the government.