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Another rail strike due in UK over pay

Commuters wait for an extremely delayed Central Line train at Stratford station in London, the UK, amid rail strikes, on December 13, 2022. (Photo by AFP)

Rail workers at 15 train companies in the United Kingdom will go on strike on January 5 as part of a long-running dispute over demands for better pay.

The Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) trade union said on Tuesday the strike action would bring "services on affected lines to a halt."

"The way to stop this is for the companies to make a serious and sensible offer and for the government not to put a spoke in the wheels," ASLEF said in a statement.

In the ongoing row over pay, working conditions, and job security for rail workers, the ASLEF has carried out five one-day strikes this year and says there is now "a mandate for industrial action for the next six months."

Rail workers in Britain have staged several strikes this year, including the country's biggest strike in decades during the summer, pressing demands for better pay amid the simmering cost-of-living crisis.

So far, the workers' demands for a pay increase has been rejected by government, which says it cannot afford high increases that match the soaring inflation, and even if it could, such monetary increases would further fuel inflation.

The cost-of-living crisis has engulfed not only Britain but the entirety of Europe, with workers going on strike every now and then across the continent, disrupting people's livelihoods, especially during holidays.

Economists link the soaring living costs in Europe to the COVID-19 pandemic and the raging Ukraine war, which has partially affected all countries' economies across the world.


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