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UK strikes: train services grind to halt as drivers walk out over pay

Friday, 06 January 2023 2:04 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 06 January 2023 2:47 AM ]

Saeed Pourreza
Press TV, London

St. Pancras station, one of London's biggest and busiest, but not today. A 48 hour strike by train drivers preceded by another 48-hour walkout by other rail workers have meant travel misery for thousands.

The dispute between ASLEF and the RMT rail workers union on one hand and the employer network rail and train operating companies on the other, is largely over pay and the impact of inflation on workers’ wages. But the government which directly finances network rail has also ordered it to come up with 2.5 billion dollars of savings. Network rail says that's possible if staff accept new working practices. To the unions, that would mean thousands of jobs losses, and jeopardize safety.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has so far refused to meet with the unions to try and hammer out a deal and has instead, vowed to get tough on the strikes. His government is also accused of trying to turn public opinion against the strikers but there’s no sign of that happening yet.

The UK economy is experiencing the combined effects of Brexit, the war in Ukraine and its effect on energy costs as well as inflationary pressure of the post pandemic recovery. And rail workers are not the only ones complaining.

ASLEF and the RMT are two of the UK's most powerful unions able to bring the railway network to a standstill during an industrial dispute. And the concerns they have raised about the difference between people's pay packets and the cost of living at the moment is shared by many different industries and professions.

Nurses, ambulance drivers, teachers, postal workers, driving examiners and the like all have pay deals with the government in the pipelines and are likely to be offered less than the rate of inflation. And that means the UK's winter of discontent is likely to drag on.

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