Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/LONDON: Train drivers and teachers dominate a fresh round of United Kingdom-wide strikes on Wednesday aimed at securing pay increases that would ease the cost-of-living crisis caused by soaring inflation.
According to the AFP, significant disruption to education and commuter travel has been anticipated in the latest mass stoppages by private and public sector workers as the UK government and company bosses face off over wage demands.
UK faces strikes
The United Kingdom is set to see Wednesday a “biggest day of strike action since 2011,” with up to 500,000 employees planning industrial action, according to the umbrella group, the Trades Union Congress.
Others on strike include border force employees carrying out immigration and customs checks at United Kingdom air and sea ports.
Britain’s government has witnessed months of strikes from tens of thousands of workers, including postal staff, nurses, lawyers, and employees in the retail sector, as UK inflation raced above 11%, the highest level in over 40 years.
‘No magic wand’
UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on a visit to public health workers, “I should love, nothing gives me more pleasure than, to wave the magic wand and have all of you paid lots more,” who are planning further walk-outs in coming days and weeks.
“An essential part of us getting a grip the inflation and halving it is making sure the UK government’s response with its borrowing because PM said that if that gets out of control, that makes it worse, and it’s about making pay settlements reasonable and fair.
Office for National Statistics said the latest official data shows 1.6 million working days lost in the June-November period the previous year because of strikes, the highest six-month total in over three decades.
National Statistics said 467,000 working days had been lost to walkouts in November alone, the highest level since 2011.
“I will be working from home,” charity worker Katie Webb, 23, told the AFP.
