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Why is everyone going on strike? Why is everyone going on strike?
(about 1 month later)
Rail workers held a series of strikes over the summerRail workers held a series of strikes over the summer
This summer the battle lines have been drawn between UK workers and their bosses again in a way not seen since the 1980s. Tens of thousands of workers have downed tools this year to request pay deals that keep up with the rising cost of living.
Thousands of workers across many different industries including rail, telecoms, ports and the postal sector have walked out angry that the pay rises they're being offered go nowhere near to matching their rising food and energy bills. It has left the public having to deal with train strikes, overflowing bins, gridlock in the courts and disruption to other services such as mail deliveries.
The public face cancelled trains, overflowing rubbish bins, delayed deliveries and possibly worse, with teachers, doctors and nurses discussing possible strike action later in the year. There could be further strikes through the winter and next year, as doctors, nurses and teachers are in dispute with employers over pay.
Why are the strikes happening?Why are the strikes happening?
Inflation - the rate at which prices rise - is currently at a 40-year-high of 10.1% and the Bank of England has warned it could reach more than 13%. Though most disputes involve a range of issues, the main one is pay.
Very few workers are seeing pay rises anywhere near those levels. Inflation - the rate at which prices rise - is close to 10 per cent, the highest level for 40 years.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC), which represents 48 affiliated unions with about 5.5 million members, says employers must offer more. It has called for a "decent pay rise for public sector workers" and a £15 an hour minimum wage across the board. That means workers are seeing their living costs rising faster than their wages, leaving them worse off.
It said its research suggested workers have lost almost £20,000 since 2008 because pay has not kept pace with inflation.
Employers, desperate to salvage business in the face of recession and the wake of the pandemic, say workers will have to accept changes to the way they work, or they won't be able to find the resources to pay them more.
Why are prices rising so quickly?Why are prices rising so quickly?
But general secretary Frances O'Grady told BBC News that ordinary working people were saying "enough is enough" after more than 10 years of stagnant wages. Workers in many industries belong to trade unions, which are organisations that represent their interests to management and negotiate on their behalf about pay, jobs and conditions.
Unions also say workers are facing cuts to terms and conditions and the threat of redundancy. Where those unions have not been able to get a pay deal they feel is fair, and haven't been able to agree a compromise, they vote on whether to take industrial action.
The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), for instance, wants Network Rail and 14 train operating companies to guarantee that its members won't face jobs cuts or "drastic changes" to work patterns. At the most extreme, this means going on strike where workers refuse to do their jobs to try to persuade their employers to give in.
It wants a pay rise to "tackle the cost of living" - one that could potentially be higher than 7%. Workers can also take less drastic measures to put pressure on their bosses, such as refusing overtime. Doctors and nurses won't completely stop work as that would put lives at risk.
Barristers have been among those striking this year
Industrial disputes have definitely been rising since the pandemic. In 2019, on average 19,500 days a month were lost to strike action. In July, the figure was 87,600, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Who is striking?Who is striking?
Some 40,000 RMT members at 14 train companies and Network Rail walked out in a series of strikes over the summer - the biggest to hit the rail network in 30 years. The union has threatened to strike repeatedly until the end of the year if its demands are not met The most high-profile strikes include:
Rail workers who are members of the Aslef and Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) unions have also taken part in strike action, with Aslef planning a further walkout on 15 September and the TSSA on 26 September The railways have been disrupted by a series of strikes since June. Members of three rail unions - the RMT, the TSSA, and ASLEF - taking part in a series of one-day strikes which have brought parts of the rail network to a virtual standstill. The next strike is planned for 8 October.
More than 40,000 workers at telecoms giant BT are also striking for several days in August Workers at Royal Mail have held strikes since August, and have another 19 days of walk-outs planned between October and December. Around 115,000 members of the Communication Workers' Union will take part in the strikes.
The walk out coincides with a strike by 115,000 Royal Mail workers, with further action planned for September Around 40,000 workers at BT and Openreach went on strike for the first time in over 30 years in July, seeking a better pay deal, with further action plan for October.
Almost 2,000 workers at the Port of Felixstowe, the UK's largest container port, took part in eight days of industrial action in August Criminal Barristers in England and Wales have been taking action since June to demand higher fees for representing clients, delaying thousands of trials. They are now voting on whether to accept an improved offer from government.
Bin workers in Scotland held a two-week strikes in August, which saw rubbish pile up in 13 council areas. Unite, the GMB and Unison said more strikes would be held after they rejected an increased pay offer Some 4,000 staff at 23 further education colleges are staging one-day walkouts over pay.
Barristers in England and Wales have voted to go on an indefinite, uninterrupted strike from 5 September. The action by the Criminal Bar Association is expected to further delay thousands of trials, after several days of action in August Dock workers at Felixstowe and Liverpool are also in dispute over pay.
The National Education Union, the UK's biggest teaching union, says it will ballot members this autumn over "the attacks on teacher pay" Who is considering going on strike?
Doctors represented by the British Medical Association are calling for a 30% pay rise over the next five years to make up for real-terms reductions in their salaries. No strikes have been called but it raises the likelihood of action The Royal College of Nursing is balloting all of its members in the UK for the first time in its 106-year history. They are requesting a pay rise of 5% plus inflation.
The Royal College of Nursing is calling for a pay rise of 5% above inflation and will ballot its members in September over strike action Junior doctors in England, represented by the British Medical Association, are planning to ballot on industrial action in January over a pay deal which will give them 2% this year.
Which workers are allowed to go on strike? Some 400,000 health workers belonging to Unison are to vote on industrial action. Voting began on 3 October in Scotland, and will start on 27 October elsewhere in UK.
Barristers have been among those striking this summer The NASUWT and NEU teachers' unions are taking steps towards a vote on industrial action over pay.
Around 70,000 staff at 150 universities have been balloted by the Universities and Colleges Union over pay and pensions.
What do employers say?What do employers say?
Business and public sector employers were hit hard by the pandemic and now face the possibility of recession. As a result they say they have to make modernising reforms as their costs rise and consumers spend less. Staff wages are a major cost for most businesses and some of the companies which are in dispute with their workers say they do not have enough money to give pay rises.
They also accuse unions of refusing to compromise at a time when they know workers are in short supply in some industries. Royal Mail and the rail companies say they want to agree new working practices alongside the pay award, which has proved another point of dispute.
The government has also warned against employers handing out big pay rises over fears of a 1970s-style "inflationary spiral". That's where firms hike wages and pass on the costs to consumers via higher prices. Higher prices in turn prompt higher wage demands. Doctors, nurses, and the striking lawyers are paid by the government. Their salary is set by a review process which published its findings in July, presenting millions of workers with below-inflation pay rises.
The new chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, suggested on 3 October that he is reluctant to increase the money which has been made available to departments through the Comprehensive Spending Review process to allow them to pay more.
The government has unveiled a big package of tax cuts, which will make it harder to make bigger pay awards to public employees without borrowing extra money which it cannot afford.
The Bank of England worries that if workers win big pay rises, their employers will have to put prices up. That pushes up inflation, causing workers to request bigger pay rises, creating a 'wage-price' spiral which could lead to a sustained period of inflation.
However, workers are in a strong position as unemployment is extremely low. There are more vacancies than people looking for work and many employers are short of workers.
Has anyone managed to get big pay rises?
A number of strikes have been resolved this year, with some workers being awarded pay rises of 10% or more.
Refuse workers in Eastbourne, negotiated a deal worth over 11% in January after going on strike.
Train drivers in Scotland agreed a 5% pay deal in June.
2000 Bus drivers in North London won an 11% pay deal after threatening a strike.