One line out of two closed and four out of five trains canceled. British railway workers have started a three-day strike that is shaping up to be the largest mobilization in thirty years. The main hall at London’s King’s Cross station welcomed a skimpy crowd instead of the usual rush hour crowd.
The trade union Rmt – the largest in the category – had indicated in early June that more than 50,000 railway employees would cross their arms in what has already been called “the largest conflict in the sector since 1989”, in particular calling for wage increases in in line with galloping inflation. In addition to wages, the union denounces the deterioration of working conditions and the “thousands of redundancies” expected by the myriad of private railway companies that make up the sector in the United Kingdom.
RMT general secretary Mike Lynch retorted that “this mess was created by government policy.” Today will be the biggest day of mobilization, because employees of the London Underground are also called to the strike. The protest will continue on Thursday and Saturday, but the disruption of service will be felt every day until Sunday, TfL warned.
For the Brits, the blockade of trains will add to the chaos at airports in recent weeks, marked by long lines and hundreds of canceled flights, as the sector struggles to recruit new staff, after the resumption of post-Covid demand, often due to Brexit . The government is expected to meet today. “Unions harm those they say they want to help,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson said of him, calling for “a reasonable compromise for the good of the British people and railway workers.”
Unions are shooting themselves in the foot, according to the government as the rail sector, which benefited from £ 16bn in subsidies to tackle the slump in revenues during the pandemic, risks seeing passenger numbers plummet as the train develops. telework. The protest also threatens to disrupt major sporting and cultural events, such as the Glastonbury Music Festival (South West England), the Rolling Stones concert in London on Saturday and the final exams of some high school students.