Industrial action in the UK has gone nationwide

Friday, 03 February 2023 8:13 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 03 February 2023 8:13 AM ]

Half a million people from across the public sector came out on the streets or joined picket lines in England and Wales demanding better pay and conditions in what has been described as the biggest coordinated industrial action in decades.

Among those on the streets are some 300,000 teachers on day one of a nationwide strike affecting more than 23,000 schools.

Half a million people from across the public sector have taken to the streets in England and Wales demanding better pay and conditions.

Mass UK strikes as winter of discontent grows

Half a million people have walked out of their jobs in the UK in a dispute with the government over pay and conditions.

Recently released figures show that 5 in 10 of those who had qualified as teachers over the past 10 years have since left the profession because they felt undervalued and underpaid.

The participating teachers say they don't want to be on strike today and that all they're asking for is more funding for their schools and higher wages for themselves.

The UK right to strike to be revoked

The UK right to strike to be revoked

Union leaders hold protests outside 10 Downing Street while MPs are debating legislation which would see striking workers in key sectors legally required to provide a minimum service.

Darren has been a teacher for more than a decade.

In 2010 we went into austerity, our pay was frozen, and we've come out of austerity, about to go back into it again. And we're losing out in terms of real terms pay. It's not just about the cost of living crisis. This has been going on for years, and we've had enough.

Darren, Striking Teacher

Britain has been hit by months of public sector from rail to mail all of whom say they are in for the long haul.

UK strikes: Nurses walk out again in dispute over pay and shortages

In the UK, the wave of industrial action across the country that is only gaining momentum in the wake of the government’s controversial new anti-union legislation.

The government has called the walkout unfair to the parents and children with the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, saying inflationary rises will make things worse, and that these are unprecedented economic times.

·‘Walkout Wednesday’

‘Walkout Wednesday’: UK hit by biggest day of strike action in a decade

The UK has been engulfed in the biggest strike over pay in more than a decade.

The teachers, however, blame government inaction which is ultimately hurting students.

... its a knock on effect, so they are not funding the increases in pay that they promised to teachers, so the money is coming out of the school's existing budget. Not being able to get extra (funds) to pay extra to the teachers. So that means class places are increasing, it means that we cannot take children on trips.

Striking Teacher

The government says the pay rises are unaffordable, and has promised tough action against the unions.

Prospect of all out general strike looms over Britain

The RMT Union, which represents rail workers across Britain, has for many months been asking the government for better working conditions and an increase in their pay to match the double digit inflation.

The demand for inflation busting pay rises is shared by the hundreds of thousands of others in the public sector, such as the health service, as well as University staff, civil servants and train drivers, who are also striking today.

More walkouts are planned for the coming weeks, meaning the UK's winter of industrial discontent continues to grow.