Paralyzed trains, closed schools, isolated airports due to the lack of buses and officials on strike. The United Kingdom is experiencing the largest mobilization of workers in the last eleven years. The British ask for an increase in wages in the face of galloping inflation that reaches 10.5%.
Text: RFI / AFP
There are 20,000 schools affected by the strike in England and Wales, this is the first day of mobilization in this sector that has already announced seven days of strike for the months of February and March.
This movement of primary and secondary school teachers coincides with others in different sectors such as the strikes called by train drivers and the staff of 150 universities and 100,000 officials from ministries, ports and airports. In total, it is estimated that there are 500,000 people on strike.
“In the United Kingdom there are no general strikes, however, since the summer practically every day there is some interruption in a public sector with the wear and tear that this has on the citizens. If it’s not the subway, it’s the trains and if it’s not the postal system, it’s the nurses,” explains RFI correspondent Daniel Postico from London.
Although each sector has its specific demands, all are united in demanding wage increases in the face of inflation that has been above 10% for months (10.5% in December) and leaves many families with no other option than food banks.
*Read also: UK must further promote its values to the world, says its prime minister
100 days of Sunak rule in a paralyzed UK
This great day of protest coincides with the eve of the 100 days in power of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak marked by the serious economic crisis and with the third anniversary of Brexit, which only 20% of the British consider to be well managed.
If the referendum on the UK’s departure from the European Union were held today, 56% would vote against it, according to a December YouGov poll.
It is the first time that so many people have joined a strike since 2011 and 2012, when the population protested against the David Cameron government that was promoting a pension reform.
Post Views: 109
