LONDON
\nTens of thousands of railway workers walked off the job in Britain on Tuesday, bringing the train network to a crawl in the country\u2019s biggest transit strike for three decades \u2014 and a potential precursor to a summer of labor discontent.
\nAbout 40,000 cleaners, signalers, maintenance workers and station staff held a 24-hour strike, with two more planned for Thursday and Saturday. Compounding the pain for commuters, London Underground subway services were also hit by a walkout on Tuesday.
\nThe dispute centers on pay, working conditions and job security as Britain\u2019s railways struggle to adapt to travel and commuting habits changed \u2014 perhaps forever \u2014 by the coronavirus pandemic. With passenger numbers still not back to pre-pandemic levels but the government ending emergency support that kept the railways afloat, train companies are seeking to cut costs and staffing.
\nSustained national strikes are uncommon in Britain these days, but unions have warned the country to brace for more as workers face the worst cost-of-living squeeze in more than a generation. Lawyers in England and Wales have announced they will walk out starting next week, while unions representing teachers and postal workers both plan to consult their members about possible actions.
\nMajor railway stations were largely deserted on Tuesday, with only about 20 percent of passenger trains scheduled to run. Services will resume Wednesday, but lingering disruption means only about 60 percent of trains are due to run.
\nThe strike upended the plans of employees trying to get to work, students heading for end-of-year exams and music-lovers making their way to the Glastonbury Festival, which starts Wednesday in southwest England.
\nRoads in London were more congested than usual as commuters turned to cars and taxis. But footfall was 27 percent lower than last Tuesday, according to retail analysts Springboard, as many people canceled trips or worked from home if they could.
\nNurse manager Priya Govender was at London Bridge station Tuesday morning, struggling to get back to her home south of the city after spending the night in a hotel.
\n\u201cI definitely will not be able to get a bus because they are packed. I will have to get an Uber,\u201d she said. \u201cMy day has been horrible. It is going to be a long day, and I still have a full day\u2019s work to do.\u201d She planned to work from home, once she made it there.
\nThe Center for Economics and Business Research consultancy said the three days of strikes could cost the economy at least 91 million pounds ($112 million).
\nKate Nicholls, chief executive of industry body UKHospitality, said the walkout would cost restaurants, cafes and bars business that is sorely needed after two years of pandemic disruption, and \u201cfragile consumer confidence will take a further hit.\u201d
\nWith inflation currently running at 9 percent, the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union says it cannot accept rail firms\u2019 latest offer of a 3 percent raise.
\nBut the train companies argue they can\u2019t offer more, given current passenger numbers. There were almost 1 billion train journeys in the UK in the year to March \u2014 compared to 1.7 billion in the 12 months before the pandemic.
\nWhile the Conservative government says it\u2019s not involved in the talks, the union notes that it plays a major role in the heavily regulated industry, including providing subsidies long before the pandemic, and argues it could give rail companies more flexibility to offer a substantial pay increase.
\nThe government has warned that big raises will spark a wage-price spiral driving inflation even higher.
\nElectrical engineer Harry Charles said he supported the strikers \u2014 even though his normal 10-minute train journey to London Bridge took him 90 minutes by bus. \u201cTheir money is not going up, and the cost of everything is rising,\u201d he said. \u201cThe strike has caused a lot of hassle for people, but everyone wants be able to eat and be able to afford to put in a good day\u2019s work.\u201d
\nAll sides are keeping an eye on public frustration, especially in the event of repeated disruptions, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson was quick to pin responsibility for the strike firmly on the unions.
\nHe told his Cabinet on Tuesday that the strikes were \u201cso wrong and so unnecessary,\u201d and said \u201cunion barons\u201d should sit down with bosses and come to a deal.
\nThe government says it plans to change the law so that train companies will have to provide a minimum level of service during walkouts, if necessary by hiring contract workers to fill in for striking staff.
\nJohnson knows strikes can define, and sometimes defeat, a government. In the 1970s, a wave of walkouts against a backdrop of high inflation \u2014 culminating in the 1978-79 \u201cWinter of Discontent,\u201d when bodies went unburied and garbage piled up in the streets \u2014 helped topple Britain\u2019s Labour government and bring Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to power.
\nThatcher\u2019s decade in office brought free-market reforms that curbed the power of trade unions and created a more flexible \u2014 and, for workers, more uncertain \u2014 economy. Britain has had relatively low numbers of strikes ever since. But that may change as the UK is hit with its highest inflation levels in decades.
\nMillions of people in Britain, like those across Europe, are seeing their cost of living soar, in part driven by Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine that is squeezing supplies of energy and food staples, including wheat. Prices were already rising before the war, as the global economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic fueled strong consumer demand.
\nBut Susan Millson from south London, who abandoned a train trip to see her sister south of the city, blamed both sides.
\n\u201cI just think it\u2019s outrageous that there is no give and take between the unions and the government,\u201d she said. \u201cNo one is giving any leeway at the moment. It\u2019s awful.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON Tens of thousands of railway workers walked off the job in Britain on Tuesday, bringing the train network to a crawl in the country\u2019s biggest transit strike for three decades \u2014 and a potential precursor to a summer of labor discontent. About 40,000 cleaners, signalers, maintenance workers and station staff held a 24-hour strike, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":267394,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[8800,8801,217,308],"class_list":{"0":"post-267367","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-commuters","9":"tag-pits-workers","10":"tag-strike","11":"tag-uk"},"yoast_head":"\n