British rail traffic disrupted by nationwide strike, the first of a series

A major train strike has begun in the UK today. Thousands of British railway employees have been on strike for 48 hours, dissatisfied with the announced round of layoffs. Employees are also demanding higher wages now that UK food and energy prices, among other things, continue to rise.

The strike is part of a series of union actions planned for the coming weeks. Not only railway staff, but also bus drivers, ambulance workers, border officials and postal workers, among others, are planning to stop working.

British media, including the BBC, have published overviews of ‘who hits when’:

Today and tomorrow, only 20% of trains are estimated to run in the UK. Rail traffic in Scotland is also disrupted. The Eurostar, which runs from Amsterdam and Paris to London, runs on a modified schedule until Friday. Some trains have been cancelled.

British rail operator Network Rail urges people to travel by train only if absolutely necessary. The rail company chairman calls the strikes a “dramatic escalation” that is “extremely painful” for both train passengers and striking employees.

In addition to today and tomorrow, railway employees will also stop working on Friday and Saturday. There are also train strikes planned during and around Christmas.

British Railways was also largely flat in June due to a staff strike. It was then the largest railway strike of the last thirty years.

Since then, the conflict between the union and the railway companies Network Rail and RDG has not been resolved. For example, Network Rail, which, like ProRail in the Netherlands, is responsible for track maintenance, plans to cut 1,900 jobs. The union is also at odds with RDG, which represents the railway companies.

Yesterday a majority of union members rejected a salary proposal from Network Rail. The railroad manager has offered the employees a retroactive 5% pay raise for this year. Next year, salaries would increase by 4%. But according to the union leader the proposal was “poor”.

Earlier, the union also rejected a salary offer from RDG. That proposal included an 8% wage increase over two years and a guarantee that there will be no layoffs until April 2024.

The UK is grappling with skyrocketing inflation, with several million Britons at risk of falling into poverty this winter. At over 11 percent, Britain’s inflation rate is one of the highest of the major Western economies.