The London Underground was almost paralyzed on Friday and the rest of the public transport network severely disrupted by a strike for wages in the face of inflation at its highest in the United Kingdom, the day after a massive walkout by railway workers.
The London Underground was almost paralyzed on Friday and the rest of the public transport network severely disrupted by a strike for wages in the face of inflation at its highest in the United Kingdom, the day after a massive walkout by railway workers. “There is virtually no service” in the London Underground, although “two lines offer reduced traffic” with a train every 15 minutes or so, a spokeswoman for the operator told AFP. TfL public transport. Bus traffic, overloaded due to the withdrawal of many Londoners on this mode of transport, was also disrupted.
In front of Blackhorse Road station (North-East London), people gathered waiting for the opening of the Overground, a commuter train network that operates on Friday in reduced service. “Overground only, no metro today,” shouts a non-striking employee to the attention of travelers, many of whom are unaware of the strike. “I’m going to be late for work, I have to go to central London,” says a young woman who runs out of the station and rushes to the nearby bus stops.
The biggest strike action in decades in the face of inflation
While many train riders on Thursday were sympathetic to the rail strikers, some late Londoners were less lenient on Friday. “I understand the message (that the strikers) want to convey to their bosses, but (…) London is a big city and many people need to get to work”, criticizes Catherine Ondo, an aged saleswoman. 25 years. “I don’t know how I’m going to get to work,” laments Greg Skalski, 43, a construction worker. He denounces “the tariffs of TfL which have risen sharply” and believes that the salaries of the public operator are already above the average for the country.
The United Kingdom is experiencing these days a new salvo of massive walkouts in transport, post, ports, the biggest strike movement in decades in the face of inflation. A new day of strike is notably planned in the trains on Saturday. Negotiations with the multitude of private rail operators in the sector are deadlocked, according to the unions. The latter have also rejected an offer of an 8% wage increase over two years from Network Rail, a public company managing railway lines, which they accuse of being conditional on massive layoffs. Transport Minister Grant Shapps, accused by the unions of blocking the situation, for his part criticizes the unions for refusing reforms to modernize rail. He could go through in force, he assured Sky News on Friday. “If we cannot implement these modernizations, we will have to impose (them),” he said.