UK purchasing power crisis: new train strike


LONDON (awp/afp) – A strike by train drivers caused major disruptions in rail transport on Saturday in the United Kingdom, where social unrest is multiplying under the effect of soaring prices.

The strike call by the Aslef union concerns nine regional operators, some canceling all their traffic such as Heathrow Express which serves London’s largest airport.

In a statement, Aslef justified this action as a “last resort” measure in the face of the refusal of their employers and the government, which he accuses of passing the buck, to grant them the requested salary increases.

He says drivers have not gotten a raise for three years, a situation which is becoming “unacceptable” as the UK faces a severe cost of living crisis.

Inflation is already over 9% and the central bank expects it to be over 13% in the fall, when energy bills are set to take another massive hike, the second this year.

Operators say they are ready to grant raises but in exchange for reforms to the status of railway workers, while the government calls for moderation, citing in particular the massive public aid which has kept private operators afloat during the confinements linked to the Covid-19 .

Faced with the historic fall in purchasing power collected by households, social movements are multiplying.

In transport, railway workers followed a historic strike in June, followed by regular days of action, two of which are still scheduled for next week at the call of the RMT union.

Another example of this “summer of discontent”, strikes are also planned in the days or weeks to come in the London Underground, at the postal group Royal Mail, at the telecom operator BT or even by journalists from the Reach group. which publishes the Daily Mirror and Daily Express tabloids, among others.

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