All the strikes planned for January 2023 – from trains and roads to teachers and ambulance staff

Ambulance workers, who are members of Unison, are pictured striking in December 2022 (Picture: NIKLAS HALLE’N/AFP via Getty Images)

The New Year isn’t bringing about a major change when it comes to recent strike action.

January 2023 promises plenty more walkouts by a range of workers – including on trains, by nurses and ambulance staff, with some Scottish teachers also taking to the picket line.

If disputes between trade unions and employers – typically over issues such as pay and their working terms and conditions – could be resolved beforehand, then some of the strikes could potentially not go ahead.

Until then, it’s useful to know who is striking and when, to find out if the continued industrial action will affect you.

Here’s the full list of January strikes planned.

UK rail strikes

After pre-Christmas chaos on the railway, there are more strikes set to majorly disrupt travel in early January.

The planned dates are:

Tuesday, January 3

Wednesday, January 4

Thursday, January 5

Friday, January 6

Saturday, January 7

Strikes have been causing train disruption since summer 2022 (Picture: Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Railway staff with the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) will walk out over two separate 48-hour periods: January 3 to 4 and 6 to 7.

These will happen on either side of the January 5 date chosen by the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF), which represents train drivers.

RMT’s long-running dispute with Network Rail, over securing a pay deal for train workers, continues.

On December 23, the union wrote on its website that it had reached agreements on ‘every part of the railway network where the Department for Transport is not involved’.

It rejected an offer from Network Rail that was ‘conditional on ripping up working conditions for railway workers’.

More: RMT and TSSA

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: ‘The union remains available for talks to resolve this dispute.

‘But until the government gives the rail industry a mandate to come to a negotiated settlement on job security, pay and condition of work, our industrial campaign will continue into the new year, if necessary.’

ASLEF, which represents 96% of train drivers in England, Wales and Scotland, is in another with train companies over pay.

Its general secretary Mick Whelan said upon announcing the action: ‘The train companies say their hands have been tied by the government.

‘While the government – which does not employ us – says it’s up to the companies to negotiate with us. We are always happy to negotiate… but these companies have offered us nothing. And that is unacceptable.’

Nurse strikes

Tens of thousands of nursing staff with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) went on strike in December 2022.

Nurses across trusts in England are set to strike again over the following two days in January:

Wednesday, January 18

Thursday, January 19

On its website, the RCN explains that its aim is to secure ‘fair pay for nurses’, amid an understaffing crisis.

The RCN wants to ‘rectify the years of real-terms pay cuts that are pushing people out of the nursing profession and putting patient safety at risk… We expect to see a pay award that goes 5% above inflation (the retail prices index).’

Ambulance staff strikes

Thousands of ambulance staff with the GMB and UNISON trade unions are set to strike on:

Wednesday, January 11 (GMB and UNISON)

Monday, January 23 (UNISON)

Nursing and ambulance staff have taken industrial action over pay (Picture: Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Up to 10,000 ambulance staff with the GMB took action on a day in December, calling off a planned walkout on December 28 in favour of this January date.

It is due to affect a number of ambulance services across England and Wales.

UNISON’s strike, meanwhile, will affect five ambulance services across the country in London, Yorkshire, North West, North East and South West over those two dates.

The dispute between the unions and government is over pay, and out of concern about staffing levels and existing staff leaving the health service.

UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said on December 22, via the union’s website: ‘This year’s pay rise simply wasn’t enough to halt the exodus of staff from the NHS.

‘Government should right that wrong with an increase better matching inflation. Only then will vacancy rates reduce, allowing the NHS to get back on track and start delivering safe patient care once more.’

More: Strikes

National Highways strikes

National Highways workers who are with the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) are due to strike on:

Tuesday, January 3

Wednesday, January 4

Previously, road traffic officers and control room operators working for National Highways in specific regions of England had gone on strike.

However, PCS says the January action will affect all regions.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said, as per the union’s website: ‘Previous strikes elsewhere in England have caused disruption for people travelling over the Christmas period, and this strike is likely to do the same. 

‘While we regret people’s travel plans will be affected, we make it very clear this strike could be called off today if the Prime Minister or Chancellor put money on the table.’

Strikes are also affecting National Highways and other government agencies (Picture: Getty)

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) strike

Some DVSA staff – who are members of the PCS union – are due to strike in January, affecting various parts of the UK.

The dates include:

Tuesday, January 3

Wednesday, January 4 (London, South East, South West and Wales, for this and the below dates)

Thursday, January 5

Friday, January 6

Saturday, January 7

Sunday, January 8

Monday, January 9

Tuesday, January 10

Workers planning to walkout include some vehicle standards assessors, specialist vehicle standard assessors, traffic examiners and driving examiners.

Action on January 3 will affect the East of England, East Midlands, West Midlands and parts of London, while the remaining dates will impact the South East, South West, London and Wales.

The strike relates to a national ballot by PCS on issues such as pay and pensions, redundancy terms and job security.

Gov.uk says general vehicle MOTs shouldn’t be affected by strikes (Picture: Getty)

It’s not expected to affect MOTs – but gov.uk says you should go to any planned appointments unless the DVSA tells you otherwise.

Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) strike

Additionally, there are set to be strikes, also by members of the PCS union, at the DVLA office in Birmingham and on Drivers Medical in Swansea on the following dates:

Monday, January 9

Tuesday, January 10

Wednesday, January 11

Thursday, January 12

Friday, January 13

Again, this is part of PCS’s national action regarding pay, pensions, redundancy terms and job security.

On the union website, it added: ‘The initial phase of our strike action will be targeted at areas that will have a significant impact on employers’ operations and the government.’

Strikes will also affect the DVLA (Picture: Peter Dazeley/Getty Images)

Rural Payments Agency (RPA) strikes

Members of the PCS union who work in the customer service centre of the Rural Payments Agency are due to strike in January.

Here are the planned dates:

Tuesday, January 3

Wednesday, January 4

Thursday, January 5

Friday, January 6

Monday, January 9

Tuesday, January 10

Wednesday, January 11

Thursday, January 12

Friday, January 13

According to Farming World, around 300 employees based in Newcastle and Workington will be striking on the January dates.

The RPA makes payments such as grants to farmers, traders and land owners to support the farming and food industry – and ‘help[s] to assure the provenance’ of our food, according to gov.uk.

As part of the national ballot by PCS, RPA customer service staff were also asked to go on strike from December 13 to December 23, which also included staff in Caernarfon.

The RPA deals with making payments to farmers and land owners (Picture: Getty)

Bus strikes – London

More London bus strikes are on the way in January – affecting routes mostly in the south and west of the capital.

They’re affecting buses run by Abellio on the below dates:

Wednesday, January 4

Thursday, January 5

Tuesday, January 10

Thursday, January 12

Monday, January 16

Thursday, January 19

Wednesday, January 25

Thursday, January 26

Disruption on a range of routes should be expected, and you can find the full list of impacted services on Transport for London (TfL)’s website – or in our guide here.

Abellio London is the bus company involved in the strike (Picture: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The dispute, between Abellio and Unite the Union, is over a pay deal for workers.

On December 20, Unite announced the strike and its regional officer Guy Langston said: ‘The travel disruption caused by these strikes is entirely the fault of Abellio’s leadership for acting in such bad faith.

‘The company must come to negotiations and put forward a pay offer our members can accept.’

On the same day, the managing director of Abellio London, Jon Eardley, said the company had offered a ‘12% pay deal’ and would implement it from January 2023 anyway.

In a statement, he said: ‘We urge Unite to recognise Abellio’s 12% pay deal and encourage their members to resume normal services.

More: Work

‘The Abellio pay deal comes with no conditions and sees bus driver basic pay rise by an average of £100 per week and over £5,000 per year, bringing an established bus driver’s salary to around £40,000 per year.

‘We also currently pay one of the highest rates in London for new bus drivers.’

Elizabeth Line strike – London

Also hitting London is a planned one-day strike on the Elizabeth Line, on Thursday, January 12.

Additionally, the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) has also announced that action short of strike – which includes only working contracted hours, taking all contracted breaks, and not providing ‘contingency cover’ – from January 12 to February 28.

Dozens of staff will take part in the action, against company Rail for London (Infrastructure) – in a dispute over pay and the ongoing review of the TfL Pension Fund.

The dispute is over pay and changes to pensions.

A planned strike day may affect the Elizabeth Line in January (Picture: Isabel Infantes/Getty Images)

Teacher strikes – Scotland

Teachers across Scotland are set to strike on the following days:

Tuesday, January 10 (EIS)

Wednesday, January 11 (SSTA and EIS)

Monday, January 16 (EIS)

Tuesday, January 17 (EIS)

Wednesday, January 18 (EIS)

Thursday, January 19 (EIS)

Friday, January 20 (EIS)

Monday, January 23 (EIS)

Tuesday, January 24 (EIS)

Wednesday, January 25 (EIS)

Thursday, January 26 (EIS)

Friday, January 27 (EIS)

Monday, January 30 (EIS)

Tuesday, January 31 (EIS)

Staff with the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association (SSTA) union are striking on January 11.

On January 10 and 11, members of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) will take industrial action on a national basis – affecting primary schools and special schools on the former, and secondary schools on the latter.

EIS members on strike in November 2022 (Picture: Ken Jack/Getty Images)

Further EIS strikes in January and more pencilled in for February will then focus on individual regions of Scotland.

The dispute, which is over a pay deal, continues – and is bound to cause disruption, as EIS says its late November 2022 strike caused every state school in mainland Scotland to close for the day.

Is there a Royal Mail strike happening in January?

No. There isn’t one currently planned, though of course this could change after the time of writing.

Keep an eye on the Royal Mail strike page and the Communication Workers’ Union’s (CWU) information page for further updates. If anything changes, we’ll aim to update this piece.

MORE : When will the train strike end?

MORE : What strikes are planned around New Year 2023? Trains, London buses, road workers and more

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There’s more industrial action on its way.