RMT general secretary Mick Lynch gives a speech at a rally in London (Picture: Supplied)
Britain’s biggest day of strikes for a generation will bring the country to a standstill on February 1 as rail workers, university lecturers, teachers and civil servants all head to the picket lines.
The Aslef and RMT unions will cause misery on trains while teachers begin seven days of action and workers in 124 government departments walk out on the TUC’s ‘national right to strike day’.
Prime minister Rishi Sunak accused union bosses of wanting to ‘grind Britain to a halt’ as his plan to require minimum service levels on strike days passed its first hurdle in the Commons.
‘This strike action – some of which will fall on the same day or days – will cause significant disruption, whether it’s children having their education disrupted or the public trying to go about their daily lives on their commute,’ his spokesman said.
‘We don’t think it’s the right course of action. We continue to call unions to step away from the picket lines and continue with discussions.’
But, as it emerged that average pay is rising but still falling behind inflation, unions leaders insisted they will not back down.
Rishi Sunak accused unions of wanting to bring Britain to a halt (Picture: EPA)
‘The working class is back now and we’re going to fight for our rights,’ RMT leader Mick Lynch declared at a rally outside parliament on Monday night.
‘If we are together, if we are united, if we build our movement for ourselves, we will be unstoppable in this country.’
Nurses escalate their pay dispute with a 48-hour nationwide walk-out today and tomorrow, and ambulance drivers
Will return to the picket line on Monday. Yesterday, Aslef confirmed a strike on February 1 and 3 after rejecting an eight per cent pay rise over two years.
Nurses, university lecturers, teachers and rail workers will go on strike simultaneously (Picture: Rex)
Industry body the Rail Delivery Group accused Aslef of not allowing drivers a choice. ‘It’s disappointing our fair and affordable offer, which would take average driver base salaries from £60,000 to nearly £65,000 by the end of 2023 pay awards, wasn’t put to members,’ it said.
But Aslef said negotiations had gone backwards since members voted to strike in June. ‘They want to rip up our terms and conditions in return for a real-terms pay cut,’ said general secretary Mick Whelan. ‘It was clearly a rushed offer and not one designed to be accepted.’
The RMT announced its own strike on the same days despite transport secretary Mark Harper’s promise of a better offer.
Despite assurances of a better offer, rail staff will return to the picket lines once again (Picture: PA)
The University and College Union said 70,000 staff at 150 universities will also strike on February 1 over pay, pensions and conditions, with 17 more days of action due in February and March.
It said ‘the clock is ticking’ for university bosses to make staff a ‘serious offer’ and avoid disruption.
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After the National Education Union rejected a five per cent pay rise, ministers said they could not guarantee schools would stay open on strike days.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: ‘The way to help wages go further is to stick to our plan to halve inflation. Permanently embedding high prices into our economy will only prolong the pain.’
Average wages grew 6.4 per cent at the end of last year but fell 3.9 per cent behind inflation, while strikes cost 467,000 working days in November – the worst month in a decade – according to Office for National Statistics figures.
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More misery incoming.
