Rail workers, nurses and frontline Royal Mail workers to stage fresh strikes
Rail workers and nurses will strike again next month, while frontline Royal Mail workers are also threatening a new wave of strikes.
Tens of thousands of RMT members will strike again beginning on 16 March after the union received “no new offers” from employers involved in the national rail dispute.
The RMT revealed the start of the next phase of action, following months of sporadic disruption, having earlier rejected the terms offered by Network Rail and 14 train operators on the ground they “did not meet the needs of members on pay, job security or working conditions”.
The union did not give any further dates but said a “programme” of strike action loomed.
It added that its members at Network Rail would also commence an overtime ban that would hit maintenance and operations.
“RMT is seeking an unconditional offer from rail operators and Network Rail”, its statement said.
The union had described as “dreadful” a 5% pay rise, backdated to January last year, along with a 4% hike for 2023.
Read more:
Who is taking industrial action in 2023 and when?
Nurses to stage 48-hour strike
Next month will also see tens of thousands of nurses stage a 48-hour strike in a worsening dispute over pay and staffing.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said no services will be exempt, meaning the strike will involve for the first time nursing staff working in emergency departments, intensive care units, cancer care and other services that previously did not take part.
Nurses went on strike earlier this month
The union has accused the government of refusing to engage in negotiations.
The strike will run continuously for 48 hours from 6am on 1 March.
The RCN said it will reduce services to an “absolute minimum” and ask hospitals to rely on members of other unions and other clinical professions instead.
Royal Mail says that 18 days of strikes to date, including over Christmas, have cost it £200m
Royal Mail union secures fresh strike mandate
Meanwhile, the union representing 112,000 frontline Royal Mail staff has revealed a fresh mandate for industrial action.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) announced that 95.9% of its members had voted in favour of renewed strikes on a 77% turnout, though it stopped short of announcing new dates immediately.
Donald Trump’s victory was secured on an unequivocal promise to stretched American households that he would “end inflation”, but markets and economists are anticipating his second term will do the opposite.
A combination of corporate tax cuts, government borrowing, lower migration and swingeing tariffs on overseas imports are all expected to heat up the American economy and stoke price rises.
Bond yields on 10-year US Treasuries, effectively the price of borrowing for the American government, were up by 3.6% overnight, rising more than 15 basis points to above 4.4% as European markets opened.
That signals investors believe that borrowing will rise, and the Federal Reserve will be forced to slow rate cuts in order to tackle inflation.
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A clearer picture will emerge on Thursday when Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell, who Mr Trump said will not be reappointed, announces the next move on rates.
Markets still expected a 0.25 percentage point cut (a similar move to that anticipated from the Bank of England earlier in the day) but Mr Powell’s comments will be scrutinised for signals of what Trump 2.0 means for the prospect of further cuts.
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Trump wins: Demographics and key issues
But higher prices for consumers are not necessarily bad news for corporate America, with the dollar surging against sterling and the euro as swing states fell to Mr Trump, and Wall Street futures trading indicating a rally when they reopen with him confirmed as president-elect.
Shares in US banks were boosted with J.P. Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley all up more than 6% in pre-market trading, along with Tesla, boosted by more than 13% as markets anticipate a dividend for Elon Musk’s campaign-trail support.
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Defence stocks were higher too and not just in the US – BAE Systems and Rolls Royce were both up – reflecting likely pressure on America’s NATO allies to make good on their commitments to increase spending.
Bitcoin was also positive in anticipation of a more benign regulatory environment from a president who used the campaign platform to launch his own cryptocurrency.
By contrast renewable holdings, the target of much of Joe Biden’s economic stimulus, were in negative territory, with wind and solar priorities likely to be replaced by a pledge to “drill baby, drill”.
Of most concern to America’s trading partners and allies will be Mr Trump’s promise to erect barriers to free trade.
The man who said tariffs “is the most beautiful word in the world” has pledged a 60% levy on Chinese imports and 10% on those from elsewhere, a deeply protectionist move that could trigger a trade war with China and the EU.
These can only increase prices in the US, with importers paying the levies at the point of entry, and other trading blocs likely to respond in kind.
Read more on Trump’s victory:
How worried should we be about Trump’s second presidency?
Dollar surges amid Trump victory
The EU has already imposed its own 35% tariff on Chinese EVs to the dismay of the continent’s carmakers the measure is intended to protect.
While these tensions play out, post-Brexit Britain, a relatively small player outside the major trading blocs, is likely to be a spectator.
Post Office campaigner Sir Alan Bates is yet to receive a reply from Sir Keir Starmer, despite writing to him over a month ago.
Sir Alan said he had written to the prime minister to remind him the “clock is still ticking” on a financial redress deadline for victims.
In his letter, he demanded a March 2025 deadline for compensation for sub-postmaster victims of the Horizon scandal.
Sir Alan confirmed to Sky News he was yet to hear back from the prime minister.
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“It was over a month ago,” he said.
“I sent him a reminder yesterday. I told him the clock is still ticking and it’s now five months from the March deadline, which I’m told is still achievable by other professionals.
“So let’s get on with it, that’s all we want. Get on with it.”
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