Strikes: ‘Shameful’ government blamed as hundreds of thousands join biggest walkout in current wave of action

Hundreds of thousands of workers are on strike today in what is believed to be the biggest walkout since the current wave of industrial action began.

Teachers, university lecturers, civil servants, junior doctors, London Underground drivers and BBC journalists are among those taking to picket lines around the country to coincide with budget day.

Members of several trade unions are involved in the action amid widespread anger over issues including pay, jobs, pensions and conditions.

One district organiser for the London Underground train driver union Aslef said the root cause of all the strikes was “the failure by the government to fund the vital public services that people need”.

Finn Brennan, discussing the action affecting the Transport for London (TfL) network, said: “It is not a strike about pay, it is not a strike looking for more time off.

“We simply want TfL to commit to negotiate with us about changes instead of trying to impose changes.”

He said TfL wanted to fill a hole in its budget by cutting staff numbers, working conditions and staff pensions.

Mr Brennan said Aslef members were prepared to negotiate change but that more strike action was “very likely”

“I do think it is going to be very likely unless there is a change of course from the government who are pulling the strings,” he said.

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No trains are running on any London Underground lines due to the strike by Aslef and the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT).

Pictures and video on social media showed huge crowds of people queueing at Tottenham Court Road station in central London.

Transport monitors say it has increased the number of traffic jams in the capital and meant journey times were longer during the commute.

Despite talks being held between unions and the government, the public sector strikes remain deadlocked.

Read more:
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UK lost 220,000 working days to strike action in January

Some of the strikes, such as those by teachers, will only be held in England – where hundreds of thousands of pupils are having to stay home – as progress has been made in Wales and Scotland.

Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint general secretaries of the National Education Union said: “We do not want to go on strike – we want to be in the classroom, teaching and supporting children and young people.

“It continues to be a regret that our members have to take strike action, but we know that parents and the public understand the gravity of the situation around school funding and teacher recruitment and retention.

“The NEU, as we have always stated, is prepared to enter talks at any point, and as and when through negotiation a reasonable offer from government is made we will pause strike action while the offer is put to members.”

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said in an open letter to parents that she was “extremely disappointed that many young people will once again miss invaluable time learning” and insisted the action was “completely unnecessary”.

She said the government had offered to negotiate with the NEU on the condition strike action was called off.

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Public and Commercial Services union general secretary Mark Serwotka, representing civil servants and other public sector workers, warned strikes could last until the end of the year.

“On budget day we’re asking Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to give our hard-working members a fair pay rise,” he said.

“We’ve been given a 2% pay rise when food inflation was 16% last week. 40,000 civil servants use food banks and 45,000 claim in-work benefits because they’re so poor.

“The government can stop these strikes today by putting money on the table for our members.”

Workers incomes ‘have fallen 26% in 13 years’

Members of the National Union of Journalists working at BBC Local across England are holding a 24-hour strike in a row over programme cuts.

Meanwhile, junior doctors in the British Medical Association continue a three-day stoppage they launched on Monday over pay.

Mike Clancy, general secretary of the Prospect union, said: “Our members in the public sector have seen their incomes decline by up to 26% over the past 13 years and their work taken for granted – they have had enough.”

He said the government had not yet presented a meaningful offer.