The UK has ground to a standstill as the first day of the biggest railway strikes in 30 years paralyse the nation
Rail and Maritime Union workers are protesting against stagnating pay, and the right to negotiate with their employers
But Boris Johnson is saying the country must “stay the course”
If you were planning on going anywhere in the UK today.
You’d have gotten nowhere fast.
Day one of the biggest railway worker strike in 3 decades saw services across the nation slashed to around 20 per cent of normal operations.
A separate 24 hour strike on London’s underground network coincided with the nationwide strikes.
As well as the Elizabeth Line, and national routes across the country.
Scotland and Wales saw swathes of non-service.
Cornwall in England saw no train services at all.
Boris Johnson said without modernisation, rail companies risked going bust and urged companies and unions to come to an agreement.
While this strike is largely between Britain’s rail companies and the unions, The government has still been criticised for not doing more in talks to avoid the strikes.
Workers are saying that rising costs of living mean pay rises are well below inflation that it effectively means a pay cut regardless, and want to be able to bargain collectively against that and job cuts.
This strike has seen major frustrations.
Especially with the unusual alternate day schedule on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
Wednesday is a non-strike day, but flow on effects are expected to bleed from strike days anyway, with capacity and services expected to go not much further than 60 normal capacity on Wednesday.
Meanwhile in air travel misery.
The UK has temporarily relaxed airport landing slot to give airlines more flexibility as they face thousands of delayed and cancelled flights due to staffing shortages.
Not due to the strike – but happening concurrently.
Not a good time to travel anywhere in the UK.
