Strikes 2022 news – live: Workers ‘in the fight of their lives for the very NHS itself’, union claims

Striking workers are in the “fight for their lives for the very NHS itself,” a union leader has said after further Christmas walkouts were announced.

Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: “These strikes are a stark warning - our members are taking a stand to save our NHS from this government.

“Patients’ lives are already at risk but this government is sitting on the sidelines, dodging its responsibility to sort out the crisis that it has created.

Thousands of ambulance workers and other NHS staff are to strike on December 21 in a dispute over pay, unions have said.

The GMB, Unison and Unite unions are co-ordinating industrial action across England and Wales after accusing the government of ignoring pleas for a decent wage rise.

Unison said its strike, involving paramedics, emergency care assistants, ambulance technicians and other 999 crew members, will run from noon to midnight.

Key Points

• Thousands of ambulance workers and NHS staff to strike ahead of Christmas

• Every strike likely to affect the UK by the end of the year

• Don’t ‘hold the country to ransom,’ schools minister tells RMT

• Nurses, trains and Royal Mail: Every strike planned in run up to Christmas

• Unions must ‘coordinate’ strikes, says RMT boss, as pre-Christmas walkouts grow

Transport secretary urges rail unions not to recommend members reject offers

09:47 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Transport secretary Mark Harper has urged rail unions not to recommend their members reject offers aimed at resolving industrial disputes.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will press ahead with strikes from next week after it recommended its members should reject the latest offer from Network Rail.

Mr Harper told the Commons Transport Select Committee: “My department spends something over 60% of the department’s total spending on capital and revenue on railways, and only 10% of journey miles in the country are on rail.

“I just think we have to get that into a better sense of balance. That’s what we’re trying to do with the unions.

“I would still urge the unions to keep talking, put those deals to their members with at least a neutral recommendation, and call off the strikes before Christmas which are going to be so damaging to individuals and businesses across a whole range of sectors.

“The government will do what we can to try and encourage both employers and unions to keep talking.”

GMB Union gen sec says people ‘are dying because of cuts'

09:26 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Gary Smith, General Secretary of the GMB Union, told BBC Breakfast that people “are dying because of cuts” made by the Tory government.

Watch the full clip here:

Steve Barclay says government not willing to improve pay offer to striking workers

08:58 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Health secretary Steve Barclay has signalled that the government is not willing to improve its pay offer to striking healthcare workers.

Pressed repeatedly on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme whether the government could come back with a better offer to trade unions, he said there is an independent process for pay recommendations.

The government, he said, is “prioritising getting the balance in terms of pay”.

“We’re looking at all the other things we can do for staff because staff tell me is not simply an issue of pay,” he said.

Asked if he accepts the word “crisis” to describe the NHS, he said: “People can come up with whichever term they want. We all recognise as a result of the pandemic there are huge pressures on the NHS.”

Ambulances won’t respond if elderly fall during strikes, health secretary warns

08:38 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Ambulance paramedics will not respond to a fall at home by an elderly person when they go on strike later this month, the health secretary has warned.

Steve Barclay said talks are only beginning now to decide which incidents will trigger a call out during the walkouts – but indicated category three calls, including falls, would not.

“At the moment, the trade unions are saying those things wouldn’t be covered,” Mr Barclay said, arguing they “didn’t want to get into the details” before the strikes were announced, for 21 and 28 December.

He warned: “They have said that they will cover life threatening conditions, so that tends to less those sort of cases. They’re usually called a category three.”

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick has more:

Ambulances won’t respond if elderly fall during strikes, health secretary warns

Health sec ‘open to talks with unions'

08:16 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Health Secretary Steve Barclay has told Sky News that “in terms of what will be covered by the strikes, we’re discussing that with the trade unions, they have said that they will cover life-threatening conditions”.

Asked if this included falls, he said it “tends to be less those sort of cases, they’re usually called a cat(egory) three”.

He said that “at the moment the trade unions are saying those things wouldn’t be covered” but “the indication from the trade unions” is that things like heart attacks would be covered.

Mr Barclay said he was “open to talks with the trade unions” and later added “it’s not just about pay, there’s many issues that affect staff, the quality of the NHS, tech, of staff and staffing levels”.

He said if everyone in the public sector was given a pay rise in line with inflation it would cost £28 billion.

Nurses, trains and Royal Mail: Every strike planned in run up to Christmas

07:50 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

As inflation has climbed steadily throughout year, workers have seen rising prices eroding their earnings – just as employers have been trying to make savings or modernise working practices to cope with increasing costs.

The result? Clashes over pay, redundancies, pensions and terms and conditions.

A new “winter of discontent” had begun even before Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement on 17 November, which left householders everywhere feeling even worse off.

And with the cost of living crisis set to deepen, the disputes will inevitably grow fiercer.

These are the professions and industries for which strike dates have already been announced:

From nurses to postal workers – every strike planned in run up to Christmas

Government is ‘investing’ in paramedics, health secretary says

07:34 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The Health Secretary has said the government was “investing” in paramedics after it was confirmed that thousands of ambulance workers and other NHS staff will strike on December 21 as a row over pay continues.

Steve Barclay told GB News: “It’s not reasonable to expect a further £28 billion in pay uplifts in line with inflation.

“It’s because there are many other pressures within the NHS that we need to address to get those patient backlogs down, to address the operations that people are waiting for, to address the pressures of 8am on primary care when people are trying to phone a GP.

“We are investing in our paramedics. We’ve got 3,000 a year in training but it’s right that we do that alongside the discussions on pay.”

He also said the “Prime Minister has stood his ground” in the dispute.

“We want to work constructively with the trade unions,” he said as he acknowledged that there were pressures on the NHS.

Rishi Sunak under pressure to step in to avert strikes in ‘winter of discontent’

07:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Rishi Sunak is under growing pressure to intervene and stop a wave of strikes threatening a new winter of discontent this Christmas.

Last hopes of averting walkouts by rail workers next week were dashed after a deadline for agreement passed without the resolution of a row over pay and working practices.

And unions announced co-ordinated strikes by healthcare staff, including ambulance workers, on 21 and 28 December - the first of them coming a day after the first stoppage by nurses in generations.

Read more:

Rishi Sunak under pressure to step in to avert strikes in ‘winter of discontent’

What ambulance strike means for calls, response times and staffing

06:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Ambulance services across England are set to go on strike before Christmas as thousands of paramedics and call handlers voted for action.

The announcement by union Unison comes as the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) confirmed 100,000 nurses across England, Wales and Northern Ireland will walk out on 15 and 20 December.

The union is calling for action on pay and a big increase in staff numbers, warning that unless these things happen, services will continue to decline.

What ambulance strike means for calls, response times and staffing

Nurses, trains and Royal Mail: Every strike planned in run up to Christmas

05:00 , Eleanor Noyce

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has announced members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will strike on 15 and 20 December. Up to 100,000 workers are expected to take part in the pre-Christmas walkouts.

Unison and GMB has announced that thousands of 999 call handlers, ambulance technicians, paramedics and their colleagues working for ambulance services in the North East, North West, London, Yorkshire and the South West are set to strike on 21 December.

Elsewhere, services across the country will be crippled on several dates across December as members of RMT take strike action.

The RMT has revealed that more than 40,000 workers across Network Rail and 14 train operating companies will stage a series of 48-hour walk-outs on 13, 14, 16 and 17 December and on 3, 4, 6 and 7 January 2023, impacting Christmas and the New Year.

Read the full list:

From nurses to postal workers – every strike planned in run up to Christmas

DWP staff to take strike action for two weeks over Christmas

04:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Staff working at the Department for Work and Pensions are to take strike action for two weeks over Christmas.

More than 200 members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union working in three DWP offices in Liverpool and one in Doncaster will walk out from December 19 to 31.

The union said other targeted action at the DWP is likely to follow as part of the union’s national campaign for a 10% pay rise, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms.

DWP staff to take strike action for two weeks over Christmas

UK strikes timeline: How December’s industrial action will affect you

03:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Britain has had a difficult time of it in 2022, emerging from two years in the grip of the coronavirus only to be confronted by a dire cost of living crisis defined by runaway inflation and rocketing energy bills exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Now, as Christmas approaches, we find ourselves in a new “winter of discontent” with the country’s unions, representing workers from a wide range of public-facing professions, concluding that they have no choice but to undertake industrial action as their calls for improved pay and working conditions go unanswered while rising prices erode earnings.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has organised strike days throughout December and into January, as 40,000 workers down tools at one of the busiest periods of the year in a bid to force improved terms.

Read more:

Dates of all the strikes happening in December from rail workers to nurses

Nurses strikes: Full list of NHS hospitals where 100,000 staff have voted for industrial action

02:00 , Eleanor Noyce

One hundred thousand nursing staff are set to go on strike next month, the Royal College of Nursing has confirmed.

The RCN has released the list of trusts impacted by the historic action, with 44 out of 219 NHS trusts in England voting in favour of walkouts.

In Wales, staff in six out of seven health boards and all six trusts in Northern Ireland will also face strike action.

The RCN would not confirm exactly how many staff in each trust had voted for strike action, however workers have until the day of the strike to decide whether they not work and will join the industrial action.

Nursing staff working outside of hospitals, such as those in commissioning organisations called integrated care boards, have also voted to take action.

The union is set to hold its first strike day on Thursday, 15 December and its second on Tuesday 20 December.

Full list of NHS hospitals where nurses have voted for strikes - check your area

Nurses, trains and Royal Mail: Every strike planned in run up to Christmas

01:00 , Eleanor Noyce

As inflation has climbed steadily throughout the year, workers have seen rising prices eroding their earnings – just as employers have been trying to make savings or modernise working practices to cope with increasing costs.

The result? Clashes over pay, redundancies, pensions and terms and conditions.

A new “winter of discontent” had begun even before Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement on 17 November, which left householders everywhere feeling even worse off.

And with the cost of living crisis set to deepen, the disputes will inevitably grow fiercer.

These are the professions and industries for which strike dates have already been announced:

From nurses to postal workers – every strike planned in run up to Christmas

“Our duty as firefighters is to save lives – that’s why we’re voting to strike”, writes Matt Wrack

Tuesday 6 December 2022 23:58 , Eleanor Noyce

Firefighters and control staff are balloting for strike action. This is why.

Strike action is always a last resort, but we are left with no other option. Many firefighters and emergency fire control staff are struggling to pay their bills. Some are having to go to foodbanks to feed their families. It is an utterly disgraceful state of affairs. We can’t go on like this.

Members of the Fire Brigades Union worked through the pandemic, continuing to attend their workplaces. Doing that meant taking on additional personal risk to try and help others. Firefighters also took on extra duties to try and aide the Covid response. That included delivering food to the vulnerable and moving the deceased. They were clapped as key workers by the prime minister and others.

Read more:

Opinion: Firefighters must protect lives – that’s why we’re voting to strike

Royal Mail strike: Every date in December 2022

Tuesday 6 December 2022 22:46 , Eleanor Noyce

Royal Mail workers will stage strikes this month and next in an escalating row over pay, jobs and conditions.

The Communications Workers Union (CWU) formally notified Royal Mail of the November strikes last month and confirmed six new strike dates in December on November 17.

The postal service apologised to customers, saying that though it had “well-developed contingency plans” it is unable to “fully replace the daily efforts of our frontline workforce”.

“We’ll be doing what we can to keep services running, but we are sorry this planned strike action is likely to cause you some disruption,” the company said on the website.

Here’s everything you need to know about strikes by Royal Mail staff.

Royal Mail strike: Every date in December 2022

There could be a sexist reason you don’t support the nurses’ strike, writes Mandu Reid

Tuesday 6 December 2022 22:02 , Eleanor Noyce

When we think of industrial action in the UK, what comes to mind is coal miners, transport workers and posties industries that are overwhelmingly dominated by men. Women aren’t expected to strike. It’s just not ladylike.

The industries where women dominate are still largely about caring for others. From social care and childcare, to education and even hospitality (the literal definition of which means “generous and friendly treatment of guests” including, presumably, the ones that grope you).

Even if we aren’t working in caring professions, then we are likely delivering the majority of these services in the home for free; as we did during the pandemic. We are expected to do so unconditionally and without complaint, even if it is at the expense of ourselves. Because caring is a labour of love.

Read more:

Opinion: There could be a sexist reason you don’t support the nurses’ strike

Scottish teachers and London bus workers prepare to strike on 7 December

Tuesday 6 December 2022 21:30 , Eleanor Noyce

Members of the Scottish Secondary Teachers Association and the NASUWT are set to strike in 17 local authority areas on 7 December.

London bus workers at Abellio will also start a two-day walkout.

On 8 December, the teachers’ strike in Scotland will continue in the remaining 15 local authorities.

Train strikes: Every date in December and January 2023

Tuesday 6 December 2022 20:02 , Eleanor Noyce

Rail passengers face severe travel disruption over Christmas and the New Year as workers stage a series of 48-hour strikes in December and January in the long-running dispute over jobs, pay and conditions.

The RMT union has revealed that more than 40,000 workers across Network Rail and 14 train operating companies will stage a series of 48-hour walk-outs.

Industrial action will take place on 13, 14, 16 and 17 December and on 3, 4, 6 and 7 January.

On Monday it announced further strike dates to take place over the key Christmas period, with members walking out from 6pm on 24 December until 7am on 27 December. Most trains do not run on 25 and 26 December anyway, but those aiming to travel by rail to see loved ones either side of Christmas Day will be affected.

Every train strike date in December and January 2023

Army could be drafted in to deal with NHS strikes, says NHS Confederation chief executive

Tuesday 6 December 2022 18:48 , Eleanor Noyce

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the Army could be used to help provide some services after ambulance workers and other NHS staff confirmed strike plans for December 21.

Mr Taylor told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme that the day of the strike would “feel like a weekend or a bank holiday”, but acknowledged the Army could be drafted in.

“I think it rather depends on the conversations that do need to take place now about how this action will impact.

“Clearly, if there is any risk of not being able to provide emergency services it is likely the Army would have to be mobilised in those circumstances.”

He said the unions are trying to strike a balance between ensuring emergency care is protected while also making an “impact”.

There is “no point taking industrial action if you don’t have an impact with that industrial action”, he acknowledged.

Decision to call off strikes ahead of Christmas ‘rests with the unions’, Downing Street says

Tuesday 6 December 2022 18:53 , Eleanor Noyce

Downing Street said the decision to call off strikes ahead of Christmas “rests with the unions” when asked how much hope remains in Government that industrial action by the RMT can be averted.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “That decision rests with the unions and their members.

“We would encourage the members of the RMT to follow the lead of the TSSA, who have recognised that this is a fair and generous offer and are calling off their December strikes and putting the offer to their members.

“So, as I say, we think this is the right offer in the circumstances, noting, as I say, the impact that double-digit pay rises would have on the inflation.”

Pressed on whether that means there is some hope remaining, he said: “Like I say, it rests with the unions.”

Government allowing strikes to go ahead to ‘scapegoat' nurses on NHS performance, Wes Streeting says

Tuesday 6 December 2022 18:00 , Eleanor Noyce

Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting claimed the Government had a “disgusting” and “dangerous” plan to allow strikes to go ahead to “scapegoat” nurses on forthcoming NHS performance.

Speaking during Labour’s Opposition Day Commons debate on the NHS workforce, he stated: “Why on earth are they not sitting round the table and conducting serious negotiations?

“I will tell you why - they know that patients are going to suffer this winter, they don’t have a plan to fix it, so instead of acting to improve care for patients and accept responsibility, they want to use nurses as a scapegoat in the hope that they avoid the blame.

“We can see it coming a mile off. It is a disgusting plan. It is dangerous. And it won’t work. And if I’m wrong, perhaps members opposite could explain why the Government is not trying to prevent the strikes from going ahead”, he told the Commons.

‘Significant planning meetings’ taking place across Government on potential strike disruption, Downing Street says

Tuesday 6 December 2022 17:30 , Eleanor Noyce

There are “significant planning meetings” taking place across Government to manage potential disruption from strike action, Downing Street said.

Asked if there are plans for any Cobra meetings, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “I mean, there’s already significant cross-Government planning being led out of Cabinet Office, very regular meetings involving all Government departments on this.

“We don’t normally get into Cobra meetings but there are significant planning meetings across Government already taking place.”

‘The strikes are going ahead’, rail union chief Mick Lynch confirms

Tuesday 6 December 2022 17:19 , Eleanor Noyce

Rail union chief Mick Lynch has confirmed train strikes in the UK will be going ahead.

Speaking to reporters outside the RMT union building in north-west London on Tuesday, he said: “The strikes are going ahead because we haven’t had no meetings so far, so we’re hoping to go over to the Rail Delivery Group in the morning.”

Striking rail workers ‘enjoying their right to inflict damage on the public’, says Lord Callanan

Tuesday 6 December 2022 16:57 , Eleanor Noyce

Striking rail workers seem as though they are “possibly enjoying their right to inflict damage on the public”, business minister Lord Callanan told Parliament.

Lord Callanan defended the Government’s Transport Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill, which would ensure that a certain number of services would still run even amidst heavy disruption.

Condemning the ongoing rail strikes initiated by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), the minister said: “It’s almost as if this action is designed to punish the travelling public.

“The way that they are targeting the Christmas period, when there was a load of essential engineering works due to take place to improve the service for the travelling public.

“The way that they are targeting weeks before Christmas when they know that many people travel to see their friends and loved ones over the Christmas period.

“[It] almost seems as if they are possibly enjoying their right to inflict damage on the public.”

“Now, I know there’s a dispute here and they’re entitled to take their action but they’ve been offered a very generous pay rise, the taxpayer has been extremely generous in supporting the rail industry throughout the pandemic, it’s about time some of those workers saw just how well off they are.”

“Urgent treatments will be prioritised during any strike action”, Downing Street says

Tuesday 6 December 2022 16:49 , Eleanor Noyce

Downing Street said it would not be helpful to “speculate” when asked if the Prime Minister is worried that patients will die as a result of strikes in the NHS.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “I think what our focus is now is on mitigating any potential detrimental impact these strikes could have.

“Hospitals do everything they can to ensure patients and the public are kept safe. And obviously emergency, urgent treatments will be prioritised during any strike action.”

Ambulance workers at ‘sharp end’ of ‘frighteningly under-resourced health service’, BMA chair says

Tuesday 6 December 2022 16:09 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

BMA chair of council Professor Philip Banfield said: “Ambulance workers have for too long been at the sharp end of a frighteningly under-resourced health service, working with extraordinary dedication in a system that simply does not value them enough.

“Doctors will today offer our solidarity to our colleagues in ambulances who feel this is the only way of getting this Government to take the worsening predicament of the health service and its workers seriously.

“Only by listening to and negotiating in good faith with NHS staff will the Government have any hope of repairing a health system it has left in dire straits. The starting point must be the NHS’s most important resource - its workforce.”

Angela Rayner accuses government of negligence in dispute with ambulance workers

Tuesday 6 December 2022 15:44 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner accused the government of negligence in its handling of the dispute with ambulance workers.

She told reporters in Westminster: “We’ve seen actually across the ambulance service the crisis that’s engulfing our ambulance service... in the North West, in my area, the ambulance service saying please do not ring for an ambulance unless it is absolutely, desperately needed and advising people to get taxis. The system is at breaking point.

“The health secretary has failed to meet with their health trade unions throughout the whole summer. They knew this was coming and they again negligently did nothing about it.

“The frustration for me is there is a common theme with all of these disputes and that is this Government failing to act in the interests of British people.”

When is the next December train strike? Everything you need to know

Tuesday 6 December 2022 15:18 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Rail passengers in Britain are enduring the longest and most damaging series of strikes since the 1980s.

The bitter dispute on pay, job security and working arrangements involves the rail unions, the train operators and the infrastructure provider Network Rail.

The first national strikes were called six months ago, and more have been called before and during Christmas and after New Year.

The dates for the next round of national strikes are 13-14, 16-17 and 24-27 December plus 3-4 and 6-7 January.

When is the next December train strike? Everything you need to know

Thousands of ambulance workers and NHS staff to strike ahead of Christmas

Tuesday 6 December 2022 14:39 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Thousands of ambulance workers and other NHS staff are to strike on December 21 in a dispute over pay, unions have announced.

The GMB, Unison and Unite unions are co-ordinating industrial action across England and Wales after accusing the government of ignoring pleas for a decent wage rise.

Unison said its strike, involving paramedics, emergency care assistants, ambulance technicians and other 999 crew members, will run from noon to midnight.

The strike will happen a day after members of the Royal College of Nursing stage their second walkout, also over pay.

The GMB said more than 10,000 ambulance workers across nine trusts in England and Wales will strike.

Read the full story here:

Government and union leaders must ‘find a solution’ to avoid strikes, NHS chief says

Tuesday 6 December 2022 14:23 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The government and union leaders need to sit to gether and “find a solution” to avoid the pending strikes, an NHS chief has said.

Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, said: “Trust leaders continue to plan and prepare for strike action, but today’s announcement of co-ordinated action by the GMB, Unison and Unite underlines the sheer urgency of the need for government and union leaders to get around the table to find a solution to avert these strikes.

“The potential to escalate action and for prolonged, joint strikes by health unions in January if talks don’t take place is very worrying.

“As with the upcoming industrial action by the Royal College of Nursing, trusts affected will do everything they can to minimise disruption for patients on Friday 21 and Friday December 28.

“Their priority, as always, remains the safe delivery of care and services for patients during any industrial action and to support the wellbeing of their staff.

“But the challenges strike action presents for the health service at a time when it is under serious strain across every part of the system is undeniable. This will inevitably have an impact on some patients.

“Leaders across the NHS of course understand how strongly ambulance staff, including 999 call handlers, ambulance technicians, paramedics and their colleagues working for ambulance services feel and why they’ve got to this point: below-inflation pay awards amid the rising cost of living, severe staff shortages, rising operational pressures and ever-increasing workloads have all taken their toll.

“There must be no delay in getting down to serious, meaningful negotiations to end this dispute before it escalates still further.”

Border Force strikes: minister confirms army would be brought in but warns ‘there will be disruption’

Tuesday 6 December 2022 14:05 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The government will bring in the army to work at ports and airports if UK Border Force staff go on strike, a minister has confirmed

Last month Home Office staff – which includes the Border Force – voted 9:1 in favour of strikes.

Announcing the ballot result, the PCS union said: “We are now in a position to call significant industrial action in support of our claim for a 10 per cent pay rise, pensions justice, job security and and no cuts to redundancy terms.”

No dates for a walk-out have been announced.

Our travel correspondent Simon Calder has more:

Minister confirms army would be brought in if Border Force strikes go ahead

No 10 plans to bring in new law to require minimum service on railways

Tuesday 6 December 2022 13:45 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Downing Street has insisted it is planning to bring in a new law to require minimum service levels on the railways.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We recognise no legislation will be in place to mitigate against the disruption we’re expecting to see next week.

“We are pushing ahead with minimum service level legislation. That’s the plan whether or not the unions step back from the planned disruption next week.”

He blamed the pandemic for the delay to the legislation first promised in 2019 and insisted “it’s something we’re proceeding with as fast as parliamentary time allows”.

Pressed if the rapid churn of prime ministers and transport secretaries played a role, he said: “I think the global pandemic was the largest impact on this legislation.”

Downing Street urges RMT to accept deal

Tuesday 6 December 2022 13:25 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Downing Street urged the RMT to accept a deal including a four per cent pay rise to follow this year’s five per cent, and no compulsory redundancies until 2025, rather than the union’s “unaffordable” double-digit demands.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman said: “It’s incredibly disappointing that the RMT has chosen to take further damaging action instead of recognising this is a generous and fair deal that could have brought this dispute to an end.

“We believe the RMT need to take this offer seriously. We’ve been fair and reasonable in our approach.”

Government minister Nick Gibb told GB News the union must “call off this strike”, adding: “It’s inconveniencing people up and down the country in the run-up to Christmas. I think it’s a very poor way of conducting negotiations.

“We would urge the unions to talk to employers, to keep negotiating and not to hold the country to ransom, particularly in December as we get nearer to Christmas.”

NHS staff ‘have had enough'

Tuesday 6 December 2022 13:02 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The GMB union national secretary said NHS staff “have had enough” as three unions announced co-ordinated walkouts ahead of Christmas.

Rachel Harrison said: “After 12 years of Conservative cuts to the service and their pay packets, NHS staff have had enough.

“The last thing they want to do is take strike action but the government has left them with no choice.

“Health secretary Steve Barclay needs to listen and engage with us about pay. If he can’t talk to us about this most basic workforce issue, what on Earth is he Health Secretary for?

“The government could stop this strike in a heartbeat - but they need to wake up and start negotiating on pay.”

BREAKING: Thousands of ambulance workers and NHS staff to strike on December 21

Tuesday 6 December 2022 12:11 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Thousands of ambulance workers and other NHS staff are to strike on December 21 in a dispute over pay, the GMB, Unison and Unite unions announced.

It comes as the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union on Monday announced further strike dates in the lead-up to Christmas.

Read more here:

Thousands of ambulance workers and NHS staff to strike

Transport minister says more RMT strikes ‘deeply unhelpful'

Tuesday 6 December 2022 11:47 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Transport minister Baroness Vere said the RMT’s announcement of more strikes was “deeply unhelpful”.

She told delegates at a conference in Westminster organised by travel trade body Abta: “I just think it’s terribly disappointing.

“They could not have chosen worse days. You can imagine why they have done.”

She added: “I really wish they would take the opportunity to have more conversations with train operating companies.

“This cannot continue forever.”

She went on to say “there cannot be an open chequebook” and “I very much hope we can reach a resolution as this is going to disrupt so many people”.

Unions must ‘coordinate’ strikes, says RMT boss, as pre-Christmas walkouts grow

Tuesday 6 December 2022 11:11 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Unions have “a duty to coordinate” their strikes to save low-paid workers from going to food banks, the RMT boss says, ahead of a wave of pre-Christmas walkouts.

Nurses, ambulance drivers, post workers, bus drivers and driving examiners are set to join rail workers in industrial action, in what has been dubbed a “general strike” in all but name.

Ministers have condemned the “Christmas misery” ahead”, again threatening tougher laws to require minimum services are maintained on public services.

But Mick Lynch, the general secretary of the RMT rail union, said unions working more closely together were simply responding to “a general attack by the employers and by the government”.

Our deputy political editor Rob Merrick reports:

Unions must ‘coordinate’ strikes, says RMT boss, as pre-Christmas walkouts grow

Rail union clashes with government over strikes before Christmas

Tuesday 6 December 2022 10:39 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Rail union chief Mick Lynch has been urged by ministers not to “hold the country to ransom” with strikes ahead of Christmas as he blamed the Government for failing to avert the action.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) general secretary said on Tuesday the unions have a duty to take coordinated action in response to a “generalised attack on working people”.

He confirmed there will be greater disruption on the rails on Christmas Eve because of a walkout from 6pm until 6am on December 27 following two 48-hour strikes next week.

Talks with the Rail Delivery Group over the long-running dispute on pay, jobs and conditions will still take place on Tuesday.

Deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner accused the “militant” Government of presiding over a “complete shambles” on the railways as she backed the workers’ right to strike.

But Government minister Nick Gibb argued the RMT’s “very disappointing decision” came after they were offered a “very good pay deal” of 8% over two years.

“So I think the unions really should call off this strike. It’s inconveniencing people up and down the country in the run up to Christmas, I think it’s a very poor way of conducting negotiations,” he told GB News.

“We would urge the unions to talk to employers, to keep negotiating and not to hold the country to ransom, particularly in December as we get nearer to Christmas.”

Mr Lynch insisted he does not want strikes to go ahead before Christmas but argued his members were being forced into action by the Government not allowing train operators a proper mandate to negotiate on pay and conditions.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We regret the inconvenience that we are causing but this inconvenience is being caused by the Government who are running the playbook and the strategy for the companies and directing what’s going on.

“They’ve held back even these paltry offers to the last minute so they know it’s very difficult to deal with these offers.”