Timeline of UK Strikes From Lawyers to Dockers and Rail Workers

Liza Tetley
·4-min read

(Bloomberg) -- The UK’s snowballing cost-of-living crisis has triggered industrial action across professions from railway workers and dockers to barristers and postal staff, as struggling Britons put pressure on their employers to raise wages amid rocketing inflation.

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With the British media dubbing the wave of strikes a “summer of discontent” -- summoning memories of the 1978-1979 “winter of discontent” that led to the downfall of the then Labour government -- the danger for the UK’s next prime minister is that action by workers stretches into the fall and then the winter, with some union leaders calling for a general strike.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is the favorite to win the battle with former Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak to succeed Boris Johnson as premier next week.

Adding to the labor disruptions, on Wednesday, the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) and Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) both said their members will hold strikes next month. Here’s a chronology of proposed, planned and recent strikes in key industries:

Rail

Upcoming:

  • Sept. 15: ASLEF members with 12 train operating companies will walk out in a dispute over pay. The affected firms are: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, Hull Trains, LNER, London Overground, Northern Trains, Southeastern, TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains

  • Sept. 26-27: TSSA members from 9 train operators and Network Rail will hold a 24-hour strike from midday Sept. 26 to midday Sept. 27 over pay, job security and conditions. The affected train companies are: TransPennine Express, West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast, c2c, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway, LNER and Southeastern

Past:

  • Aug. 19: More than 1,000 London Underground and Overground workers in the RMT held one-day strike over pay, working conditions and job cuts

  • Aug. 18 and 20: Tens of thousands of workers in the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) and the TSSA unions walk out over pay, job security and conditions, affecting Network Rail and 14 train companies

  • Aug. 13 and Jul. 30: ASLEF train drivers strike over pay, jobs and conditions

  • July 27: Over 40,000 workers across Network Rail and 14 train operating companies strike over pay

  • June 21, June 23 - June 26: Members of the RMT and Unite unions strike over pay, affecting London Underground, London Overground and national rail services

Trams

Upcoming:

  • Sept. 12-14: ASLEF members on Tramlink in Croydon, south London, due to strike over pay.

Past:

  • July 13-14, June 28-29: Drivers in South London strike over pay

Buses

Upcoming:

  • Some 900 Arriva bus workers plan to take strike action in Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, dates to be confirmed

Past:

  • Aug. 28-29: London United buses strike

  • Aug. 19-20: More than 1,600 drivers in Unite union strike over pay in west and southwest London

Legal:

Upcoming:

  • Sept. 5: Hundreds of barristers take indefinite industrial action after rejecting a 15% increase in fees offered by the government

Past:

  • Aug. 30-Sept. 2, Aug. 15-19, Aug. 1-5: Hundreds of barristers strike seeking better pay for cases using criminal legal aid

Education:

Upcoming:

  • Teaching staff at universities and colleges will be balloted in September by the University and College Union (UCU). The National Education Union (NEU) also plans to ballot for strike action in the fall

Past:

  • Aug. 24-28, Aug. 17-21, Aug. 12-15, July 29-31: 180 staff at exam board AQA strike over pay and fire-and-rehire threats

Garbage Collection

Upcoming:

  • Sept. 7-10: GMB Scotland and Unite the Union members employed by the City of Edinburgh Council and 16 other Scottish councils due to strike over pay. Waste workers with Unison also plan to strike in eight Scottish councils.

Past:

  • Aug. 18-31: Series of strikes by GMB and Unite waste workers employed by Edinburgh and more than a dozen other Scottish councils

Ports:

Upcoming:

  • Dock workers in Liverpool have been balloted and voted 99% in favor of striking at a yet-to-be-decided date

Past:

  • Aug. 21-29: Strikes by more than 1,900 workers over pay at Felixstowe port

Postal service:

Upcoming:

  • Sept. 8-9: Around 115,000 Royal Mail workers plan to strike over pay

Past:

  • Aug. 31, Aug. 26: Around 115,000 Royal Mail workers strike over pay

Telecoms:

Past:

  • Aug. 30-31, Aug. 1, July 29: BT Group Plc and Openreach workers strike over pay

Fire Brigade:

Upcoming:

  • Fire Brigades Union has begun preparing for a ballot on strike action

Health Care:

Upcoming:

  • Doctors have warned they will ballot for strike action if the government doesn’t accede to their pay demands by the end of September

  • Nurses to be balloted Sept. 15 to Oct. 13 on whether to go on strike

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