UK Strikes latest: National highways workers to stage industrial action as travellers brace for inconvenience

National Highways workers will go on strike from today until Christmas Day in the latest phase of industrial action by the biggest civil service union ahead of the festive season.

The strike involves members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) working as on-road traffic officers and regional operating centre operatives, in London and south-east England.

The four-day walkout by workers who plan, design, build, operate and maintain the roads follows action by colleagues in Yorkshire and Humber, north-west and north-east England.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “We’re aware our action is likely to inconvenience travelers but, even as we escalate it ahead of Christmas, we remind people this dispute could be resolved today if the government puts more money on the table.”

Earlier, health leaders warned of a knock-on effect on NHS from two consecutive strikes by frontline workers combined with rising winter pressures.

Senior health figures have said the “fallout from strike action is likely to spill over into the coming days” with high levels of emergency demand from patients who have delayed seeking care.

Key points

• National highways workers to stage more strike action

• National Highways strikes to escalate after around New Year

• Doctors in Wales consider striking for first time

• NHS braced for ‘worst’ chaos ahead as strike knock-on effect hits hospitals

Royal Mail strikes to hit Christmas post

13:36 , Jane Dalton

A reminder that postal deliveries and collections will be disrupted because Royal Mail workers will go on strike tomorrow and Saturday, Christmas Eve:

Every Royal Mail strike date in December 2022

Passenger queues at Heathrow

13:10 , Jane Dalton

Heathrow and Gatwick passengers are complaining about queues to enter the airport, to drop off baggage and delays in retrieving luggage.

Rail fares slated as ‘savage'

12:47 , Jane Dalton

Labour hit out at the “savage” rail fares increase after the Department for Transport announced a rise of up to 5.9%.

Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said: “This savage fare hike will be a sick joke for millions reliant on crumbling services.

“People up and down this country are paying the price for 12 years of Tory failure.”

‘Brutal’ rail fare rises of almost 6% amid soaring inflation

Prepare for disruption, says Border Force boss

12:41 , Jane Dalton

Border Force chiefs have warned travellers to prepare for disruption.

Head of operations Steve Dann said there were “robust plans in place” to limit the impact of the strikes, but the “contingency workforce will not be able to operate with the same efficiency as our permanent workforce”.

He added the organisation cannot predict the extent of any delays to passengers, but “people should be prepared for disruption”.

Electronic passport gates will be open but they cannot be used by all passengers, such as children aged under 12.

PCS union general secretary Mark Serwotka urged people to vent their anger at the government.

“The government could stop these strikes tomorrow if it puts more money on the table,” he said.

The worst disruption could be at Heathrow , the UK’s busiest airport, where 579 flights are due to land today.

Border Force walkout to delay air passengers

12:30 , Jane Dalton

Around a quarter of a million passengers arriving at UK airports today are being warned to expect delays as Border Force strikes begin.

Around 1,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union employed by the Home Office to operate passport booths will walk out at Heathrow, Birmingham, Cardiff, Gatwick, Glasgow and Manchester airports, and the port of Newhaven in East Sussex.

The Border Force strikes will take place every day to the end of the year except Tuesday December 27.

Aviation data company Cirium said 1,290 flights were scheduled to land at affected airports today, with a total capacity of more than a quarter of a million passengers.

This is the busiest Christmas for airports since 2019, as it is the first festive period without coronavirus travel restrictions since the start of the pandemic.

There are fears that delays in checking the passports of arriving passengers could lead to long queues and even people being held on planes, disrupting later departures.

Military personnel and volunteers from the Civil Service have been trained to step in.

Rail fares set to rise by up to 5.9%

12:21 , Jane Dalton

Regulated rail fares in England will increase by up to 5.9% from 5 March next year, the Department for Transport has announced.

Transport secretary Mark Harper said: “This is the biggest ever government intervention in rail fares. I’m capping the rise well below inflation to help reduce the impact on passengers.

“This is a fair balance between the passengers who use our trains and the taxpayers who help pay for them.”

What National Highways strikes mean for drivers

12:13 , Jane Dalton

Just when roads are set to be busier with private cars, the staff who plan and maintain major roads, including key motorways, are walking out. Joe Sommerlad examines how drivers will be affected:

What the National Highways strikes actually mean for drivers

Government could ‘fast-track’ NHS pay rise in 2023 as more strikes loom

11:45 , Emily Atkinson

Rishi Sunak’s government could fast-track an NHS pay rise next year after 48 hours of historic strikes by nurses and paramedics, according to reports.

Health secretary Steve Barclay is said to be ready to offer an expedited pay deal in 2023 in a bid to prevent fresh industrial action next year.

A source close to Mr Barclay revealed he is keen to “speed up” the pay review process – set to begin in April – to give NHS staff a pay rise to break the deadlock.

Adam Forrest reports:

Government could ‘fast-track’ NHS pay rise in 2023

Rail strikes about to begin in France

11:30 , Simon Calder

Semi-official strikes by train guards in France have wrecked the Christmas travel plans of an estimated 200,000 passengers on SNCF, the national operator.

Hundreds of guards working for SNCF will stop work over the next two weekends as part of a pay dispute. They have refused a deal offering a €600 (£522) bonus on top of a general 6 per cent pay rise at the rail organisation.

Their union, SUD Rail, has not officially sanctioned the strike, which has been coordinated on social media by a “national collective of guards” known as the CNA. But the union is helping with communications about the walk-out.

As in the UK, Friday is expected to be the busiest day of the winter as travellers head for their Christmas destinations. Many trains were fully booked ahead of the strike.

Two out of three TGVs (high-speed trains) are expected to run between Paris and the south of France, and from the capital to the Atlantic. About half of trains in the north of France will run, as well as 75 per cent of services between Paris and Strasbourg on the German border.

Christophe Fanichet, chief executive of SNCF, told the Franceinfo radio station that the Christmas and New Year strikes were “really unacceptable” – and that passengers with advance tickets whose trains were cancelled would get back twice the original cost of their journey.

He said the gesture would cost SNCF “several tens of millions of euros”.

Alternatively, passengers can change to any other day where seats are available and will not need to pay for any difference in fare.

Christmas travel chaos: All the train and flight problems to navigate this week

11:15 , Emily Atkinson

The busiest week of the winter for travel has begun, with millions of people on the move between now and 25 December. But travellers face a wide range of disruption on the railways and in the skies, with strikes, staff shortage and weather combining to create a travel nightmare before Christmas.

Our travel correspondent Simon Calder has all you need to know as the race begins:

All the rail and air travel problems to navigate in week before Christmas

National Highways strikes to spill out into New Year

11:00 , Emily Atkinson

The National Highways strikes in London begin today and are set to last until Christmas Day – but union leaders warn this is just the beginning.

Industrial action on Britain’s roads will commence again on 30 December, when PCS members across the traffic officer service in the West Midlands and southwest England begin action.

Walkouts are then set to hit the East Midlands and eastern England on 6 January.

PCS also say that all of its National Highways member working for the traffic officer service will take action on 3 and 4 January.

Rail chaos spreads ahead of next national rail strike

10:45 , Simon Calder

Rail passengers between London, the West Midlands, northwest England, north Wales and southern Scotland face delays and crowded trains.

Avanti West Coast has cancelled at least 40 expresses to and from London Euston for Thursday, blaming a shortage of crew. Axed services include five each way between the capital and Manchester Piccadilly, and the same number to and from Liverpool Lime Street.

Ahead of a strike by members of the Unite union working for East Midlands Railway, travellers between London, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Sheffield will have no trains northbound after 7.35pm on Thursday.

A skeleton service will run on Friday 23 December, with no trains at all – apart from a Corby-London shuttle – on Christmas Eve morning.

The next RMT national strike begins at 6pm on 24 December and ends on 27 December at 6am.

Thursday to be a ‘very busy day for emergency departments'

10:30 , Emily Atkinson

Matthew Taylor, of the NHS Confederation, said that he is expecting Thursday to be a “very busy day for emergency departments” following strikes by ambulance workers.

“This is the worst possible time for industrial action,” he told Sky News as he pointed to the winter pressures already facing the NHS.

He said that there was currently a gap between “demand and capacity” and that it would take “consistent funding” and the “right policies” to solve it.

“There is money that has now been made available to help get people out of hospital into community settings, give them support at home, and that is very welcome.

“The problem is that money wasn’t announced until a few weeks ago and so it’s not been able to get through to the front line.”

He warned that the winter is going to be “incredibly tough”.

“There are signs of hope looking forward, but we’re paying the price now for those 10 years of austerity, for the Covid backlog, for not addressing those issues.

“So this winter is going to be incredibly tough, there’s nothing we can do about that. But the industrial action adds to what is already a challenging situation,” he said.

But he also urged people not to put off seeking treatment. “It’s actually not in anyone’s interests for people not to come forward.”

Start Christmas travel plans ‘as soon as you can’, warn travel experts

10:25 , Emily Atkinson

Families are being urged to set in motion their Christmas travel plans “as soon as possible” as a four-day motorway strike set to coincide with a fresh wave of rail walkouts threatens travel mayhem over the festive period.

National Highways workers will go on strike from today until Christmas Day in the latest phase of industrial action by the biggest civil service union ahead of the Christmas weekend.

The Independent’s Simon Calder has urged families to hit the roads as “soon as you possibly can”, telling Good Morning Britain: “I’ve never known a Christmas quite like this for travel stress.

He added: “Towards the end of the week and on Christmas Day it’s going to get very very trick, with the roads being very crowded.

“And the railways, well, services will end either on Friday night or pretty early on Saturday.”

Hospitals brace for post-walkout ‘surge in demand for emergency treatment’

10:00 , Emily Atkinson

Saffron Cordery, interim chief executive of NHS Providers, said hospitals were braced for a “surge in demand for emergency treatment” as a knock-on effect of the ambulance and nursing strikes.

She told Times Radio there was a “very difficult picture” across the health and care system, with social care “extremely stressed” and a “deeply challenging” situation in the NHS.

She called on ministers to negotiate on pay with the trade unions - something health secretary Steve Barclay has so far ruled out.

National Highways to strike from Thursday until Christmas Day

09:30 , Emily Atkinson

National Highways workers are set to strike from today until Christmas Day as the winter of discontent continues to snowball.

This latest phase of industrial action by the biggest civil service union has been launched by members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) working as on-road traffic officers and regional operating centre operatives, in London and south east England.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “We’re aware our action is likely to inconvenience travellers but, even as we escalate it ahead of Christmas, we remind people this dispute could be resolved today if the government puts more money on the table.

“Our members are telling us they have to cut back their spending at Christmas time because they are running out of money. They have been offered a below-inflation pay award, at a time when inflation is higher than 10 per cent.”

Public should always consider using NHS responsibly, says health boss

09:00 , Emily Atkinson

Matthew Taylor, of the NHS Confederation, said the public should always consider how to use the NHS responsibly.

It came as politicians and NHS officials urged the public to be extra careful, avoid risky behaviour and curb excessive drinking as ambulance strikes hit the health service on Wednesday.

“It is important that the public use the NHS in the best way they can,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

He said it was not a solution to the pressures facing the health service as he warned of the danger of creating “pent-up demand”.

“We can’t ask the public to cope day in, day out with not having the services the NHS wants to offer.”

NHS chief warns health service cannot ‘go on coping’ with winter strikes

08:30 , Emily Atkinson

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said the health service “coped as well as could be expected” on Wednesday during the strike by ambulance workers.

He also warned that the NHS could not “go on coping” with a winter of strikes and industrial action as he urged the government and trade unions to come to an agreement.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “The NHS coped as well as could be expected.”

He said it was due to planning and thanked the public for their response, adding there appeared to be more demand on primary care services.

“We coped as best we could yesterday, but it’s incredibly important to recognise that we cannot go on coping with industrial action in the NHS because each time it happens, there are direct consequences, but also all sorts of knock-on effects.

“We will repeat the call, which is to trade unions and to the Government to step away from rhetoric and step towards negotiation. We can’t drift into more and more industrial action.”

Junior minister urges striking workers to ‘come off picket line, to come back to work'

07:59 , Emily Atkinson

Junior minister Mark Spencer has appealed to striking workers to “come off the picket line, to come back to work”.

Appearing on Times Radio the morning after strikes by ambulance workers, the Tory MP declined to get into speculation about how the pay review process might operate into the coming year.

He stressed that it was not just public-sector workers who are “under pressure”.

The food, farming and fisheries minister told the broadcaster: “I think the answer first of all is to come off the picket line, to get back to work.

“The pay review body is an annual process, of course that will happen again as we move into next year, but we need to accept this year, and then of course next year’s pay review body will take into account the inflation that we’ve seen over the last 12 months which is squeezing everybody, not just those who are working in the public sector.

“As a society, we’ve got to try and find a way through this together. We’ve got to try and balance the burden of this challenge across the whole of society.

“There are lots of people working in the private sector who are also under huge pressure given the impact of the pandemic and Putin’s war.

“They’re also feeling pressure and pain. They’re also seeing increased bills. They can’t afford to see their taxes go up or their costs go up just like everyone else.”

Train strikes: Every date in December 2022 and January 2023

07:10 , Namita Singh

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 is due 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.

My colleague Helen Coffey reports:

Train strike dates: Every day in December 2022 and January 2023

Editorial: Rishi Sunak has lost the argument – and lost control of NHS strikes

06:50 , Namita Singh

To win a strike, or at least a high-profile one that affects the public on the most vital level, it is first necessary to win the argument. On that basis, victory for the nurses and paramedics is all but inevitable.

Indeed, it is fair to say that ministers have barely made the case for imposing the below-inflation pay increase recommended by the NHS independent pay body. All we ever hear is that the offer is non-negotiable, which is unreasonable, and that the nurses’ claim would be inflationary, which is at least debatable.

Tacitly, the public mood seems to be that they would much rather tolerate a little more inflation and taxation, and not have to wait hours for an ambulance and then more hours to be admitted to a ward.

The prime minister is being very foolish if he thinks he can just sit and do nothing while the crisis in the health service – exacerbated but not caused by this rare industrial action – worsens.

Editorial: Rishi Sunak has lost the argument – and lost control of NHS strikes

Voices: Most people in Britain know who’s really to blame for the strikes

06:30 , Namita Singh

The health secretary, Steve Barclay, is condemning striking healthcare workers for putting the public at risk.

He might like to consider the impact of a hard Brexit which decimated an already denuded workforce, and the rejection of the EU’s offer to delay the implementation of this when a global pandemic came along, enabling a failing government to blame Covid for any and every negative associated with Brexit.

Then there are the government partygoers who regularly clapped the healthcare professionals who were dying as they attempted to cope with Covid, using ineffective PPE which raked in millions for Tory pals. “Let the bodies pile high!” is a statement not attributed to nurses or paramedics, but to the Tory prime minister of the time, writes a reader in letter to The Independent.

Letters: Most people in Britain know who’s really to blame for strikes

Families desperately take their loved ones to A&E in their own cars

06:10 , Namita Singh

As striking NHS workers brought ambulances across the UK to a standstill - apart from in the most urgent and life threatening cases - families were seen bringing their unwell relatives to hospital in cars.

In Brighton, a four wheel drive car was seen pulling up outside the A&E entrance of the Royal Sussex County Hospital, before nurses carried someone from the back of the car into the hospital.

Soldiers were also spotted helping to move patients whilst covering for staff who had joined the walkouts.

Read the details in this report from Eleanor Sly:

Families desperately take their loved ones to A&E in their own cars

NHS braced for ‘worst’ chaos ahead as strike knock-on effect hits hospitals

05:50 , Namita Singh

The NHS is braced for more chaos as the knock-on effect of two consecutive strikes by frontline workers combines with rising winter pressures, health leaders have warned.

Tens of thousands of ambulance staff walked out on Wednesday, with almost all of the ambulance trusts in England declaring so-called critical incidents and many trusts stating that they were facing huge pressure even before strikes began.

Senior health figures have said the “fallout from strike action is likely to spill over into the coming days” with high levels of emergency demand from patients who have delayed seeking care.

My colleague Rebecca Thomas and Kate Devlin report:

NHS braced for ‘worst’ chaos ahead as strike knock-on effect hits hospitals

Government ‘could fast-track NHS pay rise next year’ after union stalemate

05:30 , Namita Singh

The government could fast-track an NHS pay rise next year after 48 hours of historic strikes by nurses and paramedics, according to reports.

Thousands of nurses picketed on Tuesday while ambulance staff staged their biggest strike in 30 years on Wednesday, and the Daily Telegraph reported that health secretary Steve Barclay is poised to offer an expedited pay deal.

It comes after unions and ministers remained in stalemate over pay negotiations last night.

Read the details here:

Government ‘could fast-track NHS pay rise next year’ after union stalemate

Doctors in Wales consider striking for first time

05:10 , Namita Singh

Doctors in Wales are considering going on strike for the first time, the British Medical Association Cymru has said.

Almost two-thirds of hospital doctors surveyed by the union this month said they would be willing to take some form of industrial action, including strikes, over their current pay and conditions.

The announcement comes after a week of walkouts by nurses and ambulance staff across the country calling for better wages and conditions.

The BMA’s Welsh Council chairwoman, Iona Collins, called the result of the survey “upsetting to all” and said it is “gut-wrenching for doctors to consider walking away from work”.

More in this report:

Doctors in Wales consider striking for first time

National Highways strikes to escalate after around New Year

04:50 , Namita Singh

The National Highways strikes will escalate further on 30 December when PCS members across the traffic officer service in the West Midlands and south-west England begin action and on 6 January when it reaches the East Midlands and eastern England.

In addition, all PCS members in National Highways, working for the traffic officer service, will take action on 3 and 4 January.

PCS has served formal notice on the Department for Work and Pensions of extended strike action in parts of the department in the first week of January as part of its national campaign.

Benefit processing members in Doncaster Crossgate House, a threatened closure site, have been on strike since Monday and are joined today by the rest of the PCS members at the site.

All PCS members in the building will now take strike action during the first week in January.

Action by PCS members in Toxteth, City and Duke Street jobcentres in Liverpool will be extended to 7 January, the union announced.

National highways workers to stage more strike action

04:29 , Namita Singh

National Highways workers will go on strike from today until Christmas Day in the latest phase of industrial action by the biggest civil service union.

The strike involves members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) working as on-road traffic officers and regional operating centre operatives, in London and south-east England.

The four-day walkout by workers who plan, design, build, operate and maintain the roads follows action by colleagues in Yorkshire & Humber, north-west and north-east England.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “We’re aware our action is likely to inconvenience travellers but, even as we escalate it ahead of Christmas, we remind people this dispute could be resolved today if the government puts more money on the table.

“Our members are telling us they have to cut back their spending at Christmas time because they are running out of money. They have been offered a below-inflation pay award, at a time when inflation is higher than 10 per cent.”

03:51 , Namita Singh

Welcome to The Independent’s liveblog for Thursday, 22 December 2022, where we provide the latest on the industrial action by frontline workers, political negotiations around it and the impact of the strikes on the general public ahead of the festive season.