UK’s National Rail Strike Shuts Most Services, Causes Travel Chaos

By Staff, Agencies

Disruptions to Britain’s transport system are expected to stretch into the weekend with train workers seeking to keep their jobs and earn higher wages stage yet another nationwide strike.

The latest walkout on Saturday comes a day after London’s subway network came to a virtual halt as its workers went on strike following an earlier work stoppage by train staff on Thursday.

No sign of progress toward a resolution of the rail disputes has so far been reported amid fears that they will continue to persist, further undermining the country’s declining economy.

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers -- which organized the train and Tube strikes – as well as the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association has blamed Britain’s Transport Secretary Grant Shapps for blocking a deal to resolve issues shared by the rail workers.

Shapps, in turn, accused union chiefs of failing to come up with settlement offers to members, insisting in a televised interview on Friday that “it’s time for the union bosses to get out of the way and put the deals on the table.”

Only about 20 percent of Britain’s rail network will be open on Saturday, with a few of the services expected to operate between 7:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., local news outlets reported, citing Network Rail, which manages stations and tracks across the country. More disruptions are expected on Sunday as a knock-on effect from the walkout, the group said on its website.

The labor strikes also come against a deteriorating economic backdrop, with inflation at a four-decade high driving up the cost of everything from food to energy and clothing. The Bank of England expects price hikes to surpass the 13-percent mark in the coming months, while actual wages are declining at a record pace.

UK’s labor unrest, meanwhile, has spilled over into other British industries as well. Nearly 115,000 Royal Mail Plc postal workers plan to start a series of strikes on August 26. Lawyers have also staged walkouts across England and Wales and even nurses are planning to hold a strike vote.

Britain’s rail industry has been hit particularly hard. Despite the surging inflation, the government is pushing companies to scale back costs to reflect lower ridership following the COVID crisis.

Further transport turmoil is expected on Sunday, when dockworkers at Felixstowe, the largest UK container port, are due to begin an eight-day strike.