Britain is bracing for a week of chaos with the biggest rail strike in a generation – and now other trade unions are threatening walkouts this summer which could see action from teachers, NHS staff, barristers, postmen and more.
With services slashed to 20 per cent of their normal frequency, some locations have been cut off entirely and passengers warned not to travel unless their journeys are absolutely necessary, with the national network likely to be paralysed by walkouts.
Up to 1.5million workers are being balloted over strike action on a level not seen since the Winter of Discontent in the late 1970s.
Sir Keir Starmer yesterday again failed to condemn rail strikes that will cause chaos this week and cost businesses hundreds of millions of pounds.
‘The plan by unions to bring Britain to a standstill by holding strikes across swathes of the economy and our public services is deeply selfish,’ said Tory party chairman Oliver Dowden.
‘Hard-pressed families and businesses will suffer extra costs and disruption caused by these unnecessary strikes.’
Lord Blunkett, the Labour former home secretary, urged union bosses to ‘stop pretending they are in the 1970s or 1980s’.
Last night, senior rail sources said that agency workers are not going to be the ‘silver bullet’ many are hoping for to help stop the disruptive strikes.
The rail and Tube strikes are likely to cost the economy at least £91million in staff absences alone, according to analysis by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). They calculated that 0.8 per cent of staff – more than 250,000 people – will not be able to get to work.
They said that while the industry would welcome plans for agency workers to cover gaps in the workforce, it would ‘only prove useful’ in the ‘less skilled parts’ of railway companies.
The source told The Times: ‘It takes a year to train someone as a signaller. In the same way you can’t just put an agency worker in the cab of a train, it’s not a silver bullet by any measure.’
Two teaching unions with a combined membership of around 750,000 yesterday became the latest to warn of walkouts unless salaries go up.
And half a million Health Service staff could strike over their pay offer.
Commuters will not be the only ones facing chaos this week, as doctors, nurses, workers in the civil service and local governments, postal workers, traffic wardens and BT engineers are said to be considering joining strike ballots.
RMT union boss Mick Lynch yesterday suggested the rail strikes could stretch into the autumn, warning: ‘There are going to be many unions balloting across the country, because people can’t take it anymore.’
Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith said Labour’s failure to condemn the strikes showed it was in hock to the unions.
He added: ‘Now they want to take us back to the 1970s and bring this country to a standstill. Many people still remember the Winter of Discontent, 25 per cent inflation, sky-high interest rates, IMF bailouts, three-day weeks and rubbish on the streets.
‘We must tackle this head on and show that the British people will not be held to ransom.’
The NASUWT teaching union said yesterday that its 300,000 members would be balloted unless the Government backed demands for a 12 per cent pay rise.
General secretary Patrick Roach said Britain faced an ‘existential emergency for the future of the teaching profession’ because of the cost-of-living crisis coupled with ‘real-terms pay cuts’.
He added: ‘The Government wrongly assumed teachers would simply stand by as they erode pay and strip our education system to the bone. If a pay rise is not awarded, it will be won by our members in workplaces through industrial action.’
The National Education Union will also prepare to ballot its 460,000 members – ranging from teachers and lecturers to support staff – unless an acceptable pay rise is offered in line with inflation.
Lord Blunkett, the Labour former home secretary, urged union bosses to ‘stop pretending they are in the 1970s or 1980s’.
Last night, senior rail sources said that agency workers are not going to be the ‘silver bullet’ many are hoping for to help stop the disruptive strikes.
The rail and Tube strikes are likely to cost the economy at least £91million in staff absences alone, according to analysis by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR). They calculated that 0.8 per cent of staff – more than 250,000 people – will not be able to get to work.
They said that while the industry would welcome plans for agency workers to cover gaps in the workforce, it would ‘only prove useful’ in the ‘less skilled parts’ of railway companies.
The source told The Times: ‘It takes a year to train someone as a signaller. In the same way you can’t just put an agency worker in the cab of a train, it’s not a silver bullet by any measure.’
Two teaching unions with a combined membership of around 750,000 yesterday became the latest to warn of walkouts unless salaries go up.
And half a million Health Service staff could strike over their pay offer.
Commuters will not be the only ones facing chaos this week, as doctors, nurses, workers in the civil service and local governments, postal workers, traffic wardens and BT engineers are said to be considering joining strike ballots.