UK strikes: More than just a matter of money
| London
Unlike their neighbors in France, Britons aren鈥檛 exactly famed for going on strike; 鈥渒eep calm and carry on鈥� and 鈥渟tiff upper lips鈥� are more their style.
But a current wave of strikes in Britain, the likes of which have not been seen for nearly half a century, is challenging that image.
The highest inflation rates for 40 years, spiraling energy prices, and the government鈥檚 refusal to meet employees鈥� demands for pay rises to match those increases have created 鈥渁 perfect storm鈥� after years of smoldering discontent, says teacher Rob Poole, who has had to put up with below-inflation pay rises for more than a decade.
Why We Wrote This
A story focused onA highly unusual wave of strikes in Britain suggests that fears of a recession and resentment at lagging pay rises are sharpened by a sense of social injustice.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had 10 years鈥� worth of inflation that hasn鈥檛 been matched by wages,鈥� adds employment lawyer James Conley. 鈥淪taff are so much worse off now that those areas of the workforce that are heavily unionized鈥� such as the public sector 鈥渁re looking to do something.鈥�
The result has been a 鈥渟ummer of discontent,鈥� with rolling strikes disrupting broad areas of the economy. Rail workers brought trains to a halt nationwide again on Saturday, and dock workers at Britain鈥檚 largest port, Felixstowe, launched an eight-day strike over the weekend in support of wage demands.
On Monday, barristers in England and Wales announced they would strike indefinitely from Sept. 5 to back demands for a 25% salary increase.
鈥淲hen they go on strike, you know there鈥檚 a more systemic issue with pay and inflation that crosses professions,鈥� says Mr. Conley.
A sense of injustice
Behind the pay demands lie a decade of cutbacks in public services and social welfare schemes, growing resentment at corporate and political hypocrisy, and a widening gap between rich and poor people. Inequality has risen faster in the United Kingdom than anywhere else in Europe except Estonia, since energy prices began to rise this year, according to the International Monetary Fund.
A sense of injustice underpins the newfound zest for strikes, bringing together ordinary people from myriad jobs and professions, says British-Colombian labor activist Tatiana Garavito. She sees this summer as a watershed moment exposing 鈥渁 growing dissatisfaction in the U.K. with how things are working.鈥澛犅�
After 50 years of relative quiescence, British workers are turning to the kind of industrial action more common in Latin America, she says, where 鈥渢he material realities of people 鈥� are urgent.鈥�
Doctors, nurses, teachers, postal workers, airport baggage handlers, bus drivers, container port staff, and barristers are among a dozen professions going on strike. But it is Britain鈥檚 railway workers, backed by large trade unions, and grinding the rail network to a halt, that have lit the spark that has inspired others.聽
The voice of the summer鈥檚 discontent has belonged to Mick Lynch, the unflappable leader of the transport workers鈥� trade union turned folk hero. His no-nonsense rebuttal of critical journalists and politicians has won wide public admiration, set social media platform TikTok alight, and rekindled public sympathy for trade unions at a time when just 23% of U.K. employees are union members, a record low.聽
Mr. Lynch鈥檚 campaigning has been a boon for the union movement.
鈥淧eople have, for a long time, questioned why they are paying fees to unions,鈥� says Mr. Conley. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a little bit of posturing from unions to assert their dominance, make themselves appear more boisterous and more effective. They鈥檝e clearly struck a nerve.鈥�
Mr. Lynch鈥檚 booming rallying calls against 鈥渁 government of billionaires鈥� have also appealed to disgruntled workers in other professions less accustomed to striking, such as doctors and nurses. Worn down by the pandemic, they have been offered just a 1% pay rise after two years at the negotiating table.
In that time, 鈥済laring differences between the rhetoric of politicians clapping for key workers during the pandemic and the way they have been treated in the workplace鈥� have become apparent, says Mr. Poole, co-founder of a locations.
鈥淩ank hypocrisy鈥�
For Tim Colledge, a physiotherapist working in the state-run National Health Service, 鈥渞ank hypocrisy is politicizing many [of us] who aren鈥檛 usually politically minded.鈥�
Though Britain is no stranger to charges of political hypocrisy, recent instances of rule breaking by officials, including outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have added to a sense of a ruling class that is dodging its responsibilities. And demands for more corporate responsibility have also fueled discontent.
British shipping company P&O Ferries recently fired nearly 800 employees and immediately replaced them with foreign workers on the minimum wage. Oil giant BP recorded its , while energy firms say they are planning to charge consumers this autumn more than twice as much as they paid a year earlier. In August, workers at Amazon鈥檚 biggest U.K. warehouse walked out, rejecting a 35p (42 cents) per hour pay rise.
The summer of discontent reverses a three-decade decline in industrial action. Anti-trade union laws passed between 1980 and 1993 mean that the , which 鈥渕ake actually going on strike difficult,鈥� says Mr. Poole.聽
But a growing 鈥測earning for connections鈥� with climate change and racial and gender-equality movements has spurred more union activism, suggests Ms. Garavito.
Multifaceted solidarity has been a hallmark of past labor movements in Britain, notably before World War I, when major labor strikes coincided with the women鈥檚 suffrage movement.聽
The coal miners鈥� strike of the 1980s, which bitterly divided the country, gained many 鈥渇ervent supporters from many walks of life,鈥� recalls historian Sheila Rowbotham, while Black and South Asian women often joined forces to protest against racial discrimination and gender inequality, as well as workplace conditions.
This summer, though, the overriding factors driving the strikers appear to be economic. 鈥淚t comes down to a genuine fear of recession,鈥� argues Mr. Conley. 鈥淵ou鈥檒l get lots of people made redundant, or having to take a pay cut. There is a general consensus that this is a breaking point, and something has to be done.鈥�
