The biggest disruptions during Wednesday’s one-day strike will be in schools and for commuters, as teachers and train drivers stop work in large numbers.
At the center of the dispute is inflation, which recently peaked above 11 percent, the highest level in four decades. The employees demand to be compensated for this, while the employers and authorities say that it will be difficult.
— I would love, nothing would make me happier, to be able to wave a magic wand so that you all got paid much better, says Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Everyone must help, he believes.
— An important part of fighting inflation, and halving it, is to ensure that the government acts responsibly in its borrowing. If it accelerates beyond control, it gets worse.
The workers object that much of the crisis is self-inflicted by crony and greedy authorities and corporations. Many are also suffering from “bregret”, a slang term for regret over Britain leaving the EU almost to the day three years ago.
About half of voters never wanted to leave the EU, and therefore see that decision as a major reason for many of the country’s current problems.
As it stands now, the strikes look set to continue. In the last six months for which statistics are available, June to November last year, 1.6 million individual working days were lost to strikes in the UK, according to the ONS – the highest figure for more than 30 years.