Several key sectors will grind to a halt this month as unhappy workers walk out in a united pursuit of better pay and conditions.
Rail workers, street cleaners, nurses, emergency services staff, dock workers, civil servants, and teachers and lecturers are just some of those who have taken industrial action in recent months due to stagnent wages, rising food costs, massive energy bills and the soaring overall cost of living.
READ MORE: Schools strike live as thousands of Merseyside teachers walk out
Here are all the workers going on strike in February.
Train drivers and railway workers
Train drivers from Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) and railway staff from the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) will go on strike tomorrow, February 3, after a 4% pay rise offer was rejected by union bosses.
ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan said: "Not only is the offer a real-terms pay cut, with inflation running north of 10%, but it came with so many conditions attached that it was clearly unacceptable. They want to rip up our terms and conditions in return for a real-terms pay cut."
The action will affect trains run by Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway, Greater Anglia, GTR Great Northern Thameslink, London North Eastern Railway, Northern Trains, Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, South Western Railway, SWR Island Line, TransPennine Express, and West Midlands Trains.
NHS nurses
Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) made history in December when they went on strike for the first time to demand a pay rise 5% above the rate of inflation, improved patient safety, and greater respect for the skills and responsibilities of nursing staff.
They will return to the picket line on February 6 and 7 at 73 different NHS Trusts across England, including Liverpool, Wirral, St Helens and Knowsley, Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, Liverpool Women’s Hospital, Alder Hey Children’s Hospital and The Walton Centre.
Denise Kelly, chair of the RCN Trade Union Committee, said: "I recognise from personal experience how daunting industrial action might feel. This will never be something we take lightly. But we also cannot sit back and watch the quality of our patients' care deteriorate further."
She added that "keeping the public safe during industrial action is paramount", with the "safest minimum staffing levels" being negotiated in affected hospitals.
Ambulance service staff
Thousands of ambulance staff in London, Yorkshire, the South West, North East and North West will join nurses on strike on February 6, and will also strike on February 10, with only life-threatening 999 calls being guaranteed a response on those days.
UNISON warned strikes could continue into March unless an improved pay offer was made.
UNISON head of health Sara Gorton said: “Ministers must stop fobbing the public off with promises of a better NHS, while not lifting a finger to solve the staffing emergency staring them in the face.
“The government’s tactics seem to be to dig in, wait months for the pay review body report and hope the dispute goes away. It won’t. And in the meantime, staff will carry on quitting, and patients being let down. There can be no health service without the staff to run it. Ministers must open proper talks to end the dispute and put in place the urgent retention plan needed to boost pay and staffing across the NHS.”
NHS physiotherapists
More than 4,200 physiotherapists employed by 33 NHS trusts in England will take action on February 9 as part of an ongoing dispute over pay and staff retention. Physios on all seven Welsh health boards will also strike, on February 7.
This follows a previous strike on January 26, which affected 30 hospitals, including Alder Hey Children's Hospital and Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.
Claire Sullivan, director of The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, said: "We know taking strike action is an absolute last resort for CSP members, but NHS staff not only deserve better pay but also desperately need it during this cost of living crisis. This dispute will protect patient services both now and into the future, and it’s essential that the government comes up with an improved offer to avert further strikes and demonstrate they understand the scale of the problem."
Midwives in Wales
Members of the Royal College of Midwives employed by NHS services in Wales will take action on February 7 following an "insulting" 4% pay offer.
Julie Richards, the RCM Director for Wales, said: “There is a growing crisis in Welsh maternity services. We are losing midwives because they simply cannot sustain the incredible effort they are having to make to ensure services are safe. They have also seen a decade and more of pay freezes and pay stagnation watching their pay packets significantly shrink with real terms pay cuts. To offer them a pay deal well below half of the rate of inflation is simply an insult that does a massive disservice to our maternity staff."
University and college staff
Around 70,000 members of the University and College Union (UCU) will strike for 11 days this month, starting yesterday, February 1. Further walk-outs will take place on February 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 21, 22 and 23, and will continue into March in what will be the biggest series of strikes ever to hit UK university campuses.
The UCU is demanding a pay rise to deal with the cost-of-living crisis and an end to the use of insecure contracts. They have also demanded employers revoke last year's pension cuts, which they say will see the average member lose 35% from their guaranteed future retirement income.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: "The university sector in the UK has over £40bn sitting in reserves, but instead of using that vast wealth to deliver a cost-of-living pay rise and reverse devastating pension cuts, university vice-chancellors would rather force staff to take strike action and see campuses shut down.
"There is a clear route out of these disputes, but at present vice-chancellors lack the political will to take it. They are failing staff who want to get back to work, and students who want to get on with their studies."
Teachers
More than 100,000 teachers from 23,000 schools in England and Wales could walk out this month in a fight for better wages to "correct historic real-terms pay cuts".
Members of the National Education Union in all English and Welsh schools took action yesterday, February 1. Further strikes will take place in Wales on February 14, and in the North, North West, Yorkshire and Humber on February 28.
Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint General Secretaries of the NEU, said: "We have continually raised our concerns with successive education secretaries about teacher and support staff pay and its funding in schools and colleges, but instead of seeking to resolve the issue they have sat on their hands. It is disappointing that the Government prefers to talk about yet more draconian anti-strike legislation, rather than work with us to address the causes of strike action.
"This is not about a pay rise but correcting historic real-terms pay cuts. Teachers have lost 23% in real-terms since 2010, and support staff 27% over the same period. The average 5% pay rise for teachers this year is some 7% behind inflation. In the midst of a cost of living crisis, that is an unsustainable situation."
London bus drivers
London bus drivers employed by Abellio took industrial action on January 19, 25 and 26, and returned to the picket line yesterday, February 1 in their fight for better pay.
They will continue to strike today, February 2, and tomorrow, February 3, predominantly affecting bus routes in west and south London.
Unite the Union general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘Abellio is a vastly wealthy multinational company that could and should be paying its workers a fair pay increase. With workers struggling to cope with rampant inflation, Abellio’s failure to even enter into meaningful pay talks is cold-hearted and callous."
Abellio London’s managing director Jon Eardley said in a statement: ‘We urge Unite to recognise Abellio’s 12 percent pay deal and encourage their members to resume normal services."
London Tube staff
Members of the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) working on London's Bakerloo line will strike on February 4 and February 11 in a dispute over safety.
The union accused Tube managers of a "slap and dash" money-saving plan to allow trains to go into sidings and depots without physical checks to ensure that passengers have left the train.
Finn Brennan, ASLEF’s organiser on the Underground, said: "This puts both passengers and staff at risk. Previous experience had shown that removing physical checks means that thousands of passengers are unwittingly taken into sidings or depots.
"We understand the pressure that London Underground is under to cut costs. But this cannot be at the expense of the safety of passengers and staff."
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