As the Christmas season rolls in, many people will be preparing for the big day by visiting family, finishing up work or school, or ordering presents online for various loved ones.
However, every single one of these activities will be impacted by some form of strike action over the festive period, and well into the New Year. Teachers, rail staff and Royal Mail workers are all planning on taking industrial action over the next couple of months, in various disputes over pay, working conditions and staff shortages.
So, what will be affected by various unions strike action? Here are all the details.
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Royal Mail strike action
Royal Mail workers are to launch a fresh wave of strikes throughout December, with heavy disruption expected in the lead up to Christmas 2022.
The walkouts have been organised by the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) amid a dispute with the company over pay and working conditions. Various offers have been rejected by the CWU, as CEO Simon Thompson continues to work on a plan to solve the current staffing issue.
A total of ten days of action were planned, with 115,000 CWU members staging a walk out. Two of the dates fell in November, and the rest are in December.
The upcoming strike action dates are as follows:
- Friday, December 9
- Sunday, December 11
- Wednesday ,December 14
- Thursday, December 15
- Friday, December 23
- Saturday, December 24 - Christmas Eve
Teachers and learning staff strike action
Industrial action by members of EIS last week led to the closure of almost every school in Scotland. The latest pay offer from the Scottish government was formally rejected on Wednesday.
Teachers' unions were being offered a rise of between 5 per cent and 6.85 per cent but they want ten per cent. On Thursday, December 8, around ten per cent of teachers in the Edinburgh area are expected to strike. Some secondary schools will be closed or partially closed. More information will be provided to parents by their schools as soon as possible.
According to the East Lothian Council, on the same day, all secondary schools will be closed to S1-S3 students. One will be closed to all students. The other four will be open to some senior students but the details vary between schools.
Rail staff strike action
More rail disruption is expected across Edinburgh and the rest of the country throughout December, with the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) confirming 48-hour action recently.
More than 40,000 members of RMT, across 14 train operating companies, are set to take part in the strikes. The strikes not only include conductors and drivers, but signalling staff too.
These particular strikes do no actually involve ScotRail staff, but there will still be a crucial impact to important lines running throughout Edinburgh on strike days.
The dates announced by RMT are as follows:
- December 13
- December 14
- December 16
- December 17
There is also to be an overtime ban across the railways from December 18 until January 2 2023, meaning the union will be taking industrial action for four weeks.
The ScotRail website will provide all the latest information on how the strikes will affect services running from Edinburgh and into the city.
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