The UK's busiest day for industrial action is set to take place today (February 1), causing widespread disruption for many of us.
Up to 500,000 workers will be walking out as disputes over pay and working conditions amid the cost of living crisis continues. Picket lines will be mounted outside schools, train stations, universities and Government departments on Wednesday, and rallies will be held across the country.
Thousands of people are expected to join a march through central London to Westminster for a rally to be addressed by union leaders. It comes at the government's proposed legislation on minimum service levels during strikes returned to the House of Commons on Monday (January 30).
The plans give the government the power to set minimum service levels for health, fire, education, transport, nuclear decommissioning and border security services. The legislation does not set out what those minimum service levels should be, or what they should be based on, but gives ministers the power to impose minimums through secondary legislation, which must be approved by Parliament.
Once the minimum service level has been set, employers will be able to issue a “work notice” to their staff, which will identify the employees required to work during the strike in order to provide that minimum service level. Work notices must be issued at least a week before a strike begins, unless employers and trade unions agree otherwise.
The penalties for ignoring a work notice could be steep, with workers facing the sack and trade unions vulnerable to being sued. The government has said it hopes to pass the Strikes Bill before the end of the year, but the exact timetable remains uncertain.
The Bill is expected to meet significant opposition, especially in the House of Lords, which could delay its passage. It has been dubbed 'the anti-strike bill' by Unions, who argue that the planned legislation would lead to workers being sacked even if they had lawfully voted to strike.
Some legal experts have also expressed concerns about the Bill, with trade unions expected to challenge the legislation in the courts as a breach of the UK’s obligations under international law.
Here is the full list of sectors going on strike on Wednesday and how it will impact services in the UK...
Teachers
Striking this week: Wednesday, February 1
Further strikes confirmed for: Tuesday 14 February (Wales only), Tuesday 28 February (Northern and North West England and Yorkshire & The Humber), Wednesday 1 March (Eastern England, the East Midlands and West Midlands), Thursday 2 March (South East and South West England and London), Wednesday 15 March (England and Wales) and Thursday 16 March (England and Wales)
The National Education Union (NEU) announced a number of strikes in England and Wales in February and March, with the walkout on Wednesday expected to affect over 23,000 schools. The NEU expects 'most schools' will be closed to students next Wednesday, although firm details are yet to be confirmed.
The Manchester Evening News has been told that final decisions on who might be able to attend classes could be made as late as the day of the strike itself.
Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint general secretaries of the NEU, said: “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. Teachers are leaving in droves, a third gone within five years of qualifying. This is a scandalous waste of talent and taxpayers’ money, yet the Government seems unbothered about the conditions they are allowing schools and colleges to slide into.
“The Government must know there is going to have to be a correction on teacher pay. They must realise that school support staff need a pay rise.”
Civil servants
Striking this week: Wednesday February 1
Some 100,000 civil servants across 124 government departments will walk out on Wednesday, including the Home Office, Department for Transport, the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency and the UK Health Security Agency.
PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “We warned ministers that our action would spread if they ignored our demands, and we’re good to our word. In failing to come to the table with any new money, the Government has failed its own workforce – the very people they praised for keeping the country running during the pandemic.
“If the Government was serious about resolving the dispute, ministers could resolve it tomorrow. Instead, they’re shamefully hiding their heads in the sand, hoping we’ll go away. We won’t.
“Wednesday will see the largest action by our union in a decade, with 100,000 of our members all over England, Scotland and Wales telling the Government they demand a pay rise now to help them through the cost-of-living crisis and beyond.”
University staff
Striking this week: Wednesday, February 1
Further strikes confirmed for: Thursday 9 and Friday 10 February, Tuesday 14, Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 February, Tuesday 21, Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 February, Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 February and Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 March, Thursday 16 and Friday 17 March and Monday 20, Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 March.
150 universities will be impacted when 70,000 staff from the University and College Union (UCU) walk out on Wednesday over pay and working conditions dispute and the USS pensions dispute. It will be the biggest series of strikes ever to hit UK university campuses.
Universities in Bolton, Salford and Manchester will be affected. The University of Manchester said it will remain open on strike days, adding: "It's our aim that all our campus spaces remain open and that activities, events and services run as normal. However, we anticipate there will be some disruption".
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “In negotiations, employers have produced a further revised offer. This is welcome and a testament to the effective strike action our union has delivered. However, it is immediately clear this offer will do little to protect our members in a cost-of-living crisis, nor is it at the limit of what a sector with over £40bn in reserves can afford.
“The offer is another devastating real-terms pay cut for tens of thousands of our members, following over a decade of below-inflation pay awards. A much-improved offer on pay needs to be made alongside serious commitments to end the sector’s reliance on insecure contracts and alleviate dangerously high workloads.
“We remain in dispute but determined to reach a negotiated settlement. There is more than enough time for employers to find a way forward that avoids widespread disruption.”
Rail workers
Striking this week: Wednesday February 1 and Friday February 3.
Train services nationally will once again be disrupted as the members of two unions, RMT and ASLEF, walk out on Wednesday and Friday. A recent offer of a 4% pay rise for last year and another 4% this year was rejected, with the unions arguing that conditions attached to the prosed deal, such as compulsory Sunday working, were never going to be accepted.
Aslef argues that more train drivers should be employed, but claims rail operators find it cheaper to pay staff overtime to work on Sundays.
15 trains companies have confirmed that they won't be running any services on strike days, while a further three have said they will run amended services.
No services will be running on the following:
- Avanti West Coast
- Chiltern Railways
- CrossCountry
- East Midlands Railway
- Gatwick Express
- Great Northern
- Heathrow Express
- London Northwestern Railway
- Northern
- Southeastern
- Southern
- Thameslink, South Western Railway Island Line services
- TransPennine Express
- West Midlands Railway
Meanwhile Greater Anglia (including Stansted Express), Great Western Railway and LNER will be running reduced services.
National Rail has warned passengers to expect disruption and to double check journeys before travelling. Further disruption is also expected the days before and after the industrial action.
London bus drivers
Striking this week: Wednesday February 1, Thursday 2 and Friday 3
Around 1,900 members of Unite employed as bus drivers by Abellio in London will walk out on three days this week. Unite said the decision to go ahead with the strikes follows the rejection of two pay offers.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Abellio is an incredibly wealthy company, whose success is based on the hard graft of its workers. It can fully afford to make a fair pay offer which meets our members’ expectations, but it has failed to do so.”
Bus services in the south and west of London will be affected by the industrial action.
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