Biggest rail strike in three decades brings UK to standstill

Passengers were warned not to travel all week, with two more days of strike action scheduled, as other areas of the public sector are set to hold strikes as well.

Major stations were largely deserted, with only about 20 percent of passenger trains scheduled to run.
Reuters

Major stations were largely deserted, with only about 20 percent of passenger trains scheduled to run.

Tens of thousands of railway workers have walked off the job in the UK, bringing the train network to a crawl in the country’s biggest transit strike for three decades.

On Tuesday, about 40,000 cleaners, signalers, maintenance workers and station staff were holding a 24-hour strike, with two more planned for Thursday and Saturday. 

Compounding the pain for commuters, London Underground subway services were also hit by a walkout.

The dispute centers on pay, working conditions and job security as Britain’s railways struggle to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Major stations were largely deserted on Tuesday morning, with only about 20 percent of passenger trains scheduled to run.

Nurse manager Priya Govender was at London Bridge station, struggling to get back to her home south of the city.

“I definitely will not be able to get a bus because they are packed. I will have to get an Uber,” she said. “My day has been horrible. It is going to be a long day and I still have a full day’s work to do.”

READ MORE: Britons to face biggest rail strike in 30 years after talks fail

A call for 'a sensible compromise'

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said he "deplored" the strikes, which he said evoked the "bad old days of the 1970s".

"The people that are hurting are people who physically need to turn up for work, maybe on lower pay, perhaps the cleaners in hospitals," he told Sky News. "I absolutely deplore what they're doing today and there is no excuse for taking people out on strike."

There were almost 1 billion train journeys in the UK in the year to March. But that is well below pre-Covid-19 levels, and train companies, which were kept afloat with government support during the past two years, are seeking to cut costs and staffing. Last-minute talks on Monday failed to make a breakthrough. 

Other areas of the public sector are also set to hold strikes. The Criminal Bar Association, representing senior lawyers in England and Wales, have voted to strike from next week in a row over legal aid funding.

Teaching staff and workers in the state-run National Health Service are reportedly also mulling strike action.

And several other transport unions are balloting members over possible stoppages that could occur in the coming weeks.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson accused unions of “harming the very people they claim to be helping” and called for “a sensible compromise for the good of the British people and the rail workforce.”

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