Railway and postal staff, dockers too. Britain’s workers are striking in vast numbers as decades-high inflation erodes the value of wages.
“We will continue to do whatever is necessary to defend jobs, pay and conditions during this cost-of-living crisis,” Sharon Graham, head of major union Unite, said this week. “Wages are not driving inflation,” she insisted ahead of the latest UK inflation data that showed rocketing food prices were the main factor behind last month’s spike.
More than 115 000 British postal workers plan a four-day strike from the end of this month. Telecoms giant BT is facing its first stoppage in 35 years and walkouts have recently taken place or are planned by Amazon warehouse staff, criminal lawyers and refuse collectors.