UK rail workers strike as prelude to wave of walkouts

Train passengers in the UK faced mass cancellations and delays on Tuesday as thousands of rail workers launched a two-day strike in protest at real-term pay cuts amid soaring inflation.

The rail strikes come with Britain bracing for industrial action across the public sector on a scale not seen for decades, as energy and food price rises eat into people's standard of living.

What the rail strike is about

The stoppages on Tuesday and Wednesday come after unions rejected the latest offer on pay from railway infrastructure body Network Rail, as well as smaller train operating companies, saying the deal was linked to job cuts.

Trains are only running from 7:30 a.m. (0730 GMT/UTC) to 6:30 p.m. on the days of the strike, with roughly one in five services expected to run. 

Britain's largest rail union, the Rail, Maritime and Transport workers' union (RMT), has scheduled further strikes over Christmas and in early January. The union had already staged some of the biggest strikes to affect the industry in decades earlier in the year.

The UK government denies that it blocked a possible deal to call off the strikes by preventing the industry from offering unions higher pay deals, adding tough new conditions at the last minute. The 14 train-operating companies had reportedly offered a 10% rise over two years but were allegedly blocked by the government, which oversees industry finances.

Instead, the RMT is being offered a lower 8% two-year hike tied to job losses and longer working hours.

What the sides are saying

RMT leader Mick Lynch argued that his members enjoyed public support and blamed the government for the stalemate.

"The government is contributing to that spoiling of the people's Christmas because they've brought these strikes on by stopping the companies from making suitable proposals,'' said Lynch.

Network Rail head Andrew Haines has said he was pessimistic about the likelihood of any breakthrough.

 "I'd have to say that with the level of disruption the RMT are imposing, the way forward isn't obvious," he told the BBC.

There will be another walkout by rail workers from Friday, when bus drivers, highway workers and airport baggage handlers will join them.

Several sectors hit by stoppages

Workers from various sectors have gone on strike in recent months as inflation, which reached a 41-year high of 11.1% in October, takes its toll on household budgets.

Nurses are expected to strike for the first time in their history on Thursday after talks between the government and the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), which represents nurses, ended without agreement on Monday. The RCN accused Health Secretary Steve Barclay of "belligerence" and refusing to discuss pay.

Up to 100,000 nurses in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland are set to strike. The action was suspended in devolved Scotland after negotiations between First Minister Nicola Sturgeon led to an offer on which nurses are being consulted.

Border Force staff who check passports at major airports are also set to strike over Christmas, while more than 10,000 ambulance workers are to stage walkouts later this month.

Britain's postal workers are holding a two-day strike from Wednesday.

The rail strike began on the same day official data showed the UK recorded the highest number of working days lost to labor disputes in October for more than 10 years.

Britain's Office for National Statistics said 417,000 working days were lost to strikes in that month.

While some smaller disputes, mostly in the private sector, have been resolved, the UK government has refused to budge on public sector pay, instead saying it wants to toughen laws that would make striking harder for those working in key sectors.

It claims that the pay rises that unions are demanding are unaffordable and, if granted, would only further fuel inflation.

rc/msh (AFP, dpa, Reuters, AP)