UK set for biggest strike action in years

LONDON: Up to half a million British teachers, civil servants, train drivers and university lecturers will strike today in the largest coordinated action in a generation which the government says will cause widespread disruption.

The mass walkouts will close schools and put the military on standby to help at Britain’s borders, and no rail services will be running across much of the country.

Union leaders estimate up to 500,000 people will take part, the highest number for at least a decade, and there will be rallies against a planned new law to curb strikes in some sectors, a proposal they argue will poison relations further.

‘‘After years of brutal pay cuts, nurses, teachers and millions of other public servants have seen their living standards decimated — and are set to face more pay misery,’’ Trades Union Congress generalsecretary Paul Nowak said.

‘‘Instead of scheming up new ways to attack the right to strike, ministers should get pay rising across the economy, starting with a decent pay rise for workers across the public sector.’’

The government said ‘‘mitigations’’ would be in place but the strikes would have a significant impact.

‘‘We are up front that this will disrupt people’s lives, and that is why we think that negotiations rather than picket lines are the right approach,’’ Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokesman said.

With inflation running at more than 10% — the highest level in four decades — Britain has seen a wave of strikes from health and transport workers to Amazon warehouse employees and Royal Mail postal staff.

They are demanding aboveinflation pay rises to cover rocketing food and energy bills that they say has left them stressed, feeling undervalued and struggling to make ends meet.

Next week, nurses, ambulance staff, paramedics, emergency call handlers and other healthcare workers are set to stage more walkouts, while firefighters this week also backed a nationwide strike.