No end to crisis as strikes set to continue

LONDON: The worst wave of strike action to grip Britain in decades could persist deep into 2023 with no side willing to back down, a union leader said on Thursday, underlining the scale of the challenge facing Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

A day after Mr Sunak pledged to tackle the country’s problems, rail workers again took to picket lines as part of a week-long strike that has paralysed the network, while daily reports document the mounting pressure on hospitals, where patients routinely wait for hours and ambulances queue in car parks.

The worst bout of worker unrest since Margaret Thatcher was in power in the 1980s, combined with the return of double-digit inflation, has produced a sense of malaise in Britain, where living standards are falling at their sharpest rate since records began in the 1950s.

Mick Whelan, head of the train drivers’ union Aslef, said it had now become difficult for the government to agree higher pay deals when so many workers across so many sectors were involved.

“Nobody wants to resolve anything because of the impact we’ll have elsewhere,” he said at a largely deserted Euston train station in north London during the morning commute.

“We’ve got so many people out on strike, and so many people suffering, only the government can change it, or a change of government ... We’re in it for the long haul.”

Nurses, paramedics, border force staff and postal workers have also taken strike action, angered by inflation that is at 40-year highs and touched 10.7% in November.