Big wave of strikes sweeps UK amid talks

LONDON — U.K. government ministers met trade union leaders Monday but fell short of ending a wave of strikes that has hobbled the rail network and strained the overburdened health system.

There were small signs of progress but no breakthrough after a meeting between Health Secretary Steve Barclay and health care unions. Other ministers met with railway unions that have staged months of strikes and teaching unions considering classroom walkouts.

Barclay said the talks had made progress, and the government wanted “to work constructively with the trade unions.”

“There was definitely a change of tone today,” said Sarah Gorton of UNISON, which represents some health workers.

But Onay Kasab, negotiator for the Unite union, said the talks had been a “missed opportunity.”

Unions said strikes by nurses and ambulance staff planned for this month would go ahead.

Nurses are due to walk out Wednesday, and ambulance workers next week, while junior doctors are voting on whether to strike later this year.

Britain is going through its biggest strike wave for decades, with airport baggage handlers, border staff, driving instructors, bus drivers and postal workers among those who have walked off their jobs to demand higher pay.

Nurses and ambulance workers are locked in a dispute with the statefunded National Health Service as they seek raises to keep pace with the soaring cost of living. Inflation in the U.K. hit a 41-year high of 11.1% late last year.

The government says double-digit raises would drive inflation even higher.