Railroad strike disrupts transit

Workers, vacationers and sports fans faced travel disruption in Britain as thousands of train drivers walked off the job Saturday, the latest strike in an increasingly bitter labor dispute on the nation’s railways.

About 5,000 drivers staged a 24-hour strike against seven train companies across England. It came on the second full day of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the first day of the new English soccer season.

The drivers’ walkout followed four daylong strikes since June by railway cleaners, signalers, maintenance workers and station staff in a dispute over pay, jobs and working

conditions.

Unions are fighting for substantial pay increases to cope with inflation of more than 9%. Train companies are seeking to cut costs and staffing after two pandemic-hit years in which emergency government funding kept them afloat.