The The United Kingdom is mired in an unprecedented labor strike that marked its peak this Wednesday after a day of protests that paralyzed a good part of the country.
More than half a million teachers, civil servants, train drivers and university professors participated this February 1 in the largest march that the British territory has experienced in the last decade.
The streets of London and other cities – such as Bristol, Brighton and Birmingham – became human rivers that repeated harangues demanding wage increases and improvements in working conditions, two aspects that portray the serious economic crisis in the United Kingdom.
The country currently has inflation of 10.5 percent, the highest in four decades, and productivity of just 0.6 percent, figures that agree with the experts who point out that a possible recession seems increasingly palpable for this 2023.
However, the British labor dispute is just one edge of the problems facing the government of British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, 42, who took office in October last year.
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The president took the reins amid the economic rout unleashed by the failed budget plan of tax cuts without a financial base proposed by his predecessor Liz Truss, who was in office for just six weeks.
Nowthe high cost of living crisis hitting the UK has meant that workers are seeing their earnings fall by more than £6,600 a year, something that has led the British to the streets to ask for wage increases.
According to analysts, the current situation has its origin in the weakness that caused the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, better known as Brexit, the process of which was completed three years ago, on January 31, 2020. .
The British have been affected by the red tape and bureaucracy in trade with the community bloc. In addition, British industry has suffered from the shortage of labor that came from the old continent. Added to this was the economic effect of the coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
(You can read: United Kingdom: Sunak defends Brexit against criticism from businessmen)
We believe negotiations, rather than picket lines, are the right approach.
This situation has caused the prices of basic products such as milk, bread and pasta have risen individually by more than 50 percent due to the rise in imported raw materials from Ukraine. Additionally, electricity and water bills have risen from £1,700 in April 2022 to over £2,800 last October.
The consumer price index, which measures these increases, reflects a 10.5 percent increase in inflation as of last December, the highest for 40 years and well above the 2 percent target set by the Bank. of England, the issuing entity, fixed to keep British finances healthy.
The Sunak government appears to be sticking to the issuer’s recommendation not to succumb to demands for wage increases to prevent further escalation of inflation. That would explain why the leader of Britain’s ruling Conservative party since 2010 has tried to stay out of the labor dispute.
Instead, the ruler is more intent on trying to restore public accounts and thereby cling to power in general elections scheduled for mid-2024 that he could lose to the opposition Labor party. According to polls, the opposition exceeds the intention to vote by 25 percent.
Labor complaints have led the country to eight months of strikes in strategic sectors such as transportation, health, the postal service, state workers and even border control officials.
But Wednesday’s union action, considered the most serious yet seen, left 80 percent of schools and universities in England and Wales closed, while rail services were interrupted in much of the country. The situation also forced the military to be on standby to help at UK borders as border control workers at airports and ports also joined the protest.
In addition to better wages and pay conditions, this Wednesday was a protest against a new law planned to curb strikes in some sectors, a proposal they argue will further poison relations between the government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the unions.
After the general demonstration, unions and the government seemed distanced in their positions. The prime minister appealed to the opposition Labor party to condemn the strikes.
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“It is clear the disruption caused to people’s lives, and that is why we believe that negotiations, rather than picket lines, are the right approach,” Sunak’s spokesman said.
What is certain is that the union demand goes through wage increases above inflation to cover the increases in food and energy bills that, according to them, have left them stressed, feeling undervalued and struggling to make ends meet.
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The day of protests will now be followed next week by new strikes by nurses, ambulance personnel, paramedics, emergency call handlers and other healthcare workers, while firefighters also backed the nationwide strike.
Analysts agree that the current climate of economic, union and political tension could continue to worsen as the electoral period approaches, where the prime minister and his Conservative party have a lot to work on if they want to stay in power.
MARIA VICTORIA CRISTANCHO
FOR THE TIME
LONDON
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