UK faces national railway strike as last-ditch talks fail
PBS NewsHourMAR 17 2022
This is a battle of attrition. Unions are attempting to stir up a class war and will knock between 0.3-0.4% off UK GDP in the process. Laws regulating union action in Britain must be strengthened to protect innocent citizens from future disruption in all public sector services.
Unions are reacting to the government's strategy of degrading the rail service, making it less reliable and harder to use, until it can be closed entirely. Most rail workers currently make below the national median wage, and while the cost of living continues to soar, growing profit margins for Britain's biggest listed companies are still being swallowed-up by corporations rather than passed onto workers. The Labour Party must do more to support union strikes.
Both the UK government and the unions are to blame. Intransigence on the side of workers' representatives and irresponsibility on the side of Johnson's officials has created chaos for ordinary people.