Thousands of teachers, nurses, train drivers and ambulance workers will walk out in February and March as pay disputes remain unresolved in the U.K.
Many unions have announced new strike dates during the week as they continue to resist "unacceptable" pay offers.
The National Education Union (NEU), the U.K.'s largest education union, said Monday that tens of thousands of teachers across England and Wales will walk out in February and March.
On Feb. 1, all union members in England and Wales; on Feb. 14 all union members in Wales; and on Feb. 28, all members in the Northern, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber regions are scheduled to walk out.
Also, on March 1, all member teachers in the East Midlands, West Midlands and Eastern regions; on March 2 all members in the London, South East and South West regions; and on March 15 and 16 all members in England and Wales will go on strike.
Nurses who already held a two-day strike action on Wednesday and Thursday will also walk out in England and Wales after talks for better pay broke down.
If there is no progress in talks with the U.K. and Wales governments by the end of January, there will be strikes on Feb. 6-7, announced the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) union on Monday.
There were also strikes by nurses in England, Northern Ireland and Wales last month.
On Tuesday, the Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen (ASLEF) union announced that train drivers in Britain will stage walkouts on Feb. 1 and Feb. 3
Mick Whelan, general secretary of ASLEF, said that union members at these 15 companies have not had a wage hike since 2019. “It is time the companies – encouraged, perhaps, by the government – sat down with us and got serious,” he added.
Thousands of ambulance workers across Britain will stage more strikes in February and March, announced the GMB, a general trade union in the country, on Wednesday.
More than 10,000 paramedics, emergency care assistants, call handlers and other ambulance staff, at eight National Health Service (NHS) trusts will go on strike on Feb. 6, Feb. 20, March 6 and March 20.
As the U.K.'s pay dispute continues, the Unite’s ambulance workers will also walk out next Monday and threatened additional walkouts unless a resolution is reached.
Feb. 6 is expected to witness the largest strike in NHS history as both ambulance workers and nurses will jointly hold a strike action.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the government said on Wednesday that they do not want to see strikes go ahead but reiterated the government's negative stance on "inflation-boosting pay rises."
"We've been clear that what we can't do is agree to inflation-boosting pay rises or double-digit pay rises," added the spokesperson at a briefing for members of the foreign press in London.
