Teachers, doctors and postal workers threaten strikes as inflation rate hits 9.1%

The UK faces the growing prospect of a “summer of discontent” as unions threaten strike action unless workers are given pay rises in line with soaring inflation.

Rail workers launched the biggest national strike in a generation on Tuesday, which saw 80 per cent of train services grind to a halt across the country.

Disruption will continue this week unless the RMT union strikes a deal with Network Rail in a dispute over pay, job security and working conditions.

The RMT has rejected a pay offer of 3 per cent and is instead pushing for wage increases for rail workers of at least 7 per cent.

But ministers argue that buckling to unions’ demands over wages would lead to 70s-style inflation and send prices up even further.

Inflation hit a 40-year record of 9.1 per cent this morning, driven by soaring food costs and petrol prices.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said May’s inflation rate increase was “largely driven by food and non-alcoholic beverages, transport and housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels”.

It prompted the UK’s largest teaching union to threaten strike action unless the Government agrees to an “inflation-plus” pay increase for teachers.

Here i takes a look at what industries could strike next:

Teachers

There is growing expectation that teachers will go on strike later this year unless they are awarded pay rises in line with inflation.

Unions argue that teachers’ pay has fallen by a fifth in real terms since 2010 and that the profession faces a recruitment and retention crisis which is being fuelled by low salaries.

i revealed on Tuesday that the National Education Union (NEU) will ballot members on industrial action after the summer holidays if the Government does not agree to pay rises in line with inflation for teaching staff.

In a letter seen by i, the leaders of the NEU warned Nadhim Zahawi, the education secretary, that “failing sufficient action by you, in the autumn term, we will consult our members on their willingness to take industrial action. And we will be strongly encouraging them to vote yes.”

The letter, written by Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, the joint general secretaries of the NEU, was timed to coincide with this morning’s announcement that inflation has now hit 9.1 per cent.

It said there has been an “alarming decline” in teachers’ pay compared to average wages, which is now feeding through to teacher recruitment and retention.

About a third of teachers are leaving the profession after five years on current pay levels, according to the NEU.

The National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT) said it would also pursue strike action if ministers do not meet its demands for a 12 per cent pay rise – above the Bank of England’s projection for inflation to hit 11 per cent later this year.

Collectively, the NEU and NASUWT represent around 750,000 teaching staff across the UK. The figure eclipses the total number of full-time teachers in Britain, which stands at around 625,000, according to the British Educational Suppliers Association (Besa).

Both unions will also ballot supply teachers if they decide to proceed with plans for industrial action in the autumn, potentially spelling chaos for schools.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) have also refused to rule out strike action if the Government ignores calls for pay rises in line with inflation.

NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman toldi: “There is no doubt that pay is now front and centre for the whole profession. The Government has a clear choice to make. Like many other public sector workers, teachers and school leaders have endured years of austerity and falling living standards.”

Royal Mail

Royal Mail staff could be among the next group of workers to strike for higher pay, after their trade union announced it would launch a ballot over a potential walkout later this year.

More than 115,000 postal workers will have the chance to vote in the coming weeks on whether to take industrial action, after the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) informed Royal Mail that it would ballot staff.

Ballot papers will be sent out on 28 June, with the result announced on 19 July.

The CWU is seeking a pay rise for its members in line with inflation and says any pay deal must come with no strings attached.

The CWU’s deputy general secretary, Terry Pullinger, accused Royal Mail’s management of deciding to impose a pay increase of just 2 per cent on workers, while inflation hit 9.1 per cent this morning.

“Their conduct, and particularly the imposition of such an aggressive pay offer, has eroded trust among loyal employees,” Mr Pullinger said.

Royal Mail boss Simon Thompson said last week that the company has offered CWU members a 5.5 per cent pay rise, which would see postal workers given a further 3.5 per cent pay rise on top of the 2 per cent they have already been given.

He suggested that the remainder was conditional on the union accepting the company’s need to modernise as it aims to become a parcels-focused business due to the gradual decline in letter volumes.

Barristers

Barristers will go on strike next week after members of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) voted overwhelmingly in favour of industrial action.

More than 80 per cent of lawyers balloted by the CBA backed a four-week strike programme in a dispute over legal aid rates for defence lawyers.

Barristers have called on the Ministry of Justice to hike legal aid rates in criminal cases, which they say are so low that many junior lawyers can earn less than the minimum wage when their expenses are taken into account.

They will strike on Monday and Tuesday next week and then for three days in each of the following three weeks.

The industrial action will see lawyers form picket lines at the Old Bailey and at five other large courts around the country, with criminal trials across England and Wales expected to grind to a halt.

NHS staff

Strikes could also spread to the NHS workforce later this year if demands are ignored for pay rises in line with inflation.

The NHS Pay Review Body will soon set out recommendations on pay increases for nurses and other healthcare employees in England, after which the Government will announce its pay award for NHS staff.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) told i it will then ask its members “whether they feel the award is adequate and what further action they might wish to take”.

The RCN has asked for a pay rise of five per cent above inflation, stating that “pay is a crucial factor in recruiting and retaining the nursing workforce”.

Its most recent survey showed that more than 80 per cent of shifts faced staff shortages, which the RCN said “put patient care at risk”.

Meanwhile, junior doctors are seeking a “restorative” pay rise of 22 per cent, intended to make up a real-terms drop in pay of that amount since 2010 – averaging about £10,000 a year.

The British Medical Association (BMA) said it will launch strike action if junior doctors’ demands are not met.

Dr Sarah Hallett and Dr Mike Kemp, BMA junior doctors committee co-chairs, said: “No junior doctor wants to feel that industrial action is their only option, but increasingly we are facing little choice.

“For two years junior doctors have endured unbearable conditions, with many putting their lives on the line to care for patients, often under the most intolerable circumstances. The response from the Government has been to simply ignore these sacrifices.”

Care workers and other staff employed by the Bristol-based firm St Monica Trust are to strike over a plan to force a pay cut on them.

However, a wider strike by care staff is unlikely as the sector is generally not unionised, and it is particularly difficult for low-paid or zero-hours contract workers to take industrial action.

Civil servants

The Public and Commercial Services union is preparing to ballot its civil service membership on industrial action later this year over 2022-23 pay proposals.

It is calling for a national pay rise of 10 per cent – a stark contrast to Government guidance which has proposed average departmental pay increases for civil servants of about 2 per cent.

Civil servants are also reeling from the Prime Minister’s move to cut 91,000 jobs, returning it to 2016 staffing levels.

Local authority workers

The Unite and Unison trade unions have put forward a joint submission to the LOcal Government Association demanding a pay rise for 1.4 million council workers of either £2,000 or keeping wages in line with retail price index inflation, currently at 11.1 per cent.

This would affect workers in waste collection, repairs, and passenger services for children with special needs.