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A wave of strikes sweeping the country is reaching its peak. Workers across the transport network, NHS, Royal Mail and civil service are all taking industrial action in ongoing rows over pay and conditions.
With wide-ranging protests in the public and private sectors, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last week vowed to bring in “new tough laws” to limit strike action. No details have been released by No 10 on the plans as to exactly what that would mean.
The wave of strikes across the country had been largely driven by rail and mail strikes but as wages continue to drop below inflation more sectors are set to strike into the new year. Strike ballots for teachers and firefighters are due to close in January 2023 and Junior doctors will also vote over strike action next month.
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However, one letter writer into our sister print titles has accused those on strike of trying to cause as much chaos as possible, but in doing so, being ‘mean and selfish’ in ruining Christmas for others.
Read the full letter here:
Here we go again: strikes, strikes and more strikes. It seems that the union ‘barons’ are determined to mess up everyone’s Christmas.
No one denies the right to withdraw their labour but, just as we can almost guarantee that in the summer the French fishermen, farmers or air traffic controllers will do their best to ruin people’s holidays, here in the UK the unions will find some reason to do the same, just as they are doing now.
It seems that the strikes over the Christmas period are deliberately organised and politically motivated in order to create as much chaos as possible and to hell with the general public, who are also suffering from inflation and ever-rising prices but are still looking forward to Christmas.
It’s all very well for some of the union bosses to tell their members to go on strike, but they conveniently forget that those very people who pay their enormous salaries are also struggling to manage, will lose money for every day they are on strike and may well have had plans to go away or visit relatives over Christmas.
This concentrated effort by the unions to shut down the country at one of the peak times of the year when people should be looking forward to Christmas is not just mean, but utterly selfish.
Paul Mercer
Tavistock
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