Why is England the scene of protests and strikes these days?
In England, tens of thousands of people have gone on strike in recent months to demand an increase in their wages in line with the increase in the cost of living. The Times newspaper has considered the number of strikes to be unprecedented since the 1980s.
An analysis conducted by this newspaper two days ago based on data from the Office of National Statistics in England shows that the average number of “lost working days” has been higher than at any time since 1989. Missed working days – as defined by the Times newspaper – refers to the days when a person did not show up at work due to a dispute with the employer.
These strikes have caused British citizens to face problems in rail traffic, passenger flights, closure of universities, disruptions in the provision of medical services, problems with postal and banking services and other government services in the past days.
State media BBC has predicted that the strikes are likely to intensify in the winter as doctors, nurses and staff from many other unions are involved in disputes with their employers over working conditions, pay and pensions.
Three weeks ago, more than 300,000 British nurses voted yes to a nationwide strike over insufficient wages. The British Nurses’ Union (RCN) has announced that a nationwide strike by nurses will take place with the aim of increasing salaries by 5% above inflation. This is while the British government has decided to increase the basic annual salary of nurses by 4%.
Official details of the time and type of this strike have not yet been published, but according to sources, if the results of the voting are finalized, it is likely that the strikes will begin before Christmas (January 11). This will be the first strike of nurses since the establishment of this union (more than 106 years).
