British railway workers begin another strike on Tuesday to demand better wages, deepening the crisis due to the wave of strikes in different sectors in recent weeks in the United Kingdom.
Members of the British Union of Railways, Maritime and Transport (RMT) who work for the railway company Network Rail and 14 other train operators in the United Kingdom begin this Tuesday this 48-hour strike, which will have an impact on people returning to work after the holidays for the Christmas holidays.
Many employees from different sectors support the strike to demand wage increases in order to alleviate the sharp increase in the cost of living in the United Kingdom, where inflation stood at 10.7% in November.
The railway sector, which will go on another strike on January 6 and 7, is demanding a 7% wage increase, but the company Network Rail has only offered a 5% increase, below inflation, which exceeds 10%.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch told the BBC today that he regrets the strike “is going on in this way” but that the government is “doing nothing” to end it.
“All parties involved know what needs to be done to reach an agreement, but the government is blocking that agreement and doing nothing about this dispute and that needs to change.”
British Transport Minister Mark Harper, in a statement to the BBC, regretted that the RMT rejected his offer of a better wage.
“I would prefer that they abandon the pickets and go back to the negotiating table to reach an agreement on reforms and wages with employers,” Harper said, adding that the strikes are “harmful to the rail industry” and “to the people who work in it.”
