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LONDON – As tens of thousands of railway workers went on strike on Tuesday in the largest such operation in three decades, Britain’s commute to work has become a hoax for millions.
With idle trains in England, Scotland and Wales, passengers crowded the highways, looking for scarce taxis and looking for buses. Many Britons rented bicycles.
As 80 percent of trains were canceled and 40,000 workers went on strike, some lines were completely closed and usually bustling central stations were almost empty.
The London Underground – also known as the Metro – was also closed, mainly due to another strike.
Tuesday’s action was the first of three railway strikes planned this week. More misery is scheduled for Thursday and Saturday.
Maintenance crews, ticket carriers and conductors – represented by the Railway, Maritime and Transport Workers’ Union (RMT) – have reached a dead end with their Network Rail bosses in the fight for pay, pensions, job security and working conditions. labor.
Network Rail said it was “deeply sorry” for the interruption. Negotiations are ongoing, the union said.
British union leaders are threatening a “summer of discontent” as more workers go on strike to demand higher wages to cope with rising inflation and rising cost of living.
Unions representing bus drivers, teachers, nursing home workers, garbage collectors, doctors, nurses, postal carriers and airport baggage may join future strikes.
In a public address to his cabinet on Tuesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson condemned the strikers for causing “disruption and inconvenience across the country, making it difficult for people to get to work, risking people’s health meetings and making it difficult for children to sit for exams.”
Johnson called the strikes “wrong and unnecessary.” He said the government had spent $ 20 billion during the pandemic to support the railways, and called on “union bosses” to compromise with railway companies and end the strike.
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