UK teachers, civil servants join largest mass strike in decade

British workers walked off the job Wednesday over pay disputes in the country’s largest coordinated strike in over a decade. Union officials said an estimated half-million teachers, train drivers, and civil servants were involved in the strike. Workers are pushing the government to increase salaries for public employees as the United Kingdom’s annualized inflation rate passed 10 percent in December. Thousands of schools across England and Wales have been affected by the walkouts and Britain’s railway company Rail Delivery Group said only 30 percent of its train services would run on Wednesday. This is thought to be the United Kingdom’s largest strike since one million public sector workers protested in 2011.

Will there be more strikes in the U.K.? Yes, additional strikes are planned for later this month across several industries. The Trades Union Congress, an organization that represents 48 unions, is also holding rallies across the United Kingdom to protest a government bill that would require basic staffing levels to be maintained across essential service sectors. 

Dig deeper: Read John Schweiker Shelton’s column in WORLD Opinions about ongoing inflation in the energy sector.