Explainer-in-brief: The domino effect driving unions to strike over pay June 27, 2022 As this week begins, we come back to the railways with a sigh of relief. Yet the rail strikes of last week are unlikely to be a one-off, as RMT leader Mick Lynch has already warned more could come if the talks between the unions and the rail bosses keep on failing. Someplace else in [...]
Irritated Dominic Raab warns today’s barrister strike ‘only delays justice for victims’ as lawyer walkout begins June 27, 2022 Barristers are staging court walkouts for several days from today in a dispute over legal aid funding. They will also refuse to accept new cases and to carry out “return work” – stepping in and picking up court hearings and other work for colleagues whose cases are overrunning. Justice Secretary Dominic Raab said the barrister [...]
Negotiation has failed: the defence Keir should have made for rail strikes June 27, 2022 The rail strikes have finished, for the moment, and we can return to normal after the disruption. But we are promised a “summer of discontent”, with teachers and barristers next up to withdraw their labour. Disruption in public-facing services seems to be emerging as 2022’s leitmotif. The government responded to the transport strike by simultaneously [...]
Brits suffer weekend travel chaos as RMT goes ahead with third strike June 25, 2022 Strike action has entered its third day on the UK's rail network this week, causing severe disruption to passengers across the country.
Far from over: New rail strike alert amid fears of weekend travel chaos June 24, 2022 A fresh alert has been issued to train passengers amid fears that many are reluctant to abandon leisure trips planned for Saturday despite another rail strike taking place. Only a fifth of services will run and half of lines will be closed as 40,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at Network [...]
After crushing by-election defeat: What next for beleaguered prime minister Boris Johnson? June 24, 2022 After the Tories’ humiliating defeats in two parliamentary by-elections overnight, Boris Johnson’s authority has suffered a double blow. A fatal blow, some believe. The contests in Wakefield, West Yorkshire and Tiverton and Honiton, Devon were triggered by Conservative MPs resigning in disgrace. Wakefield’s Imran Ahmad Khan quit as an MP after being convicted of sexual [...]
Editorial: Is anybody willing to take responsibility for Strike Island? June 23, 2022 Welcome to Strike Island, then. British Airways’ ground handlers – or at least, a chunk of them – are now joining an ever-growing list of unionised workers who have picked walkouts over work amid a heightening cost of everything crisis. Whether it’s wise for union leaders to take their staff out on strike at the [...]
Second day of rail strikes send Trainline tumbling as FTSE 100 dips June 23, 2022 A second day of railway worker strikes sent shares in ticket booking platform Trainline tumbling as London’s top indexes dipped today. The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index dropped 0.97 per cent to 7,020.45 points, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the UK economy, fell 1.05 per [...]
Rail strikes spill into tube network, affecting journeys on Overground, Bakerloo and Elizabeth lines June 23, 2022 The chaos and disruption brought by the ongoing rail strike has once again spilled into London’s tube network, affecting journeys on the Overground as well as the Bakerloo and Elizabeth lines. Overground services are running on a reduced schedule as trains between Romford and Upminster, Sydenham and Crystal Palace as well as between Surrey Quays [...]
Govt will try to change ‘burdensome’ law so agency staff can cover for striking workers June 23, 2022 The government will try to change the law to allow agency staff to cover for striking workers. Grant Shapps and Kwasi Kwarteng, the transport and business secretaries, made the announcement on Thursday as the UK is crippled by a second day of industrial action. Under current trade union laws, firms cannot supply temporary workers to [...]