What's behind the UK's "summer of strikes"? | Inside Story
Inside Story
What is behind the UK’s ‘summer of strikes’?
Workers across different sectors walk off the job to demand better pay and conditions.
Workers in the United Kingdom have launched some of their most disruptive industrial action in years.
With living costs hitting a 40-year high, they want more pay and better conditions. Tens of thousands of transport staff, postal employees, rubbish collectors and even lawyers have walked off the job.
Recommended Stories
list of 4 items- list 1 of 4Explosion at Turkish steel plant kills at least 16 people
- list 2 of 4Sudan teachers go on strike over meagre salaries and dilapidated schools
- list 3 of 4Hundreds of thousands protest across France over high cost of living
- list 4 of 4‘Going hungry’: Garment workers in Bangladesh say wages barely cover needs
And for the first time in 30 years, dock workers also went on strike at the UK’s largest container port. Health workers and teachers are among those threatening to strike soon.
Trade unions accuse business leaders of putting profits ahead of employees but the government says union bosses are holding the country to ransom.
Will they be able to find a compromise?
Presenter: Laura Kyle
Guests:
Stephen Cotton – general secretary, International Transport Workers’ Federation
Pushpin Singh – economist, Centre for Economic and Business Research
Giles Kenningham – founder, Trafalgar Strategy; former head of press No 10 Downing Street