Railway strikes that have paralyzed the UK are a ‘last resort’ for trade unions exhausted by years of low wage growth, bosses and members say.
More than 9,000 workers who are part of the driver’s union Aslef (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen) and the Transport Salaried Staff Association (TSSA) took industrial action today.
The TSSA has also planned to strike tomorrow and Friday.
The two unions represent conductors and other railway workers across 12 transit operators, throwing travel plans for millions into chaos.
Most drivers haven’t had a pay increase since 2019, and with soaring prices, Aslef leaders and members told Metro.co.uk that striking was their only option.
Aslef argues its members are having to take a real-term pay cut while inflation teeters on double-digits at 9.9% and fuel and food costs spiral.
Union leaders feel their problems have only gotten worse since Liz Truss’ proposed economic plan set the pound into a tailspin.
So Mike Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, had some choice words for the prime minister as he called on her government to intervene.
Speaking outside London’s King Cross, he said: ‘You’re destroying the economy, your tax cuts are for the rich.
‘Never mind taking away the ones about the 45%, the other unfunded tax cuts are going to destroy people’s ability to stay in their homes, whether you have a mortgage or you’re a renter.’
Mr Whelan added: ‘We already have a society and a country because of you where work doesn’t pay.
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‘Wages and average terms have gone down 27.5% in the last 10 years. We’ve got 2.5 million children not eating every day in the sixth richest nation in the world.
‘You can do something about this. We can help you do something about it. If not, get out of the way and let somebody else do it.’
Like many Brits, the cost of living crisis has hit railway staff hard, Mr Whelan said.
‘They’ve all got families. They’ve all got people that rely upon them. Many of them have put their children through university, many of them with high mortgages,’ he said.
‘Quite simply, train drivers have had enough and after three years of no pay, they feel they’re entitled to some,’ he added.
Mr Whelan said today’s strikes aren’t only in response to the current economic turmoil under Ms Truss’ watch.
‘I laugh when I hear Jacob Rees-Mogg say they’ve only been in power 28 days – they’ve been here 12 years. 12 years of austerity. 12 years of increased cost,’ he said.
But railway workers are far from alone. Trash collectors and criminal-defence lawyers are among those who have led large-scale strikes in recent months.
This labour unrest is presenting yet another test to Ms Truss who has promised to usher in a new crackdown on strikes.
Ms Truss, who has tried to model herself after Margaret Thatcher, has eyed up ways to make it harder and more time-consuming to arrange a strike as well as tax the strike benefit members receive when they don’t go to work.
‘We actually have the worst trade union laws in Europe, if not the world at the moment,’ Mr Whelan said.
‘On top of that, we have the protest bill [Police and Crime Bill], we have the Lobbying and Transparency Bill.
‘But surely, aren’t workers and protesters voters as well? And when you exercise your voice, aren’t you saying to the government, “we may be unhappy with you”?’
‘When you lose that, the opportunity to do that, you’re a poorer society,’ he added.
Howard Kaye, the executive committee member for District Five that covers east Anglia, said: ‘We’re not evil people, we just represent working people.
‘This is a last, last resort where everything else has broken down.’
Mr Kaye said he understands why the salaries of train drivers are so often pulled into focus — the average driver’s salary in the UK is around £50,000.
‘I admit, we have quite a good base salary, there’s no doubt about that,’ he said.
But Mr Kaye said the railway sector’s fight for a pay rise is part of a broader battle among British workers for better working conditions.
‘We’re talking about essential workers, cleaners, nurses and public sector workers who have seen no increase in their wages throughout the pandemic and it’s hitting hard now,’ he said.
Chris Monroe, 55, a local representative for the area and a driver, said he had one reason for joining the picket line: his family.
‘I’ve been a railman for 40 years and I’m hoping that the end is in sight for my career,’ he said.
‘But myself and my wife are starting to be concerned about whether we’ll have a pension that’s going to be good enough to live off.
‘Lots of people are struggling at the moment, and hopefully, our dispute will benefit other people in that it’s a bigger thing.’
Job action was something Mr Monroe grew up seeing around him as a child of the Thatcher years — but the strikes of today have taken him aback.
He said: ‘I can’t recall a time in my life where people who are on really quite good wages are thinking, “I don’t know how I’m going to get through all of this.” It’s bizarre.’
‘This is something that’s affecting everybody in the whole country. It’s unprecedented.’
He added: ”We’ve had lots of middle class and perhaps people that you’d level with being upper class who have stopped and said, “we can see this can’t go on any longer”.’
Nearly half of Brits back rail workers taking action to better their pay and conditions, according to one poll, and Mr Monroe feels this will only increase.
‘Hopefully, the tide is turning and it might eventually improve,’ he said, ‘and not a minute too bloody soon.’
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