A second strike in a week has brought UK trains to a standstill

Around 5,000 train drivers across almost a quarter of Britain’s rail network went on strike on Saturday as part of a campaign for higher pay after the country’s inflation hit a 40-year high.

The 24-hour strike, organized by train drivers’ union ASLEF, was the second significant labor action on Britain’s rail network this week, with 40,000 members of the RMT and TSSA unions – representing other rail workers – a major walkout on Wednesday. – fair.

Rising prices – consumer inflation currently stands at 9.4% – and low wage increases have exacerbated labor tensions in sectors such as the postal service, health, schools, airports and the judiciary.

The rail strike is expected to cause “significant disruption” to services throughout Saturday and Sunday morning, Network Rail, which manages Britain’s rail infrastructure, said.

All services have been canceled by seven of the country’s 34 train operators, including regional networks in the south-east and east of England, as well as long-distance lines linking London to the south-west and north-east and to Edinburgh.

Great Britain’s rail services are run by foreign state-owned railway companies that receive short-term contracts and operating grants from the government. These subsidies have increased as travelers stayed home during the Covid-19 pandemic.

ASLEF secretary general Mick Whelan said franchise agreements only offered machinists a 2% pay rise.

“At this time of the cost of living crisis, we believe this situation cannot continue,” Whelan told BBC radio.

Steve Montgomery, managing director of train operator FirstRail and chairman of the Rail Delivery Group, said the big pay rise would only be possible if train drivers agreed to changes to cost-saving working practices.

“We’re not telling people to ‘work more hours,’ but to be more productive within the hours they have,” he said.

ASLEF plans to hold another one-day strike on August 13.