The United Kingdom is not out of the crisis.
Despite discussions with public sector unions, the British government has failed to calm the discontent.
Remaining firm so far, Rishi Sunak and his ministers had opened the door explaining on Sunday that "the first thing we have to do is to start discussing properly and that is why Monday is so important and why we want to have these discussions ".
But Monday noon, some trade unionists lamented a "missed opportunity" after meeting the government.
"Today, it is very clear that they want our members to give more before studying [revalorisations] wages", criticized Onay Kasab of the union Unite.
A strained healthcare system
The urgency of the crisis is palpable, as the railway workers continue their social movement with determination, after several strikes during the summer, in the fall, before Christmas and last week.
Other walkouts are taking place in multiple sectors, including health.
The situation is critical in this sector, where nurses will be on strike for two days in January, after having already walked off the job in December, a first for more than a hundred years.
The strikes will "absolutely" take place, said Onay Kasab, saying he was "very angry" after meeting British Health Minister Steve Barclay, who according to the trade unionist did not present any "detailed" plan to get out of the crisis.
Doctors and hospital managers are calling for immediate action, and the government held an emergency meeting on Saturday, after which the prime minister called for a "bold and radical" approach.
The system "isn't just on its knees, it's on the ground," Labor opposition leader Keir Starmer told Sky News on Sunday.
No “tangible concessions”
The Unison union - one of the main unions for NHS workers - highlighted "progress" on Monday, but no "tangible" progress on the wage increases demanded by nurses.
“We've been able to talk about salaries,” Unison's Sara Gorton said after meeting with the minister.
But "we did not get the tangible concessions we might have hoped for that would allow us to call off the strikes later this week."
The government is "focused on the current process of salary increases" for the coming fiscal year (2023-2024), a government spokesperson said on Monday.
For Downing Street, meetings with unions allow them "to discuss what is happening in private, and to listen to what the unions have to say".
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