More than 25,000 ambulance crews continue to strike in England and Wales, as well as thousands of teachers in Scotland, while the workers of the French public transport company plan to strike for two days, starting Thursday evening.
The strikes in England are part of an escalating wave of strikes that have been going on in the country for weeks, and the government has initiated talks with unions, but the gap is still large between the two sides.
It is scheduled that the Minister of Health, Steve Barclay, will meet with representatives of the health sector unions, and it is expected that the unions representing members of the civil service will meet with ministers from the government, a day after the Commercial and Public Services Union announced a strike on the first of next February that includes about 100 thousand government employees, because of their differences over wages, pensions and working conditions.
The talks also bring together the railway unions and the group representing the operators in an attempt to reach a settlement to end the wave of strikes that have paralyzed the country in recent weeks.
This comes at a time when part of the Elizabeth line - newly built within the London Underground network - has stopped due to a strike by infrastructure workers.
The bus service of the "Appleo" company - which operates 8% of the capital's buses - is also witnessing some disruption due to the strike of its workers in west and south London, the second of the 8 strike days scheduled due to the dispute over wages.
The strike of workers in driving examination centers and road workers in some parts of Britain, as well as the strike of nurses and ambulance drivers, continues to demand better working conditions and higher wages.
The unions denounced, in light of the social movements rocking the country, the government's refusal to discuss a wage increase to face inflation, which approached 11%, while the government considered health claims "unaffordable" financially.
The proposed laws impose a minimum level of service that must be guaranteed by the strikers during the strike, and also give employers the right to sue the striking unions and dismiss the striking workers in some cases.
France strikes
In France, the workers of the French public transport company (RAPT) plan to organize a two-day strike, starting Thursday evening.
The French newspaper Le Figaro quoted, on Tuesday, the Confederation General of Labor (CGT), a trade union organization, as saying that the strike in order to raise wages will begin on Thursday evening and continue until Saturday morning.
And the Confederation General of Labor said in a statement addressed to Jean Castex, the former French Prime Minister who currently heads the public transport company, that "all employees, of all categories, and in all departments will participate in the protest strike."
The trade union organization demanded an increase of 300 euros ($322) in salaries.
It should be noted that a previous strike organized by public transport company workers, in November, caused significant unrest, leading to fears that a similar situation could occur this time as well.
In addition to transport workers, doctors in the private sector in France demonstrated during the past days to demand that the government dialogue and take serious measures towards their demands. Last week, hundreds of doctors participated in a protest march at the invitation of the "Doctors for Tomorrow" group.