Up to half a million people could strike Wednesday, on the eve of the date marking the first hundred days - agitated - of the conservative government of Rishi Sunak.
The TUC trade union federation warned that it would be "the biggest day of strikes since 2011".
The disruptions will be strong both in transport and schools but will affect the whole economy, by domino effect for the British, even non-strikers, forced to stay at home to look after their children or by impossibility of going to their place of work. work.
At Farrington station in the heart of London, many people decided to work from home or even take a day off on Wednesday, to avoid facing a difficult journey.
Katie Webb, 23, who works for a charity, will telecommute after rearranging her schedule and moving an appointment.
"I support the strikes, the rail workers deserve better pay," she said, judging the disruptions she suffered minor compared to the stakes.
Sebastian Webb, a 48-year-old project manager, has seen his personal life suffer in recent months due to countless train cancellations, with the strike adding to chronic problems at Britain's railways.
“I canceled an appointment tomorrow” Wednesday, “I will stay towards Cambridge, where I live”.
He explains that a large part of his customers are in London or Peterborough where "the trains are constantly cancelled. In August, one evening, I arrived home around almost midnight".
"I really would like nothing so much (...) as having a magic wand and paying you all more," Prime Minister Rishi Sunak assured Monday during a visit to health sector workers, who plan to continue their actions in the coming days.
But according to him, wage increases would fuel inflation and deteriorate public finances, which have already deteriorated since the pandemic and the energy crisis.
On the other side of the Channel on Tuesday, strikes and demonstrations took place again in France, mainly against the disputed pension reform.
Schools disrupted
In the United Kingdom, some 23,000 schools are expected to suffer disruption on Wednesday during the first day of seven walkouts planned by the NEU teachers' union.
Paramedics warm up during a picket outside the emergency operating center in Docklands, London, on January 23, 2023 © Daniel LEAL / AFP
To maximize the impact of their movement, the teachers' representatives considered that it was "completely appropriate" that teachers or teachers do not reveal their intentions in advance to the leaders of the establishments.
"The government refuses to discuss the causes of the strike," NEU secretaries Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney said in a statement.
According to them, the lack of salary increases leads to problems in recruiting and retaining staff, which "disrupts the education of children every day".
Strikers across sectors are prioritizing wages in line with inflation, which is hitting 10.5% in the UK and eating into disposable incomes, pushing millions of Britons into poverty.
And according to the latest IMF forecasts, the country will be the only major economy to suffer a recession this year, with a contraction of 0.6% of its GDP.
The standoff also relates to working conditions, pensions or the government's desire to limit the right to strike.
Lost days
The movement has been going on since the spring.
In November alone, the National Statistics Office (ONS) counted 467,000 working days lost due to labor disputes, a record since 2011, when nearly a million cumulative strike days were counted.
Since June 2022, 1.6 million working days have been "lost", continues the statistical institute.
The rail union TSSA, however, gave hope for a breakthrough, indicating in a press release on Tuesday that it had received "two formal offers" more substantial than the previous ones, which are now being studied by its executive committee.
Nurses hold signs on a picket outside University College Hospital in London, January 19, 2023 © Daniel LEAL / AFP
Meanwhile, a new walkout in the rail is scheduled for Friday, while firefighters voted in favor of a first strike in twenty years.
© 2023 AFP