London

On Tuesday, the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) called over 40,000 workers for a four-day strike that will paralyze the United Kingdom until Saturday.

The massive strike occurs after the failure of negotiations with the railway company Network Rail, which did not want to carry out a 7 percent increase in wages as requested by workers in a country whose inflation has already exceeded 11 percent.

RMT Secretary Mick Lynch explained that the Conservative government’s latest wage increase offer is “totally unacceptable” to workers because it is “well below” the inflation.

He also denounced that the British government is “deliberately obstructing” the agreement between the workers and the company.

“There is an opportunity to find solutions, but I fear the government is preventing that from happening. They are deliberately obstructing that deal,” Lynch said.

“The government wants the strikes to continue because they need what we call a cuckoo, someone to distract from the problems and from their own incompetence,” he added, recalling that social discontent with conservative policies has increased strikes over the last year.

The latest protests have been led by health workers, doctors, ambulance drivers, postal workers, and teachers. This week, nurses, highway maintenance workers and baggage handlers at London’s Heathrow airport will also go on strike.

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Courtesy: TeleSur (Published on Dec 13, 2022)

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