Thousands of postal employees, university professors, and schoolteachers in the United Kingdom have gone on strike in response to the country’s rising cost of living.
On Thursday, picket lines were formed outside postal offices, universities, and schools in one of the largest planned walkouts this year.
Britons have faced travel disruptions and overflowing rubbish bins in recent months as unions representing multiple industries launched successive strikes.
Lawyers, nurses, postal workers and many others have walked out of their jobs to seek pay rises that match soaring inflation.
Domestic energy and food prices have risen dramatically this year, pushing inflation to a 41-year high of 11.1 percent in October.
In Scotland, most schools closed on Thursday as teachers there took the first large-scale strike action in decades.
In universities, around 70,000 academic staff went on strike on Thursday, and they will strike again on November 30 in the largest action of its kind in higher education. An estimated 2.5 million kids will be impacted by the change.
Meanwhile, Royal Mail employees walked out on Thursday and will do so again on Black Friday and Christmas Eve.
The latest walkouts come after the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers announced on Tuesday that more than 40,000 rail workers will stage strikes in December and January, disrupting travel for scores of people during the busy festive season.
The union said members will walk out for four days from December 13 and in the first week of January.
The newest train strike announcement has angered pubs, bars, and other hospitality firms.
“Continued rail strikes have had a huge impact on our hospitality sector; preventing staff from making it into work and disrupting consumers’ plans, meaning a huge drop in sales for venues across the sector,” said Kate Nicholls, chief executive for the UK Hospitality trade body.
“Further strikes during the busiest time of the year for hospitality will be devastating, just as everyone was anticipating an uninterrupted Christmas period for the first time in three years,” she added.
Aljazeera