A woman holds a sign as people take part in a right to strike protest outside Downing Street in London, Britain, January 30, 2023. REUTERS FILE PHOTO
“After years of brutal pay cuts, nurses, teachers and millions of other public servants have seen their living standards decimated – and are set to face more pay misery,” said Paul Nowak, General Secretary of the Trades Union Congress , the union umbrella group.“Instead of scheming up new ways to attack the right to strike, ministers should get pay rising across the economy – starting with a decent pay rise for workers across the public sector.
On Wednesday, about 300,000 teachers will take action, along with 100,000 civil servants from more than 120 government departments, and tens of thousands of university lecturers and rail workers. Sunak’s government has so far taken a hard line with public sector strikes, saying that to give in to demands for large wage increases would only fuel inflation.