Teachers, railway workers, civil servants, university lecturers… The United Kingdom is preparing for another day of massive strikes on Wednesday, the largest in a decade, in a country in the grip of an economic crisis fueled by inflation. 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. Some 23,000 schools are expected to be disrupted on the first day of seven walkouts planned by the NEU teachers’ union.
A recession in 2023
Travelers passing through British airports are also at risk of seeing their travel disrupted by a strike by immigration officials. “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 sue. 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. Strikers across sectors are demanding wages in line with inflation, which is hitting 10.5% in the UK and eating away at 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.