Strikes in UK that will affect travellers

The year is coming to an end along but the disputes over pay across the UK government departments has lead to the biggest strike action we have seen a while and they will no doubt affect travellers into the UK. (warning this is a social issue post that will inevitably affect travellers coming into the UK)

To give you an idea – Royal Mail (our postal service), Rail, Border Force, Nurses and Ambulance service are all strike around the same period. Starting with 13th December 2022, the rail strikes will commence. Although the strikes are disruptive and are an inconvenience to all of us – I would like to offer a different perspective. An empathetic one.

Strikes are meant to be disruptive, they are meant to be an inconvenience and they are a result of inconvenience for the people who are striking. We are in the middle of a cost of living crisis – a full blown recession of the back of a global pandemic due to the ‘leaders’ of the UK not taking their jobs seriously. I mean no wonder the Queen passed away – the stress of having the deal with a party who doesn’t know whether it is coming or going and ran by little boys in high positions must have taken a toll.

To avoid going down my political rabbit hole regarding the cons in parliament, simply put, this strike is not surprising. The NHS were praised during the pandemic and were rewarded with performative claps and told no they do not deserve pay raises – if you was risking your life with a dangerous viral infection that LITERALLY went viral (global). To then get told you are not worth a pay rise and you have to go to food banks for food and cannot afford to heat your home due to rises in energy prices. I am sure you would be angry too. This is how nurses and ambulance staff feel.

Then you have the Border Force staff – I think this one deserves a separate post altogether (I will create a hyperlink to connect the two posts to avoid a massively long one).

I say all this to say that empathy goes a long way! It is time the government get their act together and stop thinking about themselves actually act for those who they claim to be representing.

Ok – rant over! Here is the current strikes timetable (by importance to travel industry):

Rail Strikes – 13th, 14th, 16th, 17th, 24th (6pm) to 27th December 2022

Border Force – 23rd December to 26th December 2022 and 28th to 31st December 2022

Royal Mail – 14th, 15th, 23rd and 24th December 2022

Nurses – 15th and 20th December 2022

Ambulance Service – 21st and 28th December 2022

Inconvenient – yes! Necessary – yes!

I stand with all strikers and send them all the best because it is not ok that they are not being paid a livable wage in 2022!

Love and Hugs always,

Tillyah