Garbage that is not collected, buses that are not running: in the Netherlands we have seen many strikes recently. But this is nothing compared to what is happening in the UK now. “Every newspaper publishes the strike agenda every week.”
The string of strikes reported by Great Britain correspondent Lea van Beechoven seems endless: civil servants, teachers, healthcare workers, bus drivers – all are leaving their jobs for better working conditions. “But the British tolerate it passively.”
Advocating for improved working conditions
“From today until Thursday, the newly graduated doctors, who number about 48,000 doctors, will go on strike,” Van Beechoven says. “It has not been captured, so this is a major escalation in health care.” Doctors want better wages and better working conditions.
“London Underground will be closed on Wednesday and civil servants will go on strike. About 100,000 government employees will stop working. It is not possible to submit a driving license or take a driving test. Hundreds of civil servants working in ministries and, as of Wednesday, university employees will go on strike. Also, this will affect 2.5 million students and even professional groups that usually remain silent, such as trained examiners, are starting to leave their jobs.
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Completely extinguished
“And that’s just this week,” Van Beechoven says. Next week, primary and secondary teachers will go on strike for two days in a row. The United Kingdom has witnessed continuous strikes since last summer. Inflation rose, but wages did not.
Van Beechoven believes that the British are patiently bearing the blows and learning to live with them. He added, “The British do not take to the streets in yellow vests and do not drive their cars to Westminster on tractors. They are completely exhausted by the economic situation in recent years.”
Empty supermarket shelves
England is crippled by a bad economy. The country has been experiencing economic stagnation since 2008. Britain’s exit from the European Union, which came later than expected, certainly did not help.
The fact that the economy is not doing well can be seen, for example, in the supermarket. “It scares you,” says Van Beechoven. “Many supermarkets no longer carry fruit and vegetables. This has been the case for some time.”
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It ends when the government begins negotiating
Van Beechoven hears from many Britons that spirit outside. “They say: This is another problem. The strikes are another obstacle. This country is no longer working.” The strikes will not end until the government begins negotiations. This has now begun in a few sectors, such as the healthcare sector.
Van Beechoven says wages in this sector have not risen for some time, while everything has become more expensive. In the health care sector, wages are lower now than they were in 2008, they tell them. “But if the government does what healthcare workers want, which is a 10 to 15 percent pay rise, inflation will rise, the government says.” There seems to be no end to the strike wave at the moment.
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