Worst strike day for a decade looms across rail, education and Civil … – iNews

The UK is facing one of the worst days of strike disruption in its history next month with schools, universities, the Civil Service and rail networks set to be struck by substantial walkouts.
Train drivers with Aslef and the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) unions confirmed they would be taking action on Wednesday 1 February.
They join up to 300,000 teachers across England and Wales in the National Education Union and some 100,000 civil servants in the Public and Commercial Services Union who will be striking on the same day.
Members of the University and College Union will also walk out – with the union saying that around 70,000 people took part in their last strike in November.
With up to 500,000 workers poised to down tools, the industrial action would mark the biggest striket since a walk out over pensions in 2011.
On 22 January, 1979 – so-called Misery Monday – around 1.5 million public sector workers walked out in a single day. Before this date, the biggest walkout on a single date was during the General Strike of 1926, according to the Office for National Statistics.
In 2011 as many as 2 million public sector workers walked out in a pensions dispute.
Downing Street said there was “no doubt” the action would cause “significant disruption” across the country.
The RMT said the union had chosen to strike on 1 February to coincide with a day of co-ordinated action. The union, which has members working across 14 rail operators, will also walk out on 3 February.
On the same day, the Trades Union Congress will be holding protest events across the country, campaigning against the Government’s “anti-strike” legislation aimed at ensuring minimum levels of staffing in key workplaces.
As part of the “national ‘protect the right to strike’ day”, the union is asking members of the public to show support for workers walking out in protest over pay and conditions.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We’re in no doubt that this strike action, some of which will fall on the same day or days, will cause significant disruption to the public – whether it’s children having their education disrupted or the public trying to go about their daily lives on their commute.
“We don’t think it’s the right course of action, we continue to call unions to step away from the picket lines and continue with discussions.”
The spokesman added that the Government had already held multiple meetings of the emergency Cobra committee to discuss how to mitigate bouts of industrial action and that this had shown how “we have been able to significantly mitigate against some of the challenges that would have otherwise been posed”.
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