LONDON (AFP) -- Railway staff in Britain on Saturday staged the latest in a series of strikes, the second in three days, as decades-high inflation hit salaries and prompted walkouts across various industries.

The stoppage by tens of thousands of workers disrupted weekend leisure travel with only around one in five trains set to run and some areas having no services.

It comes during a summer of industrial action across Britain, with staff in various sectors pushing for pay rises and better working conditions.

“We cannot tolerate being bullied or hoodwinked into accepting a raw deal for our members,” said Mick Lynch, general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), which is among those striking.

“The government need to stop their interference in these disputes so the employers can come to a negotiated settlement with us.”

He warned that further walkouts were likely unless a compromise could be reached over pay rises and working terms and conditions.

However, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the unions’ “coordinated approach” showed they were “hell-bent on causing as much misery as possible”.

Saturday’s stoppage, set to hit football and cricket fans headed to matches as well as festival-goers, tourists and holidaymakers, will spill over into Sunday morning.

It follows a similar walkout Thursday, and a strike across London’s transport system on Friday.

Official data Wednesday showed UK inflation at a 40-year-high above 10 percent, as soaring food and energy prices hurt millions.

The Bank of England has forecast inflation to top 13 percent this year, tipping the British economy into a deep and long recession.

The rail strikes have divided opinion, with some voicing frustration but others supporting the workers.

“I’ve got all the sympathy in the world for them,” recruitment consultant Greg Ellwood, 26, told AFP this week at an unusually quiet Euston station in London.

“Everyone likes to try and divide people, but this is something I think people should stick to.”

 

Workers at Largest Container Port to Join Strikes

 

Almost 2,000 workers at the UK’s biggest container port will launch an eight-day strike Sunday over a pay dispute, the latest industrial action to hit a growing number of sectors of the UK economy.

Workers including crane drivers and machine operators will walk off their jobs at Felixstowe port on England’s east coast, which handles around 4 million containers a year from 2,000 ships.

Only around one in five UK trains were expected to run on Saturday,

with some areas having no services all day. Soccer and cricket fans attending sports games, as well as tourists, were among those affected.
On Friday, most of London’s underground subway lines did not run due to a separate strike.
The Unite union alleges that Felixstowe port’s parent company, CK Hutchison Holding Ltd., prioritized profits instead of paying workers a decent wage.
Port authorities, for their part, said they were “disappointed” that Unite did not “come to the table for constructive discussions to find a resolution.”
Felixstowe handles almost half of the container freight entering the country. The strike could mean vessels have to be diverted to ports elsewhere in the UK or Europe.
Rail workers began a series of large-scale strikes that grounded national train travel in June, demanding better pay and working conditions as authorities try to reform the rail system, which has lost large chunks of its income due to the coronavirus pandemic and shifting commuting patterns.
More public- and private-sector unions are planning strikes as Britain faces its worst cost-of-living crisis in decades. Postal workers, lawyers, British Telecom staff and garbage collectors have all announced walkouts for later this month.