Many industrial strikes are taking part in December because workers are demanding a pay raise despite many more workers going on strike simultaneously. The strikes that will happen this month include:
- An Ambulance worker’s strike.
- An NHS nurse’s strike.
- An RMT strike.
- Royal Mail workers’ strike.
These strikes could affect many individuals.
Britain will witness the biggest ambulance strike in history. Tens of thousands of workers are going on strike after three unions announced the strike simultaneously with paramedics and 999 call handlers. Ambulance workers strike on 21st December. The strike on these dates will mainly impact NHS ambulance services. They are the latest workers to announce industrial action as the cost-of-living crisis deepen.
The Royal College of Nursing has declared members in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland will strike on the 15th and 20th of December. Up to a hundred thousand workers are expected to participate in the pre-Christmas walkouts. This is a historical moment as it will be the first and most significant nursing strike in RCN’s 106-year history. The strike is anticipated to cause delays in patient appointments, and non-urgent activities will be postponed or cancelled. There is also a worry of significant waiting time in operational services; the only emergency services will be working with few staff for taking care of the patients.
The RMT workers announced the strike in December as well. Services across the country will be crippled on the following dates, Tuesday, 13, and Wednesday, 14th December 2022. 18:00 Saturday 24 to 6:00 Tuesday 27th December 13, 2022. Friday 16, and Saturday 17th December 13, 2022. As the members of the RMT take strike action impacting Christmas and New Year. Several disruptions are expected across the rail network. Trains will be busier and more likely to start later and finish earlier than on regular days, and there will be no services at all in some areas. There will likely be minimal services on these days.
The royal mail workers have announced several fresh strikes, including Christmas eve, in a dispute over pay, jobs, and conditions. The strikes date are as follows, Wednesday, 14th December; Thursday, 15th December; Friday, 23rd December and Saturday, 24th December 2022.
The postal service apologised to customers, saying that despite its “well-developed contingency plans,” it cannot “fully replace the daily efforts of our frontline workforce.”
“We’ll be doing what we can to keep services running, but we are sorry this planned strike action is likely to cause you some disruption,” the company said on its website.
Postal workers are striking over an unending and worsening dispute about working and pay conditions. CWU General Secretary Dave Ward previously said: “Posties are in the fight of their lives against the Uberisation of Royal Mail and the destruction of their conditions.
“But 115,000 of our members will not just accept this war on their livelihoods and their industry.” John White, 40, Londoner, said: “Working people are responsible for the fact that the hiking prices, the strike is necessary.” He added more “government responsibility to equalise these things.”
During the news day, I worked as a reporter and video editor, covering the following strikes:
- An ambulance strike
- An NHS nurse strike
- An RMT strike
- A Royal Mail workers’ strike