UK brought to a standstill with the biggest rail strike in 30 years

The UK’s biggest rail strike in 30 years began as tens of thousands of railway staff walked out in a disagreement over jobs and pay, paving the way for widespread industrial action across the economy in the coming months.

Picket lines appeared at dawn and were lined by some of the over 40,000 rail workers due to strike on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, bringing the railway network to a standstill. In a separate strike, the London Underground metro network was also mostly closed.

Under pressure to do more to help households in the UK facing the toughest economic crunch in decades, the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, said the industrial action would harm businesses as they continue the pandemic recovery.

Secretary-general of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers (RMT), Mick Lynch, told reporters that their campaign would run for as long as needed.

However, Prime Minister Johnson said the railway unions were harming the people they claimed to be helping. He said that by going ahead with the rail strikes, the unions were driving away commuters who supported rail workers’ jobs while also impacting communities and businesses across Britain.

Prime Minister Johnson’s government has faced opposition criticism for refusing to get involved in the talks to settle the dispute.