Thousands of railway workers in the United Kingdom embarked on a historic national strike on June 21, 23 and 25 against the attempts by Network Rail (that operates and develops most of Britain’s railway infrastructure) and train operating companies to cut thousands of jobs. The strike, which was organized under the banner of National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) was the biggest rail strike in last 30 years. The union and railway workers are also demanding pay rise, social security and better working conditions as the inflation figures in the Britain reached close to 9 percent in April 2022, marking a 40-year high.
The workers of the London Underground (subway metro system), also under the banner RMT, joined the strike on June 21 with similar demands.
“Railway workers have been treated appallingly and despite our best efforts in negotiations, the rail industry with the support of the government has failed to take their concerns seriously. Our union will now embark on a sustained campaign of industrial action which will shut down the railway system. Rail companies are making at least £500 million a year in profits, whilst fat cat rail bosses have been paid millions during the Covid-19 pandemic,” RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said in a statement.
Congratulating the rail workers of Britain on the success of the national strike, the Indian Railway Employees Federation (IREF) in a letter to RMT extended its solidarity with the working-class action. The IREF said in the statement that “under the drape of ‘loss of profit,’ globally we are witnessing a trend of passing the burden on the working class with wage cuts and stagnation, dismantling of social security policies and mass scale retrenchment.”
The success of national strike in the UK, the largest in the recent history is an inspiration for millions of working class including rail-workers and toiling masses across the world and in India, who are facing increasing neoliberal onslaught amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
