March 17: Who is on strike today and how does it affect you?

This week saw major strike disturbances in the subway, education and several government departments.

Today, while those using public transport will welcome a much-needed respite, university workers and Amazon employees are picketing.

It is the second straight day this week that members of the Education University and College Union (UCU) have left.

The action was part of strikes that have hit 150 universities across the country over wages, working conditions and pension cuts.

UCU Secretary General Jo Grady said: “The university sector in the UK has over £40bn in reserves better force staff to strike and see the campuses shut down.

“There is a clear way out of these disputes, but at the moment the vice chancellors lack the political will to take it. They are failing employees who want to get back to work and students who want to get on with their studies.

“Students understand that employees’ working conditions are their learning conditions, and we are proud to have their support in these disputes. A system that relies on low wages and rampant use of insecure contracts is a system that fails everyone.

“A solution can be reached, but that is down to the gift of the university vice-chancellors, who urgently need to reassess their priorities and reach an agreement that benefits staff and students.”

Meanwhile, Amazon workers in Coventry have been taking part in industrial action throughout the week.

The company saw its workers stage the first-ever strike in Britain on January 25, when around 300 workers left after being offered a pay rise worth 50p an hour, according to the GMB union.

Workers said “robots in the warehouse are treated better than they are” and claimed they were constantly monitored and verbally abused if they were “idle” for even a few minutes.

While the strike saga remains rather murky, there was a major breakthrough in negotiations with the NHS today.

The government has announced it has offered a new deal with nurses’ unions, but this has yet to be accepted by staff.

Unions and the government have been at odds over pay for over a week, and it has taken several months of disruption to get the deal through.

The NHS staff council, which represents nurses, ambulance staff and other NHS workers, has said it has completed negotiations and reached a final offer.

The offer consists of a one-off payment for the current financial year 2022/23 valued at £1,655 to £3,789 for Agenda for Change staff in England and a consolidated 5% salary increase for 2023/24.

In an additional commitment to nursing and rescue workers, the government has agreed to create a new salary framework exclusively for all nursing staff, to come into effect in 2024/25.

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