UK Workers Stage Nationwide Train Protest

Some 40,000 railway workers in the United Kingdom have staged a protest over pay, job security and working conditions.

This is as the country battles its worst cost of living crisis in decades.

Wages have failed to keep pace with UK inflation currently at a 40-year high and set to worsen.

The nationwide 24-hour strike on Wednesday brought the rail network to a virtual standstill, with only one in five trains running.

Mick Lynch, General Secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), said the strikes were necessary 

“Network Rail has not made any improvement on their previous pay offer and the train companies have not offered us anything new.

“The government need to stop their interference in this dispute so the rail employers can come to a negotiated settlement with us," he said.

UK inflation is currently at 9.4 per cent and on course to keep rising. Energy bills have also risen rapidly because of high oil and gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.