UK train strikes start as ONS data show real wages falling by 2.7% – live

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As the strikes by members of the RMT at Network Rail and 14 train operators got under way, only about a fifth of train services are expected to be running around the country on those days.

Trains will run between 7.30am and 6.30pm with a reduced service on main intercity and urban lines, with no trains at all in much of rural England, Scotland and Wales.

Network Rail warned that first trains will start later and the last trains will leave much earlier. Disruption should also be expected in the morning of the day after each strike.

Transport secretary Mark Harper said people faced another Covid-style “virtual Christmas” as a result of the rail strikes. He told GB News the pay offer to rail workers was “in line with the sort of pay rises which are taking place in the private sector”.

Harper said:

These rail strikes are going to force some families to have another virtual Christmas and I think that is terrible when the unions have had a very reasonable pay offer.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady has said the government should negotiate “fair pay rises” with unions as the UK braces for economic recession.

The UK economy returned to growth in October after the additional bank holiday for the Queen’s funeral the month before. However, the government and many economists expect a difficult year ahead. The consensus among 15 forecasts collated by the government is for GDP to fall by 0.8% next year.

O’Grady said:

2022 has been the worst year for real wage growth in nearly half a century. We are now on the brink of a damaging recession with the threat of one million lost jobs.

Ministers must act now to put money in people’s pockets – starting with boosting the minimum wage and giving our public sector workers a pay rise to match the cost of living.

And the prime minister should stop attacking working people trying to defend their pay, and sit down to negotiate fair pay rises with unions.

Across Great Britain’s railways today’s strike is the first day of eight planned days of disruption within the next four weeks.

In practice the disruption usually spills over into the following days as well, as trains are often not in the correct places when workers return.

The strike dates for the railways are:

Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 December 2022

Friday 16 and Saturday 17 December 2022

Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 January 2023

Friday 6 and Saturday 7 January 2023

The train strikes starting today will be only the first day of planned disruption across the UK’s railways. And rail workers are not the only ones taking action: there are major strikes planned every day this month.

Nurses, ambulance workers, Royal Mail employees, and big chunks of the civil service will strike for higher pay this month alone.

Here is the full calendar:

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has responded to the data showing the steep decline in real wages. Though he does not mention them explicitly, the comments are very relevant to the train strikes.

The government argues that its focus should be on reducing inflation, and that means that it cannot agree to large pay increases for public-sector workers (or those over whose pay it has influence, such as rail employees). Yet that argument is strenuously rejected by unions and many economists, who point out that a below-inflation pay increase is not likely to push up prices across the economy.

Hunt said:

While unemployment in the UK remains close to historic lows, high inflation continues to plague economies around the world as we manage the impacts of Covid-19 and Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

To get the British economy back on track, we have a plan which will help to more than halve inflation next year – but that requires some difficult decisions now. Any action that risks embedding high prices into our economy will only prolong the pain for everyone, and stunt any prospect of long-term economic growth.

With job vacancies at near record highs, we are committed to helping people back into work, and helping those in employment to raise their incomes, progress in work, and become financially independent.

Much of the UK’s rail network has ground to a halt as members of the RMT union begin a two-day strike on Tuesday, the first in a series of planned actions as they push for better pay.

The rising cost of living – particularly via increased energy costs – has been a key factor behind the strike action. New data on Tuesday morning from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the impact: real wages (pay packets after the effects of inflation) fell by 2.7% in the three months to October.

The ONS said the real wage fall was up there with the biggest declines on record. Real regular pay fell by 3% between April and June this year, but the most recent decline “still remains among the largest falls in growth since comparable records began in 2001”.

Network Rail’s update told travellers that it was “inevitable that services will be cancelled or severely disrupted”.

RMT members voted to reject a last pay offer from Network Rail on Monday.

Mick Lynch, the RMT’s general secretary, last night said:

This is a huge rejection of Network Rail’s substandard offer and shows that our members are determined to take further strike action in pursuit of a negotiated settlement.

The government is refusing to lift a finger to prevent these strikes and it is clear they want to make effective strike action illegal in Britain.

We will resist that and our members, along with the entire trade union movement will continue their campaign for a square deal for workers, decent pay increases and good working conditions.

You can read the full story on yesterday’s last-ditch pay negotiations here: