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Who is on strike this week? Every service affected by latest industrial action

Junior doctors, civil servants and rail workers are among those striking this week in separate disputes

Kate Plummer
Monday 13 March 2023 08:13 EDT
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UK protest backs health staff as doctors prepare to strike

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Waves of industrial action continue to disrupt key services in the UK.

Staff from sectors including the NHS and the rail service will walk out on dates this week after failing to reach agreements with the government.

The disputes are mostly over pay, with unions calling for pay rises to reflect soaring inflation and they follow previous rounds of action by rail unions, nurses and others.

Here are the strikes taking place this week.

Junior doctors

Junior doctors in England are set to walk out for three days from Monday 13 March ( Jeff Moore/PA)
Junior doctors in England are set to walk out for three days from Monday 13 March ( Jeff Moore/PA) (PA Wire)

Tens of thousands of junior doctors are launching a three-day strike this week over pay and conditions.

From 13 to 15 March, the medical professionals represented by the British Medical Association (BMA) will form picket lines outside hospitals in what will be the longest period of industral action by junior doctors in history.

The BMA said newly qualified medics have suffered a 26 per cent real-terms pay cut since 2008/09 because of inflation.

While talks between the government and other health unions are ongoing, prime minister Rishi Sunak told reporters that it was “very disappointing” that BMA is “not engaging with the government.”

Dental trainees

Hospital dental trainees in England represented by the British Dental Association (BDA) will also launch a 72-hour strike at a number of trusts from 13 to 15 March.

Civil servants

Some 133,000 civil servants from 124 government departments are to strike on 15 March, the day the chancellor unveils the budget.

Represented by the Public and Commercial Services union, the workers are calling for a 10 per cent pay rise, as well as better pensions, job security and no cuts to redundancy terms.

Teachers

A new offer is being put to the unions in a bid to resolve the pay dispute among teachers in Scotland (PA)
A new offer is being put to the unions in a bid to resolve the pay dispute among teachers in Scotland (PA) (PA Wire)

Teachers represented by the National Education Union in England and Wales will strike on 15 and 16 March after they rejected a government offer of an extra 1.5 per cent pay rise, plus 1.5 per cent as a one-off payment.

It follows previous action last month.

Responding to their concerns, the government said it has already agreed to an extra £2bn in school funding.

University staff

About 70,000 members of the University and College Union (UCU) are striking at 150 universities on 16 and 17 March.

They are demanding pay rises in line with inflation.

Rail workers

Members of the RMT and Aslef unions working on the London Underground will also strike on budget day, as part of an ongoing dispute over working arrangements and pensions.

TfL have said “little or no service” is expected on the tube network that day because of the action.

Meanwhile, RMT members from 14 train operators will also strike on 16 and 18 March.

BBC journalists

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has announced that BBC staff will be striking over plans to share content between local radio stations.

The 24-hour strike will take place on budget day.

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