Are we heading for ANOTHER winter of strikes? Doctors, bus drivers and rail workers will all stage walkouts before Christmas in coordinated action
Doctors, bus drivers and rail workers will all stage walkouts before Christmas as the country braces itself for another bleak winter of strikes.
The coordinated action will heavily impact services in the coming weeks with trains already coming to a grinding halt on some rail lines today.
As well as train strikes, Londoners will face travel chaos with bus drivers walking out on two dates just days before Christmas.
And the NHS is gearing itself up for a nightmare over the festive period after junior doctors rejected a new pay offer and announced they will walkout for three days this month.
Lee Anderson, deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, condemned the latest walkout by medics as a ‘slap in the face for patients’ with millions of appointments already cancelled during previous walkouts.
Signs at the closed Kettering station on December 2 as train services continue to be disrupted following a strike by members of the train drivers union Aslef
Striking members of the BMA and UNIT trade unions march around Royal London Hospital on October 4 as junior doctors strike for better pay and conditions
A picket line at Translink’s Europa Bus Station on Glengall Street in Belfast on December 1 during a 24 hour dispute over pay
Today the rail strike misery continued for many passengers with no trains across the entire c2c network and limited service on Greater Anglia and Stansted Express.
Strike action began last Saturday and runs until this Friday, as members of train drivers’ union Aslef continue to dig its heels in and accept an improved £65,000 pay packet.
Full list of train, bus and doctors strikes in December 2023
Train
Wednesday, December 6
- Gatwick Express
- South Western Railway
- Southeastern
- Southern
Thursday, December 7
- CrossCountry
- Great Western Railway
- Heathrow Express
Friday, December 8
- Northern
- TransPennine Express
Bus
Friday, December 22 and Saturday, December 23
- 218 – Hammersmith to/from North Acton
- 295 – Ladbroke Grove to/from Clapham Junction
- 414 – Putney Bridge to/from Marble Arch
- 23 – Great Western Road to/from Aldwych
- 28 – Wandsworth to/from Harlesden
- 452 – Ladbroke Grove to/from Vauxhall
- 13 – North Finchley to/from Victoria Station
- N28 – Wandsworth to/from Camden
Junior doctors
Wednesday December 20 from 7am to 7am on December 23
Different operators are affected on each day, which is causing extra confusion, with the next wave as early as tomorrow impacting Gatwick Express, South Western Railway, Southeastern and Southern services in the south.
The next strikes after that are:
- Thursday – CrossCountry, Great Western Railway & Heathrow Express
- Friday – Northern and TransPennine Express
Aslef’s general secretary Mick Whelan has ominously warned ‘we are in this for the long haul’ after members voted overwhelmingly to continue taking industrial action for the next six months in their long-running dispute over pay.
‘The cost of living has soared since the spring and summer of 2019, when these pay deals ran out,’ he said.
‘The bosses at the train companies – as well as Tory MPs and government ministers – have had increases in pay. It’s unrealistic – and unfair – to expect our members to work just as hard for what, in real terms, is considerably less.’
Transport Secretary Mark Harper has already demanded an end to the walkouts and hit out at Aslef bosses for attending ‘lavish parties with Labour MPs’ amid the crippling strikes.
Writing in The Express earlier this week, he said: ‘The more they inconvenience the British public, the more they play fast and loose with people’s livelihoods, particularly those in the hospitality sector,’ Mr Harper said. ‘This is not the first time either.’
In a further blow to the transport sector, thousands of bus drivers will go on strike just days before Christmas Day creating travel hell.
The walkout by RATP Dev Transit London bus drivers will impact eight routes on December 22 and December 23.
Drivers are walking out in a dispute over pay.
Transport for London has already warned there will be little to no service on both days.
Striking junior doctors will bring the NHS to a standstill days before Christmas as they plot 72 hours of carnage.
Struggling hospitals will also be rocked by six consecutive days of British Medical Association (BMA) action in the New Year, marking the longest ever walk-out in the NHS’s 75-year history.
The dates when train strikes will take place in December are highlighted int he above calendar as well as which operators will be impacted on those days
The calendar above shows the dates when junior doctors in England will strice in December and January in a fresh batch of strikes after talks between the Government and British Medical Association broke down
Passengers wait for updates at London Liverpool Street station today during the rail strike
Greater Anglia is only running a limited service to and from London Liverpool Street today
A very quiet Liverpool Street Station station this morning due to the Aslef rail strike today
The action, starting on December 20 and January 3rd, respectively, will coincide with one of the traditionally busiest periods.
Pay talks between the militant union and Government have broken down, despite hopes of progress.
READ MORE: Junior doctors vow to strike for NINE days before Christmas and in the New Year in huge blow to beleaguered NHS at its busiest time of year
Ever since they kicked off the never-ending wave of strikes last winter, BMA chiefs have pushed for a salary rise of 35 per cent for junior doctors.
The union claimed the Government’s newest offer amounted to an additional 3 per cent, on top of an 9.8 per cent rise already given. It said the lack of a ‘credible offer’ forced it into another round of strikes.
Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said the Government would ‘immediately look to come back to the table’ if the devastating strikes were called off.
Junior doctors in England will strike from 7am on December 20 to 7am on December 23 and from 7am on January 3 to 7am on January 9.
Ms Atkins said: ‘It is disappointing that, despite significant progress, the BMA junior doctors committee have walked away from negotiations and declared new strikes, which will result in more disruption for patients and extra pressure on NHS services and staff as we enter a busy winter period, risking patient safety.
‘I have been clear that I respect the work of doctors in training and want to work with them to settle this dispute.
‘We have agreed a fair and reasonable offer with the BMA’s consultants committee which is being put to members for vote following constructive talks.’
Official figures also show waiting lists for routine NHS procedures also shot up to a a new record high, with around 6.5million patients in England waiting for 7.77million appointments and procedures in England
Health and Social Care Secretary Victoria Atkins (pictured in November) said that the Government would ‘immediately look to come back to the table’ if the junior doctors’ strikes were called off
She added: ‘If the junior doctors committee call off their strikes, we will immediately look to come back to the table to continue negotiations.’
Tory MP Mr Anderson said last night: ‘This is nothing but a slap in the face for patients.
‘Millions of appointments have already been cancelled thanks to strikes – and the BMA knows exactly the harm they’re causing by walking out over the busiest time of the year.’
Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, co-chairmen of the BMA’s junior doctor committee, said: ‘We have been clear from the outset of these talks that we needed to move at pace and if we did not have a credible offer, we would be forced to call strikes.
‘After five weeks of intense talks, the Government was unable to present a credible offer on pay by the deadline.
‘Instead, we were offered an additional 3 per cent, unevenly spread across doctors’ grades, which would still amount to pay cuts for many doctors this year.’
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