More strikes to come: Who is taking industrial action in 2023 and when?

Tens of thousands of workers are striking in the coming months over pay and conditions as a winter of industrial action continues.

1 February saw the UK’s biggest day of industrial action in more than a decade as teachers, university staff, train drivers, civil servants, bus drivers and security guards all went on strike.

But more workers over the coming months have agreed on industrial action as the government insists it cannot give them inflation-matching pay rises.

2022 ended in a series of strikes, including the largest NHS action in history and the biggest walkout of ambulance staff in three decades.

Sky News looks at which industries are set to strike, when and why.

Transport

Rail

3 February – Train drivers at 14 rail operators who are RMT members and Aslef members at 15 operators

4 February – Aslef members who work on the London Underground’s Bakerloo line

It follows walkouts for several days over December, January and 1 February.

Train operating companies have now made a “best and final offer” to the RMT in an attempt to end the strike action, including a minimum pay rise of 9% over two years and guaranteed no compulsory redundancies until at least the end of December 2024 – an improvement on the previous offer of 1 April that year.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said the union’s executive will consider the offer and decide its next steps “in due course”.

Mr Lynch, arguably the most well-known union official, said his members were striking in response to the government cutting jobs and refusing to increase pay in line with inflation.

Aslef, which represents train drivers at 15 companies, also went on strike in January, with its members wanting a “proper” pay rise to help with the increased cost of living as they say they have not had a pay increase since 2019.

The union said a number of train companies “have their hands tied” by the Department for Transport so are unable to negotiate a “reasonable deal”, which is why they are striking.

An offer made to them in January – including a backdated pay increase of 4% for 2022 followed by a further 4% pay rise in 2023 – has been rejected.

Rail union TSSA has also announced that thousands of members across 13 train operating companies will be balloted for strike action as “some distance” remains in talks with the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) over the ongoing national rail dispute.

It comes after TSSA members working for Rail for London Infrastructure on the Elizabeth Line took strike action on 12 January, saying employees are paid up to £30,000 less than colleagues with equivalent roles elsewhere on the Transport for London (TfL) network.

TfL said it had made a two-year offer of a 4% pay increase for 2022 and a 4.4% increase in 2023, but the TSSA says this is lower than pay increases offered on other parts of the network and they want “fair and equal” wage rises.

Bus

1-3 February – Unite members on Abellio buses in south and west London

Several strikes have already been held by Abellio bus staff across December and January.

The union claims that the company has put forward an “unacceptable” pay offer that fails to meet the demands of its members, and leaves full-time drivers with under two years of service on £3.29 less per hour than their colleagues with more than two years.

NHS

Ambulance staff

6 and 20 February, 6 and 20 March – National strikes by GMB and Unite members

Other dates in February and March – Regional strikes by GMB and Unite members (see below)

The 10 regional strike dates announced by Unite:

Members employed by different ambulance trusts will be striking:

• West Midlands: 6 and 17 February and 6 and 20 March
• North East: 6 and 20 February and 6 and 20 March
• East Midlands: 6 and 20 February and 6 and 20 March
• Wales: 6 and 20 February and 6 and 20 March
• North West: 6 and 22 February and 6 and 20 March
• Northern Ireland: 16, 17, 23 and 24 February

Unison has said ambulance workers across five services in London, Yorkshire, the South West, North East and North West will walk out on 10 February as the long-running dispute over pay and staffing continues.

About 25,000 paramedics, emergency care assistants, ambulance technicians, call handlers and other 999 crew members from the Unison, GMB and Unite unions walked out across England and Wales in December.

Members are striking over pay, patient safety and staffing levels, with unions saying staff shortages are crippling services every day, putting patients at risk due to the government’s failure to invest in growing demand.

Unions were unable to reach a pay deal with the government after December and January’s strikes so announced the extra February and March dates.

Nurses

6 and 7 February – Nurses with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN)

Members of the RCN are calling for a pay rise of 5% above inflation – 19.2% – as they claim they have had a real terms pay cut of 20% since 2010.

They also want better working conditions as nursing vacancies are at a record high, saying this means staff are stretched and regularly working beyond their shifts without extra pay.

RCN leader Pat Cullen has said she is willing to meet the government “half-way”, but Health Secretary Steve Barclay has said a 10% pay rise is still unaffordable.

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Physiotherapists

9 February – Physiotherapists from the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP)

They previously went on strike on 26 January.

More than 4,000 physiotherapists employed by 30 NHS trusts across England are taking part in the strike action.

The CSP union are warning more dates will be announced if a new pay offer isn’t put to them.

In Scotland, NHS strike action remains paused as negotiations continue.

Midwives

7 February 8am-4pm – Members of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) in Wales

The RCM in Wales will also be taking industrial action short of a strike by claiming payment for any overtime worked in the week after the strike.

They said the action will not affect services for women in labour or needing emergency care.

Members are striking over what they say is a decade of pay freezes and stagnation which has led to a real-terms pay cut and a lack of staff that is putting patients at risk.

RCM members across the UK joined the day of coordinated strikes on 1 February in protest against the government’s proposed strike legislation, which will make it a legal requirement to have minimum service levels on strike days for key services.

Other strikes

Civil servants

3-6 February – Legal advisers and court associates across England

9-11, 13-18, 20-26, 27-28 February and 1-3 March – Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) staff at Liverpool jobcentres

9-11, 13-18 February – DWP staff at Stockport Contact Centre and Bolton Benefit Centre

13-17 February – DVLA members of the PCS union at Ty Felin and Morriston

13-19 February – British Museum members of PCS

13-24 February – Animal and Plant Health Agency workers at the Centre for International Trade in Bristol and Carlisle

17-20 February – Border Force officers in Dover, Calais, Coquelles and Dunkirk

About 100,000 civil servants from the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union went on strike on 1 February in a dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

The action involved members of 124 government departments and follows January’s walkouts involving Border Force staff, driving examiners and National Highways workers.

The PCS union is calling for a 10% pay rise, protections to pensions and protections from job cuts.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “We warned the government our dispute would escalate if they did not listen – and we’re as good as our word.”

About 1,000 Border Officers who are members of the PCS union will also strike on February 17, 18, 19 and 20.

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Teachers

14 February – Teachers who are National Education Union (NEU) members in Wales

28 February – Teachers in Northern, North West and Yorkshire and Humber regions

1 March – Teachers in East Midlands, Western, Eastern

2 March – Teachers in London, South East, South West

15-16 March – NEU teachers across England and Wales

Thousands of teachers across England and Wales went on strike on 1 February, with many more due to over February and March after the largest education union reached the threshold required to take industrial action.

The National Education Union (NEU) organised a ballot of 300,000 members, calling for a “fully funded, above-inflation pay rise”.

Some schools will be closed entirely while others will not be impacted, but headteachers will let parents know if they are affected.

Scottish teachers

28 February and 1 March – teachers who are Educational Institute Scotland (EIS) members across Scotland

13 March – 21 April – rolling strikes

The rolling strikes from Scotland’s teachers will be staggered, with staff from different local authority areas across the country going on strike for three consecutive days each in a dispute over pay, plus a day before and after the block where all teachers walk out.

The EIS says its members have rejected a 5% pay offer from the Scottish government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), instead wanting 10%, in line with inflation.

University staff

9-10, 14-16, 21-23, 27-28 February, 1-2, 15-17, 20-22 March – university staff with the University College Union (UCU)

More than 70,000 staff at 150 universities will strike on several days throughout February and March.

The UCU is in dispute with those universities over the pay, pensions and working conditions.

It wants a higher pay offer than the 4% to 5% put on the table as well as a reversal of the cuts to pensions that will see the average member lose 35% of their guaranteed future retirement income, according to the union.

The union is also reballoting its members to take further action this academic year.

Environment agency

7-9 February – Environment Agency workers who are members of Unison and Prospect

Staff working in river inspection, flood forecasting, coastal risk management and pollution control will stage a 12-hour strike on 8 February from 7am to 7pm.

On 7 February and for 12 hours from 7pm on 9 February they will withdraw from voluntary overtime for 12 hours.

The unions say workers have had a 9% fall in pay compared with inflation since 2016 and 20% since 2010 which is causing many staff to leave.

They have rejected a 2% pay rise as “simply not enough”.

Firefighters

Firefighters are set to stage strike action in a row over pay but no dates have been set yet.

Members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) voted for action in a ballot that resulted in the UK’s first nationwide fire service strike over pay since 2003.

Firefighters overwhelmingly backed strike action, with 88% voting yes on a 73% turnout after rejecting a 5% pay offer.

They say they have had more than a decade of real-terms pay cuts.

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