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It’s been a big year for industrial action but what’s in store for 2024?
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The NHS, like many other health systems, is still dealing with the effects of COVID-19 but the challenges it faces predate the pandemic.
Teachers striking in London, May 2023.
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The picket lines have brought surprising levels of success.
Striking workers in London, March 2023.
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Striking pushes against the core capitalist dynamics also responsible for global warming.
Striking public sector workers in London, 1979.
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From the late 1960s to the early 1980s, more unionised workforces from Europe to Aotearoa New Zealand fought hard to keep wages abreast with inflation. But it’s unlikely that could happen now.
The strikes bill aims to establish rules minimum services levels during industrial action for certain industries.
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The UK parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights has suggested changes to the strikes bill but even those may not go far enough.
Paramedics and ambulance staff striking for better pay in January 2023.
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Concerns about the credibility of pay review bodies could boost collective bargaining on worker pay.
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Research shows household debt plays a role in workers’ deciding to strike.
Striking miners face off against police in 1984.
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Workers have gradually lost all powers to take industrial action when they feel conditions are unfair.
Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are among public sector workers striking about pay and conditions.
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Recent price rises are not due to higher wages but supply-side issues including the war in Ukraine, the COVID pandemic and Brexit.
Workers in Banten, Indonesia, staged a protest after the government announced the latest minimum wage stipulation in December 2022.
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Indonesian worker protests about a new emergency regulation – issued suddenly in late 2022 to replace a controversial job creation law – look likely to continue ahead of the February 2024 election.
All aboard.
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After engaging with the rail unions, the government should be more hands off when it comes to UK rail.
Worker unrest has been surging around the world.
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With real wages in many countries having been stagnant for years, the inflation surge has brought unions back to life.
Rail workers have been striking for months but more industries have announced industrial action recently.
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Unions are calling on the government to negotiate on pay, here’s how it could mediate discussions between employers and unions.
Is this the new Jim Callaghan?
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With everyone from rail workers to civil servants going on strike over the winter, it’s hard to see this ending well.
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Poor staffing means poor care, and poor care costs taxpayers more.
Criminal barristers continue to protest the problems with the UK justice system.
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The inevitable consequence of a criminal justice system in crisis is people being wrongfully convicted. The media has a crucial role to play in monitoring the law.
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Nigeria’s public university system has lost about 57 months to industrial action since 1999. This has implications for the future workforce.
With the rise of quiet quitting, could the days (and nights) of staying late at the office be over?
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Doing just the duties that your job requires has a long history in the labour movement.
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Ongoing strike action by criminal barristers could disrupt trials until demands for better pay are met.