Rail and ambulance strikes: when is industrial action planned?

Unions representing staff in NHS, transport and beyond warn of disputes escalating unless ministers give ground on pay

The end of 2022 was marked by mass industrial unrest as employees across the transport network, NHS, Royal Mail, schools and the civil service took strike action. The start of 2023 has brought further stoppages by rail workers, bus drivers, teachers in Scotland, nurses, ambulance workers and civil servants.

Paul Nowak, the new general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, has warned of a “rolling wave” of strikes this year unless ministers give ground on pay, with unions taking coordinated action so that stoppages happen either on the same day or in quick succession.