Britain sends 1,200 troops to fill in ambulance crews’ strike

LONDON – The UK government said on Sunday it would send 1,200 troops to fill in for striking ambulance drivers and border guards as several public sector unions walk out of work in the week leading up to Christmas.

Ambulance crews are scheduled to go on strike Wednesday, joining nurses, railroad workers, passport officials and postal workers, all of whom are staging a series of strikes in the coming weeks.

The UK’s worst strike in decades comes in response to a cost-of-living crisis triggered by rising food and energy prices in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Around 417,000 working days were lost to strikes in October, the highest number in ten years.

Unions are targeting wage increases to keep up with inflation, which stood at 10.7% in November, down slightly from October’s 11.1% but still at a 40-year high.

The Conservative government has argued that double-digit hikes would push inflation even higher and has tried to blame union leaders for the disruption. In the tabloid Sun on Sunday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak branded union leaders as “grins who want to steal Christmas for their own political ends.”

Cabinet Secretary Oliver Dowden said: “It would be irresponsible to allow public sector wages and inflation to spiral out of control.”

“We are making economic progress. Don’t jeopardize that with these prohibitive demands,” he told the BBC.

The Government expects public opinion to turn against unions as people across the UK face postponed hospital appointments, canceled trains and travel delays over the winter holiday season. But opinion polls show high levels of support for workers – particularly nurses, whose strikes in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are the first in the 100-year history of their union, the Royal College of Nursing.

Nurses and ambulance crews say they will continue to respond to emergencies during their strikes.

“We are committed to our members stepping off the picket line and into ambulances when there are emergencies that need to be covered,” said Onay Kasab, national leader of the Unite union.

But Matthew Taylor, who heads the NHS Confederation health body, said patients will be at risk and urged both government and unions to compromise.

“We are in the middle of winter and we have a health service that is finding it difficult to cope even on an ordinary day without industrial action,” he told the BBC. “So there will be risks for patients. That is out of the question.”