Would You like a feature Interview?
All Interviews are 100% FREE of Charge
The ‘Wednesday Walkout’ is not only the biggest day of strike action in the past 12 years, it could also be the costliest day for the UK economy.
First, the cost of lost workdays as more than 500,000 people went on strike is estimated at around £68 million, according to the Center for Economics and Business Studies.
An additional £26m will be lost by missing work for people who are not on strike but are unable to commute to work or work from home due to transport strikes.
This figure does not take into account the additional costs to the retail and hospitality sectors, missing the footsteps of office workers on their lunch break and after work. The hit is estimated at around £100 million.
These numbers are hard to read for any government, but they should be in the red when the UK is on the brink of recession, as the International Monetary Fund predicts the economy will be worse this year than the rest of the G7. am. Economic dashboard lights flash.
Business leaders are urging Rishi Sunak to prioritize negotiations with unions. During months of strikes, ministers have insisted they cannot agree to pay increases for public sector workers.
Still, do the costs of paying workers enough to meet their living expenses outweigh the cost to the economy of an eight-month strike?
The prime minister and ministers have waited for the public to turn their backs on the striking workers and have been tough on the negotiations, which has not happened.
If he can’t listen to the union’s demands for higher wages, he’ll need to explain it in terms he can understand.
