Royal Mail staff strike as train workers continue walkout
It's as rail workers continue their 48-hour walkout
Last updated 14th Dec 2022
Commuters face a second day of severe rail disruption today, as members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) are joined in walkouts by Royal Mail workers, and nurses prepare to take unprecedented industrial action.
As on the first day of the 48-hour strike, around half of Britain's rail lines will be closed all day, as thousands of members at Network Rail and 14 train operating companies walk out in the long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
Many parts of the country will have no services, including most of Scotland and Wales.
Postal workers in the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will stage a fresh 48-hour national walkout today, their third of six days of strikes in the run-up to Christmas.
Royal Mail has brought forward the final posting dates for Christmas cards to December 16 for first class mail, and December 21 for special delivery guaranteed.
Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are due to start strike action in a row over pay on Thursday after talks with the Government broke down.
The nursing union was urged to do more to "avoid patient harm" and "alleviate unnecessary distress" for dying patients on strike days by the UK's four chief nurses and the NHS's head of cancer care.
Dame Cally Palmer, the national cancer director for NHS England, urged RCN general secretary Pat Cullen to protect "life-saving" and "urgent" cancer operations.
In her letter, obtained by Sky News, she wrote: "Our common aim is to ensure we do not cause harm to people undergoing vital cancer treatment to achieve cure or extension of life."
In response, the RCN insisted that "cancer patients will get emergency and clinically urgent surgery, it is not in doubt".
"This is a politically-motivated smear from a Government that is failing cancer patients," a spokesperson for the union said.
Separately, Dame Ruth May, chief nursing officer for England, and her counterparts in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, also wrote to Ms Cullen raising a series of concerns about patient safety.
They said chemotherapy is being rescheduled from the strike days at some hospitals despite the union agreeing it would be exempt nationally.
The chief nurses also asked for assurances that community nursing services providing "end of life care and good pain and symptom relief" continue in order to "alleviate unnecessary distress" for palliative patients and their families.
The RCN said on Tuesday that it had agreed further exemptions to the strike action, including emergency cancer services and "front-door" urgent care assessment and admission units for paediatric-only A&E departments.
"The safety of patients is everybody's top concern," the union's spokesperson said.
Civil servants in the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) - including driving examiners and Rural Payments Agency workers - continue their walkouts today.
The strike action is regional, with members working for the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) having kicked off a month-long rolling strike programme in Scotland and northern England on Tuesday.
The wave of industrial action is growing, with physiotherapists in England and Wales voting to strike in their first ever ballot on pay. The action is expected to take place early in the new year.
Midwives and maternity support workers in Wales who are members of the Royal College of Midwives have also voted to go on strike over pay.
Members of the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) rail workers' union at operator CrossCountry are also set to strike on Boxing Day and December 27, it was announced on Tuesday.
The cost of living crisis is affecting many:
Interest rates and inflation go up
Inflation rose by 8.8% in the 12 months to January 2023, down from 9.2% in December 2022. With interest rates also rising to 4%, those saving money will earn more interest on their finances, whilst those paying mortgages would pay more interest to the bank.
Energy bills
The price of energy went up incredibly as the cost of living crisis hit, with the gas price spike caused largely by the war in Ukraine. The price cap - which is set by an independent regulator to help offset costs onto customers - was set to rise to £3,549 for an average home in October but a price freeze from the government restricted the typical bill to £2,500. That's still an increase of 27% from the previous energy cap and as it's a cap on unit cost, the more energy you use the higher your bill will be.
Food prices
The cost of a weekly shop also has gone up as a result of the cost of living crisis. As a result of the war in Ukraine, a number of products including cooking oils and wheat have been disrupted. This means that several products are now considerably more expensive, driving bills up for customers.
Prices at the pumps
The average cost of petrol has also rose to unprecedented levels. Supply lines for petrol have been thrown into doubt as a result of the war in Ukraine, as Russia is a large export partner for gas, oil and fuel. In April 2022, the average price for a litre of petrol on the forecourt was 160.2p, whilst a litre of diesel would cost 170.5p. By late June 2022 the price had risen to an average of 190.9p for a litre of unleaded and 198.9p for a litre of diesel. In March 2023 the price wass on average of 147.03 in petrol and 167.04 in diesel.
Average cost of filling up a car with petrol hits £100
On 9th June 2022, the average cost of filling up a car with petrol hit £100 for the first time ever. Diesel had already hit that milestone. It comes as the cost of fuel hit a record high of one pound eighty a litre. The 2p rise was the biggest daily jump in 17 years. Prices have dropped by at least 20p per litre since the high point.