Easy News: National strike action by nurses, postal workers, train staff and teachers

1. 

   Many different people in Britain are going on strike. This will cause lots of things not to work properly.

2. 

   A strike is when a group of people who normally do a job refuse to do it because they are unhappy.

3. 

   They are often unhappy because they are worked too hard, not paid enough, or they worry they will be fired.

4. 

   People who go on strike hope that when they stop working, other people can see that what they do matters.

5. 

   Some of the people who have said they will go on strike are train drivers, postal workers, teachers, and nurses.

6. 

   The UK currently has very high inflation. This means things like food, petrol and household bills are becoming more expensive. Many of these strikes are because people want their pay to increase to match the rising living costs.

7. 

   The last time so many people went on strike was in the winter months of 1978. People called it “the winter of discontent”.

8. 

   People go on strike for a few days at a time, and tell everyone the dates before they do it. It will still cause lots of things to go wrong like trains being late or cancelled and people having to wait longer for appointments and their post.

9. 

   Lots of train staff have already been striking and have more strikes planned over the coming weeks.

10. 

    People working for the Royal Mail postal service have also been striking and have more strikes planned.

11. 

    Teachers in primary and secondary schools plan to strike in January.

12. 

    Teachers in Scotland have said they won't strike because the Scottish government has said they will talk to them about their worries. They had planned to strike for 16 days in January unless they could agree a deal.

13. 

    People who work in universities went on strike for three days in November, and may strike next year too.

14. 

    Nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have planned strikes in December. Nurses in Scotland have said they will not strike as the Scottish government have said they will talk to them about pay.

15. 

    More than 10,000 ambulance workers, paramedics, emergency care assistants and call handlers in England and Wales will strike in December too.

16. 

    People who work at Heathrow Airport in London will strike in December and January. People who work at the Highlands and Islands Airport in Scotland will strike in December.

17. 

    Border Force staff, who check people's passports as they come into the country, will strike in December.

18. 

    People who work for the Department of Work and Pensions will strike in December. During that time, different offices and job centres will go on strike.

19. 

    Bus drivers and engineers across the country are also talking about striking, including National Express buses in the West Midlands.

20. 

    The government has said that not everybody can get a pay rise to match inflation, and it is unfair of the people striking to demand they get one.

21. 

    The government has said that it will make it harder for people who work for them, like nurses and Border Force staff, to go on strike. But they will probably not be able to stop the strikes that are planned for December.

22. 

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