Most train services across the United Kingdom were paralyzed on Saturday as thousands of rail workers went on strike in the country's latest strike.
Most train services across the United Kingdom were canceled on Saturday as thousands of rail workers went on strike, the latest in a series of strikes over employment, wages and working conditions.
The 24-hour strike, organized by 40,000 cleaners, signalers, maintenance workers and station staff, is the third in a week and part of a mounting wave of strikes by workers seeking to raise wages to keep pace with inflation running at nearly 10 percent.
Only 20% of train services across the UK are expected to operate on Saturday, according to the network infrastructure operator Network Rail, amid confusion that extends into Sunday morning.
"We know it's tough on the public," said Mick Lynch, general secretary of the Federation of Rail, Maritime and Transportation Unions.
"But what you see across the country is lots and lots of people who are sick of the way they're treated at work," he added.
He continued, "It seems that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting worse all the time."
Britain is witnessing an increasing number of strikes amid the worst cost of living crisis in decades.
After the summer passed with little progress in resolving the railway dispute, talks between unions and management recently resumed.
The unions accuse the government of preventing the train companies, which are privately owned but highly regulated, from striking a deal.
Lynch urged Transportation Secretary Annie-Marie Trevelyan to "unleash train operators who take their mandate directly from you."
For its part, the government denies interfering, but says rail companies need to cut costs and hire after two years in which government funding has helped them stay afloat.
The government urged unions to work with employers "not against them".
"Our railways are in urgent need of modernization, but all the strikes to be staged are a punishment for the people themselves, as unions claim to be standing by the passengers and pushing them away," the Transport Ministry said.
The far-right demonstrates in Berlin against inflation and the Schulz government
A protest march was organized in the German capital, Berlin, with the participation of thousands of members of the far-right under the slogan "Energy security and inflation protection, our country comes first" to protest against inflation and the Schulz government.
Thousands of people demonstrated in central Berlin on Saturday at the invitation of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to protest against inflation and the energy policy pursued by Chancellor Olaf Schulz's government.
A protest march was organized under the slogan "Energy security and inflation protection, our country comes first." According to the police, about eight thousand people participated in it near the parliament headquarters and the Brandenburg Gate in the center of the German capital.
The far right seeks to exploit the declining popularity of the Shultz government in the face of high energy prices and the dangers of scarce resources with the interruption of Russian gas and oil supplies.
The police deployed in large numbers to accompany the march, which organized several counter-demonstrations near it, in which about 1,400 anti-racism activists participated, according to the police.
The demonstrators, some of whom raised German and Russian flags, as well as the black, white and red flags of Germany's far-right, chanted "We the people" and "Habeck go", in reference to Germany's Green Party Economy Minister in charge of energy affairs.
Demonstrators carried banners reading "No to armaments and war" in protest of Ukraine's supply of Western weapons, as well as "I want Russian gas and oil."
The popularity of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has been rising for weeks, according to polls, reaching 15%, after it declined from 2020 until the middle of this year due to its internal divisions and its opposition to anti-Covid measures.
The extreme right-wing movement, which is active especially in the former "German Democratic Republic" (East Germany), organizes every Monday evening demonstrations in several German cities.
This movement seeks to achieve a success similar to that achieved by rallies organized since 2014, the anti-Islam PEGIDA movement.
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