Rail strikes and you. Who's striking?

For what seems like an eternity, rail strikes have been taking place up and down the United Kingdom. Many people have been voicing their frustrations at the disruption this causes, whether it has affected their professional or personal lives. But not many people know why these strikes are taking place, or why they are taking so long.

These strikes are the result of pay disputes between employers in staff. To put this in simpler terms, the staff working in the rail industry don’t feel that their take-home pay reflects the current levels of inflation and the ever-rising cost of living, which is leaving a lot of people’s wallets feeling a lot emptier than usual.

Contrary to popular belief, train drivers striking is not the main cause of disruption in day-to-day life. They do strike from time to time, however more often than not, it is rail workers that are striking. Rail workers mean people who do maintenance on trainlines, conductors and cleaners. The average pay for a maintenance worker is roughly £29,000 a year which is about £2000 lower than the average Scottish person’s salary.

Now onto the main question: Why are they taking so long? When a strike happens, this is usually done with the intention of forcing an employer to raise the salary to a number that the union deem acceptable. Scotrail and Network Rail have both made multiple offers in an effort to end the strikes, however the unions have rejected these offers as they don’t believe it is an acceptable proposal that would truly help their members.

As of right now, there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight, but it is important to remember that strikes are an integral part of society. Historically, they have been the reason why other job roles have fairer pay. Strikes hold big corporations and businesses to account, and without them, most people would not have anywhere near the pay they have today.