When train, bus, doctor, university, airport and council strikes are planned

September heralds the arrival of autumn, the end of school holidays and this year the start of a succession of strikes across various sectors.

The month begins with a train strike, part of ongoing disruption for more than a year on the rails.

But doctors, bus drivers, university and airport staff are also planning industrial action during the course of September.

We take a look at who is walking out and when.

Rail strikes in September

Trains drivers represented by the union Aslef will be on strike on Friday 1 September and they are refusing to work non-contractual overtime on Saturday 2 September.

Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, called on “the train companies, and the government that stands behind them, to do the right thing and return to the negotiating table with a new offer and prevent more disruption to passengers and businesses in Britain.”

The companies affected by the action are: Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, c2c, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Greater Anglia, GTR Great Northern Thameslink, Great Western Railway, Island Line, LNER, Northern Trains, Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, South Western Railway, TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains.

Rail services will also be hit by a strike by RMT member on Saturday 2 September.

The union said 20,000 members across 14 train operators will walk out at the end of the last Saturday of the summer holidays.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “We have had to call further strike action as we have received no improved or revised offer from the Rail Delivery Group.”

The 14 rail companies affected by the RMT action are: Chiltern Railways, Cross Country Trains, Greater Anglia, LNER, East Midlands Railway, c2c, Great Western Railway, Northern Trains, South Eastern, South Western Railway, Transpennine Express, Avanti West Coast, West Midlands Trains and GTR (including Gatwick Express).

Industrial action at airports

Hot on the heels of the havoc caused by a technical fault in air traffic control, late summer travellers can now expect more flight disruption with industrial action by airport staff.

Wizz Air ground staff, based at Luton Airport and employed by its ground handler GH London Ground Handling Services, will be following up their strike on 30 August with two further 24-hour walkouts on 6 and 13 September.

Unite union general-secretary Sharon Graham said: “GH London’s conduct is appalling; workers deserve to be treated with dignity and respect in the workplace and the company’s behaviour falls far below that standard.”

UK air passengers in September is also like to feel the impact of industrial action by French air traffic control staff on 15 September and ground staff and baggage handlers in Italy on the 8 and 29 September.

Bus strikes

Bus drivers from both First Manchester and Stagecoach Manchester are to strike for a series of days in September over what the union Unite has called “derisory” pay offers.

Industrial action by around 1,500 drivers will take place on 4, 5, 6, and 8 September.

Stagecoach drivers are taking action over a failure to backdate a pay offer.

While First Manchester drivers have said that without a significant pay rise, chronic staff shortages and overwork will worsen at the company.

Doctors’ strikes

Consultants in England continued their industrial action over pay in August, from 24 to 26, and have more planned for September and October.

The next strike days for consultants, represented by the British Medical Association (BMA), are: 19 and 20 September and 2,3 and 4 October.

Dr Vishal Sharma, BMA consultants committee chair, said: “No consultant wants to be striking and we head out to picket lines today with heavy hearts.

“But we cannot sit by and watch passively as we are persistently devalued, undermined and forced to watch colleagues leave – much to the detriment of the NHS and patients.”

Health Secretary Steve Barclay has said there will be “no more negotiations on pay”.

There have been a series of strikes by both junior doctors and consultants this year over pay and conditions.

And junior doctors, who are members of the BMA, were being asked to vote on more action in September with the ballot closing on 31 August.

University staff walkouts

As students prepare to go back to colleges and universities, staff at the institutions are gearing up for industrial action.

The University and college union (UCU) said earlier in August it will take action unless employer body UCEA agrees to return to negotiations and end disruption to graduations.

The union’s Higher Education Committee has voted for further strikes before the end of September and to begin preparations for a new ballot in order to renew UCU’s industrial mandate in the pay and working conditions dispute, meaning disruption could continue this year and well into 2024.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “Our Higher Education Committee today agreed to hit universities with multiple days of strike action at the start of the coming academic year if vice-chancellors refuse to return to negotiations.

“We will not be bullied into accepting gig economy universities, nor will we accept employers imposing punitive pay deductions.”

Local council industrial action

Council workers across England are expected to being a series of strikes in September, although no dates have been announced.

Unite said its members in an initial 23 local authorities would be taking action over pay.

The English councils that have secured mandates for strike action are: Bath and North East Somerset, Chesterfield, Coventry, Cumberland, Darlington, Haringey, Ipswich, Newham, North Tyneside, Tower Hamlets, Truro, Sefton, Southwark, Warrington, Westminster and Wigan.