Will there be more strikes in 2023? Latest in the UK train, Tube, teacher, doctor and airport strike disputes
Strike action has now been disrupting key UK services for well over a year, with many disputes showing no sign of slowing down.
Unions are continuing to fight for better pay and conditions for their members as the country continues to grapple with soaring living costs and high inflation.
Consultants and junior doctors will stage a historic joint strike in September, putting huge pressure on the NHS, while widespread action is also planned at UK universities.
And train drivers have announced two more days of strike action as their long-running dispute with rail companies over pay shows no sign of reaching a conclusion.
Here are all the major strikes planned so far for the rest of 2023, and whether more could be called, broken down by industry.
Doctor strikes
Junior doctors and consultants will unite to take joint strike action over pay in September, for the first time in the history of the NHS.
The British Medical Association (BMA) confirmed that NHS workers would walk out over four days this month, with further strikes confirmed for October.
Junior doctors from the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) â the hospital doctorsâ union â will also be striking across the same days.
Consultants will strike on Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 September, with âChristmas Day coverâ planned for these dates.
Junior doctors will strike on Wednesday 20, Thursday 21 and Friday 22 September.
Consultants and junior doctors will strike again on Monday 2, Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 October.
Dr Rob Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, the joint chairs of the BMAâs junior doctors committee, warned Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Steve Barclay that their members would continue striking until spring 2025 if necessary.
University strikes
Staff at 140 universities across the UK will strike for five days in September in the long-running dispute over pay and working conditions.
The University and College Union (UCU) is seeking an above-inflation pay rise for its members, saying that pay has fallen by a quarter in real terms since 2009.
The action, which includes staff including lecturers, librarians and technicians, will coincide with the start of term, disrupting freshersâ weeks across the country.
University staff at 136 universities will strike for five consecutive days from Monday 25 to Friday 29 September.
Strikes will hit four Scottish universities on slightly different dates to coincide with local action by other unions.
You can find a full list of the universities affected by the strike here.
Support staff at 20 universities in England and Scotland, including cleaners and librarians, will strike in the coming weeks in a separate dispute.
Unison said there would be co-ordinated action for at least two days by more than 5,000 staff at the start of the new term. Its members at 16 universities in England will walk out on Monday 2 and Wednesday 3 October, with many striking on additional dates, while a series of walkouts will take place in Scotland later this month at four institutions in Glasgow and Dundee.
You can find a full list of dates and affected institutions here.
Airport strikes
Strike action involving ground handlers employed by GH London at Luton Airport is currently planned for four days from Wednesday 20 to Saturday 23 September.
The strike is organised by Unite and applies to staff who undertake ground handling for Wizz Air.
Action set to begin on Wednesday 13 September was called off at the last minute for renewed talks, but next weekâs walkout will go ahead if no agreement is reached.
Unite said: âThe strike is a result of GH London continually targeting and threatening a Unite rep with disciplinary action, the use of CCTV and audio recording of workers in break rooms without agreement, the companyâs failure to follow its own disciplinary and grievance process, the disproportionate use of discipline against ethnic minority employees and its failure to pay wages in full and on time.â
Strike action has affected major airports including Heathrow and Gatwick this year, but there are currently no other walkouts planned.
Rail strikes
The most recent rail strikes were staged on Friday 1 September and Saturday 2 September, by the Aslef driversâ union and the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) respectively.
Aslef members working at 16 rail companies will strike again on Saturday 30 September and Wednesday 4 October.
The union is also implementing a ban on working overtime on Friday 29 September and from Monday 2 to Friday 6 October.
The following operators will be affected by the action:
- 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, including Gatwick Express
- South Western Railway
- TransPennine Express
- West Midlands Trains
Aslef said the action will âforce the train operating companies to cancel all services and the ban on overtime will seriously disrupt the networkâ.
Ahead of its strike on 2 September, the RMT said it had received a reply from the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) â which represents the rail companies â to a âroadmapâ it had suggested to break the deadlock in its long-running dispute over pay and working conditions.
RMT general secretary, Mick Lynch, said that while no agreement had been reached, it was âencouraging the train-operating companies want to continue dialogueâ.
He confirmed that, in the meantime, âour industrial campaign will continue until [we] reach a negotiated settlementâ, so passengers with the 14 train companies covered by the strikes can expect more walkouts to come.
The union currently has a mandate to strike until November. Unions involved in disputes have to re-ballot their members every six months to legally continue with strikes and other forms of action.
Tube strikes
London Underground workers have staged multiple days of strikes over the past year in disputes over pay and working conditions.
At present, there are no further Tube strikes planned to take place, but Tube drivers recently voted to continue action for another six months.
Finn Brennan, Aslefâs organiser on the Underground, said: âThese huge votes, from the high 90s to 100 per cent, in favour of action demonstrate just how determined our members are to protect their terms and conditions at work from the effects of the Governmentâs attack on TfL funding.
âAs always, we are prepared to discuss and negotiate, but we will never accept detrimental changes being imposed on Aslefâs members.â
A strike planned in July by the RMT was cancelled in favour of a fresh round of talks, but a resolution in that dispute is also yet to be reached.
Mr Lynch said at the time: âThere has been significant progress made by our negotiating team in talks with TfL.
âHowever, this is not the end of the dispute nor is it a victory for the union as yet. Our members were prepared to engage in significant disruptive industrial action and I commend their resolve.â