When are there strikes this week? List of train, bus and consultant strike dates for the rest of August 2023
Strike action will hit Britain’s roads, railways, hospitals and airports once again in the final days of August, as unions continue to fight for better pay and conditions for their members amid the ongoing cost of living crisis.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and the Aslef drivers’ union both have walkouts planned in the coming days, bringing more disruption to train travel.
The British Medical Association (BMA) has organised a strike among consultant doctors, while members of Unite will strike at Gatwick airport and on First buses. Here is everything you need to know.
Rail strikes
Rail staff represented by the RMT will strike on Saturday 26 August and Saturday 2 September. More than 20,000 workers are set to walk out at the following 14 train companies, bringing much of the rail network to a standstill:
- Avanti West Coast
- c2c
- Chiltern Railways
- CrossCountry
- East Midlands Railway
- Great Western Railway
- Greater Anglia
- LNER
- Northern Trains
- Southeastern
- South Western Railway
- Transpennine Express
- West Midlands Trains and GTR (including Gatwick Express)
Drivers represented by Alsef are holding a separate strike on Friday 1 September, while the union will also ban overtime on Saturday 2 September.
The following operators are affected by the Aslef action:
- Avanti West Coast
- c2c
- Chiltern Railways
- 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
- West Midlands Trains
Doctors’ strike
NHS consultants in England will strike on Thursday 24 and Friday 25 August, and will also walk out on Tuesday 19 and Wednesday 20 September if the Government continues to “refuse to agree to pay talks” and present the profession with a credible offer, the BMA said.
They are disputing the 6 per cent pay rise the Government have previously announced, saying consultants’ pay has fallen in real terms by 35 per cent since 2008 due to a series of below-inflation rises.
The September walkouts will consist of “Christmas Day” cover, whereby emergency services will remain in place.
Thousands of operations, procedures and appointments will likely have to be cancelled and rescheduled as during the previous round of strikes.
The announcement comes weeks after junior doctors also walked out of hospitals for five days – the longest strike in NHS history.
NHS Providers’ Miriam Deakin said the strike meant more disruption for patients and will pile on pressure to the NHS.
“Over 835,000 operations and appointments have been delayed since December due to nine months of back-to-back industrial action,” she said.
“But the knock-on disruption will be felt for months to come with many more patients not being booked in for appointments during strike days and others having their appointments rescheduled.”
Gatwick airport strike
More than 230 Unite members working for ground handling company Red Handling and for Wilson James, a firm that provides passenger assistance, are taking part in industrial action at Gatwick in a dispute over pay.
Red Handling workers walked out from 18-21 August, and are set to strike again from Friday 25 August to Monday 28 August. Wilson James workers are due to strike from Tuesday 22 August to Thursday 24 August, having already walked out from 18-20 August.
Unite has claimed that 216 flights could be delayed or disrupted in total, potentially affecting 45,000 passengers.
Red Handling provides ground handling support for Norse Atlantic, Norwegian, Delta, TAP Air Portugal and Saudia.
Customers are unlikely to receive compensation for disruption resulting from these strikes as the workers are not airline staff. The strikes are likely to be considered an extraordinary circumstance.
However, airlines have a duty of care to passengers and, under UK law, must provide care and assistance to passengers experiencing significant flight delays.
The carrier must offer a reasonable amount of food and drink (passengers may be given vouchers to use at airport shops and restaurants), accommodation where a delay is overnight, transport to and from that accommodation, and a means for passengers to communicate (such as refunding the cost of each passenger’s calls).
Airlines are required by law to provide assistance after a certain length of delay, depending on the distance of the flight:
- For flights under 1,500km – a delay of more than two hours
- For flights of 1,500km-3,500km – more than three hours
- For flights of over 3,500km – more than four hours
If an airline is unable to arrange reasonable care and assistance, then passengers have the right to organise this for themselves and claim the costs back from their airline. Customers should hold onto receipts in this instance in order to make the claim.
Bus strikes
First Bus Manchester drivers represented by Unite are continuing an ongoing strike over pay, and will walk out on the following dates:
- Monday 21 August
- Wednesday 23 August
- Friday 25 August
- Saturday 26 August
- Sunday 27 August
- Monday 28 August
- Monday 4 September
- Tuesday 5 September
- Wednesday 6 September
- Thursday 7 September
- Friday 8 September
The following reduced services will be operating between approximately 7am and 7pm:
- Route 409 every 15 minutes
- Route 82 every hour
- Route 425 every 30 minutes
- Route 426 every hour
Drivers at First Solent will strike over the August bank holiday weekend in a separate pay dispute.
The action will begin at 3am on Friday 25 August and end at 3am on Tuesday 29 August.
It will affect bus routes across the entire Solent area including Portsmouth, Southampton as well as Cosham, Fareham, Gosport and Paulsgrove.
