Strikes and protests by disgruntled workers across the world

In France, a nationwide strike is on in protest of the retirement age being raised by two years, to the age of 64. Services have been cancelled by many airlines including Ryanair and British Airways. Eurostar has also cancelled a couple of trains, which has affected people travelling to and from the country.

In Germany, with ground staff, aviation security staff and public service employees at seven airports — including the busiest airport, Frankfurt — going on strike, 17 February 2023 will witness a lot of disruption.

The strike is being organised under the aegis of a Berlin-based German union, Ver.di, which stands for United Services Trade Union in German, as a warning.

The strike which will begin in the early hours of the morning and continue till late night, will affect airports at Munich, Stuttgart, Bremen, Dortmund, Hamburg and Hanover.

Negotiations are still underway with public-sector employers at all levels. With previous discussions having not borne any fruit, the strike is expected to serve as a warning.

In Finland, the Transport Workers’ Union (AKT) has refused to accept a proposal to settle the dispute regarding the terms and conditions of employment for stevedores, terminal workers and various road-transport professionals. Failing to arrive at an agreement, the dock workers and terminal workers began their strike early morning at all the ports where stevedores are protected by the collective bargaining agreement of AKT.

In India, doctors of government hospitals in Manipur went on an indefinite strike. As a result, all hospitals and health centres run by the Manipur government have been closed. The strike has been called by the All-Manipur Health Services Doctors’ Association (AMHSDA) to protest against the Manipur government’s inability to fulfil their demands.

The four demands of the doctors are, time bound/time scale promotion, extension of retirement age of doctors to 65 years as administrative post, non-practising allowance or NPA in accordance with the 7th Central Pay Commission with effect from January, 2016, and updation and amendment of the old MHS rules of 1982.

Government doctors in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhopal have stopped all surgeries in hospitals associated with medical colleges as part of the proposed strike starting 17 February 2023. The doctors have been demanding timely promotion and salary revision. Even private doctors have come out to support the protesting government doctors.

The highest number of strikes or no-work days were experienced in the UK in 2022. Amidst the rising cost of living in Britain, labour disputes ate up the maximum number of work days in over three decades reveal data. Workers across Britain have been demanding better pay to keep pace with the rising inflation.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), almost 2.5 million working days were lost to industrial action in 2022. The last time such high numbers were posted was in 1989, when 4.1 million work days were lost.