Britain is facing widespread disruption this summer as major unions consider strike action over pay and conditions.
UK workers say they are at breaking point, amid a cost-of-living crisis in which inflation soared to a four-decade high of 9.4 per cent this week.
Public workers have also reacted angrily to below-inflation pay offers by the government, with doctors, teachers and nurses hinting that they will take action in the coming weeks.
Who is set to go on strike?
- A walkout by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers is expected to take place on Wednesday July 27 causing more disruption to British rail passengers. Only 20 per cent of services are likely to go ahead. Further action is planned for August 18 and 20.
- More than 115,000 postal workers at Royal Mail voted to strike over pay in what is expected to be the biggest industrial action to hit Britain this summer.
A total of 97.6 per cent of those who voted backed strikes, with a turnout of 77 per cent, in protest at a 2 per cent pay offer, the Communication Workers Union said.
- Staff at exam board AQA are to stage a 72-hour walkout over pay, which union leaders warn could affect the delivery of thousands of GCSE and A-level results.
- Members of Unison, the public service union, will walk out for three days, from Friday July 29 to Sunday July 31. The union warned industrial action is likely to escalate unless talks are reopened.
- Firefighters taking strike action is a “very serious proposition”, the leader of the union in Scotland has said. The Fire Brigades Union this week rejected a 2 per cent pay increase, which the union’s Scottish secretary described as “insulting”.
- Members of the Royal College of Nursing in England will be balloted on industrial action after being awarded what unions say is a real-terms pay cut.
-The British Medical Association, which represents doctors, said earlier this week it was on a "collision course" with the government .
- The National Education Union, which represents teachers, said it would recommend strikes unless the government renegotiates a new pay deal.
- Hundreds of dockworkers at one of Britain's largest container ports will be balloted for strike action in a dispute over pay and conditions.
The Unite union said more than 500 dockworkers at MDHC Container Services, part of Peel Ports, in Liverpool would be asked to vote over industrial action after a 7 per cent pay offer was deemed inadequate and workers were not given an agreed bonus.
- Hundreds of British Airways staff at London's Heathrow have voted to call off strike action, averting further disruption at the airport which is already struggling to cope due to a staff shortage.
Members of the GMB and Unite unions had voted for industrial action in a row over a pay cut during the pandemic.
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
Read part four: an affection for classic cars lives on
Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins
Read part one: how cars came to the UAE
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
The view from The National
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Profile of Whizkey
Date founded: 04 November 2017
Founders: Abdulaziz AlBlooshi and Harsh Hirani
Based: Dubai, UAE
Number of employees: 10
Sector: AI, software
Cashflow: Dh2.5 Million
Funding stage: Series A
FA CUP FINAL
Chelsea 1
Hazard (22' pen)
Manchester United 0
Man of the match: Eden Hazard (Chelsea)
Red Sparrow
Dir: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Egerton, Charlotte Rampling, Jeremy Irons
Three stars
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