British nurses will go on strike this week, hitting already stretched hospitals and cranking up pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to quell the biggest wave of industrial action to hit the country in decades.
The walkout comes as strikes cripple the rail network and postal service, airports brace for disruption and junior doctors, midwives and teachers prepare to ballot, threatening to further jam up an economy that is likely already in recession.
Unions are seeking double-digit pay rises to keep pace with inflation that hit 11.1% in October, the highest in 41 years.
Strikes are due on each day this month. Union estimates forecast more than 1 million working days will be lost in December, making it the worst month for disruption since July 1989.
(Source Reuters)
