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In England, a "summer of discontent" takes Britons to the streets

In England, a “summer of discontent” takes Britons to the streets

Finally, on Wednesday, August 3, at Amazon’s warehouse in Tilbury, east London, anger erupted when management announced an offer to staff: a 35 pence (41 euro cents) extra for basic handlers, bringing their pay to £11.45. per hour (13.55 euros). This is a 3% increase, while inflation in the United Kingdom reached 9.4% in June.

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This news created a commotion in the company canteen. Videos posted on social media show administrators trying to quell neighborhood anger. in vain Most of the employees refused to return to their posts, disrupting the operation of the warehouse for forty-eight hours. Tensions spread and wildcat attacks briefly reached Coventry and Bristol sites.

“People are in a very tight financial situation… I see a lot of pessimism, Steve Karelick, a representative of the GMB union monitoring the situation at the site, explains. So when they are offered 35 pence, of course they are angry. » He sent a letter to the e-commerce company’s UK headquarters calling for basic wages to be raised to £15 an hour. Amazon responds that there is “Wages have increased from a minimum of £10.50 to £11.45 an hour, depending on location, representing a 29% increase since 2018”.

On August 13, the train service has been suspended for the fourth time since June 20

The Amazon case is symptomatic of an unprecedented movement of broad social discontent across the channel. On Saturday 13 August, nine rail companies – the majority of British trains – will be on strike. The strike was the fourth since June 20, with two unions taking turns to walk out. These were also held on buses, the London Underground, some universities, pubs and BT (formerly British Telecom).

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Lawyers have also been protesting since late June to demand a hike in fees for court-appointed cases. “It’s the Summer of Discontent”A word echoing the winter of discontent of 1979, Mr. Karelik believes that the country is paralyzed by work stoppages in factories and on the side of garbage collectors or grave diggers.

“Unions are on their knees”

This is just the beginning. Postmen and dockers have announced strikes for August. On Tuesday August 9, nursing union the Royal College of Nursing recommended a strike to its members for the first time in its history in more than a century, as part of a move to take place in October. National Education also prepares for social activities in the fall.

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