2022 saw an unprecedented wave of industrial action as nurses, paramedics, doctors, postal workers, railway workers and barristers took a stand against their employers.
As inflation soared after the fallout from covid-19, the Ukraine war and Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget, workers across the UK looked to boost their stagnating wages.
The transport union RMT’s announcement, on May 24, that its members would conduct a national strike – the first in three decades – set the tone for summer.
In June, the London overground, tube, and the Southeastern and Thameslink railways frequently ground to a halt.
RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch described a landscape of “transport austerity” with thousands of jobs being cut and below-inflation pay rises offered to rail workers.
On June 27, the CWU (Communication Workers Union) announced strikes at Southwark delivery offices.
One postal worker told the News that Royal Mail bosses were trying to transform the company into an Amazon-like service by prioritising parcels and using agency staff on zero-hours contracts.
Dulwich politicians write to Royal Mail about the “appalling level of service”
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This, they argued, was at the expense of their job stability, pay, and the service offered to Southwark residents.
Barristers facing a 28 per cent fall in real earnings since 2006 went on indefinite strike on August 26, hoping to secure an improved pay offer.
They argued the only way of beating the 60,000 case backlog was by encouraging barristers to stay in the profession by paying them more.
Southwark resident and barrister Rachel Law said: “The system is absolutely on its knees. I can’t overemphasise how much of a threat it is under.”
“The system is absolutely on its knees”: Why a Southwark barrister has chosen to strike
On October 10, the Criminal Bar Association announced that barristers in England and Wales had accepted a pay deal worth 15 per cent from the government.
But there was little respite in November as Abellio bus drivers took days off and railway workers staged a series of 48-hour strikes.
During Christmas, Southwark was hit by a flurry of strikes as nurses, paramedics, railway workers and postal workers threw festive plans into disarray.
One Borough restaurant said Christmas had been ruined due to the hundreds of booking cancellations caused by transport disruption.
And there’s no end in sight. All the sectors that went on strike in Christmas are striking again this month, and firefighters could soon join the picket.
READ MORE – REVIEWS OF THE YEAR 2022 – below:
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The Weirdest News Stories
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Killings in 2022
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The Most Shocking Stories
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The Funniest Headlines
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How we covered Her Majesty’s passing
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We look back at the people taken from us in 2022
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How locals responded to the cost-of-living crisis
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How we stood with Ukraine
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Labour tightened its hold in the local elections
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Southwark Soapbox hit the screen
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Squabbles over MP Harriet Harman’s succession
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Neil Coyle’s suspension from the Labour Party
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Winning the war against the bus cuts
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Primary schools faced closure and the battle to stay afloat continues
