The British government started negotiations with Parliament to propose a new law that would give the police more powers to suppress the most “disturbing” protests and guarantee minimum service.as a result of widespread strike that have occurred in the country since December 2022 in the context of high inflation.

The draft law to guarantee a minimum level of service during strikes, which is already in the hands of lawmakers, is being seen as part of ministers’ response to the months of forced measures expected in the coming weeks. For this reason, this Monday the Government reported in its statement that would include amendments to the Public Order Act to strengthen the role of the police in “preventing interference in protests”, expanding the legal definition of “serious disturbance”. It would be added to the already questionable Police, Crime, Punishment and Trial Act, passed last year, which expanded the prerogative of security forces and made it illegal, for example, to chain chains in public buildings.

Britain has seen a wave of widespread strikes in recent months and continued this year over wage and working conditions issues which workers find unacceptable. The protests spread across sectors such as government services, health, the education system, rail, public transport and private companies.

In this context, The main union TUC organized a series of protests on February 1 against the disputed new law about the strike proposed by the Government. According to the unions, the planned law would give ministers new powers that limit the right to strike. The opposition Labor Party, meanwhile, announced it would oppose the legislation and for any attempt to speed it through Parliament without proper oversight.

Meanwhile, Nurses across the UK will go on strike this Wednesday and Thursday. The Royal College of Nursing has warned that if a deal is not reached before the end of January, the next series of strikes will affect all nurses in the UK for the first time, not just the UK.

Parallel, teachers in England and Wales are awaiting a vote on forced action organized by the National Union of Education (NEU for its acronym in English). The union further warned that strikes in England and Wales could begin by the end of the month after more than 300,000 teachers and support staff were laid off.

Members of the Teachers’ Union (NASUWT) voted last week, but did not reach the 50% turnout limit. In Scotland, teachers will go on a 16-day rotating strike, with teachers in two local counties walking out every day until February 6. Too, On Wednesday, Unison members of the Environment Agency will also strike over wage demands and the roughly 2,600 ambulance workers who struck last week are scheduled to strike again on January 23.

Despite this explosion of labor disputes, The government remains steadfast in its stance that salary increases must be decided by a salary review body and that the demands of workers and unions cannot be met.

With information from Telam