Daily Junction.mobi portalNews · June 10, 2026 · Daily Junction Editorial Team · 8 min
From train drivers to junior doctors, Britain has seen wave after wave of strikes since 2022 — here's what happened, what was won, and what's still unresolved.
Between 2022 and 2024, Britain experienced its largest wave of strikes in four decades. Train drivers, nurses, teachers, junior doctors, civil servants, university lecturers, and postal workers all walked out, disrupting services and dominating headlines. The strikes were driven by a toxic combination: soaring inflation, stagnant public sector pay, and a government that initially refused to negotiate. By mid-2024, most disputes had been resolved, with workers winning pay rises that ranged from modest to substantial. But the scars remain, and some disputes are still unresolved. Here is a timeline of the UK's strike wave, what was won, and what it cost.
The strike wave was triggered by the cost of living crisis. Inflation, which had been below 2% for most of the 2010s, surged to 11.1% in October 2022 — the highest in 40 years — driven by energy prices, food costs, and supply chain disruptions after COVID-19 and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Public sector workers, whose pay had been frozen or capped at 1–2% for most of the 2010s, saw their real-terms pay fall sharply. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, public sector pay fell by 2.8% in real terms between 2021 and 2023, while private sector pay rose by 1.2%.
Workers demanded pay rises that matched inflation. The government, citing the need to control public spending and avoid a wage-price spiral, initially offered 2–3%. Unions rejected the offers and balloted for strike action. The result was the largest wave of industrial action since the 1984–85 miners' strike.
Rail strikes were the longest-running and most disruptive of the disputes.
Three main unions represented rail workers:
The unions demanded pay rises to match inflation (10–11%) and opposed job cuts and changes to working conditions, including the closure of ticket offices and the introduction of driver-only operated trains.
Rail workers won above-inflation pay rises (inflation had fallen to 3–4% by late 2024), but the deal included some concessions on working practices. Ticket offices were closed at many stations, and driver-only operation was expanded. The strikes cost the economy an estimated £1.5 billion in lost productivity and disrupted millions of journeys.
NHS workers, including nurses, ambulance staff, and junior doctors, held some of the most high-profile strikes.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) balloted its members in late 2022, with 54% voting to strike — the first national nurses' strike in the RCN's 106-year history.
Ambulance workers in England and Wales held strikes in late 2022 and early 2023, with emergency calls prioritised but response times significantly delayed.
Junior doctors (qualified doctors in training, below consultant level) held the longest and most disruptive NHS strikes.
Junior doctors won the largest pay rise of any group, though it is still below the 35% they demanded. Nurses and ambulance workers won smaller increases. The strikes highlighted the NHS staffing crisis, with many doctors and nurses leaving for better-paid jobs abroad or in the private sector.
Teachers in England held strikes in early 2023, demanding a pay rise above inflation.
Teachers won a pay rise above the government's initial offer (3.5%) but below inflation (which was 7–8% at the time). The deal included a commitment to review teacher pay and workload.
Civil servants, including staff at the Department for Work and Pensions, HMRC, and the Home Office, held strikes in early 2023.
Civil servants won a modest pay rise, below inflation. The PCS argued the deal was inadequate but accepted it to avoid further disruption.
University lecturers and staff held strikes over pay, pensions, and working conditions.
The strikes cost the UK economy an estimated £3–5 billion in lost productivity, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research. The NHS alone cancelled over 1 million appointments and operations during the junior doctors' strikes.
But the strikes also shifted public opinion. Polls consistently showed majority support for NHS workers and teachers, with many voters blaming the government for refusing to negotiate. Support for rail workers was more mixed, with some voters frustrated by the disruption.
The strikes dominated British politics in 2022–2024 and contributed to the Conservative government's unpopularity. The government's initial refusal to negotiate, and its rhetoric about "militant unions" and "holding the line" on pay, was widely criticised.
By late 2023, the government had shifted strategy, offering above-inflation pay rises to junior doctors and rail workers. But the damage was done, and the strikes were cited as a factor in the Conservative Party's poor performance in the 2024 general election.
The Labour Party, which has close ties to trade unions, supported the strikes and promised to improve public sector pay if elected. Labour won the 2024 election, and one of its first acts was to settle the remaining disputes with above-inflation pay offers.
The UK experienced its largest wave of strikes since the 1980s, with over 3.5 million working days lost in 2023 alone. Rail strikes by RMT and ASLEF disrupted services for over two years before a pay deal (8–9.5% over two years) was reached in late 2024. Junior doctors held the longest strike in NHS history, winning a 22.3% pay rise over two years, while nurses and ambulance workers won 5% plus a one-off payment. Teachers won 6.5%, civil servants won 4.5–5%, and university staff accepted below-inflation deals in some cases. The strikes were driven by real-terms pay cuts during the cost of living crisis, with public sector pay falling 2.8% between 2021 and 2023. The strikes cost the economy £3–5 billion and cancelled over 1 million NHS appointments, but they also shifted public opinion and contributed to the Conservative government's unpopularity. Most disputes were resolved by mid-2024, though some (universities, local government) remain unresolved. The strike wave highlighted the long-term consequences of a decade of public sector pay restraint and the political risks of refusing to negotiate with workers during a cost of living crisis.
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