Rail and road passengers facing disruption as strikes get under way – business live

Nurses who took part in this week’s strike action have explain that colleagues are exhausted and angry, amid the dispute with the government over pay and patient safety.

Here’s a video from the picket lines outside St Thomas’ hospital in Westminster:

RMT leader Mick Lynch has said there are “no new proposals on the table” after talks convened by rail minister Huw Merriman on Thursday.

Speaking from the picket line at London Euston station, the union chief told Sky News:

“We had an exchange about what might be possible and some ways forward and ideas that all the parties shared, and the rail minister requested that all the parties get down to some more discussions in the next period.

“We’ll look to arrange those meetings with the employers and see if we can develop some solutions to the issues that hopefully all the parties can support.

“But there are no actual negotiations; there are some soundings-out of what might be developed.

“So we’ll look forward to getting around the table with employers and work it up and see what we can do.

“But there are no new proposals on the table as we speak.”

Lynch also said, though, he was ‘optimistic’ there could be a deal, if both sides can agree some “commonly held positions”.

If we get a set of documentation and a pay proposal that our members want to support, it will resolve the dispute and we can take all the action away.

I hope we can do that as quickly as possible.

The UK nurses union is planning to announce more strikes in the new year unless the government agrees to reopen talks on pay.

On Thursday nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland went on strike in the Royal College of Nursing’s first national action.

RCN leader Pat Cullen warned last night that action by nurses would escalate unless ministers were prepared to get around the table and negotiate in the dispute over pay and conditions.

Ms Cullen told BBC’s Question Time:

“We started today with 46 organisations.

And why did we do that? We did that because we wanted to make sure that we manage this strike safely and effectively for every patient, the people that I’m speaking with here tonight in this room, and every other patient in England and Wales and Northern Ireland.

“As time moves on – unfortunately if this Government doesn’t speak to us and doesn’t get into a room – I’m afraid that this will escalate.”

Hospital bosses also fear that nurses will start striking for longer, at more places, disrupting more NHS services from next month unless the government increases its pay offer. Here’s the story:

Several Conservative MPs have also urged the government to look again at its offer to nurses, including former party chairman Jake Berry.

Writing in the Daily Express, Berry says both sides must get round the table. He says that “even the most hawkish” Conservative MPs are sceptical that the current offer of between 4 and 5 percent is going to satisfy either nurses or the vast majority of the British people who are “inherently on the side of nurses”.

Berry adds:

Intransigence from either party puts two of our nation’s greatest assets, the NHS, and the health of its people in peril and that’s not acceptable.

I, just like every other member of the public are fed up with political games being played out on television and in Westminster, especially as anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that both sides will eventually compromise.

So do us all a favour and give us an early Christmas Present by sitting down and sorting this out.

The Express have run these calls for a pay deal for nurses on their front page today, for the second day running.

Here’s yesterday’s splash:

You can keep track of the strikes and stoppages planned this month across the UK’s health, transport and postal networks here:

Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) who work at National Highways are holding the first of 12 days of industrial action today, in a dispute over pay and conditions.

Today’s action involves road traffic officers and control room operators in the north-west, Yorkshire, Humber and the north-east regions.

There are fears that the walkouts could cause major delays on England’s motorways and bring A-roads to a “standstill” over the festive period, with long traffic jams.

The action is likely to have an impact on signs and signals being set up to warn motorists of blockages and incidents, a reduced ability to respond and deal with collisions, and delays in re-opening carriageways and motorways, according to the PCS.

Three weeks of strike action is planned. PCS members who work for National Highways will strike:

• in the North West, North East and Yorkshire and Humber today and Saturday

• in London and South East from 22-25 December

• in the West Midlands and South West on 30 and 31 December

• in the East Midlands and Eastern region on 6 and 7 January.

• all members will strike together on 3 and 4 January.

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the economy, business and the financial markets.

Passengers have been warned to expect major disruption on the railway network today as rail workers hold their second 48-hour strike this week.

Train services around Britain will be severely disrupted, as members of the RMT union begin their latest strike in the ongoing dispute over pay and conditions.

Passengers have been advised to only attempt to travel by train if necessary.

National Rail say it is “inevitable that services will be cancelled or severely disrupted”, with a limited service on the network and likely to be no trains at all on some routes.

Around 20% of normal services are expected to run between 7.30am and 6.30pm on both Friday and Saturday.

Eurostar is running a revised timetable between 13 and 17 December, due to the strike action.

Motorists in parts of England could also potentially face worsened disruption, with the first of 12 days of rolling regional strikes by members of the PCS union at National Highways also starting on Friday.

Although no roads will be closed, any major incident could result in longer delays with fewer control room staff or traffic officers available.

Here’s our latest news story on the rail strikes:

Today’s RMT strike is taking place after a meeting on Thursday failed to break the deadlock.

The RMT said:

“RMT attended talks convened by the rail minister Huw Merriman tonight (Thursday) including Network Rail and the Rail Delivery Group and agreed to further discussions.”

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that the minister requested further talks between the RMT and the employers in order to find resolutions, adding that:

“These meetings will be arranged but, in the meantime, all industrial action remains in place.”

However, members of a smaller union, the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA), at Network Rail have voted to accept an improved pay deal.

The TSSA said yesterday union it has already suspended strike action, after 85% of its members voted in favour of the offer, which includes a minimum 9% pay rise by January, job security to 2025, and guarantees on terms and conditions.

The offer, a two-year deal covering the missed January 2022 pay rise and 2023, was rejected last week by the RMT, though.

Another strike scheduled for today, amongst ground handling staff at Heathrow, has also been suspended while an improved pay deal is put to staff. That should avert disruption at the airport this weekend.

The agenda

• 7am GMT: UK retail sales for November

• 9.30am GMT: Flash PMI survey of UK services and manufacturing sectors

• 10.30am GMT: Russia central bank sets interest rates