London strikes July 2023: From train drivers to teachers - key summer dates

Last summer saw tens of thousands of workers join the biggest industrial action the country has seen for three decades.

This summer is looking similar as workers across multiple sectors have announced a new wave of strike dates demanding better pay and working conditions.

At the start of summer rail workers from Aslef and RMT unions staged three days of walkouts, with strikes on Saturday June 3 impacting the FA Cup final and Epsom Derby.

As the cost of living crisis continues, pay rises, either in line with inflation, or near to it, remain top of the agenda for all striking workers, along with an improvement to working conditions and preventing job cuts.

We’ll be keeping you up to date with strike action coming up and taking place this summer.

London Underground workers

The RMT union announced a week of walkouts on the London Underground during the last week of July. Different grades and sections of the Tube will take strike action from Sunday July 23 until Friday July 28.

In a long-running dispute with Transport for London (TfL), RMT asserted that 600 jobs were slated for elimination.

According to RMT, the predicted job losses will have an impact on every part of the Tube, including stations and maintenance, increasing the possibility of unstaffed stations and decreasing safety standards.

The RMT additionally accused TfL executives of trying to impose a £100 million pension cut that, if accepted, they claim will leave London Underground workers with less retirement money.

Members of Aslef union will also join the walkouts on July 26 and July 28 due to a dispute over pensions, job cuts and working conditions.

Finn Brennan, Aslef’s full-time organiser on the London Underground, said members are at-risk of being impacted by a new attendance procedure removing the right to representation or appeal at stage one of a disciplinary process, and “trains modernisation”, which will result in unrestricted remote booking, driving shifts up to 10 hours long, and introducing “flexible cover” weeks in rosters.

Train drivers

The RMT has announced a wave of strike action this summer. 20,000 members working across 14 train operating companies will take strike action on Thursday July 20, Saturday July 22 and Saturday July 29.

The strikes coincide with the fourth and fifth Ashes Tests at Old Trafford and The Oval and The Open golf championship at Royal Liverpool.

Aslef members working for Avanti West Coast were due stage a 24-hour walkout on Sunday July 2 over changes to sick pay - but the union announced on June 21 that the action was suspended.

This action is separate from the union’s ongoing national dispute over pay.

Teachers

The National Education Union (NEU) has announced two additional strike days in schools in England on July 5 and 7.

Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint general secretaries of the NEU, accused education secretary, Gillian Keegan, of refusing to re-enter negotiations, but said it is within her grasp to stop the strikes from going ahead.

They said: “Time and again the National Education Union, alongside its sister unions, have called for the education secretary to get around the negotiation table to settle this dispute for a fully funded teacher pay increase. Time and again our calls have fallen on stony ground.”

The dispute is over pay and conditions.

Strikes suspended

Heathrow airport workers and London bus drivers were also supposed to strike in June but both industrial actions have been called off following accepted pay offers.

Unite members working for Arriva bus were due to stage walk outs on June 20, 21, 27 and 28 but following extended pay talks the company offered an improved pay offer.

Unite suspended the industrial action while the drivers are balloted on the offer.

Strikes involving 2,000 security officers at Heathrow were also suspended after Heathrow Airports Ltd (HAL) made an improved pay offer.

“Following extensive talks with the workers’ union Unite last week, an improved pay offer was made by HAL and, as a gesture of goodwill by the union, the initial strikes were called off,” a Unite spokesperson said.

Unite warns that if the latest offer is rejected by members then the remaining 29 days of strike action spread across the summer, beginning before the end of this month, will go ahead as planned.

Junior and senior doctors

Junior doctors in the NHS in England will be taking strike action from 7am on Thursday July 13 to 7am on Tuesday July 18.

This is the longest-ever continuous strike in the history of the NHS.

The British Medical Association (BMA) is calling for “full restoration” of pay, which it says has been cut by 26%. The government has offered 5% to end the dispute.

Consultants (senior doctors) will also walk out for two consecutive days from July 20 to 21.

This will be the first time in 50 years that senior doctors, represented by the BMA, have voted to strike over pay.