As sixth from student who catches the bus into school every single morning, the R70 to be exact, I can assure you that the current strikes that are going on, concerning work stoppages due to a demanded higher pay, are incredibly influential. Public transport of all kind plays a significant role in the lives of the general public everyday, with around 3 million people travelling by bus each day, not to mention the amount of people using other modes of transport such as trains. People use this transport to get to work, school (as I do) or simply to see friends and family and without it, our lives would be a lot harder, if not impossible to live.  

 

“The last few days have been a lot harder than usual; with no buses running, I have had to get the train into school, a great pain considering it’s so early in the morning” says fellow student William Brown, 17, a boy who uses public transport as his main mode of getting around, simply expressing the inconvenience caused by the current strikes.

 

As well as bus drivers, of which a large proportion are currently striking, many other sectors of the general workforce are also currently refraining from work. Recently gathered statistics show that, across Wales, England and Scotland, 100, 000 civil service workers will strike on 1 February, as well approximately 70,000 University and a College Union members. This alone is a high percentage of the total workforce, not even including numbers taken from other industries including firefighters, ambulance workers and nurses. 

 

However, although I must admit that, to any citizen, these strikes may come across as extremely inconvenient, for the strikers themselves, the form of protest is proving rather successful. Workers strike on the basis that they deserve a higher pay for the work that they do. For example, in 2022, school teachers across Wales and England received a pay rise of 5%, however due to inflation rates relatively recently exceeding 9%, the demand for an increase in wage is again high. As a result, the government has already agreed to an extra £2 billion in school funding, a great success in the eyes of all strikers. 

 

Many of these strikes are said to continue over the coming months of February and March, a sign that what has been given by the government is still not enough.