|
A surge of strike activity is expected across Europe this summer as workers negotiate better pay and conditions amid the cost of living crisis. While unrest has also affected the U.K. legal and medical professions, strikes have mostly impacted transportation so far. As well as disrupting U.K. commutes, holidaymakers have arrived at European airports to face long queues and canceled flights.
News this week of striking oil and gas workers in Norway – Europe’s second-largest supplier after Russia – has also caused heightened concerns around future energy supply to the continent. And the U.K. is unlikely to have seen the end of strike action this year. British Airways staff are considering strikes at the moment and rail unions have warned of “massive” disruption this summer. Their members are currently voting on what could be Britain’s first national rail strike in a quarter-century.
Keith Laybourn, University of Huddersfield’s professor emeritus of history, picks through the major milestones of U.K. industrial action to put these current events in context.
|
Keith Laybourn, University of Huddersfield
Strikes are happening across various UK industries at the moment, but what is the history of strike action in UK?
|
Quote of the week 💬
|
-
“Affiliation with men’s teams brings both risks and rewards for women’s football. Women’s club sides seem increasingly unlikely to succeed at the top level without a men’s team alongside them – but therefore lack economic independence.”
— Christina Philippou, Principal Lecturer, Accounting and Financial Management at the University of Portsmouth, from her story Euro 2022: why women’s football remains dominated by the men’s game
|
|
Finance
|
-
John Hawkins, University of Canberra
To assess the prospects of cryptocurrencies, it’s useful to consider how money was invented and became centralised in the first place.
|
|
Economy
|
-
John Hawkins, University of Canberra
We are at a dangerous tipping point in ‘inflationary psychology’, says the central bank for the world’s central banks.
-
Christoph Görtz, University of Birmingham
Research shows new tech announcements have a real, immediate impact on the economy. How can we apply this to economic news
|
|
Personal Finance
|
-
Peter Martin, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
The panel believes Australia will avoid a recession the year ahead, but is much less certain about the United States. It expects real wages to go backwards and economic growth to sink.
|
|
Business
|
-
Andrew Kerr, University of Cape Town
The industry’s prices and profits would be lower if laws were enforced.
|
|
