(BUTTON) Strikes every day before Christmas - which sectors are affected and why Workers from a host of industries have voted to strike, or are balloting to strike soon, as most call for pay rises in line with, or above, inflation while the cost of living soars across the UK. -- Friday 23 December 2022 13:53, UK The UK is facing a wave of strikes this winter, with at least one walkout a day before the end of the year, as staff from different industries seek better pay. -- Rail Further rail strikes are set to take place from 6pm on Christmas Eve to 29 December and 3-7 January. Eurostar strikes take place on 22 and 23 December. Workers on London's Elizabeth Line will strike on 12 January Various unions have planned rail strikes this winter. The Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) union represents Network -- deal", which is why they are striking. They had already announced they were joining other unions on strike but added another date of 5 January ahead of Christmas, saying the train companies "have pushed us into this place". -- offer. Workers on London's Elizabeth Line will strike on 12 January in a dispute over pay and pensions, Prospect and the TSSA rail union have announced. -- Bus Stagecoach strikes in Sunderland will take place on 23-24 December and 26-27 December. Image: There will be bus strikes in London and Sunderland GMB members who work as bus drivers for Stagecoach in Sunderland are -- Roads Staggered strikes across English regions until 7 January. 22-25 December: London and South East. 30-31 December: West Midlands -- National Highways employees, who plan, design, build, operate and maintain the country's roads, will take part in a series of "staggered" strikes in England. Their union, PCS, says the action risks bringing the road network to a standstill and that the walkouts will coincide with the planned strikes by RMT members on the railways. -- 29 December from 4am for 72 hours A strike planned by a total of 350 baggage handlers employed by Menzies at Heathrow airport due to start on 16 December has been suspended. Unite says this came after last-ditch talks as a "gesture of goodwill". A further 72-hour strike is planned for 29 January if a deal can't be struck. -- What promises to be more disruptive is PCS union members, working for UK Border Force, going on strike between 23-26 and 28-31 December. Unite members working for Highlands and Islands Airports will be -- Postal Further Royal Mail strikes take place on 23-24 December. Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) are walking out in a -- with no letters on Saturdays. The strikes are going ahead after Royal Mail said it had delivered a "best and final" offer to the union, including a number of "extensive improvements". -- Nurses Further nursing strikes in England will take place on 18-19 January Members of the Royal College of Nursing went on strike in December for the first time ever following the government failing to commit to formal pay negotiations after a five-day deadline ended in November. Thousands of NHS nurses in England, Wales and Northern Ireland went on strike on 15 and 20 December as they call for a rise of 5% above inflation - 19.2% - as they said they have had a real terms pay cut of 20% since 2010. -- working beyond their shifts without extra pay. The strikes resulted in thousands of cancelled NHS operations and appointments. The RCN have since announced that nurses will strike again in England on 18 and 19 January and said further dates would be confirmed in the new year. The impact of the strikes will be widened, with the number of trusts involved increasing from 44 to 55. Ambulance staff Strikes take place on 11 and 23 January. Thousands of ambulance workers and other NHS staff are striking in a wave of coordinated industrial action. The first strike took place a day after members of the Royal College of Nursing staged their second walkout, also over pay. -- December. The GMB union had planned another strike on 28 December, but decided to suspend the walkout after "amazing" public support for its industrial action. -- Junior doctors - any doctor below consultant level - who are BMA members will be balloted to strike on 9 January 2023. They say they have had a real terms pay cut of 26.1% since 2008, while -- They were also excluded from the 4.5% increase the rest of the NHS has been promised. A potential strike date has not been set. Image: Junior doctors went on their first strike ever in 2015, when Jeremy Hunt was health secretary Other NHS staff Five other unions are balloting for strike action, which could be co-ordinated, by NHS staff who are not junior doctors or nurses, including ambulance staff, midwives, physios, and hospital porters. Chartered Society of Physiotherapy members in Scotland have voted to strike in the next six months but will consider an offer from the Scottish government of a salary rise of 7%, or 11% for the lowest paid. -- Unite, the UK's second biggest union, is also balloting 10,000 NHS members ahead of Christmas for strikes in early 2023. NHS Unite members currently being balloted include: dentists, -- Thousands of Unison workers who are ambulance workers in the North East, North West, London, Yorkshire and the South West have voted to strike but dates have not been set and exact areas not yet confirmed as the vote was just below the 50% threshold for many NHS trusts. -- porters, cleaners, caterers, clerical staff, technicians, care workers, social workers and transport workers in Northern Ireland have voted to strike - expected to happen before Christmas. Firefighters More than 33,000 firefighters and control room staff started voting on 5 December on whether to strike over pay. Members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) are being asked if they want to take industrial action over a "derisory" 5% pay rise. FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: "Strike action will always be a last resort but we are running out of options. -- University lecturers, librarians, and researchers at 150 UK universities also went on strike on 24 and 30 November and 1 December in the biggest action of its kind in higher education - with more dates threatened. -- Civil servants Border Force officers will go on strike at Birmingham, Cardiff, Gatwick, Glasgow and Manchester airports, as well as terminals 2, 3, 4, 5 at Heathrow and the Port of Newhaven from 23-26 and 28-31 December. -- Around 100,000 civil service members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) began a month of strikes from mid-December as they call for a 10% pay rise, better pension conditions, job security and to scrap planned redundancy reforms. -- Department for Transport, including the DVLA and Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, including the Rural Payments Agency, will go on strike. Image: Border Force staff will be among the civil servants going on strike The government has said they "greatly value" civil servants' work but -- Food delivery Strike dates will be announced for the Christmas period. Almost 400 GMB members who work for Bestfood and deliver food to chain restaurants such as KFC, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Zizzi, Pizza Express and Wagamama have voted to strike. GMB said Bestfood's parent companies - Booker and Tesco - are "making -- Anyone who likes Haywards Pickled Onions over the festive season should take note of a factory strike. The Mizkan Euro factory in Rochdale has already seen 20 days of lost -- More than 600 workers at the housing and homeless charity Shelter went on a planned and unprecedented fortnight of strike action on 5 December in a dispute over pay. -- staff unable to pay their rent. The strike ended early after 10 days following an increased pay offer of 7% plus a one-off payment of £1,250. Outbrain