The British unions are about to fall into a trap

For most of the week of June 20th, the RMT Union is calling the largest rail strike in 30 years. On Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, there will be virtually no trains in the UK.

Coming just after the pandemic, a lot of activity is just moving back online. However, the news is already full of stories of businesses, especially in hospitality, that are just beginning to recover from the pandemic being slammed by cancellations and losses. School children, who have been studying from home and seeing the exams that define their futures disrupted by the pandemic are again being trapped at home, just at the end of their first in-person exam period. There are plenty of genuine stories of how this rail strike will hit everyday people, struggling businesses, and the very workers the unions claim they are fighting for.

The RMT wants pay rises to account for inflation, which is predicted to rise to 11% this year. The rail industry wants modernisation — for example, adoption of technology that will require fewer workers to do manual tasks, but equally may create new jobs for those able to retrain into them.

The RMT Union blames the government for not intervening. The government say it is not for them to get involved in an industrial dispute. The government had to bail out the railway industry during the pandemic, and even…