The Spring of discontent? How Britain could be brought to a standstill as ... trends now

Britons face weeks of misery after militant unions organised a series of strikes on the railways, in schools, in hospitals and at airports over the next month.

Hot on the heels of industrial action a fortnight ago which brought the country to a standstill, train drivers are set to strike again in early May.

But alongside those walkouts in the coming weeks is more disruption on the London Underground, along with strikes by airport staff, security guards and teachers.

Action involving border control staff just days before the May Bank Holiday is expected to impact thousands of holidaymakers planning a short break.

NHS support staff are also taking action - the latest blow to the health service after months of walkouts by junior doctors.

Here, MailOnline outlines the full scale of the strikes, when they are happening, and how they will affect you.

Hospital NHS support staff 

BACKGROUND: 

Health workers are to stage fresh strikes in a long-running dispute over pay.

Unite said around 700 of its members at Barts NHS Trust and contractor Synergy will walk out from May 7 to 19.

The union said the workers - including cleaners, porters and facilities staff - are taking action over the failure of their employer to pay a lump sum worth more than £1,600 that other NHS workers were offered for working during the pandemic.

Unite said its members worked for another outsourcing company before transferring back into the NHS just after the imposed deadline for staff to receive the payment.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: 'If Barts thinks that our members have given up on this fight they have another thing coming.

'They have seen their comrades at other trusts rightly win this pay award and there is absolutely no reason for NHS bosses to be continuing to block this payment for our members.'

WHAT IS THE NHS TRUST SAYING? 

MailOnline has approached Barts NHS Trust for comment.  

Train strikes 

BACKGROUND:

Train drivers at 16 rail companies are to stage a fresh series of strikes in their long-running pay dispute, disrupting travel in the week of the May bank holiday. 

Members of Aslef will walk out on May 7, 8 and 9 at different operators and ban overtime for six days from May 6.

The union said it has not met employers or the Government for more than a year, accusing ministers of 'giving up' trying to resolve the near two-year dispute.

Drivers will strike on May 7 at c2c, Greater Anglia, GTR Great Northern Thameslink, Southeastern, Southern, Gatwick Express and South Western Railway.

On May 8 there will be strikes at Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry, East Midlands Railway, Great Western Railway and West Midlands Trains.

Aslef members at LNER, Northern Trains and TransPennine Express will strike on May 9.

Aslef said train drivers have not had an increase in salary for five years, since their last pay deals expired in 2019.

The union said that after its members voted overwhelmingly in February to continue taking industrial action, it asked the train operating companies to hold talks.

General secretary Mick Whelan said: 'It is now a year since we sat in a room with the train companies and a year since we rejected the risible offer they made and which they admitted, privately, was designed to be rejected.

'We first balloted for industrial action in June 2022, after three years without a pay rise. It took eight one-day strikes to persuade the train operating companies (Tocs) to come to the table and talk.

'Our negotiating team met the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) on eight occasions - the last being on Wednesday April 26 last year.

'That was followed by the Tocs' 'land grab' for all our terms and conditions on Thursday April 27 - which was immediately rejected.

'Since then train drivers have voted, again and again, to take action to get a pay rise.

'That's why Mark Harper, the Transport Secretary, is being disingenuous when he says that offer should have been put to members. Drivers would not vote to strike if they thought an offer was acceptable.'

Mr Whelan said the year-old offer of a four percent pay rise followed by a second 4 percent increase is 'dead in the water'.

WHAT IS THE GOVERNMENT SAYING? 

A spokesman for the Rail Delivery Group said: 'This wholly unnecessary strike action called by the Aslef leadership will sadly disrupt customers and businesses once again, while further damaging the railway at a time when taxpayers are continuing to contribute an extra £54 million a week just to keep services running.

'We continue to seek a fair agreement with the Aslef leadership which both rewards our people, gives our customers more reliable services and makes sure the railway isn't taking more than its fair share from taxpayers.'

A Department for Transport spokesperson, added: 'Aslef's leadership are acting like a broken record - calling for strike action time and time again while remaining the only rail union continuing to strike, as well as the only union refusing to put a fair and reasonable pay offer to its members for over a year.

'The Transport Secretary and rail minister have done their part to facilitate this pay offer, - one which would take train drivers' salaries up to an average of £65,000 which is almost twice the average salary in the UK.

'Aslef bosses should take the lead of the other rail unions, put this offer to their members and stop their campaign of contempt for passengers.'

BACKGROUND: 

Hundreds of workers at Heathrow Airport are to strike in a dispute over outsourcing of jobs.

Unite said around 800 of its members will launch a week of strikes from May 7-13.

The union said workers in passenger services, who assist travellers to catch connecting flights, trolley operations, and security guards will have their jobs outsourced by June.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: 'Heathrow Airport's actions are deplorable. It is raking in massive profits for the bosses while trying to squeeze every last penny out of its workforce.

'Unite is fully focused on defending its members' jobs, pay and conditions, and our members at Heathrow will receive the union's unrelenting support during this dispute.'

In a separate row, workers who refuel airplanes are to strike in a dispute over terms and conditions.

Members of Unite employed by AFS will walk out for 72 hours from May 4.

The union said AFS, a joint venture between oil and gas companies, was planning to cut pension and sickness benefits. 

WHAT IS HEATHROW SAYING?: 

A Heathrow Airport spokesman said: 'We are reorganising our operations to deliver better results for our customers. There are no job losses as a result of these changes, and we continue to discuss with Unite the implementation of these changes for the small number of colleagues impacted.

'Unite's threats of potential industrial action are unnecessary, and customers can be reassured that we will keep the airport operating smoothly, just like we have in the past.'

On the AFS row, Heathrow said it was working on contingencies with AFS to manage any

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