Criminal barristers are the most recent group to vote in favor of strike action, as the government faces increasing pressure over pay demands.
In the coming months, the walkout will exacerbate the potential for disruption throughout the economy, from railroads to schools.
The Criminal Bar Association, which represents attorneys who prosecute and defend criminal defendants in England and Wales, announced that its members had approved a plan for 14 days of action between June 27 and July 22.
They join rail workers, teachers, and civil servants in supporting or considering industrial action in the coming months, as pay awards lag behind the highest rate of inflation in four decades.
Inflation-adjusted average earnings for CBA members have decreased by 28 percent since 2006, according to the CBA, which accuses the government of refusing to engage in negotiations “aimed at finding a fair settlement” to demands, which include an immediate 15 percent increase in fees.
“Without immediate action to stop the exodus of criminal barristers from our ranks, the record backlog that has crippled our courts will continue to inflict misery on victims and defendants alike, and the public will be betrayed,” the CBA said in announcing the strike ballot.
It comes as the possibility of widespread industrial action threatens to unleash what has been termed a “summer of discontent.”
This will begin this week when, barring a last-minute agreement, 40,000 rail workers will walk out in the largest train strike in three decades.
Overseas, teaching unions are also considering conducting pay-related member votes.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS union that represents civil servants, told that his union is conducting a September ballot of 150,000 members.
Unless the government recognizes that frontline public sector employees who kept the country running during the pandemic cannot be expected to receive a 2 percent pay raise when inflation is expected to exceed 11 percent, he said, “We will see widespread industrial action.”
Paul Nowak, the deputy general secretary of the TUC, stated that teachers, rail workers, and postal workers were not “going on strike for fun” but rather had “real concerns about things like pay.
He stated, “Many of our members are simply saying ‘enough is enough.'”
The Chief Secretary of the Treasury, Simon Clarke, has made it abundantly clear that public sector employees will be expected to accept below-inflation pay increases – in real terms, pay cuts.
He told that: “If we are to avert the calamity of inflation, we will have to demonstrate collective, societal responsibility.”
“I recognize that sacrifice is involved in this circumstance.”
