When is the next strike? From teachers to airport staff, every walkout scheduled in the coming weeks

A fresh round of strike action is set to hit the education, health and transport sectors at the end of this year and into 2025

Friday 13 December 2024 17:58 GMT

Members of the National Education Union holding a rally outside the Department for Education in London in November (PA Wire)

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The first half of 2024 saw staff across numerous sectors locked into pay disputes with the outgoing Conservative government amid the cost of living crisis.

Teachers, doctors, nurses, civil servants and transport workers were among the many professionals to walk out, including junior doctors who went on their eleventh strike since March the previous year.

But the newly elected Labour government brought pay rises across the public sector, with staff told to expect a 4 per cent to 6 per cent increase for the year 2024/2025 and junior doctors offered a historic 22.3 per cent over the next two years.

This week, the government began deciding salaries for 2025/2026, with chancellor Rachel Reeves revealing that 2.8 per cent will be the maximum pay rise awarded to most public sector workers - 0.2 per cent above projected inflation.

Teachers striking in January over pay rises (Danny Lawson/PA Wire)

In response, unions representing NHS staff, teachers and transport workers have threatened a fresh round of strike action if the proposal is not revised.

Meanwhile, Downing Street has warned that “for pay awards to go beyond inflation, they will have to be met by productivity improvements.”

Here all the strikes announced for the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025.

Monday 16 December

Unite members at Synnovis, a supplier that provides crucial pathology services to the NHS, begin five days of strike action.

The company processes blood tests for NHS services in south east London, including King’s College Hospital, Princess Royal University Hospital, Orpington Hospital, Beckenham Beacon and Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup.

The strike is in response to a cyber attack on the supplier in June this year, which left patients unable to get blood tests and had an “alarming impact on staff” who were “forced to work additional hours and without access to essential computer systems,” according to Unite.

Tuesday 17 December

Synnovis strikes continue.

Wednesday 18 December

Synnovis strikes continue.

Thursday 19 December

Nearly 50 Unite members employed as ramp agents by Swissport at Leeds-Bradford Airport walk out.

They claim their employer did not offer them a £125 payment which staff at other airports received.

The strike could cause major disruption to flights scheduled to leave the airport over Christmas.

Synnovis strikes continue.

Friday 20 December

Synnovis strikes continue.