Thousands of striking teachers and other workers demonstrated in London.

Thousands of teachers, civil servants, railway workers and other workers took to the streets of London this Wednesday to demand higher wages in the face of a cost of living crisis, on one of the biggest closing days in recent years in the United Kingdom.

The demonstration took place this Wednesday afternoon and culminated in the delivery of a petition at British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s official residence in Downing Street against legislation that imposes minimum services in certain sectors.

The document was presented by the Secretary General of the British Inter-Union Federation of the Congress of Trade Unions (TUC) Paul Novak, together with representatives of the trade unions of firefighters and the ambulance service.

“We will take all measures at our disposal to protect the right to strike. We are looking very closely at how we will do this in order to take legal action if this law is passed,” said TUC Deputy Secretary General Kate Bell, speaking. journalists.

Trade unions representing almost half a million people, including 100,000 civil servants, went on strike this Wednesday, affecting more than 23,000 schools and paralyzing most trains and a large number of buses.

The National Education Union Teachers’ Union said 85% of the approximately 23,000 affected schools were completely or partially closed.

However, the Ministry of Education indicated that only about 52% of schools were partially closed or closed out of the 16,400 public institutions that provided information.

“Teacher salaries, along with most of the public sector and across all sectors, have been cut in real terms since 2010. Teachers’ salaries have been cut by 20%,” Martin Rush, a teacher who took part in the protest at British Capital, told the Spanish agency EFE.

While some schools have offered teachers a 5% surcharge, according to Martin Rush’s wife Alice, who is also a teacher, the funds “should come from the school budget” so “the increase will come from money taken from the kids.”

Young people also took part in the action in support of the cause of teachers.

More strikes are planned in the coming days and weeks, including by nurses and ambulance crews, extending months of disruption to British daily life over pay and working conditions disputes between unions and the British government.

The unions are demanding an increase in inflation later this year from the current rate of 10.5% to make up for the loss of purchases caused mainly by rising energy and food prices.

The government says the amount is not available because it could fuel inflation and prefers to negotiate an increase for the fiscal year starting in April.

Since last summer, there have been strikes and protests in the UK in many sectors, which have been compared to the major labor conflicts of the 1970s, known as the “winter of discontent”.