Today, Royal Mail employees, university lecturers, and sixth-form college employees will strike over pay disputes, as strikes continue across the country.

Picket lines have been set up outside universities, colleges, and Royal Mail offices in one of the largest simultaneous walkouts.

The postal strikes, according to Royal Mail, will “hold Christmas to ransom” for their customers. The Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents Royal Mail employees, is also planning strikes next month, including one on Christmas Eve.

Royal Mail bosses are risking a Christmas meltdown because of their stubborn refusal to treat their employees with respect,” said Dave Ward, the union’s general secretary.

He stated that postal workers want to get back to delivering Christmas gifts, but “they will not meekly accept the casualization of their jobs.”

Hundreds of thousands of workers from a variety of industries, including nurses, rail workers, and ambulance drivers, are set to go on strike next month and in January.

During England’s third national lockdown to combat the spread of coronavirus, a paramedic walks past a line of ambulances outside the Royal London Hospital in London. The filming date is Wednesday, January 20, 2021.

Ambulance workers in England are planning a strike before Christmas.

After rejecting a 5% pay increase, firefighters will vote on strike action. CWU workers are also planning seven more strikes for December 1, 9, 11, 14, 15, 23, and 24.

Rail, Maritime and Transport union members at Network Rail and 14 train operators plan four 48-hour strikes on the 13-14 December, 16-17 December, 3-4 January, and 6-7 January.

The Royal College of Nursing has confirmed strikes on December 15 and 20.

Ambulance workers, who are members of Unison, are planning to strike before Christmas, though no specific date has been set.

Bus strikes include the following: Abellio strikes are scheduled for December 1-2, 9-10, and 16-17, while Metroline strikes are scheduled for December 1-3, 8-9, and 15-16.

Around 100,000 civil servants will go on strike in December and January; no dates have been set. The CWU announced that its members will gather in London on Friday for the “largest strike demonstration this country has ever seen.”

Royal Mail said it was “proud to have the best pay and conditions in our industry” and urged customers to send their Christmas mail as early as possible.

Members of the National Education Union (NEU) who work in 77 sixth-form colleges in England are also on strike over pay. According to the union, teachers in sixth-form colleges have seen a 20% real-terms pay cut since 2010.

A vote revealed overwhelming support for strike action.

“Members take strike action with great reluctance, but the effects of real-terms pay losses are simply too urgent for them to endure the situation any longer,” said Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU.

“These cuts are causing a professional exodus.”

The RMT union announced last week that rail workers will go on strike for eight days next month and in January. Last week, its general secretary, Mick Lynch, met with Transport Secretary Mark Harper, but there was no progress in the long-running dispute over jobs, pay, and conditions.