LONDON: Some 100,000 UK civil servants on Thursday voted to strike, in the latest industrial action to hit a country wracked by a cost-of-living crisis.
More than half of members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union working in 126 employer areas including in the Home Office, Department for Transport and the Department for Work and Pensions voted to strike, exceeding the 50 percent threshold needed to trigger a walkout.
“The government must look at the huge vote for strike action across swathes of the civil service and realize it can no longer treat its workers with contempt,” said PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka.
“Our members have spoken and if the government fails to listen to them, we’ll have no option than to launch a prolonged program of industrial action reaching into every corner of public life.
“Civil servants have willingly and diligently played a vital role in keeping the country running during the pandemic but enough is enough,” he added.
Union bosses are demanding a 10 percent pay rise to match the country’s high inflation rate.
The cost-of-living crisis is leading to widespread UK strikes, with train workers, legal staff, dockers and even nurses among those walking out.
100,000 civil servants latest to join UK strikes
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100,000 civil servants latest to join UK strikes
- "The government must look at the huge vote for strike action across swathes of the civil service," said PCS General Secretary Mark Serwotka
- Union bosses are demanding a 10 percent pay rise to match the country's high inflation rate
Machado seeks Pope Leo’s support for Venezuela’s transition during Vatican meeting
- Machado is touring Europe and the United States after escaping Venezuela in early 2025
- The pope called for Venezuela to remain independent following the capture of former President Nicolás Maduro by US forces
ROME: Pope Leo XIV met with Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado in a private audience at the Vatican on Monday, during which the Venezuelan leader asked him to intercede for the release of hundreds of political prisoners held in the Latin American country.
The meeting, which hadn’t been previously included in the list of Leo’s planned appointments, was later listed by the Vatican in its daily bulletin, without adding details.
Machado is touring Europe and the United States after she reemerged in December after 11 months in hiding to accept her Nobel Peace Prize in Norway.
“Today I had the blessing and honor of being able to share with His Holiness and express our gratitude for his continued support of what is happening in our country,” Machado said in a statement following the meeting.
“I also conveyed to him the strength of the Venezuelan people who remain steadfast and in prayer for the freedom of Venezuela, and I asked him to intercede for all Venezuelans who remain kidnapped and disappeared,” she added.
Machado also held talks with Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, who was Nuncio in Venezuela from 2009 to 2013.
Pope Leo has called for Venezuela to remain an independent country after US forces captured former President Nicolás Maduro in his compound in Caracas and took him to New York to face federal charges of drug-trafficking.
Leo had said he was following the developments in Venezuela with “deep concern,” and urged the protection of human and civil rights in the Latin American country.
Venezuela’s opposition, backed by consecutive Republican and Democratic administrations in the US, had vowed for years to immediately replace Maduro with one of their own and restore democracy to the oil-rich country. But US President Donald Trump delivered them a heavy blow by allowing Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, to assume control.
Meanwhile, most opposition leaders, including Machado, are in exile or prison.
After winning the 2025 Nobel Prize for Peace, Machado said she’d like to give it to or share with Trump.
Machado dedicated the prize to Trump, along with the people of Venezuela, shortly after it was announced. Trump has coveted and openly campaigned for winning the Nobel Prize himself since his return to office in January 2025.
The organization that oversees the Nobel Peace Prize — the Norwegian Nobel Institute — said, however, that once it’s announced, the prize can’t be revoked, transferred or shared with others.
“The decision is final and stands for all time,” it said in a short statement last week.
