Led by Prof Sian Moore, this Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) project examines the wave of industrial action across UK public services in 2022–23, which included strikes in sectors such as health, education and rail.
While pay and inflation were the immediate triggers, strikes are rarely caused by a single factor. They often reflect deeper, long-standing tensions around working conditions, professional identity, organisational capacity, and the wider context of public service delivery.
This research focuses on the experiences of teachers, nurses, paramedics and rail workers, working with four trade unions, to explore the processes, meanings and dynamics of industrial action from the perspective of participants themselves. Drawing on first-hand accounts, the project considers how changes to work, service capacity and professional status may shape organisational commitment and the decision to strike.
It also takes an intersectional lens to examine how issues of gender, race and age are experienced and articulated within industrial action. By situating individual experiences within broader institutional, political and economic contexts, the research aims to build a richer understanding of the factors that underpin contemporary labour disputes in UK public services.