Another month, another set of public sector strikes.
This week, tens of thousands of teachers across England and Wales will walk out over three days in the long-running dispute with the government over pay and working conditions.
The strike action kicks off today as teachers across the north of England walk out, meaning the majority of schools will either close or offer restricted access to pupils.
It will be followed by further industrial action by teachers in the Midlands and eastern regions in Wednesday and in Wales and the south of England on Thursday.
On March 15, teachers across England and Wales will strike again.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has branded the strike action “unforgivable”, arguing that children deserved to be in class following the shock of the coronavirus pandemic.
But Kevin Courtney, the joint general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), which is representing striking teachers, said staff taking industrial action for a “high moral purpose” and to “get the government to invest in this generation of children”.
But over the month ahead, it is not just teachers who are walking out over pay.
HuffPost UK takes you through all the strikes that will hit the public in March.
Health and ambulance workers (most of England)
The GMB union said 10,000 of its members, including paramedics, emergency care assistants, call handlers and other staff, will walk out on March 6.
Unite members employed by different ambulance trusts will be striking on the same day in the West Midlands, the North East, the East Midlands, the North West and Wales.
Meanwhile, around 32,000 ambulance and other health staff represented by Unison will walk out across England on March 8 after the union accused the government of failing to hold “proper talks” to resolve the row.
Nurses, blood collection workers, healthcare assistants, cleaners, porters and ambulance staff will be involved in the strike.
Health workers at NHS Blood and Transplant, Great Ormond Street Hospital, the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool Women’s Hospital and the Bridgewater Community Trust will be among those walking out for the first time.
They will be joined by ambulance staff at four services in England – South Central, East of England, West Midlands and East Midlands, also now able to take action following a strike vote last week.
GMB and Unite ambulance workers will strike again on March 20.
Junior doctors (England)
Junior doctors recently announced that they will strike for 72 hours from March 13 to March 15 over pay.
The British Medical Association (BMA) said that junior doctors had seen a real terms pay decline of more than 26% over the past 15 years.
Dentists who work in hospitals employed under the junior contract will also join the 72-hour walkout.
Civil Servants (England)
Approximately 100,000 civil servants across 123 government departments and agencies are expected to strike on March 15 — the day of Jeremy Hunt’s Budget.
More than 1,600 members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) employed by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency are also set to take rolling days of industrial action from March 6 to 28.
Rail workers (England, Wales and Scotland)
RMT members will strike across the railways on March 16, 18, 30.
London Underground drivers
Commuters will endure chaos on Budget day, March 15, when London Underground drivers at Aslef go on strike.
University lecturers (UK)
Strikes by lecturers will hit 150 UK universities throughout March after the University and College Unions demanded “substantially improved offers” in the disputes over pay, working conditions and pension cuts.
In total, 70,000 UCU members will walk out on March 16, 17, 20, 21 and 22.