US Senator Bernie Sanders, a well-known left-wing figure in his country, arrived in London on Wednesday to support British rail workers, giving an international dimension to Britain’s long-standing and growing movement to raise wages, AFP reported.

An influential independent politician whose voice goes beyond the US joined members of the RMT rail union at a transport workers’ rally in central London on Wednesday night.

The demonstration, which took place outside the headquarters of the TUC, came on the same day as a strike by workers at the Royal Mail postal logistics group from telecoms operator BT.

“I want to assure you that millions of working people across the country are proud of what you’re doing, they’re proud of your fight for justice, and we stand with you,” Sanders told the cheering crowd.

“Workers around the world must unite and tell the oligarchs that they cannot have everything,” he added.

Strikes have been ongoing in Britain for several months, affecting rail, aviation, postal services, criminal lawyers, BT telephone group workers, NHS workers, the media and other sectors.

Among several actions planned for September across sectors, rail workers belonging to the TSSA union announced a new day of strike action on Wednesday, September 26, during the Labor Party’s annual conference in Liverpool.

Unions accuse opposition Labor leader Keir Starmer of a lack of support for strikers.

The cost-of-living crisis is deepening in Britain, where inflation has topped 10% and could top 20% by early 2023 if gas prices remain high, according to Goldman Sachs.

The scale of the strikes is unprecedented in the country since the 1980s and the era of Margaret Thatcher (prime minister between 1979 and 1990), prompting the press to speak of a “summer of discontent” alongside the famous “winter of discontent”. “From 1978-1979

Boris Johnson’s outgoing government is largely passive in the face of the crisis, while rising energy prices (the cap on regulated tariffs will rise by 80% from October) will push two-thirds of British households into energy poverty, according to the University of York. .

The name of the future host of Downing Street will be announced on September 5, and Liz Truss is said to be the favorite ahead of Rishi Sunak.