In the UK, a ‘summer of discontent’ takes Britons to the streets

The massive rail transport strike on Saturday – nine companies shutting down the bulk of British trains – is the latest sign of the wide and unusual movement of social anger that is rocking the United Kingdom. This will be the fourth time since June 20 that the rail system has been grounded, with two unions alternating stops. Strikes have also taken place in buses, the London Underground, BT (formerly British Telecom), some universities, pubs… “It’s the summer of discontent,” said GMB union representative Steve Garelick. The term echoes the winter of discontent in 1979 when the country was brought to a standstill, with shutdowns ranging from factories to garbage collection to… gravediggers.