The number of working days lost to strikes last month reached the highest in more than a decade, according to official figures.

The Office for National Statistics said 417,000 working days were lost because of labour disputes in October 2022 - the highest since November 2011.

The UK has been hit by widespread industrial action this year, with another set of strikes by rail workers starting on Tuesday.

You can read more here.

If you’re struggling to keep all this in your head, we’ll be producing a daily update to keep you up to date with what’s happening this week.

The BBC’s Employment Correspondent, Zoe Conway, will be keeping on top of things, and as she points out, it’s not just trains that’ll be affected.

For the rest of the week, at least one union will be striking each day.

You can read her latest take on how the strikes will affect you, here.

Let's put these strikes in context - with knock-on disruption on non-strike days and the Christmas holidays the next normal day of service will be 9 January.

The RMT rail workers' union has announced strikes on:

• Tuesday and Wednesday, 13-14 December
• Friday and Saturday, 16-17 December
• Saturday 24 (from 18:00 GMT) until Tuesday 27 December
• Tuesday and Wednesday, 3-4 January
• Friday and Saturday, 6-7 January

Network Rail - which owns and repairs the railway infrastructure - says passengers should check their train-operating company's website and only travel if absolutely necessary.

Read in full: When are the train strikes and what is the dispute about?

Emma Godivala, who runs the York Gin distillery, said the strikes were hitting her business ahead of the vital Christmas trading period.

The company has closed one of its shops in York railway station as it doesn’t think there’ll be any customers, and bookings for its tasting events this week have also been cancelled.

"Lots of independent traders make most of their trade at Christmas time, so it's having a disproportionately large effect because of the time of year," she told the BBC.

“York is a hub, it’s one of the key stopping points and lots of people travel here by train because it’s pretty easy from London, or from Edinburgh, Leeds or Manchester.

“It’s a very Chistmassy city, people like it as a destination, it’s a fantastic place and we love it. And people will definitely change their plans which is a great shame.”

Joshua Nevett
BBC Politics

Image source, PA Media

One is a cynical grump whose cold-hearted plot to steal Christmas dampens the festive mood.

The other is Mick Lynch, the general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT).

When he announced a blitz of winter rail strikes last month, Lynch denied being the mean-spirited green monster. "I'm not the Grinch, I'm a trade union official, and I'm determined to get a deal," he said.

In unflattering media coverage, the bogeymen comparisons veer from the Grinch to the Hood, the bald-headed, bushy-eyebrowed baddie from 1960s puppet TV series Thunderbirds.

Welcome to the world of Mick Lynch, where adoring fans and outspoken critics form orderly queues to take selfies with or pot shots at the union boss.

Read a profile on Mick Lynch in full here.

Speaking ahead of today's strikes, the RMT's general secretary Mick Lynch said the union's decision to reject Network Rail's latest pay offer represented a "huge rejection" of the public body's "substandard offer".

"The government is refusing to lift a finger to prevent these strikes and it is clear they want to make effective strike action illegal in Britain," Lynch said.

"We will resist that and our members, along with the entire trade union movement, will continue their campaign for a square deal for workers, decent pay increases and good working conditions."

In response to the RMT union's decision, the government has called on it to “come back to the table” and to “do the right thing” over the now-rejected offer.

Speaking yesterday, rail minister Huw Merriman said the ongoing strikes were "very damaging across the industry and the government's resolve is clear: we want these strikes taken down, and we want a better and more resilient railway for the future."

Urging the RMT to accept the deal, he added that workers from the Unite union had done so, while the TSSA union has suspended strike action at Network Rail so its members can vote on it.

The results of the vote on the offer are expected to be announced later this week. Merrimen also said his "door is open” to the RMT and that he is part of "a reasonable government”.

“We do not negotiate, but we do facilitate. We are willing to be there, in the room."

The Office for National Statistics(ONS) has estimated, external the average salary of rail workers in 2022 as £45,919, based on five different job categories.

If drivers are excluded, its estimate is £39,518. The RMT said that figure was inaccurate and still too high because it excluded rail cleaning staff who are not categorised as rail workers by the ONS.

• Read more: How much are rail workers paid?

Network Rail, which owns and maintains the railways, has said the ongoing strike action will cause "further misery" for both the rail industry and the RMT’s members, who will lose pay.

Speaking yesterday following the rejection of its pay offer, Network Rail’s chief executive Andrew Haines described the rail union as “the outliers”, following employees of who are members of the Unite union accepting the pay awarded offered to them.

He said the RMT need to “stop playing politics and work with us to bring this dispute to an end”.

"There is clearly a significant number of Network Rail colleagues who want this deal, but are caught up by these needless strikes and collective bargaining.”

Nick Eardley
Chief political correspondent

For months, the government refused to meet rail unions to discuss these strikes.

When that policy changed, there was some hope it would lead to a breakthrough.

But that hasn’t happened. Warmer words and some optimism in Whitehall have not been enough.

The Government isn’t directly involved in negotiating a pay deal – it says that is for employers to sort out.

But unions believe ministers should be doing a lot more, and securing more funding, to allow a better deal to be offered.

Ministers are frustrated that these strikes are going ahead and have been arguing that there is appetite for a deal among union members.

They want unions to get back around the table to try and prevent more disruption.

But as things stand this morning, we’re in for a long month of disruption on the railways.

Today’s rail strike is happening after members of the UK's largest rail union rejected a pay offer described as “best and final” by Network Rail.

The company which owns and maintains the railways, had offered a 5% pay rise this year and a 4% rise in 2023. But yesterday afternoon RMT union boss Mick Lynch described the deal as "substandard’’ after 63.6% of members who voted rejected the deal.

The union also rejected an offer from the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) - which represents train companies.

That included a pay increase of up to 8% over two years and a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies until April 2024. In exchange, it wanted repurposing or closure of ticket offices and Sunday working.

The RDG offer is separate to negotiations with Network Rail, which employs about half the workers in the dispute.

Image source, .

Rail passengers are being advised to avoid non-essential travel on Tuesday and Wednesday, but if you must travel:

• Make sure you check your train-operating company's website, external before setting out
• Be prepared for no services early in the morning or late at night
• Expect busy carriages with only one in five services operating between 07:30 - 18:30 GMT

If previous strikes are anything to go by, even on the strike-free days this week - Thursday and Sunday - rail passengers' patience is likely to be tested. That's because carriages, engines and staff may not be in the right place at the start of those days.

The cold and wintry weather will also make it harder to ensure rail employees are where they need to be.

The unions are in dispute with the government and rail companies about pay, job cuts and changes to terms and conditions.

Unions say any pay offer should reflect the rising cost of living.

But the rail industry is under pressure to save money after the pandemic left a hole in its finances. Bosses say reforms need to be agreed, to afford pay increases and modernise the railway.

Network Rail is planning to cut 1,900 jobs as part of changes to the way its maintenance teams work - although it insists most of this could be achieved by people leaving voluntarily.

The RMT disagrees with some of the changes and wants a guarantee of no compulsory job losses.

Image source, Reuters

Welcome to our coverage of the first of this week’s 48-hour rail strikes, called by the RMT union for today and Wednesday.

The rail industry says only 20% of services will run today and in some parts of the UK, there will be no trains at all.

It comes as snow and ice continues to cause disruption for motorists across the UK - and we’ll be keeping an eye on airports too.

Stay with us.