BBC economics editor Faisal Islam asks whether a historic surge in industrial action is likely to persist.
The pattern over the past year has been unions breaking down national disputes into a series of far smaller local and sectoral ones, for which it is easier to win ballot mandates. Action is then co-ordinated across localities on the same day, giving the impression of massive national or regional walkouts, as with bus drivers across London.
Prime ministers Boris Johnson and Liz Truss dug in on the issue. At first, so too did the Sunak administration, fearful of the fiscal cost and inflationary potential of significant rises in the wage costs of state employees. And she said a government minister had told her in a meeting that they were surprised nurses needed to live off their salaries: "And you know, ministers coming into the room saying to me that they're shocked that nursing staff may be the main breadwinner in the family. Because they believe that it's a second salary that we don't depend on. They are totally out of touch.
Some union bosses also acknowledge that in an era where more workers can work from home, the strikes may not have disrupted the public as much. While the overall number of strikes has not been seen for a generation, the total number of days lost to strike action is nowhere near the highs of the 1970s.
But the staff arriving by car have been squeezed hard by the cost of living crisis - one tells of having to pawn a wedding ring - and some were willing to U-turn near the entrance to their workplace and sign up to Richards' campaign.
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