The chairman of the Conservative Party said on Sunday that Britain is considering bringing in military personnel to help keep public services running if key workers, including the state-owned National Health Service, take strike action, but now there are thousands of nurses in England and Wales who plan to walk out later this month due to pay and conditions.
The government has called for workers to halt their strike action because they said it could not afford pay rises to cover inflation and that such increases would cause inflation to increase even if they could meet their demands.
Our message to the unions is to say 'this is not a time to strike, this is a time to try and negotiate'. In the absence of that, it is important for the government to have contingency plans in place, Nadhim Zahawi told Sky News.
He said that the military could be brought in to drive ambulances, and that we're looking at a specialist response force a surge capacity.
Alex Baldock, chief executive of British electricals retailer Currys, said his company would not use Royal Mail for now to reduce any strike impact.
Workers at Royal Mail have been in a dispute over pay and working conditions this year and more strikes are planned this month.