A summer of discontent is looking increasingly likely as protests and industrial unrest grip the country.

Rail users face travel chaos as members of the Rail Maritime and Transport workers' union (RMT) yesterday voted to strike in a dispute with Network Rail over pay and pensions.

Motorists may also be hit by rising oil prices, prompting fears of a repeat of the fuel protests of September 2000, when hauliers blockaded fuel depots and petrol pumps across Sussex ran dry.

To make matters worse, everyone in Brighton and Hove will suffer if the proposed walkout by binmen goes ahead.

Members of the GMB union were sent ballot papers this morning in the latest round of their long-running dispute with the city council.

Firefighters may strike too. Hove, Preston Circus, Brighton and Roedean stations have already taken unofficial industrial action and are only responding to emergency 999 calls.

Their actions stem from sympathy for suspended firefighters in Manchester and a row over shift patterns. Official industrial action has not been ruled out by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU).

The RMT has warned it might co-ordinate strike action on mainline railways with the London Underground, where union members are involved in a separate pay dispute.

It held back from naming strike dates immediately, a sign that fresh attempts could be made to avert walkouts.

Friday May 21, 2004