Tens of thousands of workers are also staging walkouts in the coming months, seeking better pay and conditions.

It comes after unions launched a series of strikes in December, including the largest NHS strike in history and the biggest walkout of ambulance staff in three decades.

Sky News looks at the industries that are set to strike - when and why.

Transport

Rail

Train drivers from the RMT at 14 rail operators and Aslef unions will be taking industrial action on 1 and 3 February.

It follows walkouts for several days over December and January.

Train operating companies have now made a "best and final offer" to the RMT in an attempt to end the strike action, including a minimum pay rise of 9% over two years and guaranteed no compulsory redundancies until at least the end of December 2024 - an improvement on the previous offer of 1 April that year.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said the union's executive will consider the offer and decide its next steps "in due course".

Mr Lynch, arguably the most well-known union official, said his members were striking in response to the government cutting jobs and refusing to increase pay in line with inflation.

Read more: Rail strikes - your refund rights explained if your travel is disrupted

Aslef, which represents train drivers at 15 companies, also went on strike in January, with its members wanting a "proper" pay rise to help with the increased cost of living as they say they have not had a pay increase since 2019.

The union said a number of train companies "have their hands tied" by the Department for Transport so are unable to negotiate a "reasonable deal", which is why they are striking.

An offer made to them in January - including a backdated pay increase of 4% for 2022 followed by a further 4% pay rise in 2023 - has been rejected.

Rail union TSSA has also announced that thousands of members across 13 train operating companies will be balloted for strike action as "some distance" remains in talks with the Rail Delivery Group (RDG) over the ongoing national rail dispute.

It comes after TSSA members working for Rail for London Infrastructure on the Elizabeth Line took strike action on 12 January, saying employees are paid up to £30,000 less than colleagues with equivalent roles elsewhere on the Transport for London (TfL) network.

TfL said it had made a two-year offer of a 4% pay increase for 2022 and a 4.4% increase in 2023, but the TSSA says this is lower than pay increases offered on other parts of the network and they want "fair and equal" wage rises.

Bus

Unite members working on Abellio in south and west London held several strikes across December and January.

While no new dates have been announced, this could be likely as the union, Unite, is yet to settle the dispute with TfL.

The union claims that the company has put forward an "unacceptable" pay offer that fails to meet the demands of its members, and leaves full-time drivers with under two years of service on £3.29 less per hour than their colleagues with more than two years.

NHS

Ambulance staff

Ambulance workers who are members of the GMB union will be striking on 6 and 20 February and 6 and 20 March.

A further 10 regional strike dates have been announced by the Unite union between February and March.

Members employed by different ambulance trusts will be striking:

• West Midlands: 6 and 17 February and 6 and 20 March
• North East: 6 and 20 February and 6 and 20 March
• East Midlands: 6 and 20 February and 6 and 20 March
• Wales: 6 and 20 February and 6 and 20 March
• North West: 6 and 22 February and 6 and 20 March
• Northern Ireland: 16, 17, 23 and 24 February

Meanwhile, the Unison union has said ambulance workers across five services in London, Yorkshire, the South West, North East and North West will walk out on 10 February as the long-running dispute over pay and staffing continues.

About 25,000 paramedics, emergency care assistants, ambulance technicians, call handlers and other 999 crew members from the Unison, GMB and Unite unions walked out across England and Wales in December.

Nurses

Nurses with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) will go on strike on 6 and 7 February.

Members of the RCN are calling for a pay rise of 5% above inflation - 19.2% - as they claim they have had a real terms pay cut of 20% since 2010.

They also want better working conditions as nursing vacancies are at a record high, saying this means staff are stretched and regularly working beyond their shifts without extra pay.

RCN leader Pat Cullen has said she is willing to meet the government "half-way", but Health Secretary Steve Barclay has said a 10% pay rise is still unaffordable.

Physiotherapists

Physiotherapists from the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) will strike on 9 February.

They previously went on strike on 26 January.

More than 4,000 physiotherapists employed by 30 NHS trusts across England are taking part in the strike action.

The CSP union are warning more dates will be announced if a new pay offer isn't put to them.

In Scotland, NHS strike action remains paused as negotiations continue.

Midwives

Members of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) in Wales will walk out over pay from 8am until 4pm on 7 February.

The RCM said the action will not affect services for women in labour or needing emergency care.

Other strikes

Civil servants

About 100,000 civil servants from the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union will strike on 1 February in a dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

The action will involve members in 124 government departments and follows walkouts last month involving Border Force staff, driving examiners and National Highways workers.

It will also coincide with the TUC's "protect the right to strike day" in response to new government strike legislation.

The PCS union is calling for a 10% pay rise, protections to pensions and protections from job cuts.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "We warned the government our dispute would escalate if they did not listen - and we're as good as our word."

About 1,000 Border Officers who are members of the PCS union will also strike on February 17, 18, 19 and 20.

Teachers

Thousands of teachers are set to strike in England and Wales after the largest education union reached the threshold required to take industrial action.

The National Education Union (NEU) organised a ballot of 300,000 members, calling for a "fully funded, above-inflation pay rise".

The first day of strikes will be on 1 February and more than 23,000 schools in England and Wales are expected to be affected.

The full list of proposed strike days is as follows:

• Wednesday 1 February: all eligible members in England and Wales
• Tuesday 14 February: all eligible members in England and Wales
• Tuesday 28 February: all eligible members in the Northern, North West, Yorkshire and The Humber regions
• Wednesday 1 March: all eligible members in the East Midlands, West Midlands, and Eastern regions
• Thursday 2 March: all eligible members in London, South East and South West regions
• Thursday 16 March: all eligible members in England and Wales

Scottish teachers

The strikes from Scotland's teachers will be staggered, with staff from two different local authority areas across the country going on strike each day in a dispute over pay.

The strike action by members of the Educational Institute Scotland (EIS) will take place until 6 February.

The EIS says its members have rejected a 5% pay offer from the Scottish government and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA), instead wanting 10%, in line with inflation.

University staff

More than 70,000 staff at 150 universities will strike on several days throughout February and March.

The University College Union (UCU) is in dispute with 150 universities over the issues of pay, pensions and working conditions.

It wants a higher pay offer than the 4% to 5% put on the table as well as a reversal of the cuts to pensions that will see the average member lose 35% from their guaranteed future retirement income, according to the union.

Members of the UCU are striking on the following days in the weeks ahead:

• Wednesday 1 February
• Thursday 9 and Friday 10 February
• Tuesday 14, Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 February
• Tuesday 21, Wednesday 22 and Thursday 23 February
• Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 February and Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 March
• Thursday 16 and Friday 17 March
• Monday 20, Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 March

Environment agency

Staff working in river inspection, flood forecasting, coastal risk management and pollution control will stage a 12-hour strike on 8 February.

Employees in both Unison and Prospect unions will take part.

Firefighters

Firefighters are set to stage strike action in a row over pay but no dates have been set yet.

Members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) voted for action in a ballot that resulted in the UK's first nationwide fire service strike over pay since 2003.

Firefighters overwhelmingly backed strike action, with 88% voting yes on a 73% turnout.