With around one in five trains running on half the network, some lines closed and more strikes planned for Saturday and next month, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, threatened to ban “strikes by different unions in the same workplace within a fixed period . ” and to ensure that critical industries such as railways maintain minimum levels of service. Mick Lynch, the general secretary of the Rail, Shipping and Transport (RMT) Union, hit back by attacking anti-union measures that have also been proposed by Tory leadership candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak as an attempt to “take away the human rights and the democratic right of people to express themselves through their trade union’. They picketed outside train stations across England, Wales and Scotland as members of the RMT at Network Rail and 14 train operators went on strike. Members of the Private Transport Salaried Association (TSSA) in West Coast Avadi also walked out on Wednesday. Both unions are planning coordinated strikes on August 18 and 20, while the RMT has announced strike action on the London Underground on August 19. The RMT has rejected an 8% pay offer spread over three years from Network Rail as “poor”, saying it falls short of current inflation. The offer hinged on changes to working practices, rules on layoffs and work-life balance, unions said. The RMT opposes proposals to close ticket offices as more travel is booked online, as well as merging pay grades and changing pension arrangements. Andrew Haines, the chief executive of Network Rail, said: “Despite our best efforts to find a breakthrough, I fear there will be more disruption for passengers this week as the RMT seems inclined to continue the policy his campaign, rather than compromise. and agree a deal for their members.” Sapps ruled out unions meeting to break the deadlock even if the situation escalated, telling Sky News he was “not the right person to be in the negotiating room”. On Tuesday, Truss said: “It’s absolutely wrong that the traveling public is being held to ransom by militant unions … I’m going to take a hard line on union action that doesn’t help people get on with their lives … I’m going to legislate to make sure that these essential services are provided to the public’. Shadow Transport Secretary Sam Tarry has defied Labor leader Kerr Starmer’s call not to join the pylons, saying lives could be lost if wages are not improved. “It can no longer be accepted that people just have to accept that inflation is out of control,” Tarry said while on the picket line in Euston. “The government is doing nothing about the cost of living crisis and I tell you what a shame – I firmly believe that if we had a Labor government right now this row wouldn’t be happening because we’d actually be around the table.” Amid increased traffic congestion in major cities and frustration among much of the traveling public, Lynch was asked by reporters if there was an alternative to the strikes. “I could test by battle…but I can’t think of it [another] right now because we have been negotiating for two years,” he said. “But it would be interesting if me and Grant Shapps went head-to-head, if that’s not too farfetched.” The Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, said: “Like any public service we have to change with the times, and only by making the necessary reforms can we give our people a pay rise. What we want to do.” Truss and Sunak have both said they will ban strikes in key public services such as the railways, and Truss has said she will legislate for minimum levels of service on critical national infrastructure in the government’s first 30 days, a move described by Lynch as “a proposal to make effective trade unionism illegal in Britain”. Subscribe to First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7am. BST Shapps said the strikes were “cynically timed to disrupt the start of the Commonwealth Games and the crucial semi-finals of Euro 2022 [Germany v France at Milton Keynes on Wednesday night]in a deliberate attempt to affect the travel of thousands trying to attend events that the whole country looks forward to.” Havant woman Jen, who was unable to attend her uncle’s funeral because of the strike, told PA Media: “I would also like a pay rise in line with inflation, but in reality that’s not going to happen. I don’t choose to interfere with people’s lives because of it.” Elizabeth Bolton, mother of a 23-year-old autistic man who was due to travel from Staines to London for his first day at a new job, said he had been left “upset and upset” by the strike. He said he understood the frustration of the strikers, but added: “It’s selfish not to think about other people … There has to be another way for them to have their say.”
