As militant rail unions once again cause millions of travelers hardship, ministers will move quickly to advance new anti-strike regulations.
The ban on deploying agency employees to break strikes, which has been in place for nearly 50 years, will be lifted by new law that will be unveiled by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng.
The RMT has ordered 40,000 train workers to walk out once more after bitter talks to resolve the rail strikes broke down yesterday night, leaving passengers facing yet another day of significant disruption.
After the negotiations turned into mudslinging, travelers were told they would experience months of chaos on the rails.
After the RMT claimed that Transport Secretary Grant Shapps had “wrecked” negotiations by directing Network Rail to proceed with voluntary layoffs, Shapps accused the union of lying.
As unions flex their muscles in demand of inflation-busting pay increases, ministers worry that Britain may experience a summer of strikes.
The National Education Union issued a warning Wednesday, stating that until officials provide “inflation-plus pay rises for all teachers,” schools may be the next target of strike action.
A strike over salary is also being threatened by the unions that represent doctors, nurses, government employees, and postal workers.
Some have even asked for payouts that are 5% over the inflation rate, which yesterday reached 9.1%.
Even Margaret Thatcher opposed lifting the 1973 ban on using agency employees to cover for workers who were on strike.
The lifting of it, however, according to ministers, could’mitigate’ the effects of strikes by enabling firms to hire skilled personnel to maintain services.
According to Mr. Kwarteng, the RMT’s decision to go with one of the largest rail walkouts in decades has caused suffering and hardship for millions of people this week.
We are unable and unwilling to accept trade unions holding the nation ransom by shutting down essential enterprises and public services.
We are ensuring that those firms most affected by strike action across all sectors, not just rail, will have the freedom to fill crucial tasks with temporary, competent personnel by taking action immediately and eliminating these restrictions from the 1970s.
Deputy leader Angela Rayner called the proposal a “recipe for disaster” as Labour vowed to oppose it Friday night.
The concept was denounced as “unworkable” by Frances O’Grady of the Trades Union Congress.
Bringing in less trained agency workers to offer crucial services, she claimed, would jeopardize public safety, exacerbate conflicts, and taint labor relations.
After Network Rail announced in a letter that it was moving forward with 1,800 personnel layoffs, RMT negotiators last night abruptly left negotiations to avoid today’s strikes.
A tense standoff followed when the union, which is on strike over jobs and wages, stated it wouldn’t return to the table unless the letter was withdrawn.
It means that a second 24-hour rail strike will take place today, with a third virtually certainly following on Saturday.
The Transport Secretary, according to RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch, “wrecked these negotiations” by not allowing Network Rail to retract its letter threatening to lay off some of our members.
“A negotiated settlement cannot be reached until the Government releases Network Rail and the train operating firms,” the government stated.
The union should “stop wasting time” and return to the negotiation table, Mr. Shapps said, calling the assertion a “complete fiction.”
The argument started when it became known that the RMT had been formally promised a raise of more than 3% in exchange for modernizing work procedures.
Rail executives claim that union barons are holding the nation hostage with their “archaic” practices, which involve sending up to nine engineers to “replace a plug socket.”
Because of union tactics and the fallout from Tuesday’s strikes, just 60% of services were able to operate yesterday, adding to the suffering of commuters.
During rush hour, huge crowds gathered outside of rail and tube stations, some of which opened as late as 8.30am.
After taking part in Tuesday’s strike, Network Rail signallers and control room personnel who would have typically worked overnight to ensure trains left on time yesterday did not work.
Today, secondary legislation to lift the prohibition on agency workers will be introduced, and it is anticipated that it will become law next month.
Government officials admit that some expert positions, like those of railroad signalmen, will be impossible to fill.
However, they think agency employees might do other crucial tasks like train dispatchers.
25 Labour MPs joined striking rail workers on the picket lines on Tuesday was one of the topics of contention between the Prime Minister and Keir Starmer yesterday.
After a number of frontbench MPs disregarded the threat of disciplinary penalty to join workers, Boris Johnson referred to their behavior as “a disgrace” and declared that Sir Keir’s authority was “on the line.”
The Labour leader once more refrained from denouncing the activists leading the largest 30-year strike and instead blamed the Government for the unrest.
Less than a fifth of trains will run today and just for 11 hours, similar to Tuesday’s strike. On important inter-city routes, up to 50% of services will operate.