More than 45,000 employees are on strike amid growing concerns that a general strike this winter might deal a fatal blow to the UK’s already fragile economy, and commuters today applauded left-wing militant Mick Lynch for forcing them to travel by WFH.
As thousands of members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA), and Unite took to picket lines throughout the nation today in a continuing dispute over pay and working conditions, train operators cut down on their services by a fifth.
The most recent round of strike action, which will result in services ending as early as 6.30 p.m. tonight and on Saturday, was predicted to result in four days of travel chaos for students receiving their A-level results today, as well as for tourists and people attending sporting events and concerts.
However, many employees are really enjoying the strike, saying it is a nice reprieve from early beginnings and paying for commutes that are becoming more and more costly. Some others on Twitter even said they will be able to watch football while working and enjoy the weather as the heatwave that has scorched Britain this summer begins to taper down.
Live traffic data also reveals that the roads are basically unchanged from last week, indicating that the walkouts in the manner of the 1970s have devolved into a “damp squib.” According to data from TomTom, congestion in London at 9 am today is just three percentage points worse than it was at the same time last week, going from 36% to 39%. Congestion levels in Birmingham, Manchester, and Cardiff for the same period are 29%, 31%, and 26%, respectively, up somewhat from 24%, 29%, and 24%.
The “Fat Cat Firebrand” Mr. Lynch, who has declared class war at a protest in Westminster and called for a general strike if Liz Truss is elected prime minister next month, today vowed to unleash successive waves of mass industrial action until the unions reach a negotiated settlement with Network Rail. He has also compared himself to Margaret Thatcher’s Communist arch-rival Arthur Scargill.
The hardliner, who was photographed raising a fist in support of striking rail workers while standing on a picket line outside of Euston station with Jeremy Corbyn, called Transport Secretary Grant Shapps “hysterical” and dismissed worries that millions of low-wage workers who must work WFH “cannot afford for rail workers to go on strike” this winter due to rising energy costs.
Even after Sam Tarry was fired as transport minister for joining a strike in London last month, hard left MPs like Rebecca Long-Bailey persisted in disobeying ‘absent’ leader Keir Starmer’s order to stay away from rail strikes by going to picket lines.
Asserting that Mr. Lynch and his union allies are “holding the country hostage” by going on strike, Education Secretary James Cleverly said this morning on Sky News: “They have a very, very good salary package, they have incredibly good, ridiculously good terms and conditions, and what they’re doing through these strikes is they are disadvantaging people trying to get to work, trying to put food on the table, trying to keep a roof over their heads.”
Grant Shapps, in my opinion, has made it quite plain that these strikes are unjust and wholly inappropriate, and that it is immoral for individuals to be held hostage by the unions in this manner.
The country is facing the biggest squeeze on living standards in 60 years, and economists worry that if the unions decide to launch another wave of strikes this winter, just as energy prices are set to rise above £4,000 per year, millions of people forced to live in WFH could find themselves in “fuel poverty.”
The Bank of England anticipates a devastating year-long recession beginning this winter as inflation explodes out of control, topping 10% yesterday and forecast to soar over 13% by this October. It also comes amid a burgeoning cost-of-living issue fueled by Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.
Mr. Lynch declined to provide a deadline for when the industrial action would finish, saying that it “won’t be broken” until a resolution of the conflict.
We don’t have a set schedule; there isn’t anything written on a whiteboard that says it begins this day and finishes that day, according to the RMT general secretary. We won’t fall apart. We’re committed to obtaining a resolution.
“People have shown on the picket lines that they are prepared to dig in; we won’t squander the efforts of our people.”
We won’t break because we will behave in the manner that our members want as we go along. We won’t give up until we reach a resolution.
He forewarned that a wave of strikes affecting “every area of the economy” may bring Britain to a stop.
The RMT general secretary refrained from prognosticating a general strike, saying: “It’s up to the TUC.”
What you will experience is a surge of coordinated, synchronised, and generalised strikes.
“And you’ll see it in every area of the economy, including the private sector as well as education, health, and larger portions of the transportation network.”
“People are tired of being treated this way.” The average British worker is underpaid and is not treated with respect or decency at work.
“We need to reform that so that everyone in Britain gets a fair deal, and that is what the unions are committed to accomplish,” they said.
Additionally, he called Mr. Shapps “hysterical” and said, “What I believe you see is a guy who is scared about his future.” He has to demonstrate his right-wing credentials in front of the two very right-wing individuals who will be his superiors.
Therefore, I am unsure about Grant Shapps’ current plans. I doubt that his employers are fully aware of his activities. Additionally, I doubt that the Department for Transport employees are aware of his plans.
He threatened to lay off every employee on the railway last week by sending out letters known as Section 188 letters. I believe he has partially lost the plot, and he has to pull it together so that this conflict can be resolved.
Although it falls short of inflation, Network Rail CEO Andrew Haines said that an 8% pay increase is still a “decent offer.”
The hard difficulty we have in the railway system is that we only have three sources of finance, he said on ITV’s Good Morning Britain. The taxpayer will foot more than 50% of the bill for the railroad, fares, or improving the system.
When informed that Arriva, a bus company, had increased employee compensation by 11%, Mr. Haines said, “Well… Arriva may manage, but they are not a part of the train network. The financial arrangements for this bus business, which is a private bus company, will be handled locally.
The hard truth is that we can only get funds from those sources, therefore we’ve created a balance because if we don’t ask taxpayers or farepayers for more money, higher pay would lead to more job losses.
“Eight percent is a fantastic offer, and it is backed by job security, because what I don’t want is for people to come to work with a pay raise but then be concerned that their job is in jeopardy because we’ve really bankrupted the firm (by) offering them a salary increase in the short term.”
Giving them the option to vote on what we believe to be a fair arrangement would assist, and from there, we’ll see where this goes.
While working with Network Rail and the train operating firms, the union, according to Mr. Lynch, “the distance between us is still there.”
We need to find a solution to it, but I worry that political meddling in the Treasury and the public transportation system will prevent us from succeeding.
We’ve also got a disagreement with London Underground scheduled for tomorrow, which is more of the same since the financing for the railway has been slashed, which implies an assault on train employees nationwide. I believe many workers are already feeling the effects of this at the moment.
“They’re not receiving a fair deal, but we’ll keep working with the firms to achieve a negotiated settlement,” the company spokesperson said. “As soon as we can accomplish that, we’ll bring it to our members, and hopefully we can have the railway back providing service the public needs.”
In a later statement, he said, “We will work those issues out, but what we need is the management to be able to negotiate. I think this has been partially caught up in the Tory leadership election or selection process that they’re going through, and I think because those candidates have both both taken a turn to the hard right in this country, I think it’s very difficult to find the the ability to create a settlement.
Network Rail, on the other hand, attributed the inability to achieve a negotiated solution to Mr. Lynch’s union. Rail employees are not “clear on what they are striking for,” according to Mr. Haines, who also claimed that the RMT union is to blame rather than the government.
We’ve been chatting for more than 18 months, he said to GMB. There is a ready audience since we actually began these discussions with Mick’s predecessor. There are certain underlying differences that are the problem.
I don’t believe colleagues are clear on what they’re striking for right now, which is where I have a fundamental difference, he said.
“Mick brought up pensions; Network Rail has no concerns about it.” He addressed job security. For any Network Rail employee who wants a job impacted by our ideas, we have guaranteed them a job.
Now, despite our best efforts, the RMT—not the Government—remains the common denominator in this situation.
There are, what, 13 or 14 train operators on strike for TfL? The Network Rail? All of those concerns have gotten entangled together, and many people seem to be confused about them. We believe that the best approach to resolve this is to have RMT members vote on our offer, which is quite respectable and fair. That, in our opinion, is the best course of action.
In a separate wage dispute, workers of the RMT and Unite on the London Underground as well as Unite on London United bus lines in the city will also strike tomorrow.
RMT employees at Network Rail and 14 train operators, TSSA employees at seven businesses, Unite employees at Network Rail, and London United bus drivers will all strike once again on Saturday.
The ripple effect of Saturday’s action will have an impact on Sunday early train schedules.
On Thursday and Saturday, there will be only about a quarter of normal rail service, and half of the lines will be blocked.
On both strike days, trains will only run from 7.30 am to 6.30 pm, and picket lines will be set up in front of train stations around the nation.
‘Yet again, for the sixth time since June, union leaders are choosing to inflict suffering and disrupt the daily lives of millions instead of working with business to agree on a settlement that will bring our railways into the twenty-first century,’ a Department for Transport spokeswoman said.
Today, thousands of A-level students throughout the nation—many of whom spent the bulk of their college years studying at home owing to the pandemic—are being denied the opportunity to publicly recognise and thank their instructors and colleagues for their devotion and hard work.
It is evident that strikes are no longer the effective instrument they once were, and union leaders are no longer able to put the nation on hold since, unlike them, individuals now just work from home.
The unions’ purported constituents, many of whom will once again be out of money and had to miss a day of work, are the only ones who will suffer as a result of these strikes, according to one observer.
“We implore union leaders to do the right thing by their members and give them a voice on Network Train’s extremely fair contract, which will bring about the urgently required improvements to our rail system.”
The future of our railway hinges on our leaving the picket lines and returning to the negotiation table.
It happens at the same time that Transport Secretary Grant Shapps unveiled a 16-point plan to deal with strikes. According to the Mail, this plan may include lifting a restriction that prevents the government from using emergency powers to put an end to strikes if they have the potential to cause a “national emergency.”
It cannot be acceptable for union leaders to hold the nation to ransom in order to defend antiquated labour methods that have no place in the twenty-first century, the Transport Secretary himself said in a tweet.
Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, described the right to strike as “a basic British liberty” in response to the Daily Mail article.
Instead of making it more difficult for employees to get better compensation and working conditions, ministers should address the cost-of-living emergency and raise salaries.
Angela Rayner, the deputy leader of Labour, also described the measures as “desperate and dangerous.”
According to Mr. Lynch, the members of his union are more committed than ever to save their pensions, get a fair salary raise, have stable employment, and have favourable working conditions.
He said, “Network Rail has not improved upon their prior salary offer, and the train operating firms have not given us any new offers.”
Bosses at YouTube are secretly negotiating with the government to reduce expenses by eliminating employment and eroding benefits like pensions and working conditions.
If we did not call off our strike, Network Rail also threatened to impose forced layoffs and dangerous 50% maintenance work cutbacks.
The railway operating corporations have proposed driver-only operations and have raided the terms and conditions of our members.
RMT will continue to negotiate in good faith, but we cannot accept being intimidated or duped into agreeing to a poor deal for our members, he said.
“The Government has to quit meddling in these conflicts so the employers can negotiate a resolution with us,” the employer said.
Personnel working in ticket booths, stations, control rooms, engineering, as well as in planning, timetabling, and other support positions, are among the TSSA members taking action.
The union is requesting guarantees that there won’t be any forced layoffs, a wage raise that keeps up with inflation, and assurances that there won’t be any arbitrary changes made to the terms and conditions of employment.
“Our people in the train sector are entering the third or fourth year of a salary freeze,” TSSA national secretary Manuel Cortes said.
In the meanwhile, the cost of living crisis brought on by the Tories is leaving working people more poorer as food and gasoline prices skyrocket. It’s time to stop; this cannot continue on.
Many of our members are taking industrial action for the first time; it is a last option and not something any train worker does lightly.
The railroad employees who risked their lives to keep the nation running during the epidemic were rightfully lauded as heroes, he said.
“Yet today, the Tories are impeding discussions and preventing companies from offering those same train employees a decent offer.
“Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and the Department for Transport need to make a decent offer on salary and job security — either by going to the table themselves or enabling companies to bargain freely,” the letter reads. The negotiating stumbling and hamstringing must end.
According to Mr. Shapps, it is obvious from the unions’ coordinated strategy that they are determined to inflict as much suffering as they can on the same taxpayers who contributed £600 per family to guarantee that no train workers lost their jobs during the epidemic.
Businesses will also suffer, with the capital’s leisure and tourist industries, which had been counting on that summer commerce, expected to lose millions of dollars. This will come as an especially bitter blow considering how hard many people have struggled to survive through previous summers of lockdown.
In an earlier statement, Mr. Haines added, “It pains me that we are once again asking passengers to remain off the train for two days this week due to pointless strike action, when we should be helping them enjoy their summers.”
“We have offered a decent and reasonable offer, but our unions won’t allow our staff have a voice, and tragically that means greater disruption on the train network, with the exception of our TSSA management grades who approved the plan.”
Please only go if absolutely essential and, if you must, prepare ahead and find out when your final train will be. We’ll operate as many services as we can on Thursday and Saturday, but it will only be around a fifth of the typical schedule.
“While we will do all we can to minimise the damage and get people where they need to go,” said Steve Montgomery, head of the Train Delivery Group, “passengers should only travel by rail if absolutely essential and be aware that services may resume later the morning following strikes.”
If you can’t travel on August 18 or 20, you may use your ticket starting on August 19 and continuing through August 23; otherwise, you can reschedule your plans or get a refund.
RMT picket lines will be set up today at Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley beginning at 7 a.m. There will also be a “picket at the edge” at 10 a.m. on Waverley bridge in Scotland.
“It is extremely regrettable to see such broad disruption throughout the whole Great Britain train network, and we know this will be upsetting for ScotRail passengers,” said David Simpson, ScotRail Service Delivery Director.
“Unfortunately, we will be unable to run the great majority of our services throughout the strike action period due to the strike action by RMT members of Network Rail.
Customers may anticipate major service interruptions on strike days and the day after.
“We are able to operate on more routes than the day before the strike, but we are still only able to run a very limited number of services on these routes, so we’re encouraging clients to seek out alternate methods of transportation and to only go if they absolutely need to.”