Commuters locked in DAYS of travel chaos as massive train strikes start today… and it’s only just the beginning
COMMUTERS are locked in days of travel misery as rail, tube and bus strikes kicked off TODAY.
Tens of thousands of workers staged strikes following long-running disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.
Network Rail, train companies, London Underground and buses in the capital have been hit by the walkouts which have sparked chaos set to last until Sunday.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) and Unite are all involved in the industrial action, after ongoing talks failed to break the deadlocked rows.
Today, RMT members at Network Rail (NR) and 14 train operators, TSSA members at seven companies, and Unite members at NR are striking.
This will have a knock-on effect on rail services on Friday morning.
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The strikes are not only bringing misery to workers, but also to holidaymakers and fans going to events.
Premier League football fixtures and a cricket Test match at Lords, which began today, will be impacted by the strikes.
Strikes will affect services until the weekend.
Also on Friday, members of the RMT and Unite on London Underground will walk out, as well as Unite members on London United bus routes in the capital in a separate dispute over pay.
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On Saturday, RMT members at Network Rail and 14 train operators, TSSA members at seven companies, and Unite members at NR will strike again, along with London United bus drivers.
Sunday morning train services will be affected by the knock-on effect of Saturday's action.
Rail services on Thursday and Saturday are drastically reduced, with only around a fifth running and half of lines closed.
Trains are only operating between 7.30am and 6.30pm on both strike days.
Picket lines have been mounted outside railway stations across the country.
RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said his union's members are more determined than ever to protect their pensions, secure a decent pay rise, job security and good working conditions.
Speaking in front of a picket line at Euston station this morning, he declared that the rail strike "won't be broken" until there is a settlement to the dispute as he refused to put an end date on the industrial action.
Mr Lynch told the PA news agency: "We don't have a fixed programme - I don't have a whiteboard saying it starts on this day and it ends on that day.
"We won't be broken. We are determined to get a settlement.
"People have shown on the picket lines they are determined to dig in, we're not going to waste our members' efforts.
"We will continue the fight until we get a settlement."
The RMT boss even warned that Britain could be brought by a standstill by a wave of strikes hitting "every sector of the economy".
Mr Lynch stopped short of predicting a general strike, saying: "It's not in my power, it's up to the TUC.
But he added: "What you are going to get is a wave of solidarity action, generalised strike action, synchronised action.
"And you'll see it in every sector of the economy, in education, in health, wider parts of the transport system, in all sectors, the private sector as well.
"People are fed up with the way they've been treated. The British worker is basically underpaid and gets no dignity or respect in the workplace.
"We've got to change that so we get a square deal for everyone in Britain - and that's what the unions are determined to do."
But the union chief said he fears finding a solution will not be possible because of "political interference"; as workers stage another rail strike.
He told how the union have been working with Network Rail and the train operating companies but said "the gap between us is still there".
We cannot tolerate being bullied or hoodwinked into accepting a raw deal for our members.
Mick Lynch
"We've got to find a way to bridge that but I fear that because of the political interference that's happening with the public transport and the Treasury, we're not able to do that," Mr Lynch added from Euston.
He previously said: "The train operating companies have put driver-only operations on the table along with ransacking our members' terms and conditions.
"RMT will continue to negotiate in good faith but we cannot tolerate being bullied or hoodwinked into accepting a raw deal for our members.
"The Government need to stop their interference in these disputes so the employers can come to a negotiated settlement with us."
TSSA members taking action include staff working in ticket offices, stations, control rooms, engineering, as well as planning, timetabling and other support roles.
The union is seeking guarantees of no compulsory redundancies, a pay rise in line with the cost of living, and promises of no unilateral alterations to job terms and conditions.
TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes said: "Our members in the rail industry are going into the third or fourth year of a pay freeze. Meanwhile, food and fuel bills are spiralling, and the Tory cost-of-living crisis is making working people poorer. Enough is enough - this cannot go on.
"For lots of our members, this is the first time they have ever taken industrial action - it is a last resort and not something any rail worker takes lightly."
He added: "Railway workers put their lives at risk to keep the country running in the pandemic and were rightly hailed as heroes. Yet now the Tories are hampering negotiations and blocking employers from making a reasonable offer to those same rail workers.
"Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and the Department for Transport need to make a reasonable offer on pay and job security - either by coming to the table themselves or allowing employers to negotiate freely. The string-pulling and blocking negotiations must stop.
"This dispute is not going away. Thousands of rail workers across the country are experiencing real-terms pay cuts as inflation skyrockets and the cost of living keeps rising.
"We will not back down until our members have won the pay, conditions and job security they deserve."
'PARTICULARLY CRUEL'
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: "It's clear, from their co-ordinated approach, that the unions are hell-bent on causing as much misery as possible...
"To the very same taxpayers who stumped up £600 per household to ensure not a single rail worker lost their job during the pandemic.
"Sadly, union chiefs have short memories and will be repaying this act of good faith by ruining millions of hard-working people's summer plans.
"Businesses too will suffer, with the capital's leisure and tourism sectors, which have been banking on that summer trade, set to lose millions - a particularly cruel blow given how hard many worked to stay afloat during successive summers of lockdown."
Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines yesterday said: "It saddens me that we are again having to ask passengers to stay away from the railway for two days this week due to unnecessary strike action, when we should be helping them enjoy their summers."
Today he told ITV's Good Morning Britain that an 8% pay rise is a "good offer" despite it falling short of inflation.
Haines said: "Eight percent is a good offer and is supported by job security because what I don't want is people coming to work with a pay rise but then worried that their job is going to be under threat, because we've actually bankrupted the company (by) giving them a pay rise in the short term.
"What will help them is giving them the chance to vote on what we think is a fair deal and then we will see where this goes from there."
Steve Montgomery, who chairs the Rail Delivery Group, said: "The leadership of RMT and TSSA are imposing yet more uncertainty on passengers and businesses by disrupting passengers' travel plans.
"While we will do all that we can to minimise the impact and to get people where they need to be, passengers should only travel by rail if absolutely necessary and be aware that services may start later the morning after strikes.
"If you're not able to travel on 18 or 20 August, you can use your ticket either the day before or up to and including 23 August, otherwise you will be able to change your ticket or claim a refund.
"The railway is vital to this country, but with passenger revenue still 20% below 2019 levels, securing a strong future means we have to change and move with the times.
"Only then can we fund the pay rise we want to give our people, while delivering the more reliable Sunday services and improved punctuality our passengers deserve."
Meanwhile the shadow education secretary said that Labour MPs standing on a picket line would not "sort out" industrial disputes over the rising cost of living.
Asked whether the Opposition will be visiting picket lines, Bridget Phillipson told Times Radio: "We want to be the next government, so, if we were the government, we would be around that negotiating table sorting out the dispute, we would be a party to those negotiations.
"I don't think being on a picket line is going to sort this problem out.
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"I think it is right that we do speak to workers who are affected by all of these cost-of-living pressures that we face, but my priority is making sure that we get a Labour government that is able to fix some of these big problems that we face as a country."
Asked if Labour frontbenchers are allowed to go and stand on a picket line, Ms Phillipson said she has "had no discussion around that".
