- Labour’s Lisa Nandy backs rail strikes if government talks fail The Guardian
- Railway shutdown: UK facing biggest train strike in decades Channel 4 News
- Rail strikes 2022: South Western Railway urges Surrey passengers to change plans on strike days Surrey Live
- Ministers must stand up to the rail unions The Telegraph
- Rail strikes: when are they and how bad will the disruption be? The Guardian
- View Full coverage on Google News
The shadow levelling up secretary, Lisa Nandy, has said she is on the side of both the public and workers as unions prepare to stage major strike action on the rail network in the coming weeks.
Nandy fell short of explicitly backing or opposing the planned industrial action during an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, instead saying Labour wanted to avoid strikes.
Commentators have noted that members of the Labour frontbench have been conspicuously quiet on the issue, while the party leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has said he supports the general right of workers to withdraw their labour, but believed the rail strikes should not go ahead.
Rail workers belonging to the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) will stage walkouts on 21, 23 and 25 June, with the effects also likely to disrupt many services on days when workers are not on strike.
Network Rail is drawing up contingency plans to enable some mainline services to run. The strikes, which will include most of its signalling staff as well as the onboard and station staff of 13 train companies, are expected to leave fewer than one in five services running, probably only between 7am and 7pm on mainlines.
The government has called the strikes “self-defeating”, saying they could drive more passengers away in the long term.
Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Nandy said: “We want to avoid the strikes and we’re on the public’s side on this. We’re also on the rail workers’ side and I was speaking to some rail workers on Monday just before I got on the train to come down to London.
“They’re dealing with the same pressures that everyone else is – the cost of food, the cost of soaring inflation rates, taxes going up, and they’re really struggling to make ends meet.
“They’re the people that we went out and applauded during the pandemic because they kept our services going and they’ve seen their pay in real terms attacked again and again over the last decade.”
She added: “I’ve stood with our rail workers just like I stood with junior doctors when they protested against the treatment that was being meted out to them by the government, and our nurses as well.
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“The way that you create good public services is not to attack the people who run those services, is not to attack those people who work day in, day out in order to try and keep them going – the way you do it is to support them.”
A spokesperson for Nandy declined to clarify whether she supported or opposed strike action.
The RMT said it would be open to “meaningful proposals” that would guarantee no compulsory redundancies and address pay.
In the Commons, Boris Johnson described the strikes as “reckless and wanton”. The prime minister’s spokesperson also said strikes would drive people away from using the railways when passenger numbers were already down on pre-pandemic levels.
“It is a self-defeating approach which will do lasting damage to not just the railways but to rail workers,” they said.
The planned industrial action – after a ballot of 40,000 members across Network Rail and 13 train operating companies last month – was due to start on Tuesday 21 June and run on alternating days until the Saturday.
Compulsory redundancies among rail workers have not yet been threatened by either Network Rail or train operators, but as passenger numbers remain stubbornly below pre-Covid levels, companies are looking for up to £2bn in annual savings.
Many rail workers had their wages frozen during the pandemic and have not yet been offered a pay rise, with inflation at its highest for decades.
About 10,000 RMT members working for London Underground will also strike on 21 June, in a parallel dispute over jobs and pensions, bringing the network to a halt. The Unite union on Tuesday announced that about 1,000 members at Transport for London, including some tube staff, would stage a 24-hour walkout the same day, intensifying disruption.
Surrey train passengers are being warned of a significantly reduced timetable after strike action was agreed by rail staff later this month. The RMT union, which represents rail workers, announced 50,000 staff will walk out over a row on pay and working conditions.
In response to the announcement, figures at South Western Railway (SWR) warned there would be severe disruption and told passengers to change their plans if they could. Some 2,100 staff from the rail operator are walking out over the three days with discussions now taking place with Network Rail on a reduced timetable, which is yet to be announced.
However, SWR warned any open routes would see far fewer trains running than normal. As a result, travellers are being asked to change their travel date, and where this is not possible, look for alternative methods of transport. Updates are also being shared with hospitals, schools, airports and businesses across the network on what this will mean for them too.
Claire Mann, Managing Director of South Western Railway, said: “I understand that the announcement of upcoming industrial action will worry many of our customers, particularly against the backdrop of significant cost of living pressures. We are carefully finalising contingency plans, but I’m afraid this action will mean that many customers will be unable to travel by rail.
“If customers can change their date of travel, or make alternative arrangements, I urge them to begin making those arrangements as soon as possible. I appreciate how challenging this may be and would like to thank customers for their patience as the rail industry responds to this unprecedented industrial action.”
When and where exactly are the strikes?
The three strike days are Tuesday 21 June, Thursday 23 June and Saturday 25 June. RMT members will strike at Network Rail and 13 English train companies: Chiltern, Cross Country, Greater Anglia, LNER, East Midlands, c2c, Great Western, Northern, South Eastern, South Western, TransPennine, Avanti West Coast and West Midlands.
Because Network Rail staff – including signallers, who are crucial to the daily operation – work across Britain, the walkouts will affect Scotland and Wales, too.
In a separate but parallel dispute, RMT members on the London Underground will also strike on 21 June.
How bad will the disruption be?
Some trains will continue to run in bigger conurbations, but only for a limited time. Network Rail and train companies are drawing up a contingency timetable. The broad expectation is that a few trains will run on the main lines and into cities between 7am and 7pm on strike days – roughly 20% of the service.
Because the strikes stop all shifts starting in each 24-hour period, much overnight work – including maintenance and returning trains to depots – will also not take place, meaning a later start and fewer services on Wednesday and Friday, too. Monday’s services may also be curtailed earlier, and Sunday’s start later, in effect meaning disruption over seven days.
The Tuesday Tube strike will be London-wide, with all 10,000 RMT members striking. That means the full-scale closures seen in March, rather than the major disruption in central London brought by the station staff strike this week.
Who might be able to travel and why?
In general, main lines will stay open, but with few trains; rural and branch lines are likely to be shut, and a skeleton daytime service will run into conurbations.
The one big train firm that has not voted to strike is GTR, whose Thameslink trains also rely on highly automated signalling to cross central London, but its services will still be severely disrupted.
What about my ticket if I can’t travel?
The industry has promised it will be flexible. Refunds are due if services do not run. Some train companies will offer automatic refunds to season ticket holders, or for cancelled journeys booked by credit card.
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Advance tickets are no longer on sale. Passengers with advance tickets will be able to use them the day before or up to two days after any action – but it is not clear yet whether that will cover the whole period, given the expected service levels on the non-strike days.
Passengers holding advance tickets may want to retain them for now or risk paying full price for journeys later. Current latest advice can be found on the National Rail website, but passengers should check with their operator nearer the time.
Will the strikes definitely go ahead?
Industry leaders and unions have both said they are open to further talks – and will be holding more this week. However, talks over the future of the railway have been going on for more than a year, and there has been little progress. It is difficult to see an obvious solution.
What are the strikes about anyway?
Job security and pay. The government has told the railway to reduce costs by about 10% after finances were upended by the pandemic. A £4bn annual taxpayer subsidy became roughly £12bn in Covid years and the Treasury has said rail subsidy must be slashed.
Network Rail, the state-owned company that runs the infrastructure, wants to save at least £100m a year through “workplace reform”, which the RMT says will mean widespread job cuts. Unions also expect train operating companies to close ticket offices.
Any pay offers are expected to be far below inflation, with many staff not having had an increase during the pandemic.
What is the government’s idea about minimum service levels during strikes?
The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has suggested that laws could be enacted to ensure “minimum service levels”, as per the Conservative manifesto. The chair of the Commons transport committee, Huw Merriman, urged the government to press ahead, possibly requiring a guaranteed number of working staff or running trains.
However, Downing Street has indicated it will not be coming soon. The impact would be questionable, and introducing it could rally more union opposition by threatening the right to strike.
Are train drivers on strike?
No. But the union representing most drivers has balloted some companies for action, and could completely stop trains if it launched a strike. It is unlikely to do so, bar a total pay freeze. The TSSA, which represents more of the middle management, has said it is considering a ballot – and if it eventually joined in, it could make even the contingency plans unviable.Nguồn bài viết Du học Đồng Thịnh | (+84) 96 993.7773 | (+84) 96 1660.266 | (+44) 020 753 800 87 | info@dongthinh.co.uk
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