Grant Shapps is stopping rail companies from settling with strikers according to a top QC as the network was paralysed again yesterday.
And the TUC claimed the Transport Secretary is telling the public porkies by insisting he has no role to play.
Boss Frances O’Grady said he was pulling the strings of the 15 train operators because contracts mean they are unable to negotiate pay, conditions and pensions of 40,000 striking RMT workers without his approval.
If they did try to reach a deal he could hit them with financial penalties by making them foot the bill for any extra wages costs.
Ms O’Grady said: “The PM and Transport Secretary have misled the public..
“When they said the government has no role in handling this dispute, that’s not true.”
And RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch added: “We’ve always known the government has extensive powers in these negotiations and this legal opinion confirms that.
“ Grant Shapps needs to stop shackling the rail companies and allow RMT to make a deal.”
The legal opinion was commissioned by the TUC from employment lawyer Michael Ford QC who rips apart the Transport Secretary’s claim he must stay out of it.
Mr Ford studied rail contracts to reveal a secret Dispute Handling Plan that rail operators must comply with.
That, he said gives “the ultimate power and direction of the handling of the strike to the Secretary of State.
“These provisions mean train operators do not have freedom to negotiate matters which have given rise to the current dispute.
“It is the SoS, and not the operator, who has overarching direction and control of the strike.”
That contradicts Mr Shapps’s claim to Parliament on 15 June that “these negotiations are a matter between the employer and the union.”
Seven days later he told TalkTV’s Piers Morgan: “This is a negotiation between the union and the employer. It is the only place that discussion can take place. I can’t settle this dispute.”
Last week’s three days of strikes cost the leisure and tourism industry £1billion, according to UK Hospitality chief Kate Nicholls.
Mr Lynch yesterday repeated his call for Mr Shapps to join talks as a third day of strikes saw only one in five services running.
He wants a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies before talks on pay and working conditions.
Yesterday there were no trains running to many seaside resorts including Bournemouth, Blackpool, Margate, Llandudno, and Skegness and none in Cornwall.
Treasury Secretary Simon Clarke said yesterday public sector pay awards should not exceed three per cent. Mr Lynch is looking for at least seven per cent.
The RMT says the Government is likely to give rail operators £65 million to protect their profits for the last three days of strikes.
Ms O’Grady added: “The Transport Secretary could unlock this dispute.
“Instead, he has toured TV studios throwing fuel on the fire and trying to turn working people against each other.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “"It’s extremely misleading to suggest the Transport Secretary should get involved in these negotiations.
The Tranport Secretary is required to set the limits of taxpayer support and ultimately sign off on any deal – not to be involved in negotiating one.
“The union knows full well that negotiations over pay and working practices don’t happen with the Government – they happen with employers.”
