Rail workers are 'striking to survive' as more people are struggling with rising costs and stagnant wages.
That was the message on the RMT picket line outside Liverpool Lime Street station, where striking rail workers gathered for the start of another 24-hour walk-out over pay and conditions. The strike means just two trains an hour will be departing from the city's main station.
Today's rail strike comes as an Arriva bus walk-out continues into its eighth day. The double action will have severe impacts on the city's public transport networks.
READ MORE: Merseyside train strike to cause transport chaos as Arriva buses are still off
But striking workers and politicians today said people now have no choice but to withdraw their labour and make their voices heard as inflation continues to rocket and wages fail to keep pace. The RMT is calling for a 7% pay increase, which would still be some way off the all time high inflation rate of 9.4% - which is set to keep rising.
Speaking on the picket line today, rail worker and RMT regional council secretary Darren Pilling said: ""There are some of our members who get a fair day's pay for a fair day's work, we've fought for that for a long time and we want to make sure it stays like that. But also, there are people on the lower pay bands and they are telling us that they are struggling.
"I don't really need to explain that to people, because everyone is struggling. It has become a fact of life in this country and all we are trying to do is address that balance."
He was joined by Liverpool Labour MP for West Derby Ian Byrne, who said: ""Where we are now, in the current climate, we've got rising food prices, energy prices and and its extremely difficult for people. Wages have got to match those rising prices or people are going to go under. I'm getting inundated by emails, we have got one in four in poverty across this city and its only going to get worse. Employers need to stop just looking at profits and look at investing those profits into wages - that's the only way this is going to get solved."
"People want a fair day's work for a fair day's pay, to go to work with dignity, to have a roof over their heads and feed their family. There has got to be a total rebalancing of society, where everything currently is run for profit - the unions are going out to try and protect their employees' incomes and its resonating across the country."
He added: ""In our food pantry a few weeks ago I spoke to a district nurse, she was there in full uniform, a single mum with two children and she was going to lose her home. She could not keep up with the mortgage payments, food payments - when you have someone like that and they are struggling like that, you know there is a massive problem. People are going out on strike to survive and the political establishment have got to listen to them."
Mr Pilling hit out at the Tory leadership candidates, who have both pledged to clamp down on the rights of workers to withdraw their labour and go out on strike. He added: "We've got this horrific beauty contest going on in Westminster, trying to appeal to some of the most right wing people in the country. We - and our employers - want to roll our sleeves up and get this sorted, but nobody will talk to us because the Conservatives have put everything on hold while they have a leadership contest.
Mr Byrne added: "This is the only weapon people have, it is a last resort, people are losing pay and people are struggling. It is an inconvenience for people but the biggest inconvenience is employers not paying workers enough to keep themselves afloat."
Mr Byrne was joined on the picket line by other Merseyside Labour MPs including Kim Johnson and Mick Whitley.
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