Thousands of railway workers are staging their second strike of the week today after talks failed to resolve a bitter row over pay, jobs and conditions.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at Network Rail and 13 train operators will take industrial action, crippling services across the UK. Only around one in five trains will run and mainly on main lines during the day.
Ahead of the strike, the Government announced plans to change the law to enable businesses to supply skilled agency workers to plug staffing gaps during industrial action. Ministers pointed out that under current trade union laws, employment businesses are restricted from supplying temporary agency workers to cover for strikers, saying it can have a “disproportionate impact”.
