SCOTS are more supportive of the industrial action being taken by rail workers than the rest of the UK, a YouGov poll has found.
The polling firm asked the public if they support or oppose the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union strikes taking place this week.
Around 40,000 members of the RMT at Network rail and 13 other train operators walked out on Tuesday amid a bitter dispute with bosses over pay, jobs and conditions. Services were impacted across the country with only a fifth of trains running and half of all lines closed.
In response to YouGov’s question, more than 2500 adults in the UK responded, but those in Scotland were more likely to “strongly” support the strike action.
When the responses were broken down by country, 19% of Scottish respondents supported the industrial action. This was 18% in the north of England, 12% in the midlands and Wales, 13% in London and 12% in the rest of the south of England.
Scots were also more likely to lend their support in general to the strikes (30%), the highest number of any region listed. London was the next most supportive (25%), then the south and north of England (23%), with midlands and Wales coming out on the bottom (20%).
Overall, 49% of Scots respondents welcomed the industrial action, while 20% opposed it and 22% strongly opposed the strikes.
The poll found that overall 37% of respondents across the UK support the action.
Meanwhile, a poll from Savanta ComRes found that a majority of UK adults believe the strikes are justified.
Of 2336 adults, the pollsters reported that 58% thought that the strikes were either “absolutely” or “somewhat” justified, compared to 34% who did not believe they were.
Much of the UK did not have passenger trains for the entire day on Tuesday. The strike will have a knock-on effect into Wednesday, mainly due to a delay to the start of services as signallers and control room staff are not doing overnight shifts.
RMT general-secretary Mick Lynch has warned that the dispute could continue for months.
Lynch said: “Today’s turnout at picket lines has been fantastic and exceeded expectations in our struggle for job security, defending conditions and a decent pay rise.
“Our members will continue the campaign and have shown outstanding unity in the pursuit of a settlement to this dispute.
“RMT members are leading the way for all workers in this country who are sick and tired of having their pay and conditions slashed by a mixture of big business profits and Government policy.
“Now is the time to stand up and fight for every single railway worker in this dispute that we will win.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson told a meeting of the Cabinet that reforms are vital for the rail industry and passengers.
He said: “I say this to the country as a whole, we need to get ready to stay the course.
“To stay the course, because these reforms, these improvements in the way we run our railways are in the interests of the travelling public, they will help to cut costs for farepayers up and down the country.”
The union has been asked by Network Rail to attend formal consultation talks next month on introducing “modern working practices”.
Network Rail official Tim Shoveller said the changes will mean “dumping outdated working practices and introducing new technology”.
He added: “We expect this will reduce roles by around 1,800, the vast majority of which will be lost through voluntary severance and natural wastage.”
