Rail strikes are planned in less than two weeks (Danny Lawson/PA)
(Picture: PA Archive)Staff at Network Rail and 13 train operating companies have voted to strike later this month over proposed job cuts and pay freezes. It’s been labelled the biggest rail strike in decades and will see 40,000 staff take part.
The first day of the walkout, on 21st June, will coincide with an additional 10,000 London Underground workers going on strike in an ongoing dispute over job losses and pensions.
The subsequent strikes will take place on 23rd and 25th June, with passengers likely to experience knock-on effects in the days in between as well. Around a fifth of main line services will run on the three days of the strikes.
Mick Lynch, general secretary of the rail union RMT, explained the reason for strike action: “We have a cost-of-living crisis, and it is unacceptable for railway workers to either lose their jobs or face another year of a pay freeze when inflation is at 11.1pc and rising.”
The move was criticised by Health Secretary Sajid Javid, who told Times Radio: “I hope they sit down with the industry, think again, act sensibly, act like grown-ups and understand that not only would a strike be wrong for the travellers, the misery that would cause, but actually I think it would be wrong for the workers in the industry.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has also urged the RMT to call off the strikes, while his spokesperson pointed to the industrial action stemming from “the Government’s appalling approach to public transport”.
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