That’s it from me, Tom Ambrose, and indeed from the rail strikes blog for today. Thanks for following along throughout the day.
The rail strikes aren’t having the impact that unions “might have hoped” for, according to the Department for Transport.
In a statement issued tonight, a spokesperson said:
These are desperately needed reforms that modernise the railway and put it on a sustainable footing for passengers and taxpayers.
Unions have shut down big parts of the rail network, hitting local businesses and unfairly cutting people off from hospitals, schools and work.
However, early data shows that unlike in the past many people now have the opportunity to work from home, so we haven’t even had a rush to the roads, as traffic has instead gone online, which means the unions aren’t having the overall impact they might have hoped.
It follows comments earlier today from the RMT general secretary, Mick Lynch. He 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 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.
Updated
Shadow minister Lady Chapman said Labour was clear the only way to resolve the rail dispute is through negotiation.
She told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme:
We’re very clear on this. The only way this gets resolved is through negotiation, and for that to happen you’ve got to be around the table.
The government could use its convening power to make that happen. It’s choosing not to. We think that’s irresponsible.
And in the end, you know, the public will make their own mind up about the government’s motivations in all of this.
Chapman added that any suggestion there may be further strikes down the line just makes the need to negotiate “more urgent”.
“We don’t want to see what we’ve seen today repeated across the summer. Nobody does,” she said.
“The idea that we are going to see more of this, I think, should just make people resolve more strongly, actually, to get this resolved quickly.”
Updated
Most people (58%) believe the rail strikes are justified, according to a survey of more than 2,300 adults by Savanta ComRes.
Younger adults aged 18-34 (72%) and Labour voters (79%) were more likely to see the strikes as justified compared with their older (aged 55+, 44%) and Conservative-voting (38%) counterparts.
Three out of five of those polled said they were generally supportive of the principle of industrial action, while just 35% were generally opposed, PA Media reported.
Two-thirds said the government had not done enough to avoid the strikes, while 61% say the same of the transport secretary, Grant Shapps.
However, a separate poll of 2,516 adults, published by YouGov on Tuesday afternoon, suggested only 37% of people were supportive of the strike this week, while 45% said they opposed it.
Chris Hopkins, political research director at Savanta ComRes, said:
Much has been made of whether or not the public support these strikes, and our polling, that included an explanation of the dispute rather than an uninformed test of perceptions, shows a majority finding justification in the decision of rail workers to strike, along with general support for the principle of workers striking.
What will be interesting over the coming days is to what extent the public mood changes. Fieldwork here was conducted before the strike began. After a week of coverage of likely disruption, will the public be as sympathetic?
And what impact will that have on those other unions threatening to ballot their members over a pay deal nowhere near in line with high inflation? These issues are just more things to give this government a headache as it heads towards a summer where the rising cost of living will have further negative consequences.
Updated
Here's a summary of the latest developments...
At what would usually be rush hour for commuters, here are the latest developments on today’s rail strikes:
- The RMT union said it would meet rail bosses for fresh talks on Wednesday. But, the BBC reports, even if an agreement were reached, it would not stop Thursday’s planned strike, but that with 48 hours’ notice it could potentially prevent disruption on Saturday.
- Downing Street has said it will “not give in” to demands from rail unions as Boris Johnson warned commuters they must “stay the course”. The prime minister’s spokesperson said Johnson believed it was “in the long-term interest of both the country and the public to not give in” to demands that he claimed would “stop us being able to modernise the railways”.
- Ed Davey claims Boris Johnson and Grant Shapps are posing as bystanders while millions suffer, calling for them to intervene. Writing in the Guardian, the Liberal Democrats leader accuses the prime minister and his transport secretary, whom he brands “Sleepy Shapps”, of failing to plan ahead to minimise disruption.
- Amid widespread industrial action across rail services, postal workers are also set to vote over whether to strike in a row over pay, it was announced today. More than 115,000 Royal Mail workers will be balloted in the coming weeks on whether to launch a campaign of industrial action.
- Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, has condemned the strikes as “extremely frustrating” and blamed the government for the disruption to the capital’s transport services. He said the strikes would have a “devastating impact” on the capital’s economy and that he hoped unions would return to the negotiating table with Transport for London and the government.
- Looking ahead to Wednesday, train services across the UK are set to face continued knock-on disruption - with only around 60% of normal weekday services running.
That’s it from me for today. Handing over now to Tom Ambrose. Thanks for reading.
Updated
A Labour shadow minister has said it is “perfectly reasonable” for the party’s Scottish leader to take a different stance on the rail strikes to Keir Starmer.
Jenny Chapman, shadow minister of state at the Cabinet Office, said she was “very comfortable” with Anas Sarwar visiting a picket line - despite Starmer’s warnig to frontbenchers not to.
She told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme:
Keir Starmer is a prime minister in waiting leading a government in waiting, and it is important that he behaves in that way.
So when he says that the right thing for the government to do is to try to resolve this and get parties round the table, he means it, so he has to walk the walk on that and not just say it.
I think it’s perfectly reasonable for Anas to take a different view. He is the leader of Scottish Labour. He makes his own decisions.
She added:
I’ve known Anas for a very long time. He’s a friend, I have complete respect for him, as does Keir Starmer.
But Keir Starmer in the end is the person who we want to see as the prime minister, and if he was I can tell you now that he’d be taking a very, very different approach to the one which Boris Johnson is taking.
Updated
In London, Clapham Junction station - usually one of the busiest train hubs in the country - was unusually quiet ahead of the evening rush hour, reports PA.
Updated
RMT union to hold fresh talks with rail bosses on Wednesday
The RMT union has said it will meet rail bosses for fresh talks on Wednesday.
Commenting on today’s strike - which it said had seen “fantastic” turnout at picket lines and “exceeded expectations” - the union confirmed that it would be meeting Network Rail and the train operating companies.
But, the BBC reports, even if an agreement were reached, it would not stop Thursday’s planned strike, but that with 48 hours’ notice it could potentially prevent disruption on Saturday.
The RMT general secretary, Mick 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 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.
Updated
No 10 says Boris Johnson will 'not give in' to rail unions' demands
Downing Street has said it will “not give in” to demands from rail unions as Boris Johnson warned commuters they must “stay the course”.
The prime minister’s spokesperson said Johnson believes it is “in the long-term interest of both the country and the public to not give in” to demands that he claimed would “stop us being able to modernise the railways”.
“We wouldn’t want this to be inflicted on the public for longer than necessary and indeed for it to damage people’s confidence in using our railways for longer than necessary,” he added. “But it is very much one for the unions to decide.”
It comes as Johnson told the cabinet that without fundamental changes to the system, rail firms risk going bust and passengers face even higher fares that could lead to them abandoning trains, reports PA.
Following today’s industrial action - the biggest rail strike in a generation - further strikes are planned for Thursday and Saturday.
Johnson called for “union barons” to sit down with Network Rail and the train companies and agree to a package of reforms.
He said the strike was causing “significant disruption and inconvenience up and down the country”. It is making it “more difficult for people to get to work, risking people’s appointments, making it more difficult for kids to sit exams - all sorts of unnecessary aggravations,” he added.
Updated
Ed Davey accuses Boris Johnson and Grant Shapps of 'playing politics with people's lives' while millions suffer amid strikes
Ed Davey claims Boris Johnson and Grant Shapps are posing as bystanders while millions suffer, calling for them to intervene.
Writing in the Guardian, the Liberal Democrats leader accuses the prime minister and his transport secretary, whom he brands “Sleepy Shapps”, of failing to plan ahead to minimise disruption.
Boris Johnson and Grant Shapps in particular are playing politics with people’s lives, as they pretend to be innocent bystanders to the dispute. Government ministers now directly set and agree the budgets and strategic policies of the rail companies, so they cannot simply wash their hands of any responsibility: rail managers have only modest leeway in their negotiations. Yet, thanks to parliamentary questions asked by my colleague Sarah Olney, we know ministers haven’t met with the RMT to try to stop these strikes, for well over a month.
Updated
Alex Lawson, the Guardian’s energy correspondent, has been speaking to some of the thousands of tourists in London forced to change their plans by the rail strikes.
On Baker Street, a group of 41 students from La Mola high school in Alicante, Spain, were visiting the London Beatles Store after walking across town from Russell Square, Lawson writes. They did not know about the strike action. “We’re going to walk 25 kilometres today, we’re a bit exhausted,” said student Magda Caceres.
Royal Mail workers also set to vote over whether to strike
Amid widespread industrial action across rail services, postal workers are also set to vote over whether to strike in a row over pay, it was announced today.
More than 115,000 Royal Mail workers will be balloted in the coming weeks on whether to launch a campaign of industrial action.
Ballot papers will be sent to members of the Communication Workers Union (CMU) on 28 June and the result announced next month, it was announced on Tuesday.
Terry Pullinger, the CWU deputy general secretary, said in a video posted on Twitter:
Today we will be serving a notice on Royal Mail Group over a pay claim - our claim for an inflation-based, no-strings pay award.
The company has imposed a 2% pay award, miles away from where inflation is, totally inadequate.
A Royal Mail spokesperson told PA:
We believe there are no grounds for industrial action. We offered a deal worth up to 5.5% for CWU grade colleagues, the biggest increase we have offered for many years, which was rejected by the CWU.
We have further talks on change with CWU this week. We hope this will ultimately lead to an agreement on the changes required to ensure Royal Mail can grow and remain competitive in a fast-moving industry, securing jobs for the future and retaining our place as the industry leader on pay and terms and conditions.
We value the work we do with CWU and remain committed to agreeing a deal for tomorrow, not just today.
GCSE and A-level students who are sitting exams this week face an additional anxiety amid the rail strikes: punctuality.
The Department for Education has said exams are not expected to be rescheduled, despite clashing with the strikes, while the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) and the Joint Council for Qualifications said some contingency measures were in place for late-arriving students.
The father of an 18-year-old with his final A-level exam on Thursday said his son has been “very anxious about how to get to school” for the test. Johnny, 49, from Westminster, London, told PA he would drive his son the 25 miles to school instead, setting out at around 6am to make sure he got there in time.
Students and parents have been warned they must have a “plan B” for getting to exams during the strikes.
Pepe Diiasio, head of Wales high school in Rotherham, said only a “limited number” of pupils were likely to be affected by the strikes overall but that it would be “serious” for those who were.
“If you’ve got exams this week, just have a plan A and plan B in your back pocket because ... it’s been a difficult year already for people taking exams,” he told the news agency. “The last thing they want to worry about now is whether or not they’re actually going to arrive on time.”
Updated
The boss of a pub group has said it is “barely worth opening” some businesses, with business expected to drop by 25% amid strikes.
It came as industry leaders warned that some hospitality venues could see trade drop to as a little as a tenth of what they would normally get.
“We have seen events cancelled in droves and really weak bookings in a lot of places,” Clive Watson, founder of City Pub Group, which runs 42 pubs, told PA.
He added:
In London it is obviously bad but we’ve also seen it in Bristol, Norwich, Exeter, Reading. In general, a large proportion of bookings are being cancelled, without plans for them to be rearranged too. It’s early days but I think we are expecting trade to be 20% to 25% down this week.
Sadiq Khan condemns 'extremely frustrating' strikes, blaming government for 'devastating impact'
Sadiq Khan, the London mayor, has condemned the strikes as “extremely frustrating” and blamed the government for the disruption to the capital’s transport services.
He said the strikes will have a “devastating impact” on the capital’s economy and that he hopes unions will return to the negotiating table with Transport for London and the government.
He tweeted:
These planned strikes are extremely frustrating. They will have a devastating impact on London’s economic recovery, hitting businesses and commuters just as we’re starting to see passenger levels head towards pre-pandemic levels and tourists return. pic.twitter.com/0W0GoM4rZU
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) June 21, 2022
TfL has done everything it can to avoid disruption, but this transport chaos has been caused by the Govt and the conditions they have imposed on TfL.
— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) June 21, 2022
I hope unions return to negotiations with TfL and the Govt finally brings forward a funding deal which doesn’t punish Londoners.
Just 60% of normal weekday rail services to run on Wednesday amid continued disruption
For those looking ahead to Wednesday, train services across the UK are set to face continued knock-on disruption - with only around 60% of normal weekday services running.
Here’s a Q&A from the PA news agency:
How many trains will run on Wednesday? Only around 60% of the 20,000 normal weekday services will be able to operate.
Why are timetables not returning to normal if there is no strike on Wednesday? Walkouts by signallers and control room staff who would usually work overnight from Tuesday night into Wednesday morning means trains will leave depots later than normal, delaying the start of services.
What time do trains normally leave depots? Between around 3am and 4am.
What time do passengers services usually begin? Between around 5am and 6am.
How will that change on Wednesday? The process of taking trains out of depots will only begin when signallers on daytime shifts start work at 6-6.30am. No passenger services will run before 6.30am.
How long will the start of services be delayed? It is expected to take up to four hours in some locations.
How quickly will services ramp up? In London, services will increase quickly as trains do not have to travel long distances from depots to stations. It will take several hours in remote locations.
Will services eventually return to normal on Wednesday? Network Rail said that “even during the day the service will stay thinner” than usual.
What about Thursday? It will be a similar picture to Tuesday. Around 20% of services will run and just half of lines will be open, only between 7.30am and 6.30pm.
Is there any chance strikes planned for Thursday and Saturday will be called off? No negotiations are taking place so passengers are being urged to check with train operators for updates to services.
Campaigner columnist and author Jack Monroe has shared her support for today’s strikes, saying they demonstrate “how vital that labour is”.
Meanwhile, the government, she claimed, “have given themselves pay rise after pay rise after pay rise”.
Full solidarity with @RMTunion strikes today. Withdrawal of labour is supposed to be inconvenient, it demonstrates how vital that labour is - and those who carry it out - to our everyday lives. Bring on the waves of industrial action as workers demand fairer pay and conditions ✊🏼
— Jack Monroe (@BootstrapCook) June 21, 2022
Rafael Behr says analogies between today’s strikes and the 70s is “politically and economically tenuous”.
The Guardian columnist writes:
Trade unions have a fraction of their former clout. Train cancellations are not comparable to nationwide blackouts; commuter inconvenience is not anarchy. It is not a “summer of discontent” except in the pages of Tory-cheerleader newspapers. Inflation-busting pay rises are not the villain behind the current inflation spike, which began when real wages had been stagnant or falling for a decade.
Hi, I’ll be looking after the strikes live blog for the next few hours. If you have any tips or suggestions, please get in touch: miranda.bryant@guardian.co.uk
Updated
Summary
Welcome to those now joining our live coverage of the train strikes. Here’s a summary of what’s happened so far:
- Footfall in central London to 1pm today has been 27% lower than last Tuesday and in city centres outside of the capital it was down by 11.2%, according to retail analysts Springboard.
- Refuse collection workers called off strike after pay deal. They have accepted a 7.5% pay rise, ending the threat of industrial action.
- Road congestion rose with rail strikes under way. In several cities, the location technology firm TomTom shows levels of road congestion at 11am on Tuesday was higher than the same time on 14 June. In London, congestion levels increased from 38% to 51%.
- Johnson warned commuters to be prepared to ‘stay the course’. At a meeting of the cabinet, Johnson also said reforms were needed on the railways, otherwise it would result in the “disaster” of declining rail use.
- RMT called Johnson’s agency staff plans ‘a gimmick’ in response to Boris Johnson’s plans to break the industrial action by allowing firms to bring in agency staff, announced on Monday. Unions have decried the move as unworkable, unsafe and potentially breaking international law.
-
Labour MPs and leaders have joined picket lines in solidarity with RMT union members, despite Keir Starmer’s office telling shadow cabinet members that frontbenchers “should not be on picket lines”. Diane Abbott, Zarah Sultana, and Anas Sarwar, were among those showing solidarity.
- Rail strikes are going to cost the hospitality industry’s restaurants, pubs and other businesses, £500m in revenue. The CEO of UKHospitality said the industry, already battered by the Coronavirus pandemic, “cannot withstand any more of these severe economic shocks”.
- The National Rail Enquires website stopped working around 8am, disrupting passengers attempting to use the service to find out what trains are running during the rail strike.
- The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, called the strikes “a stunt”, and said government was not going to get involved as it would “make matters worse”.
That’s it from me, Geneva Abdul. My colleague Miranda Bryant will be taking over shortly.
Updated
Here’s some useful background on the wider picture for pay, the subject of the rail strikes today.
Median basic pay rises have stayed unchanged at 4% in recent months, according to research, which suggests the figure is at its highest level since September 1992.
A report based on a study of almost 300 pay settlements covering more than 928,000 workers by wage analysts XpertHR said that despite pay deals remaining high, the median award still lags 5% behind CPI inflation.
Over the year to May, the median pay award across the public sector was 1.4%, while in private companies it was 3%.
The real pressure on pay awards has come over the past few months, with a median 4% award recorded over the three months to the end of May 2022 compared with 3.2% during the first three months of the year.
Sheila Attwood of XpertHR said:
Despite pay awards reaching record levels not seen for 30 years, any marginal increases we are seeing are outstripped by the sheer pace of inflation.
There are no signs that pay award levels are going to fall, meaning wage rises are likely to remain steadfastly below the rate of inflation for the foreseeable future.”
With the threat of further inflationary pressure, businesses that are unable to match pay with inflation should consider where and how they can help employees.
Other benefits and financial guidance will not only help retain top talent, but crucially it will help staff weather the worst of the cost of living crisis.
Updated
The Evening Standard has a report of an angry commuter in east London, who stood in front of a bus and demanded the driver “opens the doors” this morning after watching packed buses pass without stopping.
The incident was filmed by a bystander, who shared his own frustration in a tweet:
Since 6:30am waiting for a bus but the buses still passing without stopping. And my patients and coworkers still waiting for me because of the #RailStrikes
— David (@zimokapino) June 21, 2022
And we are not allowed to strike.
And my salary is totally worse than the ones that are striking.
The country needs a change pic.twitter.com/nnib8anvsu
Some lines on PA from Scottish Conservative transport spokesperson, Graham Simpson, responding to the “solidarity” expressed by Labour’s leader in Scotland, Anas Sarwar earlier today.
Simpson said:
Passengers across the country will have been outraged to see Anas Sarwar on the picket lines, supporting these selfish strikes.
The whole country is being held to ransom by a union that would rather cause disruption than get round the negotiating table and be part of the solution - yet instead of sticking up for ordinary travellers, Anas Sarwar has proved he’s firmly on the side of this militant union.
Even Keir Starmer knows that these strikes are excessive and irresponsible. The Scottish Labour leader is utterly out of touch if he thinks he’ll win support with this blatant stunt.
Footfall drops in cities by 11.2% and by 27% in London
Footfall in central London to 1pm today has been 27% lower than last Tuesday and in city centres outside of the capital it was down by 11.2%, according to retail analysts Springboard.
In contrast, footfall in outer London and market towns was down 6.2% and 2% respectively, reflecting increasing numbers of people working from home.
Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard, said:
The impact of train and tube strikes today on footfall is very clear to see, with a large proportion of people clearly working from home.
Updated
WaterAid, which is supplying 700 volunteers to Glastonbury today for vital work from loo cleaning, providing water at all the key water stations and recycling, said “where there is a will there is a way” to get to the festival.
Anna Hedges, special events manager at WaterAid, said:
We have seen the volunteers get inventive as to how they make it down to the site today. From cycling to lift sharing the rail strike has given some of them the opportunity to meet their fellow volunteers before they arrive, use their ingenuity and begin the festival spirit early.
PA reporters have been speaking to travellers about their experiences during the rail strikes – here one recounts the “stressful” last-minute “rush” to catch the final train from London to Scotland.
Nicole Perl, 33 was forced to spend £40 on a taxi to make it to London Euston station on time to make the last Scotland-bound train which would take her to her home in Carlisle.
She said:
I checked the trains yesterday when I arrived back from Stansted airport and they seemed to be running fairly regularly, every two hours or so up until 6pm and it seemed to be the case this morning as well.
But when I checked again at noon it said the last train was at 1.30pm so it was a bit of a rush to get here. It was quite stressful and sweaty.
Another passenger, who did not want to be identified, said they had spent £100 on a taxi as their planned public transport route would not get them to the station in time.
Jane Abbie, 56, said her journey from Fulham to King’s Cross had been disrupted:
I’m on my way to family relatives in Scotland and it’s taken me the best part of three ours using four buses and a little bit of walking and I made it.
I’m a bit thrown by the whole thing.
Elliot Eniton, 28, from Plumstead, south-east London said the rail strike had doubled his journey from Hertfordshire to his home:
Connections have been really, really poor. It’s always stressful making all these connections. Usually it takes me about an hour and 30 minutes but now I’m looking at three hours right now - double.
Updated
Refuse collection workers call off strike after pay deal
Refuse collection workers have accepted a 7.5% pay rise, ending the threat of industrial action.
Members of the GMB employed by Veolia in Chesterfield voted in favour of a deal the union said is worth an extra £2 an hour.
GMB official Deanne Ferguson said:
At a time when workers are feeling large financial pressures due to the cost-of-living crisis, I am pleased Veolia has listened to our members’ requests.
They’ve offered a pay rise which will make a real difference to their working lives.
GMB members, some of the lowest paid in the country, were prepared to take strike action to secure a fair pay increase.”
Guardian reporters Helen Pidd, Jessica Murray and Alex Lawson have been at train stations today and found that the predicted chaos at many of England’s major railways stations did not materialise during Tuesday’s strike.
Many passengers “wore a look of weary resignation”, however, following long waits and cancelled trains.
The full report is here:
Rachel Hall here taking over the blog - please do email over anything we’ve missed to rachel.hall@theguardian.com.
Boris Johnson criticised rail workers for bringing the country’s train network to a halt. Union members are protesting in Britain’s biggest transit strike for 30 years.
During a cabinet meeting, the prime minister said the strike was “so wrong” and caused “all sorts of unnecessary aggravation”.
Watch here:
Updated
Gary Neville, the footballer turned TV pundit, defended striking rail workers on Tuesday calling them “good people”, while adding that transport under Grant Shapps was “in turmoil”.
If 1000’s workers go on strike its because it’s become a last resort,to prevent colleagues losing their jobs and to stop being treated unfairly.These are good people yet this Gov will divide and try and turn us on them!Transport under @grantshapps is in turmoil! ✈️ 🚌 🚂 ⛴
— Gary Neville (@GNev2) June 21, 2022
Updated
Here are some of the latest images to drop in our newswires today.
Updated
Road congestion rises with rail strikes under way
In several cities, the location technology firm TomTom shows levels of road congestion at 11am on Tuesday was higher than the same time on 14 June, PA reports.
- In London, congestion levels increased from 38% to 51%.
- In Cardiff, congestion levels increased from 24% to 29%.
- In Liverpool, congestion levels increased from 24% to 30%.
- In Manchester, congestion levels increased from 27% to 34%.
Updated
Here’s how commuters and travellers are responding to rail strikes.
Amber Zito, 24, a canine hydrotherapist from Holme Firth, West Yorkshire, had just missed her train back to Huddersfield at Piccadilly train station in Manchester after vising her boyfriend in the city, reports PA news.
Waiting for her next train, she told PA news:
Everything is kind of going tits up at the moment, planes, trains, everything. Nothing seems to be running properly at the moment. I blame the government for the strike. I don’t blame the people who work for train companies at all. They are only trying to do what everyone wants for their job. But it’s frustrating when you want to get somewhere.
Bar manager MJ Shannon told PA news she had to take a £30 Uber instead of a local train service, from Hale, Cheshire, where she was at a training event, to get to Manchester Piccadilly before a train home to Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
Shannon said:
I’m trying to get back to Newcastle. It’s not the worst inconvenience in the world, all the major lines are still running. Hopefully my train home will be in 45 minutes. We will see what happens.
Updated
Assembling their picket line outside Manchester Piccadilly station at 6am on Tuesday, the striking rail workers wondered if they would receive a hostile reaction from those inconvenienced. But instead of abuse, they received toots from passing buses and taxis, while cyclists rang their bells.
“Passengers who use our railways day in, day out support us. They know that most of us are not on the inflated wages you see thrown about by rightwing commentators and newspapers,” said Clayton Clive, an RMT branch secretary in Manchester. About 950 of his 1,500 members had downed tools for the day, a turnout of 63%, he said.
Inside the normally chaotic station, calm reigned. The handful of passengers who had arrived without getting the memo were sanguine – even the couple who had been waiting four and a half hours for a train to Wolverhampton.
Owen Fones and his girlfriend had been on holiday in Gran Canaria; their plane landed in the middle of the night and the couple found themselves stranded. They caught a taxi to Piccadilly and used the station wifi to catch up on Love Island on their iPad. “I haven’t got a clue what the strike is all about but I think it’s a load of rubbish,” said Fones.
Read more from Helen Pidd and Alex Lawson here:
Updated
A man blocked a bus in east London demanding the driver let him on after commuters queued at Blackhorse Road station early this morning.
Updated
Anas Sarwar, Diane Abbott and Zarah Sultana are the latest Labour leaders to join picket lines in solidarity with RMT union members, despite Keir Starmer’s office telling shadow cabinet members that to “show leadership” frontbenchers “should not be on picket lines”.
Labour MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, Diane Abbott, wrote: “(But don’t tell Keir Starmer)” above a photograph of her with striking workers.
On the @RMTunion picket line at the Seven Sisters depot.(But don’t tell Keir Starmer) pic.twitter.com/BnEcdGsuyd
— Diane Abbott MP (@HackneyAbbott) June 21, 2022
Zarah Sultana, Labour MP for Coventry South said it was “great” to join striking workers this morning at Victoria.
Great to join striking @RMTunion members at Victoria Station this morning alongside Socialist Campaign Group comrades ✊🏽 pic.twitter.com/EqkRvu7AVH
— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) June 21, 2022
And the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, who sits in the Scottish parliament, wrote: “This is a crisis entirely of the Government’s making.”
Solidarity with those on the picket lines.
— Anas Sarwar (@AnasSarwar) June 21, 2022
This is a crisis entirely of the Government’s making.
The workers don’t want strikes. The unions don’t want strikes. The public don’t want strikes.
They demand better. pic.twitter.com/PMZSfIyTwD
Also expressing solidarity, the Labour deputy leader and MP for Ashton-under-Lyne, Angela Rayner, wrote on Twitter:
Workers have been left with no choice. No one takes strike action lightly. I will always defend their absolute right to do so for fairness at work. The PM needs to do his own job. His Government caused this. Now they must solve it.
Earlier, we wrote of other MPs expressing their solidarity on Twitter.
Updated
Earlier, I asked readers to get in touch to share their commuting and travel experiences as the rail strikes that got under way this morning are the biggest in the UK for more than 30 years.
Charles Linehan wrote:
On a rare Brighton to London train with my bike on board. Have 20 undergraduate students to teach. Staying In North London all week at my brother’s with an 18 mile round trip to South East London on my bike until Friday. No one else can teach what I’m doing.
Another reader, Nick Wereszczynski, wrote:
I’m an NHS worker travelling across Southwark this morning. A journey that normally would take me 20 minutes via tube, took over an hour on two busses. And while half asleep, I stand proudly with everyone striking today - while we might be mildly inconvenienced for a couple of days this week, I want everyone to remember that the workers striking today are doing so because what they’re struggling with is a daily occurrence that has spanned years. I only wish that NHS workers could do the same.
Paul Rowlston wrote:
I’m lucky enough to be one of those people who commute downstairs to a home office. However, On Sunday I will be making the round trip from North Yorkshire to London and back (10 hours, give or take) to bring my daughter home for a week before she starts a new job. Frankly, I’m more than happy to do it and have nothing but support for the striking rail workers. Entitled and privileged millionaires and ‘professional politicians’ (who are able to claim yearly expenses worth more than a minimum wage) really do need to stop telling the hardest working and lowest paid people in the country that they are the ones whose belt needs tightening. Strike, strike again, keep striking - working people shouldn’t be begging for scraps while the criminal in Number 10 begs for new wallpaper for his grace and favour.
We want to hear of your travel experiences, and what alternative arrangements you have made. Want to get in touch?
Email me at geneva.abdul@theguardian.com or find me on Twitter @GenevaAbdul
Updated
What Tube lines are operating?
The latest travel updates from Transport for London (TfL) show eight underground lines are completely suspended. These are: Bakerloo, Circle, Hammersmith & City, Jubilee, Metropolitan, Piccadilly, Victoria, and Waterloo & City.
TfL shows good service for the DLR and trams. However, a number of lines are running on limited service and with severe delays. These include:
- Central: Service operating between White City and West Ruislip / Ealing Broadway, approximately every 20 minutes and between Liverpool Street and Epping / Hainault, approximately every 10 minutes. Service operating between Woodford and Hainault (via Grange Hill) approximately every 20 minutes
- District: Service operating between West Ham and Upminster approximately every 15 minutes.
- Elizabeth: A reduced service is operating between Paddington and Reading / Heathrow Airport and between Liverpool Street and Shenfield.
- Overground: No service between Romford and Upminster. Severe delays between Highbury & Islington and Clapham Junction / New Cross / Crystal Palace / West Croydon due to strike action.
- Northern: Service operating between East Finchley and High Barnet / Mill Hill East and between Golders Green and Edgware, approximately every 8 minutes.
Here’s how commuters and travellers are responding to rail strikes.
A healthcare support worker in north London who was an hour and a half late for work amid the travel disruption has said NHS staff like him “aren’t able to strike” like those from rail companies, reports PA news.
David Raposo Buzon, 34, said:
I feel OK with people doing strikes, but at the same time I feel angry when I think that NHS workers are not able to strike even if our conditions at work are really bad.
Susan Millson, 69, from Clapham, southwest London, told PA news the rail strikes are “outrageous” and “awful” as she was forced to cancel a her trip to East Grinstead to see her sister for the day.
Millson, arrived at Clapham junction station with the hope her train to East Grinstead might be running, but discovered the services has been impacted by the strikes. Speaking to PA news about her disruption, she said:
I just think it’s outrageous that there is no give and take between the unions and the Government. No one is giving any leeway at the moment, it’s awful, it’s just awful. It’s a nice day as well. No one can afford to strike at the moment the way the country is, it’s awful and now we’ve got this.
We want to hear of your travel experiences, and what alternative arrangements you have made. Want to get in touch?
Email me at geneva.abdul@theguardian.com or find me on Twitter @GenevaAbdul
Summary
Good morning to those joining our live coverage of the train strikes. Here’s a summary of what’s happened so far:
- Johnson warned commuters to be prepared to ‘stay the course’. At a meeting of the cabinet, Johnson also said reforms were needed on the railways, otherwise it would result in the “disaster” of declining rail use.
- RMT called Johnson’s agency staff plans ‘a gimmick’ in response to Boris Johnson’s plans to break the industrial action by allowing firms to bring in agency staff, announced Monday. Unions have decried the move as unworkable, unsafe and potentially breaking international law.
- Labour MPs have joined picket lines in solidarity with RMT union members, despite Keir Starmer’s office telling shadow cabinet members that frontbenchers “should not be on picket lines”. MPs include Ian Lavery, Beth Winter, and Navendu Mishra, among others.
- Rail strikes are going to cost the hospitality industry’s restaurants, pubs and other businesses, £500m in revenue. The CEO of UKHospitality said the industry, already battered by the Coronavirus pandemic, “cannot withstand anymore of these severe economic shocks.”
- The National Rail Enquires website stopped working around 8am, disrupting passengers attempting to use the service to find out what trains are running during the rail strike.
- Transport secretary Grant Shapps called the strikes “a stunt”, and said government is not going to get involved as it would “make matters worse”.
Follow our politics blog with my colleague Andrew Sparrow, for the latest updates from Westminster and beyond as the biggest strike on the railways since 1989 unfolds.
The head of Network Rail has denied that the government leaned on it to cap a pay increase for its workers, as it failed to prevent the biggest train strikes in 30 years.
Attempts to avert the strikes through talks failed on Monday evening and the RMT accused the government of preventing a deal.
The union believes the government put pressure on Network Rail not to exceed a pay increase of 3% because of the precedent this might set and the risk of inflation.
Read more from my colleague Emily Dugan here:
Johnson warns commuters to be prepared to 'stay the course'
At a meeting of the cabinet, Johnson said reforms were needed on the railways, PA reports. Johnson added:
We need the union barons to sit down with Network Rail and the train companies and get on with it. We need, I’m afraid, everybody, and 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.
Without the modernisation programme, the industry and companies would face further financial pressure, Johnson said, and would have to raise the price of tickets further as a result, according to PA. That would result in the “disaster” of declining rail use.
Updated
Here’s how commuters and travellers are responding to rail strikes.
Boarding a replacement bus service outside Birmingham New Street, one man told PA news “half of what I said wouldn’t be fit to print in a newspaper”. Another man passing a nearby picket line said to striking workers: “Well done, everyone. Solidarity. Well done.”
Electrical engineer Harry Charles told PA news his normal 10-minute journey to work by train to London Bridge took 90 minutes.
The 30-year-old, from Lewisham said: “Obviously I had to wake up early and left my house at 6am. I am with the employees who are striking because their money is not going up and the cost of everything is rising.”
Rene Mance, 47, said the travel chaos had disrupted her journey to Glastonbury festival where she was starting a new job, PA news reports.
“I can’t pretend it hasn’t been stressful. It has. I didn’t really sleep very well because I was worried about it,” she said. Travelling with heavy luggage she felt would cause difficulty on the bus, Mance said she was forced to pay almost £40 for a cab to the station.
Speaking to PA news at Paddington station, she said:
For many people, say a mother with kids or someone disabled, it’s absolute chaos. My situation whatever it is, I would have found a way, but you know, some people are not like me. They don’t have money to get in the cab, and it was a total luxury for me, but it worked.
Updated
Guardian North of England editor, Helen Pidd, is reporting on the rail strikes from Manchester, where pedestrians have been wishing strikers luck as they pass.
Picket at Manchester Piccadilly - pedestrians wishing them luck as they pass. The strikers say they can’t give their names for fear of disciplinary action. They say they’ve had universal support since 6am. #railstrike pic.twitter.com/j3BOwOlpaJ
— Helen Pidd (@helenpidd) June 21, 2022
RMT calls Johnson's agency staff plans 'a gimmick'
On Monday, Boris Johnson responded to the biggest rail strikes in a generation with plans to break the industrial action by allowing firms to bring in agency staff, a move unions have decried as unworkable, unsafe and potentially breaking international law.
Amanda Testa, RMT branch secretary in Bristol, told the PA news agency:
There aren’t any agency staff – we have seen that in other industries.
Testa added it was nearly impossible to find agency staff to help, even when there were no strikes.
Updated
Uber users looking to avoid strikes on the London Underground and railways are being hit with price surges, PA reports.
A three-mile journey from Paddington to King’s Cross was estimated to cost £27 at 8.45am.
Labour MPs have joined picket lines in solidarity with RMT union members, despite Keir Starmer’s office telling shadow cabinet members that to “show leadership” frontbenchers “should not be on picket lines”.
Ian Lavery, the Labour MP for Wansbeck, said: “Solidarity with the RMT union today and all days.”
Solidarity with the @RMTunion today and all days.
— Ian Lavery MP (@IanLaveryMP) June 21, 2022
Great support here in Morpeth. pic.twitter.com/XNn8wEajaY
Labour Cynon Valley MP Beth Winter said: “The trades unions are the organised working class. In the words of Mick Lynch, ‘If you’re not bargaining, you’re begging,’ and the British working class should not have to beg.”
Complete solidarity with striking @RMTunion members today.
— Beth Winter MP (@BethWinterMP) June 21, 2022
The Trades Unions are the organised working class. In the words of Mick Lynch, "If you're not bargaining, you're begging, and the British working class should not have to beg."
The workers united will never be defeated. pic.twitter.com/d5DhxhkwUx
Expressing solidarity on Twitter, the Labour MP for Stockport, Navendu Mishra added: “This treacherous government has underfunded & mismanaged our public transport network for more than a decade.”
This treacherous government has underfunded & mismanaged our public transport network for more than a decade.
— Navendu Mishra (@NavPMishra) June 21, 2022
As a proud trade unionist, I stand with all workers on our railway network who are taking industrial action to fight for their jobs & keep passengers safe #RailStrikes pic.twitter.com/5Mpo8jtReR
According to PA, Kate Osborne, a parliamentary aide to the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, Peter Kyle, joined striking workers in Bromley, south-east London, saying:
I’m a trade unionist, I will always stand on the side of the workers.
The shadow treasury chief secretary, Pat McFadden, said he understood why the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union was pressing for a pay rise due to the rising cost of living, but that he wanted to see a negotiated settlement, PA reports.
When asked what his message to Labour MPs who do join the protests would be, McFadden told LBC News:
I would say to them, in the end that’s not how this will be resolved. It will be resolved by a deal that gets the railways running again, and that’s where the political focus should be.
Updated
Hospitality industry expected to lose £500m of revenue from strikes
Rail strikes are going to cost the hospitality industry’s restaurants, pubs and other businesses, £500m in revenue, the CEO of UKHospitality said.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Kate Nicholls said with businesses shutting early, or not opening in response to the rail strikes, hospitality employees also won’t be able to work.
This strike will also not only have an impact this week, it will hit consumer confidence going forward. And as a result of the pandemic, one in three of our businesses have no cash reserves, one in five have still not returned to making a profit. So they are incredibly fragile and they cannot withstand anymore of these severe economic shocks.
Explaining that the cost of living crisis and rising inflation are not a situation unique across the railways, Nicholls added there is a risk of sectors of the economy becoming “collateral damage” if the strikes stretch on.
Updated
Here are some of the latest images to drop in our newswires today.
The National Rail Enquiries website has stopped working
Passengers attempting to use the service to find out what trains are running during the rail strike are being shown a message stating: “500 Internal Server Error”, PA reports.
The cause of the problem was unclear but it could be due to a surge in demand.
Updated
Transport secretary calls strikes 'a stunt'
Speaking on Sky News this morning, transport secretary Grant Shapps said government is not going to get involved as it would “make matters worse”, and added that employers are the ones with the mandate and technical details to negotiate.
Shapps, while mentioning other junior doctor, firefighter and postal workers disputes that were resolved without government involvement, said:
This is a stunt, which I’m afraid you’re falling for, by the unions and the Labour party — the Labour party who wont even condemn these strikes today, and the unions who only last month were saying they would not negotiate with the government, and have suddenly decided, running out of things to say, that they’ll suddenly call on ministers to talk to them and walk in the room with them directly. It wouldn’t resolve anything in fact it would make matters worse and thats why i’m not in the room.
Earlier on the program Shapps said it’s “time to get this strike settled” and called on the unions to come back to the negotiating table.
Updated
UK rail strikes: what is happening?
How severe will the impact be?
About 4,500 services will run on Tuesday compared with the 20,000 that would normally be expected.
About half of all rail lines will be closed completely, and the timetable will start later and finish earlier than usual, running from 7.30am to 6.30am. Services in Scotland and Wales will be severely affected despite operators not being directly involved because they rely on Network Rail staff to function.
The impact is also expected to run into Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday – non-strike days – because overnight maintenance work will not take place ahead of the usual timetable. There are knock-on effects on other forms of transport, with warnings of overcrowding on buses and greatly increased motorway traffic.
What are the strikes about?
Pay and conditions. Commuter habits which changed over lockdown have not fully returned to normal, meaning that revenues have been reduced. The industry says it needs to act to reach a “sustainable footing”.
Meanwhile, the RMT says that Network Rail is threatening to cut safety-critical jobs (Network Rail rejects that characterisation) as part of its modernisation programme, which would also include an increase in working hours. And with inflation soaring, the union is asking for a pay rise that mitigates the pain for its members. Against an inflation rate heading towards 11%, the union wants a rise of 7%, and has already rejected a Network Rail offer of a 2% rise with a further 1% tied to job cuts.
What do the rail companies and the government say?
They argue that the railways were subsidised to the tune of £16bn during the pandemic, and that with annual running costs at £20bn and income from fares just £4bn, the union’s demands are simply not feasible. Network Rail says that modernisation is essential to keep the system on its feet, and says that, for example, the maintenance of ticket offices with very few customers when an automated option could be used instead is “frankly Victorian”.
What do the unions and the opposition say?
The union says that members deserved recognition for work that “kept the country moving through the pandemic”, and argues that they are simply seeking to protect their existing terms and minimise the real-term pay cut caused by inflation.
Labour, meanwhile, has adopted a variety of positions over the strikes, and frustrated unions with its lukewarm support. Frontbenchers tend to argue that they do not want them to happen, but that they are ultimately the government’s fault.
Last night, Keir Starmer’s office told shadow cabinet members that to “show leadership” frontbenchers “should not be on picket lines”.
Read more from Archie Bland here:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jun/21/uk-rail-strikes-what-is-happening-today
Good morning. The first day of this week’s strike for RMT staff on the rail network and on the London Underground will be the biggest strike on the railways since 1989.
Strikes are due to cause the cancellation of about 80% of train services today, with further action scheduled for Thursday and Saturday, after talks between rail operators and the RMT union broke down. London Underground workers will also walk out for 24 hours on Tuesday. The RMT union leadership warning that industrial action will “run as long as it needs to run”.
Yesterday Boris Johnson responded with plans to break the industrial action by allowing firms to bring in agency staff, a move unions have decried as unworkable, unsafe and potentially breaking international law.
Unions warned Johnson’s measure would make disputes long and bitter, with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) accusing Johnson of taking a step that “even Margaret Thatcher did not go near”.
Read more from my colleagues here:
