Much of the country's rail network has been ground to a halt today by industrial action. The National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport workers (RMT) is holding three days of strikes across this week, bringing a severely reduced service across the country.
The RMT is in dispute with Network Rail and 13 of the country's 15 rail operators. The union is asking for a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies and a seven per cent pay increase, with inflation at between 7.8 per cent and 11.1 per cent, depending on which measure you use.
The train companies, on the other hand, are offering a two per cent pay rise, with a further one percentage point pay increase contingent on job cuts. The government has condemned the strike.
