The biggest railway strikes in three decades will begin on Tuesday after recent talks have failed to break the deadlock, with the RMT union leadership warning that industrial action “will last as long as it takes”.
Most train services in Britain will be canceled on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in a dispute over payment and terms. Only one skeleton service will operate on the main lines and around urban areas.
London Underground workers will also go on strike for 24 hours on Tuesday, stopping the capital’s transport system.
RMT Secretary-General Mick Lynch said the rail dispute could not be resolved without the government “removing the shackles” on the train and Network Rail operating companies. All parts of the railway industry, as well as Transport for London, have been told to find savings with falling fare revenue from Covid.
But Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said talks were still a matter for employers. He said the strikes were being “orchestrated by some of the highest paid union barons, who represent some of the highest paid workers in this country, which will cause misery and chaos to millions of travelers.”
The RMT said that on Monday the train operating companies made a payment offer in the last talks, which is believed to be 2-3%, with conditions and no guarantees against compulsory dismissals. The union on Friday rejected the offer and a similar proposal from Network Rail.
Lynch said the bids were unacceptable, adding: they are for all the problems of the railway, and in fact in this society ”.
He said the source of the dispute was the government’s decision to “reduce £ 4bn in funding for the national railway and TfL … forcing companies to implement transport austerity … and have prevented a solution to this dispute “.
Lynch said: “Until they allow employers to negotiate freely, I don’t see that we will reach an agreement … Our campaign will last as long as it takes until we reach an agreement that is acceptable to our people.”
When asked if the industrial action could last months otherwise, Lynch said, “I think so, yes.”
However, he said the RMT remained available for talks during the week.
Network Rail has said that a larger wage increase would be possible, albeit well below the current 11% RPI inflation rate, if linked to the modernization of maintenance and listing.
Andrew Haines, chief executive of Network Rail, said: “No strike is inevitable until it starts. But unfortunately tomorrow’s disruption is guaranteed, so we ask passengers to plan ahead and only travel by train if cal.
“We continue to talk to the RMT and urge them to work with us to find a solution that works for railroad workers and taxpayers, and that avoids causing further disruption to our passengers.”
Train operators said they were “very disappointed” that the union had turned down its latest offer. Steve Montgomery, chairman of the Rail Delivery Group (GDR), said: “It can only be achieved by making improvements, such as providing better services on a Sunday, that reflect the changing needs of passengers so that we can attract more back.”
The GDR said the collective wage bill of train operators had increased from £ 3.1 billion in 2017-18 to £ 3.6 billion in 2019-20, in part due to rising staffing levels, and that the government had supported the industry with an additional £ 16bn during the pandemic.
Speaking to the Commons, Shapps said: “We will leave this to the employers, who are the right people to negotiate with the unions.” However, he added: “The industry needs to change.”
“We are not imposing a wage freeze … But let me be clear, for modernization and reform to work, we need to have unions that are ready to modernize, otherwise there will be no agreement,” Shapps said.
A YouGov poll commissioned by the GDR found that about 25% of voters supported RMT’s action, while 39% did not.
The absence of Network Rail signalers will be the biggest impact among the 40,000 striking workers, including the crew on board and the station staff of 13 train companies.
The strike will interrupt services for six days, with a later start and reduced hours on non-strike days, and will leave most of Wales, Scotland, the countryside in the north of England and the south-west without trains for much of the week.
TfL has advised to avoid traveling on all its services on Tuesday, with virtually no tube trains, and London Overground buses and trains may be stranded and disrupted.