Train strike: Mick Lynch blames Grant Shapps for pay freeze
Rail passengers face nightmare journeys today as fresh train strikes begin across the country, with only a fifth of services expected to run.
Around 45,000 workers employed by Network Rail and 14 train operators ‒ members of the RMT Union ‒ are walking for 24 hours over a long-running dispute over pay, working conditions and conditions.
Education Secretary James Cleverly criticized striking transport workers, telling Sky News they were “holding the country hostage” and “disadvantaging people trying to get to work”.
Meanwhile, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that if transport secretary Grant Shapps “loosened the shackles” on train companies, a deal could be reached very quickly and the railways could “get back on track normality”.
He added that unions could start calling “widespread and synchronized” strikes indefinitely because of widespread anger over low wages in the face of a cost-of-living crisis.
“There is a wave of reaction among working people to the way they are treated. People are getting poorer every day of the week,” he told Sky News.
key points
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Are there any train services running today?
Not all train routes are out of action during today’s strikes, although with around 20 per cent of regular services running, it is a skeleton network.
Most of the train companies involved in the strikes published amended “emergency” timetables earlier in the week, with some showing just two or three train services running on key routes such as London to Scotland.
Many services will end in the early or mid-afternoon, some as early as 2 or 3 pm. GWR has published its latest departure times on social media this morning, with the final Exeter-London service leaving at 3.18pm. Meanwhile, the last Avanti train from London Euston to Glasgow Central is scheduled to leave at 1.30pm.
With the TransPennine Express, just two services will run from Edinburgh to Newcastle today, the latter at 2.10pm. A service is scheduled to go north between the two cities at 1:17 p.m. On Saturday, the second day of strike action, the TPE will not run any services between Newcastle and Edinburgh.
These are the services planned for today:
Rail strikes: which trains are running on Thursday and Saturday?
Many UK train services will be off limits
Lucy Thackray August 18, 2022 2:03 pm
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Rails can return to normal if Shapps ‘loosens shackles’ on train companies, says Lynch
RMT union chief Mick Lynch has claimed the railways can “go back to normal” if Transport Secretary Grant Shapps “loosens the shackles” on train companies.
Speaking to The Mirror, Lynch said: “If the government changes its position and Grant Shapps loosens the shackles on these companies, we can get a deal done very quickly and we can get the railways back to normal.”
However, the Department for Transport (DfT) has said the government has nothing to do with the negotiations.
A DfT spokesman said: “We have been very clear that the Government and the Transport Secretary are not involved in the negotiations. It is for unions and employers, not the Government, to engage in meaningful talks to avoid damaging strike action and avoid chaos on the railways.
“That has long been the convention and has been the government’s position under Labor and Conservative governments.”
Helen Coffey August 18, 2022 1:02 p.m
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Strikes ‘not the powerful tool they once were’, says DfT
The Department for Transport has claimed that strikes are “not the powerful tool they once were”.
In response to trade union boss Mick Lynch’s criticism of transport secretary Grant Shapps this morning, a DfT spokesman said: “Union bosses are no longer able to stop the country because, unlike them , the world has changed and people simply work from home.
“All these strikes are doing is harming the people the unions claim to represent, many of whom will be out of pocket again and forced to miss a day of work.
“We urge union bosses to do the right thing by their members and let them have their say on Network Rail’s very fair deal, which will deliver the reforms our rail system urgently needs.
“It’s time to get off the picket lines and back to the bargaining table – the future of our railway depends on it.”
Helen Coffey August 18, 2022 12:45 p.m
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Opinion: “Many at work feel trapped; I sympathize with rail strike”
“There are already howls about how unions are taking over and how RMT workers are selfish and so on. But I can’t help but sympathize,” writes Harry Readhead in The Independent’s Voices section.
“Many of the vagrants worked throughout the pandemic, putting themselves at risk. And some of them, as RMT deputy general secretary Eddie Dempsey has said, are in the third year of a pay freeze.
“”Most of our members are around £24,000,” he said. “We don’t think it’s unreasonable to say [when inflation] it’s at 11.1 percent, we want a pay rise.”
“I don’t think that’s reasonable either.”
Read the full article here:
Opinion: I have sympathy for the railroad strikers, and you should too
Railroad workers are simply using the collective power they have to send a message. There might be a lesson in that
Lucy Thackray August 18, 2022 12:15 p.m
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“Extreme volatility when the traveler longs for tranquility” – Simon Calder
In his latest commentary on the worst summer for rail strikes since the 1980s, The Independent’s travel correspondent Simon Calder writes: “Speaking privately to some rail workers, it’s clear they feel undervalued. They worked during the Covid-19 pandemic and now see their wages eroded by raging inflation.
“They want a reasonable pay rise, peace of mind about job losses and to trade more efficient work for additional percentages on their wages. All fair demands, which they believe can only be achieved by repeatedly walking out until the government gives in.”
However, he writes, while rail unions assure their members that ministers will eventually meet their demands, that expectation may not be met.
“Until August, the economic damage caused by the strikes is being absorbed by the taxpayer. In September, the arrival of a new prime minister will be accompanied by savage spending cuts. Surely, though, rail is immune thanks to its environmental credentials? Unfortunately, it is fanciful to imagine that any of the Tory leadership candidates really give a damn about the planet.”
He concludes: “A long and hot summer for the railways; a time of punishment for passengers; and a government that is either on holiday or (in the case of transport secretary Grant Shapps) too wrapped up in the battle for Number 10.
“It all adds up to extreme volatility when the traveler craves peace of mind.”
Rail strikes: and the winners are: car dealers, oil companies and bus companies
Train Talk: ‘Stay strong, stay united and we will succeed’ says Aslef boss. I’m not so sure
Lucy Thackray August 18, 2022 12:00 p.m
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The outage will continue for weeks on Avanti’s west coast
Even as the latest national rail strikes end, commuters to London Euston from the West Midlands, North West England, North Wales and South Scotland face weeks of disruption .
Avanti West Coast this week introduced an emergency schedule that will extend until September 11 at the earliest. He blamed “the current industrial relations climate which has resulted in severe staff shortages in some grades due to increased levels of sickness, as well as the majority of drivers not being available for overtime in a coordinated manner and at short notice”.
The biggest reductions are on services linking Birmingham and Manchester to London, which are down to just one train an hour instead of three.
Cuts are also being made to trains serving Chester and North Wales, and from London via the West Midlands to Edinburgh.
Avanti West Coast normally relies on 250 daily drivers working on their days off, covering around 400 passenger trains.
Sources say the number dropped dramatically overnight, by nearly 90 percent.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps wrote in a tweet: “Unions are now arresting volunteer drivers, causing misery to the public and staff who won’t be paid.”
Avanti West Coast says it wants to “ensure a reliable service is provided so our customers can travel more safely”, although it acknowledges the emergency timetable will cause “huge frustration and inconvenience”.
But Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, says there is an overwhelming mandate for industrial action at Avanti West Coast.
He told The Independent: “When you lose goodwill and we go on strike, people not coming in to do overtime is usually the first thing that happens.”
You can read more about the emergency calendar here:
Avanti West Coast train cuts – what do they mean for passengers?
The operator is cutting hundreds of services every day from August 14 until at least September 11
Simon Calder August 18, 2022 11:42 am
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Friday: ‘Avoid traveling on the Tube’, warns Transport for London
A strike by staff working for London Underground and buses is sandwiched between two national rail strikes. About 10,000 workers will leave.
Transport for London (TfL) is telling future commuters on Friday 19 August: “Overground and bus strikes are taking place which will affect most TfL services.
“In addition, there will be minimal service on the national rail network until around 8am following the previous day’s strike.
“Customers are advised to avoid traveling on the Tube and only travel on the rest of the network if absolutely necessary.”
Looking ahead to Saturday, the organization warns of reduced services on the London Overground and the new Elizabeth line.
There will be no service on the District line between Wimbledon and Parson’s…