Unions and ministers in blame game as travellers hit by worst rail strikes since 1980s

Just one train in five expected to run during three days of industrial action over pay, jobs and conditions

Rail unions have accused the government of preventing the resolution of a dispute that will see millions of passengers’ journeys disrupted from Tuesday in the most significant strikes to hit the network since the 1980s.

The RMT pulled the plug on last-ditch talks with employers on Monday, blaming ministers for stopping Network Rail and train operating companies from negotiating freely on pay, jobs and conditions.

But Grant Shapps’ Department for Transport dismissed the claim as “absolutely not true”, insisting that a £2bn shortfall in resources for the national network that the RMT attributed to government cuts was in fact the result of reduced passenger numbers following Covid.

Just 20 per cent of normal services are expected to run across the country on the strike days of Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday this week, with trains running primarily on main lines and for only 11 hours a day. Massive disruption is also expected on the days in between.

Nightmare journeys are expected not only for commuters trying to get to work, but also music fans heading for the Glastonbury festival and school pupils taking GCSEs.

Boris Johnson meanwhile is expected to argue ahead of a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that unions are “harming the very people they claim to be helping” by going ahead with the biggest outbreak of industrial action on the railways for a generation.

“I want to be clear – we are not loading higher fares on passengers to carry on paying for working practices that date back in some cases to the 19th century,” the prime minister said in a statement on Monday evening.

The walkouts by members of the RMT and Unite also looked likely to kick off a “summer of discontent”, with unions representing workers ranging from teachers to barristers to nurses also threatening industrial action.

The first cancelled services came on Monday evening, as the sleeper service from London to Fort William was called off.

Unions are thought to be seeking pay rises of around 7 per cent, while employers’ offers are understood to be in the range of 2-3 per cent at a time when inflation is expected to reach 11 per cent in the coming months.

The RMT said an offer received from train operators on Monday was “unacceptable” and there was no further offer from Network Rail following one which was rejected last Friday.

General secretary Mick Lynch said: “The RMT national executive committee has now found both sets of proposals to be unacceptable and it is now confirmed that the strike action scheduled this week will go ahead.

“It is clear that the Tory government, after slashing £4bn of funding from National Rail and Transport for London, has now actively prevented a settlement to this dispute.

“The rail companies have now proposed pay rates that are massively under the relevant rates of inflation, coming on top of the pay freezes of the past few years.

“At the behest of the government, companies are also seeking to implement thousands of job cuts and have failed to give any guarantee against compulsory redundancies.”

There was anger over plans announced by business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng to repeal laws that prevent employers from hiring agency workers to fill gaps left by striking workers.

The TUC warned that the move would breach international law, while representatives of employment agencies said they want the ban to stay, to save them from being pressured to send temporary staff into “hostile and potentially dangerous situations”.

A source close to Mr Kwarteng acknowledged the change would make little difference to the rail dispute, as it would prove impossible to recruit agency workers to skilled and safety-critical roles such as train driver and signalman, but said it will help employers deal with further threatened strikes later in the summer.

Mr Shapps told the Commons that ministers were working with the government’s civil contingencies secretariat to keep crucial supply chains open during the industrial action.

But he warned: “There will be massive disruption and we are advising people not to travel unless absolutely necessary.”

Insisting that hiking pay to match price rises would simply fuel inflation and undermine the value of workers’ wages for years to come, Mr Shapps said that the strikes were “not about pay, but about outdated unions opposing progress”.

In a message to rail workers, he said: “Your union bosses have got you striking under false pretences and rather than protecting your jobs, they are endangering them and the railway’s future.”

He cited an agreement dating back to 1919 that makes Sunday work voluntary for some rail workers, which he said had led to staff shortages during major football tournaments.

And he said that union insistence on line inspections being carried out in person by track workers had prevented the introduction of quicker and more efficient camera checks, which he said would remove staff from dangerous situations where deaths have occurred.

But Labour’s Louise Haigh accused the transport secretary of a “dereliction of duty”, telling MPs that he had “not lifted a finger” to prevent the strikes.

Ms Haigh said Mr Shapps had “tied the hands of those at the table” by failing to provide train operating companies with a mandate to negotiate on pay.

“These talks were a sham because ministers have set them up to fail,” said the shadow transport secretary. “They can’t be resolved unless he is at the table.”

Conservative MP Jake Berry said: “The only way out of a dispute is via negotiation. I would call on all parties, including the government, to get around the table

But Mr Shapps accused Labour of wanting to go back to the Seventies-style “beer and sandwiches at No 10” approach to negotiating with unions. He insisted that ministerial involvement in talks between unions and employers would be a “distraction”.

Representing operating companies, the chair of the Rail Delivery Group, Steve Montgomery, said: “We are very disappointed that the RMT leadership has decided to reject our offer and press ahead with disruptive industrial action.

“With passenger numbers still at around 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels the industry remains committed to giving a fair deal on pay while taking no more than its fair share from taxpayers.

“This can only be achieved by making improvements – like offering better services on a Sunday – that reflect the changing needs of passengers so we can attract more back.”