The unions are demanding wage increases and denouncing the prospect of “thousands of layoffs” as well as the deterioration of working conditions.
The strike of British railway workers resumed Thursday the day after unsuccessful negotiations on wage increases in line with inflation, which is reaching records in the country and could exceed 11% by the end of the year. This is the second major strike day of the week, which could be followed by a third Saturday. Only one in five trains will run and the lines will only be open between 7:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., a shorter time slot than usual.
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Faced with this historic mobilization, the government announced Thursday its intention to modify the law to allow the use of temporary workers to replace the strikers and reduce the impact it deems “disproportionate” strikes.
«It’s important to remember that these strikes are useless. I think people should get around the table and fix the problem “, Hammered Boris Johnson on the sidelines of a trip to Rwanda where he is participating in a Commonwealth summit, stressing the importance of operating “sensible reforms of the rail system His government on Thursday announced plans to change the law to allow the use of agency workers to replace strikers and reduce the impact it deems “disproportionate ” strikes. Subject to parliamentary approval, these changes are expected to come into force in the coming weeks and will apply to England, Scotland and Wales.
For the Minister of Transport, Grant Shapps, this reform is “vitale» et «ensure that any future strikes will cause less disruption and allow adaptable, flexible and skilled staff to continue to work“. The government also announced that it was increasing the maximum damages that the courts can impose on a union, when the strike has been found to be illegal. For the largest unions, the maximum compensation will increase from 250,000 pounds sterling to 1 million (1.16 million euros).
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Unions demand higher wages
The transport union RMT, which is calling for a strike, is demanding wage increases in line with inflation, but also denounces the prospect of “thousands of layoffsand the deterioration of working conditions. A Network Rail spokesperson said:disappointed“of the failure of the negotiations and judged the strike”unnecessary and premature“. This public manager of the railway network called on travelers to take the train only if necessary. The TSSA union indicated for its part on Wednesday that its members at Merseyrail, one of the many private rail operators, had accepted an offer of a 7.1% wage increase, putting a little more pressure on the negotiations between RMT and the employers. “Wage increases are possible and fully justified“, tweeted the union on Thursday.
Kathy Mazur, regional organizer of the RMT union, warned that the strikes could spread to other sectors. “I think people are just fed up, inflation is skyrocketing, no one’s had a raise in three years she said outside Euston station in central London.
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Earlier this week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson deemed the strike “bad and uselessand called the “union baronsto sit down at the negotiating table and the sector to agree to modernize to avoid bankruptcies. The Conservative leader also recalled that the British government had supported the sector during the pandemic to the tune of 16 billion pounds.