Potential departures threatened summer vacations as a second major union revealed it was voting for drivers to act in much of the country. It can start just when schools fall apart.
Aslef also voted for its members for industrial pay action at 11 major rail companies, including Arriva Rail London, Chiltern Railways, Great Western, LNER, Northern Trains, Southeastern, TransPennine Express and West Midlands Trains. The election ends on July 11, and strikes could begin two weeks later.
Separate voting for drivers in Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry and Direct Rail Services ends on July 27.
The RMT has a mandate that allows it to declare new strikes until the end of November without consulting its members. Any action after that date will have to be put to the vote.
This happened when a verbal war broke out between Mr. Lynch and Grant Shaps, the Minister of Transport. Mr Lynch said Mr Schaps had “spoiled” the talks by preventing Network Rail from withdrawing a letter threatening to legally lay off up to 2,900 RMT members.
“Until the government releases the shackles of Network Rail and the companies operating the trains, it will not be possible to reach a negotiated agreement,” Mr Lynch added.
Mr Schaps said the allegation was a “complete lie” and denied having anything to do with the letter.
“RMT continues to deviate from the fact that the only people responsible for this week’s mass unrest are them,” he said in a statement.
“I want to call on Mick Lynch and his members to stop wasting time making false allegations in the media and instead return to the negotiating table so that an agreement can be reached.
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