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The unions warn against lifting the ban on agency employees
The TUC and the Confederation of Employment (REC) have called on the government to abandon its “non-functioning” plan to lift the ban on agency workers from filling strikes.
A joint statement from TUC and REC said the plan was “inoperable” and opposed it with “the strongest possible words”.
The statement said: “Using the agency’s staff to cover strikes will only prolong the conflict between employers and their staff. Strikes are industrial disputes within an industry or company.
“The government needs to step up and do work on resolving industrial disputes, instead of involving a third party in the form of employees in agencies in dispute. This does nothing to solve the main problems between the company and its staff.
“This will only prolong the dispute and inflame tensions. Negotiations should be the obvious priority and not potentially jeopardize the safety of agency staff and company employees.
“The proposal is not practical. There are currently 1.3 million job vacancies in the UK, which is a record high.
“REC data show that the number of available candidates is falling at a record pace for months.
“In this tight labor market, agency workers are in high demand and can choose the job they take on.
“Agency staff are very unlikely to choose a role that requires them to cross the line of picket versus one that does not.
“In addition, many roles that may be on strike require technical skills or training. Training agency staff to perform these tasks would be costly and time consuming.
“Only recently have government ministers come out to condemn what P&O Ferries has done. Surely this example could not be forgotten so soon?
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Pictured: RMT Secretary General Mick Lynch in front of London offices
Mick Lynch in front of the RMT offices in London
Rachel Burford
RMT Secretary General Mick Lynch said the union had rejected Network Rail wage increases below inflation.
The industrial action, which starts at midnight, will be the largest transport strike in more than 30 years, with half of Britain’s trains closed.
Staff at Network Rail and 13 other train companies will leave on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
This coincides with the fourth strike in the entire network this year in the London Underground, which is expected to stop the capital.
Speaking to RMT’s London office today, Mr Lynch said: “As a result of these severe transport restrictions, employers have decided to attack the rail transport pension scheme and the London Transport scheme. Dilution of benefits, which makes employees work longer, up to the age of 65 and makes them poor in retirement while paying increased contributions. “
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RMT confirms that the strike will continue
The RMT confirmed that the strike would continue after accusing the government of “actively preventing the dispute from being resolved”.
Secretary-General Mick Lynch said: “The RMT National Executive Committee has already found both sets of proposals unacceptable and it has now been confirmed that the strike planned this week will continue.
“It is clear that the Tory government, after cutting funding of £ 4 billion from National Rail and Transport to London, is now actively preventing this dispute from being resolved.
“Railway companies have already offered wage rates that are well below their respective inflation rates, in addition to the wage freeze over the past few years.
“By order of the government, the companies are also trying to implement thousands of layoffs and have failed to provide any guarantee against forced layoffs.
Mr Lynch added: “Faced with such an aggressive agenda of job cuts, conditions, wages and pensions, RMT has no choice but to protect our members industrially to stop this race to the bottom.
“The strikes on Network Rail, train operators and the London Underground will continue, and we reiterate our call on our members to stand firm, support the action, picket and demonstrate their readiness to fight for justice in the workplace.
RMT supports the square deal campaign for all working people in the face of the cost of living crisis, and our current campaign is part of this more general campaign, which means that public services must be properly funded and all workers properly paid in good conditions.”
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Students say they have a “Plan B” to go to school for exams amid rail strikes
Students and parents have been warned to have a “Plan B” for going to school for their exams during railway strikes.
The major industrial action, in which tens of thousands of railway workers will leave for most of this week, will face some A-level and GCSE exams set for Tuesday and Thursday.
The education ministry said the exams were not expected to be rescheduled.
The Regulation of the Qualifications and Examinations Office (Ofqual) and the Joint Qualifications Council (JQC) – an association of the main examination commissions in the United Kingdom – stated that there were some extraordinary measures for late arrival.
Pepe Diasio, head of the high school in Wales, Rotherham, said people had to have a “Plan B in their back pocket” to get to school.
Mr Diasio said only a “limited number” of students were likely to be affected by the strikes in general, but that this would be “serious” for those who did.
“If you have exams this week, just have plan A and plan B in your back pocket, because… the year has already been difficult for people taking exams,” he said.
“The last thing they want to worry about now is whether they will really arrive on time.
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Government to legally make employers hire agency staff to recruit striking workers
The government is making it legal for employers to hire agency staff to recruit striking workers.
This will be done through secondary laws, which will be introduced in parliament later this week and are expected to enter into force in mid-July.
The measure will repeal the 1973 ordinance, which makes it illegal for employers to use agency employees specifically during industrial disputes to do the work of strikers. There will be a vote in parliament.
Every employer – from the public sector as well as the private sector, from schools to NHS councils – will have the “flexibility” to attract outside staff.
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Rail strikes to continue
Rail strikes must continue after recent talks have failed to resolve the pay, jobs and conditions dispute, the RMT union said.
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Grant Shaps says the problem is “between union and employers”
Grant Shaps denied that he was the “problem” with the railway strikes.
The transport secretary told Sky News: “True unions need to sit down with employers because this is a highly technical discussion about 20 different areas of modernization that the railways need to ensure that the railways can continue to operate.
“We have given £ 16 billion to taxpayers’ money through the coronavirus to make sure that none of these rail workers have lost their jobs.
“So they have to work on this together between the union and the employers.
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Rail strikes cause “complete misery” – Minister of Transport
Transport Minister Grant Shaps said the strikes would cause “complete misery” to millions of people in the UK.
He also criticized Labor for refusing to condemn industrial action.
He told Sky News: “It is clear that Labor cannot condemn these strikes, which will cause complete misery tomorrow and all week with people who will not be able to get to work, to hospital meetings, to GCSE and A-level exams. “
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The business minister is asking Sadiq Khan to drop the charges of driving
Business Minister Paul Scully called on railway unions “to speak, not strike”.
He also urged Sadiq Khan to waive the congestion charge and ULEZ for drivers on strike days in an attempt to “keep London open and moving”.
In a tweet, he said: “Railway unions should speak, not strike. But we will continue to prepare.
“I ask @MayorofLondon to do everything possible to keep London open and moving by abolishing congestion and ULEZ charges and pausing minor road works in the days of the rail strikes – simple actions that will go a long way.
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The RMT union will make a statement at 3:30 p.m.
The RMT union is due to make a statement on the national railway dispute at 3:30 p.m.
We will provide you with live updates when they happen.
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