Railway workers have overwhelmingly voted in favor of striking a bitter dispute over jobs, wages and conditions, threatening a massive disruption to the network in the coming weeks.
Members of the Network Rail Railway, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and 13 train operators supported the launch of an industrial action campaign.
Union leaders will now decide when to call strikes, which will stop large parts of the network.
The union said it was the largest support for the industrial action of railway workers since privatization.
A total of 71% of voters took part in the vote, with 89% voting in favor of the strike and 11% against.
The union will now call for urgent talks with Network Rail and the 15 train companies.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “Today’s overwhelming support for rail workers is a demand for the union’s approach and sends a clear message that members want a decent pay rise, job security and no layoffs. mandatory.
“Our NEC will now meet to discuss a timetable for the strike action from mid-June, but we sincerely hope that ministers will encourage employers to return to the negotiating table and reach a reasonable agreement with the RMT “.
An exit from Network Rail signals will have a significant impact on services.
Trains may run only part of the day, such as 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and only on major lines.
Services could be reduced by about one-fifth of normal weekday hours.
A spokesman for the Department of Transport (DfT) said: “Strikes should always be the last resort, not the first, so it is very disappointing and premature for the RMT to call for industrial action before even ‘get into discussions.
“Taxpayers across the country have contributed £ 16 billion to keep our railways running throughout the pandemic and ensuring that no workers lose their jobs. The railway is still vital, with 25 passengers. % lower and anything further away is at risk of killing services and jobs.
“We urge the RMT to reconsider and accept the invitation of the sector talks, so that we can find a solution that meets with workers, passengers and taxpayers.”
Members of the Network Rail Railway, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and 15 train operators supported the launch of an industrial action campaign. Union leaders will now decide when to call strikes, which will paralyze large parts of the network.
HARD-LINERS: RMT leader Mick Lynch addresses the crowd as newly laid-off P&O workers and their supporters march from the local RMT building to the port entrance this month
It comes after RMT issued a stern warning on Sunday that they will present fierce resistance to any attempt by the government to reduce its right to strike on the railways.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said over the weekend that ministers are considering drafting laws that will make industrial action illegal unless a certain number of staff work there.
RMT general secretary Lynch said: “Any attempt by Grant Shapps to outlaw an effective rail strike will meet with the fiercest resistance from RMT and the trade union movement in general.
“The government must focus all its efforts on finding a fair solution to this railway dispute, not on attacking the democratic rights of workers.
“The United Kingdom already has the worst trade union rights in Western Europe.
“And we haven’t fought hard for railroad workers since our ancestors founded the Amalgamated Railway Servers Society in 1872, to meekly accept a future where our members can’t legally retire.”
Shapps told the Sunday Telegraph that the government expects unions to “wake up and smell coffee” and suggested the strikes could deter more people from traveling by train.
He also accused the unions of going directly to industrial action instead of using it as a last resort, adding that the railways already had “vital financial support” due to the pandemic.
Referring to a promise from the Conservative manifesto for minimum services during the strikes, he said: “There we had a promise about minimum service levels.
“If they really got to that point, minimum service levels would be a way to work to protect these freight routes and that sort of thing.”
More than 40,000 members of the Network Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and train operators took part in the vote on whether to launch an industrial action campaign on jobs, pay and conditions.
“Any attempt by Grant Shapps (pictured) to outlaw an effective rail strike will meet with the fiercest resistance,” Lynch said.
Universities, airports and hospitals could be hit by such severe falls that threaten to stop the country (pictured) People are waiting at Heathrow Airport Terminal 5
Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the Transport Wage Association, which also threatens industrial action, said: “What we are seeing here is the desperate nonsense of the Conservatives who have chosen to attack our union workers who are keep the railways running every day of the pandemic.
“What the government should do is put in place measures to deal with the conservative cost of living crisis, including ensuring that wages keep pace with inflation.
“It’s ridiculous to see Grant Shapps running to drip poison into journalists’ ears instead of supporting policies to put our railways at the forefront and center of our Covid economic recovery. It should embarrass him.
“Frankly, the Conservatives can pass any law they want to deny our members their fundamental rights: our union will challenge its unjust and undemocratic laws every step of the way.
“The difference between a slave and a worker is the ability of the slave to withdraw his work.”
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Ministers have failed miserably in dealing with the cost of living crisis. They are now trying to distract themselves from their failure by choosing a fight with the unions.
“The right to strike is fundamental in a free society.
“Threatening the right to strike makes the balance of work too far for employers. And it means that workers cannot defend decent services and safety at work, or defend their work or their pay.
“We will fight these unjust and unworkable proposals to undermine the unions and undermine the right to strike, and we will win.”
Unite Secretary – General Sharon Graham said: “Unite will face up to any attack on the right to strike, and by any means necessary.
“In Britain, we are already operating under the most restrictive labor laws in Western Europe. The right of workers to withdraw from their jobs is inalienable in any democracy worthy of their name.
“This is a cynical and authoritarian movement designed to protect corporate profits and has been carried out to meet the needs of faction policy in the short term.
“While corporations are making billions and ordinary workers suffer, this government is choosing to attack the rights of British workers.
“When P&O, a billion-dollar company owned by a foreign dictatorship, brutally fired 800 British workers, they broke the law. The government’s response was a fine.
“When British workers threaten to defend their standard of living in the face of a crisis in the cost of living that they have not done, this government threatens to take away their democratic rights.
“We are now obliged to warn the government. Unite will not sacrifice the protection of the jobs, wages and conditions of our members at the “partygate” altar. If you force our legitimate activities outside the law, then don’t expect us to play by the rules. “
United Secretary-General Sharon Graham said: “Unite will face up to, in any way necessary, any additional attack on the right to strike (members of the United Union are shown on the picket line on May 20)
Protesters, including trade unionists, striking cleaners and former P&O workers, gather in Clerkenwell in front of the Marx Memorial Library to march on Trafalgar Square and celebrate International Workers’ Day on May 1, 2022 in London, UK
The picket line at the Barking depot on May 20, 2022 in London, England. UNITE union members employed by Alstom are on strike for a dispute over conditions and pay.
It comes as ministers urged union leaders to “be reasonable” and save the nation from the chaos of the rail strike.
They insisted that if the unions went ahead, the government would introduce legislation to prevent a repeat of the national railway shutdown.
This would mean banning any strike that did not provide a guaranteed “minimum service” to limit disruptions to passengers. It could also make union leaders liable for damages if they do not meet this requirement.
Last night, a government source admitted that a law could not be passed in time for any strike this summer, but that it would apply to any future industrial action. The source also noted that the government had invested £ 16 billion in taxpayer cash in the railway industry during the pandemic as the number of passengers plummeted.
The source added: “We prefer to have sensible discussions and we want the unions to be reasonable.
“But unjustified and large-scale rail strikes would make legislation inevitable to protect the public and supply chains.”
DAVID BLUNKETT: Don’t union barons see a rail strike that has paralyzed Britain as suicidal madness? Leaving London Underground staff would create travel misery for millions of people after the platinum jubilee and severely annoy travelers.
With the country already undergoing rampant inflation, crippling energy costs and global instability, the last thing Britain needs is a strike.
But, unfortunately, this is what we are heading for in the coming weeks.
The departure of 4,000 employees from London Underground Station scheduled for Monday 6 June would not only create travel misery for the …