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Deputies and passengers in the transport belt increased the heat in the unions on Friday due to the “cruel” and “selfish” railway and metro strikes scheduled for next week during the cost of living crisis, the exam season schoolchildren and while Britain tries to recover from Covid. pandemic.
The Railway, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has been accused of “seriously misinterpreting the public’s mood” with its plan to hit London with a “double whammy” of abandonment, on the rail network and in the tube Tuesday, followed by two more. days of train strikes that will cause about a week of travel chaos.
As temperatures rose above 30 ° C on Friday, MPs expressed the anger of many of their constituents over industrial action, which will paralyze much of the country’s rail system.
Rob Butler, a Conservative MP from Aylesbury, said: “This strike is unnecessary and cruel.”
Transport for London is “strongly encouraging” people not to travel on the tube on Tuesday due to the 24-hour march of the RMT and Unite unions, which will see services severely or severely disrupted.
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Directors have also warned of the impact of strikes on exams. Tuesdays include A-level math, religious and German studies, and GCSE history, and GCSE chemistry and physics Thursdays.
Industrial action will also affect many companies as more workers stay at home. “These strikes are totally selfish,” said Gareth Johnson, a Conservative MP from Dartford.
After billions were poured into the rail network to prop it up during the Covid crisis, South Thanet Conservative MP Craig Mackinlay said: “While in the past certain forms of industrial action can gain support. public, union leaders have seriously misinterpreted the public’s mood about it. “
Sarah Green, a Liberal Democrat MP for Chesham and Amersham, said: “Passengers and others traveling to London from the outermost subway stops are facing a double disruption with strikes in London on June 21.”
Disputes have erupted over job cuts, wages and the conditions of railway workers. Canterbury Labor MP Rosie Duffield, urging Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to play a more active role in resolving the dispute, said: “I do not want this strike to continue, it would be bad for workers, passengers and ‘economy.’
But Joy Morrissey, a Conservative Beaconsfield MP, strongly blamed the unions and said: “After Covid and in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis, this is the last thing the British public needs.”
More than 40,000 members of Network Rail’s RMT union and a dozen train companies, including guards and signal operators, are threatening to go on strike next week.
The union says Network Rail plans to eliminate up to 2,500 jobs as part of a £ 2bn savings program, including workers who maintain tracks, signals and airlines. With the fall in the number of train passengers, with more working from home, railway officials argue that between 1,500 and 2,000 fewer workers will be needed, but that these cuts could be made voluntarily.
Passengers at Ealing Broadway Station, which offers rail and subway services, criticized the strikes. Luke Davis, 42, an engineer who uses the center line to get to Holborn, said, “This action is selfish and wrong.”
Mohammed Acktar, 24, who works in retail and lives in Hounslow, added: “It’s an insult to travelers,” while 20-year-old student Siobahn Huggins said: “The problem with children who they have problems accessing exams, it’s horrible. ”
Ministers say unions and railway chiefs must pass an agreement to prevent strikes and have discussed whether Royal Parks could be opened for motorcyclists.
National Rail warns that about half of all rail lines will be closed during next week’s strikes, which also includes a departure on Saturday, June 25, and advises passengers not to travel by train unless necessary. .
Side effects will cause service outages in the days following the strikes.
Bracknell Conservative MP James Sunderland said: “Maybe the mayor of London could shake Ulez and the congestion rate for those who now have to drive to London?”
Shapps has warned union members that “they risk leaving you a job” by encouraging you to work from home.
But RMT Secretary-General Mick Lynch said: “It is clear that the government now intends to turn this labor dispute over wages and jobs into a political struggle with RMT.”