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Unions warn against lifting the ban on agency workers
The TUC and the Confederation of Recruitment and Employment (REC) have called on the government to abandon its “unviable” plan to lift the ban on agency workers filling in during strikes.
A joint statement from the TUC and the REC said the plan was “unfeasible” and opposed it in the “strongest possible terms”.
The statement said: “Using agency staff to cover strikes will only prolong the conflict between employers and their staff. Strikes are labor disputes within the same industry or company.
“The government needs to step up and work to resolve labor disputes instead of inserting a third party in the form of agency workers into a dispute. This does not resolve the underlying issues between the company and its staff.
“This will only prolong the dispute and increase tensions. Negotiations should be the obvious priority, rather than endangering the safety of agency workers and company employees.
“The proposal is not practical. There are currently 1.3 million vacancies in the UK, a record.
“REC data show that the number of candidates available for office has fallen at a record rate in recent months.
“In this tight labor market, agency workers are in high demand and can choose the jobs they hold.
“It is very unlikely that agency staff will choose a role that forces them to cross a picket line in front of one that does not.
“In addition, many functions that may be on strike require technical skills or training. Training agency workers to do these jobs would be expensive and time consuming.
“Government ministers only recently came out to condemn what P&O Ferries did. Surely this example would not have been forgotten so soon?
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Pictured: RMT Secretary General Mick Lynch outside the London office
Mick Lynch outside the RMT offices in London
/ Rachael Burford
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said the union had rejected wage increases below Network Rail inflation.
Industrial action, which begins at midnight, will be the largest transport strike in more than 30 years with half of UK train lines closed.
The staff of Network Rail and 13 other train companies will leave on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
It coincides with the fourth strike on the entire London Underground network this year, which is expected to slow down the capital.
At a press conference in front of RMT offices in London today, Lynch said: “As a result of this austerity in transport, employers have taken the following decisions to attack the railway pension scheme and the “Diluting benefits by making staff work longer, up to the age of 65, and making them poorer in retirement while they pay more 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 having “actively prevented a solution to this dispute”.
Secretary General Mick Lynch said: “The RMT National Executive Committee has considered the two sets of proposals unacceptable and it is now confirmed that the strike action scheduled for this week will continue.
“It is clear that the Conservative government, after cutting £ 4 billion in funding for National Rail and Transport for London, has now actively pushed for a solution to this dispute.
“Railway companies have now proposed payment rates that are well below the relevant inflation rates, which add to the wage freezes of recent years.
“By order of the government, companies are also seeking to implement thousands of job cuts and have not given any guarantees against compulsory dismissals.”
Lynch added: “In the face of such an aggressive agenda of cuts in jobs, conditions, pay and pensions, RMT has no choice but to industrially defend our members to stop this race to the bottom.
“Strikes on Network Rail, train operators and the London Underground will continue, and we are once again calling on our members to stand firm, support the action, set up pickets and show their willingness to fight for labor justice.
“The RMT supports the campaign for a square agreement for all workers 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 have been to finance adequately and all the workers duly remunerated with good conditions ”.
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Students said they had a “plan B” to go to school for exams in the middle of train strikes
Students and parents have been warned to have a “plan B” to go to school for exams during railroad strikes.
The big industrial action, which will see the departure of tens of thousands of railway workers for most of this week, will clash with some Level A and GCSE exams set for Tuesday and Thursday.
The Department of Education has said it is not expected that the exams will be rescheduled.
The Bureau of Qualifications and Examinations (Ofqual) and the Joint Council for Qualifications (JQC), an association for the UK’s leading examination boards, said there are some contingency measures for late arrivals. .
Pepe Diiasio, principal of Wales High School in Rotherham, said people should have a “plan B in their back pocket” to go to school.
Diiasio said only a “limited number” of students are likely to be affected by the strikes in general, but that it will be “serious” for those who are.
“If you have exams this week, you just have to have a plan A and a plan B in your back pocket because … it’s been a difficult year for people taking the exams,” he said.
“The last thing they want to worry about now is whether or not they’ll arrive on time.”
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The government will legalize employers to hire agency staff to replace striking workers
The government is legalizing employers to hire agency staff to replace striking workers.
This will be done through secondary legislation that will be presented to Parliament later this week and is expected to come into force in mid-July.
The measure will repeal the 1973 regulation that outlaws employers using agency staff specifically during labor disputes to do the work of strikers. There will be a vote in Parliament.
Any employer, in both the public and private sectors, from schools to town halls to the NHS, will have the “flexibility” to incorporate external staff.
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Rail strike to move forward
Rail strikes will continue after recent talks failed to resolve a dispute over wages, jobs and conditions, the RMT union said.
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Grant Shapps says the problem is “between the union and employers”
Grant Shapps denied that he was “the problem” with the rail strikes.
The transport secretary told Sky News: “Real unions need to meet with employers because this is a highly technical discussion around 20 different areas of modernization that are required on the railway, to make sure that the railways can continue to operate.
“We donated £ 16 billion in taxpayers’ money through the coronavirus to make sure none of those railroad employees lost their jobs.
“Therefore, they have to work together between the union and the employer.”
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Rail strikes cause “total misery” – Secretary of Transport
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said the strikes will cause “total misery” to millions of people across 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 total misery tomorrow and throughout the week with people unable to go to work, to hospital appointments, to GCSE and A-. level exams ”.
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The Minister of Businesses is asking Sadiq Khan to step down from his driving duties
Business Minister Paul Scully has called on railway unions to “talk, not strike”.
He also calls on Sadiq Khan to waive the congestion rate and ULEZ for drivers on days when there are planned strikes, in an attempt to “keep London open and moving”.
In a tweet, he said: “The railway unions must speak out, not strike. But we will continue to prepare.
“I ask @MayorofLondon to do his bit to keep London open and moving by giving up the congestion rate and ULEZ and stopping non-essential works on the days of the railway strike: simple moves 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 rail dispute at 3:30 p.m.
We’ll provide you with live updates as they happen.