The RMT’s decision to proceed with train strikes next week “will punish millions of people”, the transport secretary has said.
Grant Shapps warned that the UK is “now on the cusp of a major disruption that will cause misery for people across the country”.
He also stated that the union has been repeatedly urged not to continue “harmful” industrial action and focus instead on negotiations.
Shapps said teens preparing for their exams will face the added stress of changing their travel plans, while patients will have to cancel hospital appointments.
He added: “A lot of people who don’t get paid if they can’t get to work are faced with losing money at a time when they just can’t pay.”
The talks failed to resolve a bitter dispute over wages, jobs and conditions, and next week’s rail strikes will be the biggest in decades.
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Unions accused of ‘bribing workers’
The strikes will take place on Tuesday 21, Thursday 23 and Saturday 25 June.
Network Rail has warned that the strikes will cause six days of disruption because services will be affected on the intervening days.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said thousands of jobs were being cut on rail networks and workers were facing below-inflation wage increases.
Some of the biggest unions behind the action have now also been accused by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng of “bribing” workers to go on strike.
The Sunday Telegraph claims that several unions are offering tax-free payments through “strike funds”.
The paper says Unite, which has threatened strikes in councils and on bus networks, has been putting up posters on local government buildings announcing its “£70 a day strike pay” for staff.
Meanwhile, almost half of people polled in a new survey on the dispute think now is not the right time to attack.
The survey, commissioned by industry body Rail Delivery Group, showed that while one in four supported the strike, two in five were against it.
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Rail strikes ‘totally pointless’ – Transport sec
Government ‘pouring gasoline on the fire’
Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer has criticized the government’s handling of the dispute, saying the Conservatives have been “adding fuel to the fire”.
During a speech in Warwick on Sunday, he will accuse Boris Johnson and Shapps of wanting the strikes to continue, saying: “They want the country to stop so they can feed off division.”
“Instead of spending their time this week around the negotiating table, they are crafting attack ads.”
A Department for Transport spokesman said the government has committed £16bn to keep the railways running during the pandemic.
They added: “Rail is still on life support, with 25% fewer passengers and anything that drives more of them away risks killing services and jobs.
“Train travel for millions more people is now an option, not a necessity. The strikes prevent our customers from choosing the train and they may never return.”
In other developments that could rile unions, The Sunday Times also claims that the rail network is about to close all ticket offices in English stations.
According to the newspaper, plans have been drawn up to phase out paper notes in a bid to save up to £500m a year.
Reference-news.sky.com