Rail strike will go forward on Thursday as RMT accuses Grant Shapps of ‘wrecking’ negotiations

Millions of rail passengers throughout Britain face recent disruption on Thursday after the RMT union accused the federal government of “wrecking” negotiations.

Rail providers are being severely disrupted this week after round 40,000 members of the union, working for Network Rail and 13 prepare operators, voted to stage walkouts in a row over jobs, pay and situations.

Talks have been held on Wednesday between the union and business bosses in a bid to interrupt the impasse, however they ended with out settlement.

Mick Lynch, the RMT normal secretary, stated: “Grant Shapps has wrecked these negotiations by not allowing Network Rail to withdraw their letter threatening redundancy for 2,900 of our members.

“Until the government unshackle Network Rail and the train operating companies, it is not going to be possible for a negotiated settlement to be agreed.”

He added: “We will continue with our industrial campaign until we get a negotiated settlement that delivers job security and a pay rise for our members that deals with the escalating cost of living crisis.”

Just 60 per cent of trains are operating on Wednesday, and a few operators will wind down providers sooner than regular forward of the following spherical of motion.

The third and remaining strike of the week is deliberate for Saturday.

However, in a breakthrough, members of the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association working for Merseyrail have accepted a pay provide that the union’s leaders say is value 7.1 per cent.

General secretary Manuel Cortes described it as “a sensible outcome to a reasonable offer”.

A survey of greater than 2,300 individuals by Savanta ComRes confirmed that greater than half (58 per cent) thought the economic motion was justified.

A Department for Transport spokesperson stated reform of the railways was “desperately needed”.

The spokesperson stated: “Unions have shut down big parts of the rail network, hitting local businesses and unfairly cutting people off from hospitals, schools and work.

“However, early data shows that, unlike in the past, many people now have the opportunity to work from home, so we haven’t seen a rush to the roads, as traffic has instead gone online, which means the unions aren’t having the overall impact they might have hoped.”