Boris Johnson has braced rail travellers for months of misery as he prepared to break future strikes by allowing train companies to bring in in agency staff.
Plans by Downing Street to bring forward changes to enable employers to replace employees with temporary staff have been condemned as dangerous and illegal in international law by trade unions.
The tactic was condemned by government ministers when it was deployed by P&O ferries earlier this year to replace unionised crews with cheap labour.
As 40,000 workers walked out on in the biggest railway strike in years, the Prime Minister told a cabinet meeting on Tuesday that the rail industry had to ditch outdated work practices.
He said: “We need the union barons to sit down with Network Rail and the train companies and get on with it.”
“We need, I’m afraid, everybody, and I say this to the country as a whole, we need to get ready to stay the course.”
“To stay the course, because these reforms, these improvements in the way we run our railways are in the interests of the travelling public, they will help to cut costs for fare-payers up and down the country.”
Union leaders warned that government’s plans to repeal the ban on strike-breaking would only make things worse after Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, tweeted: “Repealing these 1970s-era restrictions will give businesses the freedom to access skilled, temporary staff at short notice. Legislation is on its way.”
As the Prime Minister prepared to face off against the rail strike Mick Lynch, the leader of the RMT, called for unions across Britain to “coordinate action”.
The general secretary of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union said other trade unions needed to “synchronise” actoin for pay rises.
Several other unions are balloting for industrial action as pay offers are outpaced by inflation.
Asked if he had any advice to other unions considering strike action, Lynch told Sky News: “My advice to unions is to campaign on the issues."
He added: “And, ultimately, if the government and the employers do not change their direction, I believe that more ballots for strike action are inevitable and more action is inevitable.
“What I would say to trade union leaders and trade union activists is we need to coordinate and synchronise our campaigning.”
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