Good Morning Britain host Richard Madeley has come under fire for his comments over potential rail strikes.
Railway workers have voted overwhelmingly to strike in a bitter dispute over jobs, pay and conditions, threatening massive disruption to the network in the coming weeks. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at Network Rail and 15 train operators backed launching a campaign of industrial action.
RMT boss Mick Lynch appeared on GMB on Wednesday to discuss why workers are considering striking. He said employees have not had a pay rise in three years, and that with some "basically" on minimum wage, the cost of living crisis means they are really feeling the squeeze.
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But Mr Madeley slammed the union and said striking would be an "abuse of power". He said: "You have tremendous power, you have your hands around the windpipe of the country and it's an abuse of that power".
His comments did not go down well with many viewers at home. Taking to Twitter, Melanie Bell said: "According to Richard Madeley people striking are 'abusing their power'. No Richard, they're exerting their legal rights to withhold labour fgs" [sic]. Hasamelis said: "Jeez a strike will never come at a 'right time'".
Steff Smith said: "The whole point of a strike is to do it at a time when people notice. It's not the rail workers' fault it's those refusing to rise their salaries". Joe said: "Nobody wants to strike, sometimes workers/union members feel it’s the only option they have left".
A walkout by Network Rail signallers will have a significant impact on services. It is possible that trains will only run for part of the day, such as from 7am to 7pm and only on main lines.
Services could be reduced to around a fifth of the normal weekday timetable. If strikes go ahead, they would cost the rail industry around £30 million each day, according to sources.
The union says Network Rail intends to cut at least 2,500 maintenance jobs as part of a £2 billion reduction in spending on the network, while staff at train companies have been subject to pay freezes, threats to jobs and attacks on their terms and conditions.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV and the ITV Hub
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