Train passengers have been warned to “only travel by train if necessary” after rail operators closed 80 per cent of services and half of lines to make way for the 40,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union walking out for the third time this week over jobs, pay, pensions and conditions.
Despite many commuters having been able to avoid the disruption caused by strikes by working from home, fresh alerts have been issued over fears that many are reluctant to abandon leisure trips planned for Saturday regardless of the strikes.
On Friday, transport secretary Grant Shapps called on striking rail workers to call off its Saturday demonstration and accused the RMT Union of “damaging the lives of everyday hardworking people that they claim to represent.”
But its general secretary Mick Lynch said its members cannot accept the “thousands of railway workers being thrown on the scrapheap after being praised as heroes during Covid.
“RMT will continue its industrial campaign until a negotiated settlement is reached,” he said.
