The third day of the UK national railway strike continues on Saturday, after talks with union leaders ended without an agreement.
The 24-hour work stoppage is part of the efforts of the National Union of Railway, Maritime and Transport Workers to promote demands for higher wages, a ban on mandatory redundancies and the maintenance of existing working conditions. The owner of the railway company Network Rail says that it is seeking to modernize and cope with the declining number of passengers, as more and more people work from home.
The strikes this week have left many workers staying at home, taking advantage of the more flexible work arrangements introduced due to the pandemic. Weekend trips are now affected, disrupting getaways and major leisure events such as the Glastonbury Music Festival, which ends on Sunday.
No agreement was reached
Talks with RMT ended on Friday without an agreement and will continue either on Sunday or Monday, a Network Rail spokesman said. The union’s executive committee meets on Tuesday to decide what further action to take.
“We will not hesitate to use more strikes if we can not reach an agreement or if the companies implement their threats of layoffs,” Mick Lynch, RMT’s secretary general, told Sky News on Saturday.
The union must issue a two-week notice of further strikes, which means trains will have to run normally for some time after Saturday’s disruption, according to the spokesman. A moratorium on mandatory job cuts in exchange for operational reforms is “negotiable,” he said.
Source: Capital
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