Monday 23 May 2022 10:55 AM Militant rail unions step up 'summer of chaos' strike threats on railways and ... trends now
Britain's left-wing union bosses today stepped up plans for their 'summer of discontent' as they revealed plans to shut down the Tube as millions return to work after the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.
The RMT Union have revealed they will ask 4,000 station staff to walk out on Monday June 6 in a new escalation of hostilities as they demand 10%-plus pay rises for staff and fight a new clampdown on industrial action.
And there will also be a new overtime ban from Friday, June 2 - day 2 of the Platinum Jubilee celebrations - until July 10, according to the Evening Standard.
They have already ordered strikes during the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations that will hit two key London Underground stations – one of which is the nearest to Buckingham Palace.
The RMT union will also ballot 40,000 members this week to pave the way for months of industrial action across the UK's rail network. The TSSA union has threatened 'a summer of discontent' over pay.
Grant Shapps has said that the Government may bring in new laws to make strikes illegal unless a certain number of staff remain working to keep the UK's railways running and London's Underground network operational.
Mr Shapps has said that Britain's railways are already on 'financial life support' after two years of lockdowns and an ongoing battle to get people back into the office. He said that militant union leaders must 'wake up and smell the coffee'.
But unions doubled down today, with RMT chief Mick Lynch declaring they will push for a co-ordinated national strike.
He told the BBC: 'We can't have in the UK that people are not allowed to withdraw their labour, so we will resist that and link up with other trade unions in the TUC and civil society in opposing that change in the law'.
RMT leader Mick Lynch addresses sacked P&O workers in March. Today he warned that unions will work together to strike if pay doesn't rise and plans to make certain strikes illegal go ahead
The RMT will now ballot 40,000 members this week to pave the way for months of industrial action across the UK's rail network
He added: 'They [the Government] also want to rip up terms and conditions that we've negotiated over the decades and we're now into the third year of a pay freeze, where our members haven't had an increase, and as you know, inflation this week on the RPI index is up to 11.1 per cent, and members have had enough of that and we want a deal that provides us with job security and defends our conditions and gets us a pay deal'.
Staff at Green Park and Euston will walk out for 24 hours on June 3. The RMT confirmed drivers will also strike on the Central, Jubilee and Victoria lines that evening and on June 4, with no services after 9pm on each day.
And train conductors for operator TransPennine Express will strike for 48 hours from June 4.
It means no services will link some northern cities with the West Coast main line, one of the main inter-city routes to London from the North West and West Midlands.
The strikes threaten to tarnish the four days of national celebrations for millions.
Green Park is the nearest stop to Buckingham Palace, while Euston Underground station is a key hub for passengers coming into the capital on the West Coast main line from the North West and West Midlands. They will not open for 24 hours from the early hours of June 3.
Both Green Park and Euston are expecting to see thousands of travellers throughout the Jubilee weekend, as people move around the city, and arrive from further afield. Green Park is one of the closest tube stations to the Palace, and Euston is home to the UK's busiest inter-city railway
Underground staff part of the RMT Union are planning to walk out of Euston and Green Park stations on Friday, June 3, with the strike affecting the Piccadilly, Jubilee and Victoria lines. Yesterday, the Queen made a surprise visit to open the Elizabeth line, which opens May 24
The Night Tube walkouts on June 3 and 4 are part of a long-running dispute over pay and conditions, as is the TransPennine Express walkout.
They could cause chaos for thousands of concert-goers who have tickets to attend the Platinum Party at the Palace on the evening of June 4.
Downing Street and Conservative MPs condemned the planned action for showing little respect to the Queen and called on RMT chiefs to call it off.
Mr Shapps told the Sunday Telegraph that the government hopes the unions 'will wake up and smell the coffee' and suggested that strikes could put more people off rail travel.
He also accused unions of going straight to industrial action rather than using it as a last resort, adding that railways were already on 'financial life support' because of the pandemic.
Referring to a pledge in the Conservative manifesto for minimum services during strikes, he said: 'We had a pledge in there about minimum service levels.
'If they really got to that point then minimum service levels would be a way to work towards protecting those freight routes and those sorts of things.'
Labour – which has accepted more than £250,000 in donations from the RMT since 2015 – was in chaos over the strikes.
Party leader Sir Keir Starmer failed to condemn them but London Mayor Sadiq Khan said union bosses should call off the action.
The RMT said the station strikes were over claims of 'years of intimidation, bullying and unjustified sackings' by a manager.
About 80 workers allege they are the
