Tuesday 28 June 2022 01:00 AM Almost a quarter of train staff defied picket lines and turned up for work ... trends now
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Union barons were mocked yesterday as it emerged nearly a quarter of rail staff defied them by turning up for work during one strike last week.
Figures seen by the Daily Mail show 29 per cent of Network Rail track workers and 18 per cent of operations staff, mostly signallers, clocked in on Thursday – or 24 per cent overall.
More than one in five (21 per cent) clocked in last Tuesday, the first strike day, including 24 per cent of track workers. Around a fifth clocked in across three days of walkouts.
Figures show 29 per cent of Network Rail track workers and 18 per cent of operations staff, mostly signallers, clocked in on Thursday – 24 per cent overall
It undermines claims by the militant RMT union’s boss, Mick Lynch, that turnout at picket lines was ‘fantastic and exceeded expectations’.
Andrew Haines, Network Rail chief executive, said: ‘About 20 per cent of people in grades represented by the RMT turned up for work... which we think is quite remarkable.
Chaos was largely avoided last week thanks in part to the number who turned up for work, with as many as half of trains running on key inter-city routes such as the East Coast and West Coast main lines, which connect London with cities in the north and midlands.
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