(Bloomberg) -- The UK transport minister has condemned rail workers’ plans for what would be Britain’s largest train strike in 30 years, saying it will cause chaos for workers and students across the country.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers had ignored attempts at negotiation with employer Network Rail by opting for the planned walkouts.
“We are now on the cusp of major disruption which will cause misery for people right across the country,” Shapps said in a statement Saturday. Employees traveling to their jobs and people who need to get to hospital appointments could be affected, and “by carrying out this action the RMT is punishing millions of innocent people,” he said.
Thousands of staff at 13 train operating companies and track manager Network Rail plan to strike on June 21, 23 and 25 in a bid for better working conditions and for pay increases to keep up with the pace of inflation.
RMT said the walkouts would be the most significant for the country’s railways since 1989, as the industry struggles to reinvent itself and adapt to a new post-pandemic norm of workers commuting to the office less frequently. About 10,000 London Underground workers are also planning a walkout on Tuesday in a separate dispute over jobs and pensions.
READ MORE: UK Train Strike Part of Wider Crisis for World’s Oldest Railway
With employees working more days from home, the total number of train journeys only reached 62% of their pre-pandemic level in the quarter through March, according to figures from the Office of Road and Rail. RMT has said that Network Rail alone plans to cut as many as 2,500 jobs as it seeks to save £2 billion ($2.45 billion), and that train operating companies are freezing pay and seeking changes to contracts.
RMT confirmed on Saturday that the strikes would go ahead, after talks had failed to find “viable settlements.” The strikes will clash with major events such as the Glastonbury music festival and national exams for teenagers.
Kate Nicholls, chief executive of industry group UK Hospitality, said the combined hit to the tourism, leisure and theater industries could be more than a billion pounds, she told Times Radio in an interview Saturday.
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