'Bloody strikers!' RMT slammed for 'one day' walkouts which actually last THREE days

RMT Secretary-General Mick Lynch is behind the wave of strike action
RMT Secretary-General Mick Lynch is behind the wave of strike action
PA
Richard Jeffries

By Richard Jeffries


Published: 11/11/2022

- 14:48

Updated: 14/02/2023

- 10:31

Strikes cause yet MORE chaos as transport unions 'drag their feet'

RAIL unions were slammed by infuriated passengers today for "deliberately" causing chaos on NON-strike days.

Commuters across the south of England endured another day of chaos today with trains into London cancelled again as the capital struggled to recover from yesterday's crippling Tube strike.


In the city itself few underground lines ran properly until this afternoon, with many stations still closed "due to industrial action" and busses severely over-crowded.

It led frustrated commuters to take to social media to complain that one day strikes were now lasting two or three days, with services often disrupted 24 hours before - and after - any strike action.

Joe Ventre from the TaxPayers' Alliance said: "Taxpayers are being driven to despair by tube drivers taking them for a ride.

"Households already face a challenging winter, yet highly-paid TfL staff are throwing them under the bus.

"Transport bosses need to get a grip on these strikes."

Southeastern Railway even admitted that RMT strikes were causing particular issues on the mainline network. It said: "On days following the strike action by ASLEF, we have been able to restore services to normal from the start of service the following day. It's the strikes that were called by the RMT which also affect Network Rail when we have had a later start up."

One frustrated commuter, Dean Sirkett , said: "Bloody strikers with nothing better to do! Be thankful you have jobs!"

Another added: "You are losing people's income, urgent medical appointments and stopping carers helping those in need. To many that amounts to serious harm.

"Pity the RMT is too well off to appreciate normal folks' problems.

And Andy Cunningham Tweeted directly to the union: "You simply don’t get it - the country can’t start dishing out double digit pay rises when the entire European economy (except Norway) is really struggling.

"When inflation returns to two or three per cent, will the Nurses, Train Drivers, London Underground give the money back?

The RMT said the the average rail worker hadn't seen a pay rise in three years.

John Leach, assistant general secretary, said: "The Mayor of London needs to stand up for staff and do a proper finance deal which gives TfL money it needs to keep the capital city moving, and not trade off the staff pension, jobs and their conditions of employment for some bad deal, which is what they have done.”

A TfL spokesperson said: “I’d like to apologise to customers who are experiencing disruption on the network this morning following yesterday’s frustrating RMT strike action.

“Due to some staff not booking on for overnight shifts, we’ve struggled to reopen stations this morning. “We’re working hard to restore a good service and would encourage customers to check before they travel.”

Services on nine London Underground lines were suspended yesterday due to the strike, but many other commuter rail lines were also affected. London Overground and Docklands Light Railway services were also suspended.

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