Speaking from Rwanda, the prime minister, Boris Johnson, said the rail strikes this week were “unnecessary” and stressed the benefits of “sensible reforms” of the rail system.
I just think it is important to remember that these strikes are unnecessary. I think people should get around the table and sort it out.
This is a government that is investing more in railways than any previous government in the last 50 years.
To have a great future for rail, for railway workers and their families, we have got to have some sensible reforms and that is things like reforming ticket offices - I did a huge amount of that when I was running London.
It is stuff that maybe the union barons are more attached to perhaps than their workers. I think the strikes are a terrible idea.
Boris Johnson: rail strikes 'unnecessary' and 'a terrible idea' – video
British Airways workers based at Heathrow have voted in favour of strikes in a dispute over pay, the GMB and Unite unions announced on Thursday.
Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon has told the UK government to have “respect” for workers by resolving the train dispute that is “crippling” the UK.
Downing Street has urged the unions to call off the rail strikes “as quickly as possible”, adding it was up to them whether to go ahead with Saturday’s action.
The head of the UK’s recruitment body warned that changing the law to allow firms to hire agency workers to replace staff on strike during industrial disputes would not work.
Rail union leaders hailed a 7.1% pay deal for Merseyrail staff, which was struck without government involvement, as evidence that it is ministers who are blocking a deal in the national dispute.
The second day of strike action resulted in only around one in five trains will run and mainly on main lines during the day. Network Rail said that rail services today would “look much like they did on Tuesday”, starting later in the morning and ending early in the evening, around 6.30pm.
Train services will continue to be disrupted on Friday because of knock-on effects of Thursday’s rail strikes.
That’s all from me, this blog will now close. Thanks for following along.
Train services will continue to be disrupted on Friday because of knock-on effects of the second day of this week’s rail strikes.
Only around 60% of the 20,000 normal weekday services will be able to operate.
Walkouts by signallers and control room staff who would usually have worked overnight from Thursday night into Friday morning mean trains will leave depots later than normal, delaying the start of services, PA reports.
The process of taking trains out of depots will only begin when signallers on daytime shifts start work at 6am to 6.30am.
It is expected that the start of services will be delayed by up to four hours in some locations. Usually, passenger services begin at between around 5am and 6am.
In London, services will increase quickly as trains do not have to travel long distances from depots to stations, but in more remote locations, this will take several hours.
Network Rail said that “even during the day the service will stay thinner” than usual and some operators will wind down services slightly earlier than normal.
Services on Saturday are expected to be affected similarly to the other strike days on Tuesday and Thursday.
Around 20% of services will run and just half of lines will be open, and only between 7.30am and 6.30pm.
Negotiations are ongoing and passengers are urged to check with train operators for updates to services, in case Saturday’s strike will be called off.
First minister Nicola Sturgeon has told the UK government to have “respect” for workers by resolving the train dispute that is “crippling” the UK.
Asked during first minister’s questions on Thursday whether she believes the UK government’s reported proposals to allow agency staff to replace striking workers is “inflaming” the issue, Sturgeon said it is workers who are paying the price.
Sturgeon said she understands the dangers of the dispute “escalating” if a resolution is not reached between rail employers and unions.
She added:
[Workers] are paying the price for Tory anti-trade union rhetoric, in fact, anti-trade unionism which I completely deprecate.
We should respect workers across the economy. We should respect public sector workers and we should seek to negotiate fair resolution to disputes, particularly at a time of inflation - inflation being exacerbated in the UK by the folly of Brexit.
The rail strike that is crippling the UK right now is not the result of a pay dispute with ScotRail. It is a dispute with Network Rail and with English train operating companies, therefore it is entirely a reserved matter.
And the other thing I remember from a few weeks ago in this chamber when there was a potential for a ScotRail dispute, Tory MSPs getting up and demanding intervention from this Government to resolve it.
So let me repeat the call today for the UK government to start doing their job to get round the table to bring a resolution to this and to drop the anti-trade unionism and have some respect for workers across the economy.
Nicola Sturgeon arrives at Holyrood. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA
The second of three scheduled strikes is taking place on Thursday, with further industrial action expected on Saturday.
ScotRail has warned the disruption could continue until next week.
Earlier, Scottish transport minister Jenny Gilruth told MSPs that two meetings with the UK government over the strikes this week had been cancelled, PA reports.
She said:
There were planned meetings that were scheduled to take place between the devolved administrations and the UK government on Monday - those were cancelled at short notice.
I was meant to meet with Wendy Morton, the rail minister, on Wednesday - that meeting was also cancelled at short notice.
So I have to say, despite repeated representations between myself and [UK transport secretary] Grant Shapps, there has been limited consultation between the UK government and this government.
That is deeply regrettable because at this moment in time, Network Rail remains reserved.
We continue to encourage the unions and industry to agree to a deal to call off these strikes. Although the government is not the employer, ministers remain extremely close to the issues on both sides and the ongoing discussions.
We will also continue to look at everything we can do to minimise disruption to protect the travelling public who are the innocent victims in this.
The unions should call off the rail strikes “as quickly as possible”, Downing Street has said, adding it was up to them whether to go ahead with Saturday’s action.
A No 10 spokesman said:
My understanding is there were talks between the RMT (Rail, Maritime and Transport union) and Network Rail today.
But what we want to see is for the unions to call off the strikes, to continue to negotiate and to come to an agreement with their employer.
We don’t want to see this strike action to continue for a moment longer than it has to.
Asked if this was possible before Saturday’s strike, he said:
That’s a question for the unions.
The government has not been informed of any further rail strikes after this week, the official said, PA reports.
This is obviously a matter for British Airways and the unions and we would strongly encourage both to come together to find a settlement.
We don’t want to see any further disruption for passengers and strike action would only add to the misery being faced by passengers at airports.
DfT (Department for Transport) will obviously work closely to look at what contingency measures BA could put in place and we expect BA to put in place contingency measures to ensure that as little disruption is caused, and that where there is disruption that passengers can be refunded.
The largest rail strikes in over 30 years have come at a time of record fuel prices, with more than two-fifths of motorists driving less frequently or making shorter journeys since petrol prices began to soar in March, a survey suggests.
Some 43% of the UK public are cutting back on driving, potentially leaving certain demographics isolated and inconvenienced as a result, the poll by Opinium found.
Some 35% of those in rural areas have been driving less because of fuel costs, compared with 31% of those in suburban areas and 23% of those in urban areas.
People in rural areas in particular have raised concerns about isolation, and have underlined the importance of reliable public transport across the country.
John Williams, 70, a pensioner from Talmine, Sutherland, feels increasingly cut off from the world, and mainly because of the cost of fuel.
He told the Guardian:
Earlier this week I paid £2.34 per litre for petrol. There is no public transport here. The triple pension lock is cancelled. We are effectively under house arrest.
At the moment I only drive when it’s essential. I have practically given up on going to church because of fuel prices, which I used to do every week. I only shop when I absolutely have to.
After long periods of isolation during the coronavirus lockdowns, Williams has not seen his social life return to pre-pandemic levels, to a significant degree because of the cost of living crisis.
I’m not in as bad a situation as the people who don’t have enough food or can’t heat their homes, but my nearest family are in the Inverness area, around 100 miles from here, and I haven’t seen them in more than a year, mainly because of the cost of driving there. It would be very expensive.
Almost two in five unpaid carers (37%) had also cut down on their miles, as had 33% of key workers and 21% of paid carers.
More than half of all drivers (54%) have changed their habits in some way in response to rising fuel costs, most commonly taking shorter trips (29%), taking public transport instead of driving (18%), cancelling journeys (16%) or avoiding driving to work and instead choosing to work from home (15%).
Opinium Research surveyed 2,000 UK adults online between June 17-21.
My colleague Mark Brown, the Guardian’s North of England correspondent, has this piece on the former leader of the National Union of Mineworkers, Arthur Scargill,joining the picket line in Sheffield today.
The 84-year-old found harsh words to describe his view on Labour leader Keir Starmer in response to a question on Labour’s attitude towards this week’s strikes.
The head of the UK’s recruitment body warned that changing the law to allow firms to hire agency workers to replace staff on strike during industrial disputes would not work.
Rail union leaders hailed a 7.1% pay deal for Merseyrail staff, which was struck without government involvement, as evidence that it is ministers who are blocking a deal in the national dispute.
The second day of strike action resulted in only around one in five trains will run and mainly on main lines during the day. Network Rail said that rail services today would “look much like they did on Tuesday”, starting later in the morning and ending early in the evening, around 6.30pm.
British Airways workers based at Heathrow have voted in favour of strikes in a dispute over pay, the GMB and Unite unions announced.
Sky News reports:
The GMB trade union finished balloting its BA members working at Heathrow Airport on Thursday morning - announcing shortly after that 95% of workers had voted to strike this summer.
Separately, BA workers at Heathrow who are members of the Unite union have been balloted too, with results expected on Monday.
In total, more than 700 BA check-in staff and ground handling agents could strike during this industrial action.
GMB is seeking to reverse a 10% pay cut on workers imposed during the pandemic. BA says it has offered a 10% one-off bonus, but not a return to the same pay as before.
A BA spokesperson said:
After a deeply difficult two years which saw the business lose more than £4bn, these colleagues were offered a 10% payment for this year which was rejected.
We remain fully committed to talks with our trade unions about their concerns and we hope that together we can find a way to reach an agreement in the best interests of our people and our customers.
The Times’ transport correspondent Ben Clatworthy has tweeted that a Network Rail spokesperson said the number of people using its stations on the first day of the rail strikes on Tuesday was between 12% and 18% of normal levels.
PA reports that although the spokesperson didn’t report figures for today, he believed these to be similar.
STRIKES LATEST: A Network Rail spokesman said the number of people using its stations on the first day of the rail strikes on Tuesday was between 12% and 18% of normal 🚂#RailStrikes#RMTUnion#tttot
An academic at the University of Bristol has pointed out that the UK government failed in its attempt to change the law to allow strikers to be replaced with agency workers in 2015, and the move remains unlikely to work or to comply with international law.
So why was the idea dropped in 2015? Unsurprisingly, the proposal was rejected by the Trades Union Congress (TUC) as an attempt to threaten the right to strike. It was also viewed by leading NGOs, including Amnesty International and Liberty, as “a major attack on civil liberties”.
Perhaps as importantly, the proposal also failed to pass standard parliamentary scrutiny. The Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) - the UK’s regulation watchdog - criticised several major elements of the government’s impact assessment of this regulatory change. For a start, the government claimed that 22% of working days lost to strikes could be covered by agency workers, but the RPC found a lack of sufficient evidence for this figure.
The RPC also highlighted the need to factor in the costs of helping employers familiarise themselves with the new law and the impact on productivity. It observed that the impact assessment itself acknowledged that “agency workers may lower the usual productivity of the workplace”, but it discounted this in its calculations without explanation.
The Guardian’s transport correspondent Gwyn Topham has spoken to unions and recruiters about their views on government moves to allow agency workers to replace striking staff.
The TUC said it was a cynical and unworkable move, while rail unions dismissed it as “playing to the gallery”. Network Rail has said most of the roles which have most affected train services during the strike, particularly signalling, cannot be filled by agency staff.
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