As a result of the Covid lockdown and people being encouraged to work from home, the bus, tube, and train, ran reduced services with hardly any passengers at all. The current numbers using public transport are still down as much as 10-20% from pre-covid levels. 

Inflation is now rampant again and with less commuters using the bus, tube and train there is an argument for reducing services and making some redundancies, so the rail unions are fighting back with a demand for an 11.1% pay rise, protection of pensions, and no redundancies.

A ballot by the RMT Union, supported, by Unite of course, have 40,000 staff ready to stop work on Tuesday 23 June, Thursday 25 June, and Saturday 25 June. The effect of this will be rolling stock deliberately left idle in the wrong places so bringing the tube and train services to an almost complete stop from Tuesday 21 June through to Monday 27 June.

Even if a settlement with the government is achieved to avert the strike it will only be with a considerable pay rise, which in turn will be passed on to the commuters who have already suffered massive ticket price increases in recent years. 

The UK Independence Party urges the government to enact emergency legislation requiring a statutory minimum of 15% of public transport during strike action, as is the norm in a number of other countries.

Antony Nailer

UK Independence Party Spokesman for Transport