Southern Railway strikes: MORE misery for travellers as rail dispute escalates
YET more misery is forecast for travellers this week with industrial action on some of the country’s key transport networks set to go ahead.
Southern rail commuter: It's been a life of misery and stress
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union at Southern Railway will strike today and tomorrow in a long-running dispute over who opens train doors.
And families hoping to get away for Christmas face an anxious wait to see if action by airport staff will go ahead on Friday and Saturday.
More than 1,500 Swissport check-in staff, baggage handlers and cargo crew at many airports plan to strike for 48 hours from December 23 in a dispute over pay.
But there was some hope for British Airways passengers last night as Unite union chiefs agreed to meet BA bosses to avoid a separate walk-out by cabin crew over pay on Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
The wave of strikes has even led senior Labour figures to question the action.
Labour MP Meg Hillier, head of the Public Accounts Committee, said: “Trade unions, even though they are fighting for their rights, need to really think about the impact on the people they are actually there to serve.”
You cannot have small groups of people holding society to ransom
Southern’s 300,000 passengers face fresh chaos this week as a conductors’ strike coincides with a union ban on overtime for drivers.
Sean Hoyle, RMT president, said the union’s “rule number one” was to “strive to replace the capitalist system with a socialist order”.
But general secretary Mick Cash said the RMT was not part of “a Trotskyist conspiracy” to topple Government.”
Prime Minister Theresa May is facing pressure from Tory MPs to curb union powers. They want tougher rules to safeguard “critical” industries from walk-outs.
Former Cabinet minister Lord Heseltine warned: “You cannot have small groups of people holding society to ransom.”