Newcastle Central Station, where RMT union General Secretary Mick Lynch has joined RMT members fighting to defend our railway.
In protest of their wages and working conditions, more than 20,000 RMT union members who are employed by 14 train firms went on strike on Saturday.
The RMT members also engaged in industrial action on Thursday and are planning a further strike on July 29. In response to the announcement by train executives that more than 2,000 jobs will be lost nationwide and 1,000 ticket offices would close,
The National Rail warned the passengers of significant disruption, saying they should expect large areas of the rail network to have little or no services.
In a statement on Saturday, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “Train companies invest little or nothing in our railways and make completely unjustifiable profits which they squirrel away in shareholder dividends and bosses pay packets.”
“It is a scandal that the travelling public is being ripped off by greedy rail privateers while at the same time the government oversees a corrupt system and prolongs a rail dispute for political reasons,” he added.
The Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, said passengers should continue to check before travelling. Some disruptions are expected to continue until Sunday morning.
A spokesman said the latest action, following a 24-hour strike on Thursday, would affect “not only the daily commute of our passengers” but family holiday plans and mean “disappointment, frustration and financial strain for tens of thousands of people”.
The last strike in a series of three 24-hour strikes planned by the RMT is due to take place next Saturday, July 29.
Unions said the strikes were due to the country’s authorities’ unwillingness to talk and resolve problems, as neither industry leaders nor ministers have met with them since they rejected below-inflation wage offers earlier in the year.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said striking rail workers were still waiting for an invitation back to the negotiating table.
“We’ve been on strike for over a year, this campaign’s probably been running for two years.
“The issues are the same. They’re attacking our jobs. They’re making redundancies. They’re closing services.”
The DfT has called on unions to first allow members a direct vote on deals on the table.
A planned week of strike action on the London Underground was canceled yesterday after talks between unions and Transport for London.
