Railway unions co-ordinating wave of strikes over the summer to 'maximise' impact 

Commuters cram Clapham Junction station platform on Monday morning at the start of the planned five-day strike
Commuters cram Clapham Junction station platform on Monday morning at the start of the planned five-day strike Credit: Nick Edwards for The Telegraph

Rail unions have admitted that they are co-ordinating a wave of summer strikes which will disrupt the journeys of millions of people in a bid to "maximise the impact" of their industrial action.

Eurostar passengers face the prospect of Bank Holiday chaos after workers from the RMT and TSSA announced that they will hold two strikes this month, including over the Bank Holiday.

RMT announced that it will take industrial action, which is over ensuring that train managers can enjoy a "good work-life balance", after a ballot of just 55 workers.

The three main railway unions are expected to hold at least five strikes in coming weeks that could cripple large stretches of the railway network.

Chris Grayling, the Transport Secretary, accused the unions of "trying to turn back the clock" and making "excuses to be militant" by holding strikes over "pretty minor matters".

He said: "I'm very disappointed that unions keep on calling strike action over what always appear to be pretty minor matters, not to do with passengers, not to do with jobs.

"This feels like an excuse to be militant. The unions are trying to turn the clock back and hang on to working practices that are decades out of date. This simply won't do."

Manuel Cortes, general secretary of the TSSA, confirmed earlier this month that action was being co-ordinated with "our sister rail unions to maximise the impact".

He told The Telegraph: "We talk to all the trade unions on the railways.

"Our view is that the Department for Transport is telling companies who are taking over new franchises to introduce measures which will cut safety.

"Chris Grayling is just trying to pour petrol onto the fire. If those are the kind of comments he is going to make then, he should just keep his trap shut."

It came as the longest rail strike in 50 years was called off, although thousands of commuters will continue to be hit by delays and cancellations.

Strikes by workers on Southern Rail, due to take place on Thursday and Friday, were suspended by unions to allow for further talks.

The RMT had agreed to cancel the strike – which started on Monday and had been due to last five days – if Southern returned to talks. However, Southern admitted that a temporary “strike timetable” would remain in place on Wednesday, meaning that up to 946 out of 2,242 trains – 42 per cent – would still be cancelled.

Some 620,000 journeys are taken on Southern every day, making it one of the busiest rail routes in the country. The network runs between London and the south coast.

The RMT and TSSA yesterday announced that they will hold concurrent strikes on Eurostar this weekend and over the Bank Holiday between August 27 and 29.

The TSSA has also balloted more than 250 station staff members for strike action over attempts to shut ticket offfices on Southern Rail.

Aslef, the train drivers' union, is planning to ballot members about industrial action on the Gatwick Express.

It comes amid mounting concern among Tory MPs that the unions are able to cripple the railways by balloting small numbers of key workers.

The Government is due to introduce new strike laws, but they will not address the size of ballots. Bob Blackman, the MP for Harrow East, said: "It does look like they are colluding to target holiday goers.

"They've picked the August Bank Holiday weekend, which is a big opportunity for people to get across to mainland Europe and back just before schools go back.

"The ideal position is that we get to a point where rail services are considered essential services and we have no strike agreements."

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