London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Oct 20, 2025

Unions vow to fight ministers’ proposals to curtail right to strike on railways

Unions vow to fight ministers’ proposals to curtail right to strike on railways

Faced with threat of national action, government says it will consider imposing ‘minimum service levels’
Unions have pledged to fight ministers’ “desperate” proposals to force staff to work should a national rail strike be called.

With ballots on industrial action across Network Rail and 15 English train operators closing this week, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said the government would consider imposing “minimum service levels”, effectively curtailing the right to strike.

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) and others said any such move would meet the “fiercest resistance”.

More than 40,000 RMT members are voting on whether to strike in the face of expected cuts including the loss of thousands of maintenance jobs at Network Rail, pay freezes and the closure of station ticket offices, after the government told the railway industry to find huge savings after a drop in revenue caused by the Covid pandemic. The results of the vote are expected on Wednesday morning.

Shapps told the Telegraph that ministers were considering passing laws that would fulfil a Conservative manifesto pledge to keep services running during transport strikes. “We had a pledge in there about minimum service levels,” he said. If they really got to that point then minimum service levels would be a way to work towards protecting those freight routes and those sorts of things.”

Unions said Shapps was talking about denying basic rights. The RMT’s general secretary, Mick Lynch, said: “Any attempt by Grant Shapps to make effective strike action illegal on the railways will be met with the fiercest resistance from RMT and the wider trade union movement.

“The government need to focus all their efforts on finding a just settlement to this rail dispute, not attack the democratic rights of working people.”

The Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA), which may also hold a national rail strike ballot if compulsory redundancies are made, said it was “desperate nonsense from the Tories, who have chosen to attack working people who kept the railways running every single day of the pandemic”. The union’s general secretary, Manuel Cortes, said: “Our union will defy their unjust and undemocratic laws every step of the way.”

The TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, accused ministers of trying to distract from the cost-of-living crisis by picking a fight with unions. “The right to strike is crucial in a free society,” she said. “Threatening it … means workers can’t stand up for decent services and safety at work or defend their jobs or pay.”

The Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, said the union would “confront head-on, and by whatever means necessary, any further attacks on the right to strike”.

Rail unions have warned of a “spring of discontent” after long-running talks with industry bosses over potential savings broke down at the end of last year without agreement. Some rail operating companies are believed to be considering wage increases of 2-3%, but most pay was frozen during the pandemic and inflation has reached 9%.

The rail industry is drawing up contingency plans for a national strike, including prioritising freight train operations to keep goods moving and shelves stocked.

Rail firms say the strike ballot is premature with most pay talks yet to take place, but unions believe swingeing cuts will come. The industry needed about £15bn of additional funding when Covid drove passengers away, and the government has made clear to rail executives that the subsidy must fall. Unions have urged the government to tackle rolling stock companies, which were guaranteed income from taxpayers and paid huge dividends to shareholders during the pandemic.

The Department for Transport has said industrial action would cause “irreparable damage to our railways”, with many former commuters no longer forced to travel daily to workplaces.

A Rail Delivery Group spokesperson said rail firms were “acutely aware of cost of living pressures” on staff, but added: “Our whole focus now should be securing a thriving future for rail that adapts to new travel patterns and takes no more than its fair share from taxpayers, instead of staging premature industrial action which would disrupt passengers’ lives and put the industry’s recovery at risk.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
China Warns UK of ‘Consequences’ After Delay to London Embassy Approval
France’s Wealthy Shift Billions to Luxembourg and Switzerland Amid Tax and Political Turmoil
"Sniper Position": Observation Post Targeting 'Air Force One' Found Before Trump’s Arrival in Florida
Shouting Match at the White House: 'Trump Cursed, Threw Maps, and Told Zelensky – "Putin Will Destroy You"'
Windows’ Own ‘Siri’ Has Arrived: You Can Now Talk to Your Computer
Thailand and Singapore Investigate Cambodian-Based Prince Group as U.S. and U.K. Sanctions Unfold
‘No Kings’ Protests Inflate Numbers — But History Shows Nations Collapse Without Strong Executive Power
Chinese Tech Giants Halt Stablecoin Launches After Beijing’s Regulatory Intervention
Manhattan Jury Holds BNP Paribas Liable for Enabling Sudanese Government Abuses
Trump Orders Immediate Release of Former Congressman George Santos After Commuting Prison Sentence
S&P Downgrades France’s Credit Rating, Citing Soaring Debt and Political Instability
Ofcom Rules BBC’s Gaza Documentary ‘Materially Misleading’ Over Narrator’s Hamas Ties
Diane Keaton’s Cause of Death Revealed as Pneumonia, Family Confirms
Former Lostprophets Frontman Ian Watkins Stabbed to Death in British Prison
"The Tsunami Is Coming, and It’s Massive": The World’s Richest Man Unveils a New AI Vision
Outsider, Heroine, Trailblazer: Diane Keaton Was Always a Little Strange — and Forever One of a Kind
Dramatic Development in the Death of 'Mango' Founder: Billionaire's Son Suspected of Murder
Two Years of Darkness: The Harrowing Testimonies of Israeli Hostages Emerging From Gaza Captivity
EU Moves to Use Frozen Russian Assets to Buy U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
Europe Emerges as the Biggest Casualty in U.S.-China Rare Earth Rivalry
HSBC Confronts Strategic Crossroads as NAB Seeks Only Retail Arm in Australia Exit
U.S. Chamber Sues Trump Over $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
Shenzhen Expo Spotlights China’s Quantum Step in Semiconductor Self-Reliance
China Accelerates to the Forefront in Global Nuclear Fusion Race
Yachts, Private Jets, and a Picasso Painting: Exposed as 'One of the Largest Frauds in History'
Australia’s Wedgetail Spies Aid NATO Response as Russian MiGs Breach Estonian Airspace
McGowan Urges Chalmers to Cut Spending Over Tax Hike to Close $20 Billion Budget Gap
Victoria Orders Review of Transgender Prison Placement Amid Safety Concerns for Female Inmates
U.S. Treasury Mobilises New $20 Billion Debt Facility to Stabilise Argentina
French Business Leaders Decry Budget as Macron’s Pro-Enterprise Promise Undermined
Trump Claims Modi Pledged India Would End Russian Oil Imports Amid U.S. Tariff Pressure
Surging AI Startup Valuations Fuel Bubble Concerns Among Top Investors
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
×