STROUD MP Siobhan Baillie has condemned the rail strikes, claiming that "nothing good will come of this strike," as thousands of workers protest for better pay.

She said: “It is frankly bonkers to be doing this now. The harm could be significant – not just to the rail industry, but to the whole economy. I urge the RMT to think again, swallow its pride and go back to the negotiating table.”

“Passengers who deserted the railways recently and are not coming back at post-pandemic levels so how can a series of strikes help?”

On strike days, 21, 23 and 25 (today, Thursday and Saturday), only 30 percent of GWR services will be operating and people are being warned to expect severe disruption and to only travel by rail if absolutely necessary.

The dispute is over job security, pay and working conditions, with unions complaining that railway staff who worked through the pandemic are facing job cuts, a pay freeze and attacks on employment conditions.

Mrs Baillie said: “The Government supported the rail network with £16 billion of taxpayers’ money during the pandemic - that’s £600 per household - to keep it running and to keep people employed.

“It sadly appears the RMT union is keen to strike regardless.

"It is also ignoring the reality that high pay rises will add to the inflationary pressures this country faces and potentially bring on a recession.

“Network Rail and the train operators want to modernise the network to make it sustainable.

"The proposed changes reflect the modern world and aim to bring down costs for customers but the RMT would rather things were run like British Rail was in the 1970s.”

 

“Students are also sitting exams this week and after two years of disruption due to Covid, they should not have travel stress too. Other people are reporting missing operations and long awaited events that have been cancelled in recent

years.”