The British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, not only does not give his arm to twist in the face of the demands of the strikers who have paralyzed rail transport in the country, but he is not even able to "lift a finger to find a solution to the conflict, the worst of its kind in three decades. With these words, the leader of the opposition Labor Party, Keir Starmer, accused the prime minister, who in Wednesday's question session in Parliament, which comes to be control of the government, made it ugly not to be doing his job and for being a "selfish" leader. "Instead of blaming others, why don't you do your job, sit at the table and make the trains work?" Asked the opponent of the 'premier', who entered the rag, condemning in turn Starmer for not having the "courage" to prevent some MPs from his party from giving their support to the striking workers.
The stoppages began on Tuesday, and there are two more 24-hour shifts called this Thursday and next Saturday, while today the trains only worked at 60%, according to data from the sector, because many night shift employees did not work, thus causing delays in operations during the day. The unions are demanding an increase in wages from the Johnson government that allows workers to face inflation and stop plans to change the pension system and other labor agreements, in addition to the elimination of more than two thousand jobs.
A Downing Street spokesman said raising wages to offset inflation not just for rail workers but for other public sector employees, as the National Union for Teacher Education also requires, would be "unwise". since, he explained, this would have an impact "by driving inflation more and more", which "means that the salary that people take home is worth less."
Meanwhile, the general population is preparing to suffer the consequences of a conflict that does not seem to have a quick solution in sight, with the parties leaving the negotiating table without achieving any progress.
The National Union of Railway, Maritime and Transport Workers, RMT, attacked the transport minister, Grant Shapps, accusing him of "ruining the negotiations", but the authorities of Network Rail, the public body that manages most of the infrastructure of the railway network in England, Scotland and Wales, assured that it was the trade unionists who decided not to continue speaking.
"Grant Shapps has ruined these negotiations by not allowing Network Rail to withdraw the letter threatening to lay off 2,900 of our members," said RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch, who warned that "we will continue" with the strike. until we get a negotiated agreement that provides job security and a pay increase for our members that addresses the growing cost of living crisis.” "The RMT continues to stray from the fact that the only ones responsible for this week's massive (transportation) disruption are them. I want to urge Mick Lynch and the (union) members to stop wasting their time making false claims in the media and instead come back to the bargaining table so an agreement can be reached," Shapps replied.
This Thursday, the 50,000 people who have joined the strike will again ask that their demands be heard with a stoppage that will see "less than one in five trains" in Britain run, and only on main lines.
