Millions of commuters faced disruption on their first day back in the office yesterday as rail unions began five days of strikes this week. Mick Lynch, head of the RMT union, said his members might “need” to continue their disruption well into the summer, insisting they still had overwhelming public support. Both claims are preposterous. There is no need to go on with strikes that not only endanger the long-term future of the railways themselves but, according to sources, could swiftly be settled with more union flexibility on work rosters. And Mr Lynch must know that the public is now utterly fed up with strikes by a sector that is reasonably well paid and has a clear political agenda.
The RMT has badly miscalculated. There was a time when a rail strike would swiftly have paralysed the country because the public had little alternative. No longer is that the case. Commuters now plan their working week around strike days and arrange to work from home when necessary. The pandemic has shown that such flexible working is both possible and often desirable. Little by little, people are relying less on rail travel. Of course the inconvenience and economic costs are still huge. But the real cost is to the railways themselves. If more and more passengers are lost for ever, the future for the network is precarious. Already taxpayers are subsidising the railways to the tune of £600 a household; there is growing reluctance to pay for something that many voters now say they rarely use.
The unions may also find that solidarity in their ranks is beginning to crumble. Partly this is because strikers have to rely on pay from the union on strike days. The RMT’s funds are limited and it is now appealing for financial support from the public. Rail workers cannot afford long financial sacrifice at a time of high inflation and falling living standards. Enough railwaymen want to continue working to allow rail operators to run limited services on strike days, blunting the action’s edge.
Many RMT members and those in associated unions also realise that working conditions will have to change. Technology has made many jobs redundant. A guard is not needed to close train doors. Signalling can be automated. Driverless trains may soon be possible. To insist on oldfashioned rosters that allow rail workers to earn generous overtime pay at weekends is no way to run a 24-hour service seven days a week. The Luddites who smashed machines could not halt the industrial revolution. Nor can rail unions stop attempts to modernise the system to make it a key part of green transport policies.
Mr Lynch, with far-left sympathies, sees industrial action as part of a broader movement to undermine the capitalist system. He has come close to supporting proposals for a general strike, and there are clear attempts to co-ordinate action with other unions to achieve maximum disruption. Such collusion is not illegal, although the Thatcher government outlawed secondary picketing a generation ago. Little wonder that the government is now considering laws to force unions to guarantee minimum service during strikes.
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Again, however, Mr Lynch has miscalculated. There is no mood in the country for a general strike, whatever the dissatisfaction with the Tory government and the present economic hardship. Brinkmanship is a foolhardy policy if you cannot see the abyss. It’s high time for compromise.
