Tory Grant Shaps warned today that he was preparing to force a major overhaul of the railroad network against the will of striking workers.
The Secretary of Transportation said he was "moving" to the idea of "imposing" reforms on staff - arguing that the railroad union had failed to properly consult them.
Shaps' proposed reforms ranged from mandating Sunday work to closing hundreds of ticket offices and eliminating truck engineers.
It was not immediately clear what measures he was talking about and when. However, he cautioned that "Section 188" could be used.
Section 188 of the Trade Union Act states "where special circumstances make it reasonably impracticable for the employer to comply." , states that a boss can break the rules to fire an employee.
This move will infuriate the union. They believe that railroad workers would effectively be "fired and rehired" if Sunday work were made compulsory against their will. (
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Reuters)Shaps told his Sky News:
``If [the union] is not ready to make the deal for its members, I don't know if the members will accept it. What I can say for certain is that if the method we propose doesn't work, that is, 'Take a deal on your membership'. We move to the so-called Section 188. This is the process that requires and mandates that these changes be actually implemented.
"This is the direction we are going." } After railroad union leaders warned that the long-running dispute over wages, employment and conditions would last "as long as necessary".
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Belinda Jiao)A renewed strike forced tens of thousands of people from the Railway, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) to One member caused travel disruption. , the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA), and Unite withdrew, affecting network rail and rail operators nationwide.
Trains were running only about five to one for him, and in some areas he was out of service all day.
Another strike took place on Saturday, with his RMT members on the London Underground and London Overground and bus drivers in the Unite capital taking industrial action today.
Trade unions continued to blame Transportation Secretary Grant Shaps for the stalemate railroad dispute.
RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch wrote to the Secretary of Transportation: The same companies will follow government directives on the condition that they cut salaries, cut thousands of safety-critical rail jobs, introduce driver-only trains and close ticket offices across the network. .
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PA)Lynch, who continued to accuse Shaps, said the union had previously and Including future industrial action, more than £120m of taxpayer money was spent on 'bailouts' of private rail companies.
Mr. Shaps said Sunday rest day was based on his century-old law.
He added: "If these modernizations cannot be carried out, then they must be forced, but through the fact that these offers are actually made to members It's much better to do that."