British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps on Sunday accused the unions of “gunning” for crippling rail strikes that he said are “completely unnecessary” and self-harming.
Union leaders confirmed on Saturday that strikes will be held on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday across the rail network and London Underground over pay, jobs, and conditions. The action by tens of thousands of rail workers will cripple services for most of the week across the country.
Mick Lynch, the general secretary of the Rail, Maritime, and Transport union (RMT)—the UK’s largest rail union—blamed the action on the government’s decision “to cut £4 [billion] of funding from our transport systems—£2 [billion] from national rail and £2 [billion] from Transport for London.”…