Commenting on ASLEF joining the national rail dispute, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: "We congratulate our friends in ASLEF for their superb ballot result and the huge mandate they have for strike action on the railways...
"It goes to show that railway workers across every grade from cleaners, catering staff guards, maintenance staff and drivers are fed up with real terms pay cuts, attacks on job security and working conditions...
"When railway unions and others unite, they are an unstoppable force in the workplace and wider society.
"Grant Shapps needs to stop messing around with his doomed Tory leadership bid and get back to focusing on resolving this dispute...
"He continues to shackle both Network Rail and the train companies from reaching a deal with the RMT, something we have done repeatedly and successfully since privatisation in 1993...
"Mr Shapps should either get around the table or get out of the way because at the moment, he is the major roadblock to a negotiated settlement."
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In a grim turn of events, @networkrail boss Andrew Haines has attempted to weaponise the tragic death of a railway worker to undermine our national rail dispute. Our 20,000+ members are the experts in safety and have shown tremendous dignity throughout this dispute. 🧵⬇️
An RMT spokesperson said: “It’s undignified of him to accuse RMT of putting its own members at risk when he knows without our health and safety reps, deaths and injuries on the railway would exponentially increase.”
"Andrew also knows that RMT is discussing many of his plans for modernisation in current talks, but he also needs to make written commitment of no compulsory redundancies - a guarantee that they had previously given for over a decade.”
. @RMTunion General Secretary Mick Lynch responds to claims made by @grantshapps about railway working practices:
"Grant Shapps is talking nonsense and is completely ignorant of how the railways work which is a major shortcoming for a Transport Secretary. 🧵
"It is false that that Sunday working practices have not been updated since 1919.
"In many companies we have agreements that Sunday forms part of the working week and agreed provisions for rostering overtime for Sundays where the companies require the staff to work all of their contracted hours between Monday and Saturday with Sunday as extra hours.