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The RMT general secretary is threatening a series of 48 hour walks outs during the festive period that will bring the network to a halt. Mr Lynch said Transport Secretary Mark Harper had agreed to help secure a resolution to the dispute with train bosses. He claimed there was none of the “bellicose nonsense” that had come from Grant Shapps when he held the government brief.<\/p>\n
But Mr Lynch said the union was “no closer” to calling off the upcoming strikes.<\/p>\n
Mr Harper said the talks had been “constructive” and there is a deal to be done.<\/p>\n
“We have common ground – we both want the dispute to end and we both want a thriving railway which delivers for passengers and workers alike,” the Cabinet minister said.<\/p>\n
“To achieve this though, we need to work together, across the entire industry to ensure our railway industry thrives.<\/p>\n
“There is a deal to be done, and I believe we will get there – I want to facilitate the RMT and the employers to reach an agreement and end the dispute for the benefit of the travelling public.”<\/p>\n
Mr Harper said it is up to the unions and employers to address their long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions, urging both parties to “hammer out” reforms to deliver a better service.<\/p>\n
But Mr Lynch has insisted the Cabinet minister has a “direct say” over what the companies in question can offer his members.<\/p>\n
“We’re now starting to get a dialogue,” he said. “What we’re chiefly asking him to do – you’ve heard him say that he’s going to be a facilitator towards a settlement or a resolution of the dispute,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We’ve said to him that there’s no good having these warm words, we’ve heard them from his predecessor, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, but nothing actually happened. So, we want him to set down in writing what he’s going to do about the mechanics of how a resolution will be facilitated.”<\/p>\n
It comes as picket lines were mounted outside schools, universities and Royal Mail centres yesterday.<\/p>\n
Union leaders claimed the walkouts were being solidly supported by the public.<\/p>\n
The general secretary of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) accused Royal Mail of subjecting its workers to a “psychological attack” over their working conditions.<\/p>\n
Members are pressing ahead with a series of strikes in the coming weeks, including on Friday and on Christmas Eve.<\/p>\n
Around 70,000 members of the University and College Union (UCU) walked out in a dispute over pay, pensions and contracts.<\/p>\n
Schoolchildren stayed at home as teachers across Scotland walked out in their first national pay strike in almost 40 years.<\/p>\n