Train drivers vote for fresh strikes as disruptions hit Britain’s rail network

theguardian.com:

Unions warned the UK could face a general strike this year as rail workers voted for fresh action set to intensify a summer of industrial unrest.

The vote for further transport strikes came as Keir Starmer sacked shadow transport minister Sam Tarry who conducted broadcast interviews alongside striking RMT workers at Euston station – a move that is likely to increase divisions between Labour and trade unions.

Other shadow ministers are expected to escape serious sanction but Tarry was told by Labour whips he had broken collective responsibility by making statements about pay and inflation that are not party policy.

Senior shadow ministers have expressed private concern at Starmer’s policy not to allow frontbenchers to join picket lines – saying it could become unsustainable with unprecedented levels of industrial action in the offing.

As much of Britain’s rail network ground to a halt, the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union chief, Mick Lynch, called for a general strike in retaliation to ministers’ threats to curb industrial action, warning of “the biggest resistance mounted by the entire trade union movement”.

Travel was disrupted for millions on Wednesday as some lines closed and only about one in five trains ran on about half the network, as a fourth day of pickets this summer affected the network in England, Scotland and Wales.

Aslef, the train drivers’ union, announced it had an overwhelming mandate for further industrial action which will involve drivers walking out at nine rail companies in a dispute over pay.

A total of 974 drivers at CrossCountry and Avanti – 93% – voted in favour of a strike on 13 August, adding to actions already scheduled for that Saturday by drivers at Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway,