The Government is considering plans for a minimum staffing requirement during rail strikes as the threat of major industrial action intensifies and a 24-hour strike on the London Underground has been announced to take place on 6 June. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has said that ministers are looking at drawing up laws that would make industrial action illegal unless a certain number of staff are working and added that the government hopes the unions “will wake up and smell the coffee” as strikes could put more people off rail travel.

He also accused unions of going straight to industrial action rather than using it as a last resort, adding that railways were already on “financial life support” because of the pandemic.

Referring to a pledge in the Conservative manifesto for minimum services during strikes, he said:

“We had a pledge in there about minimum service levels. If they really got to that point then minimum service levels would be a way to work towards protecting those freight routes and those sorts of things.”

The Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) union is this week balloting 40,000 members on plans to strike, which could create “serious challenges” in keeping goods moving and supermarket shelves stocked and “potentially be the biggest rail strike in modern history”. The vote includes staff on Network Rail and 15 train operating companies. Another union, the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA), has also warned of a “summer of discontent” with similar action on the way unless pay disputes are resolved.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said:

“Any attempt by Grant Shapps to make effective strike action illegal on the railways will be met with the fiercest resistance from RMT and the wider trade union movement. The government need to focus all their efforts on finding a just settlement to this rail dispute, not attack the democratic rights of working people. Britain already has the worst trade union rights in western Europe. And we have not fought tooth and nail for railway workers since our forebears set up the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants in 1872, in order to meekly accept a future where our members are prevented from legally withdrawing their labour.”

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“Ministers have spectacularly failed to deal with the cost of living crisis. Now they are trying to distract from their failure by picking a fight with unions. The right to strike is crucial in a free society. Threatening the right to strike tilts the balance in the workplace too far towards the employers. And it means workers can’t stand up for decent services and safety at work – or defend their jobs or pay. We will fight these unfair and unworkable proposals to undermine unions and undermine the right to strike. And we will win.”

UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said:

“For ministers to be focusing on undermining the fundamental rights of workers rather than tackling the cost of living crisis speaks volumes. They’re only interested in finding scapegoats for their own economic failures. The right to strike is a vital line of defence to protect jobs, pay and services. The effect of removing it will be to drive down wages even further, make millions more struggle to pay their bills and push them into poverty. For all the sloganeering about levelling up, it’s clear this government doesn’t want workers to be paid fairly and wants to trash living standards.”