FIGHT FOR THE RIGHT TO STRIKE

7 RMT will fight tooth and nail plans from the incoming Tory government to effectively outlaw strikes on the rail and tube networks. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps is planning legal provisions to force workers to run minimum services during industrial action. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that it had taken long for the true colours of the new Tory Government to emerge. “Banning strikes and denying workers the basic human right to withdraw their labour has been the hallmark of hard right, authoritarian regimes throughout history. "Instead of attacking rail workers fighting to defend safety and disabled access any responsible Government would be tackling the scandal of private profiteering on Britain's railways which has reduced services to chaos. "RMT will fight any plans to deny out members their basic human rights,” he said. Boris Johnson’s Tory government announced the draconian measure which amounts to an attempt to ban transport workers from going on strike. Transport secretary Grant Shapps said that “the ability of a few people to prevent everyone from being able to earn a living has to come to an end. “The new law will prevent London being brought to a standstill, with all the additional environmental damage done by people reverting to cars,” he said. ASLEF general secretary Mick Whelan also “utterly condemned” the plans. “This is nothing less than a declaration of war on transport workers. “No trade unionist takes industrial action lightly, but we need that option to prevent bad employers riding roughshod over our working conditions and safety. “This shows that this right- wing and authoritarian Tory government sees transport workers as the enemy, not stakeholders,” he said. FIGHT FOR THE RIGHT TO STRIKE Union vows to fight Tory plan to ban strikes in the transport sector