UK govt criticizes unions for unleashing rail chaos

The prospect of the United Kingdom's railways being crippled by industrial action this summer has triggered an angry backlash from commuters and the prime minister's office, which branded would-be strikers "selfish" for planning to park the country's trains.

With the BBC reporting that a Downing Street spokesman had described the proposed strikes - set for June 21, 23, and 25 - as "thoroughly irresponsible", the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers, or RMT, said the withdrawal of labor on those days could have been avoided if workers had been treated properly and if companies had negotiated in good faith during the past two years.

Mick Lynch, the RMT's secretary-general, told the BBC it is government ministers and not rail workers who are the "experts at being selfish and irresponsible".

He said fears among rail workers over poor pay and job security had triggered the strikes, and that they could have been avoided if employees had been offered "decent terms and conditions".

"The government has the key to unlock that," he added.

But Downing Street retorted that the strikes that will affect four-fifths of the nation's trains will inflict "pain and economic disruption on their fellow citizens in really tough times".

The proposed strikes, which will involve more than 40,000 workers from Network Rail and 13 smaller train companies, will be the largest industrial action to hit the UK's rail network in decades.

Both the unions and the train companies have vowed to continue talking in the coming days, in the hope of heading off the strikes.

But train operators have said their revenues are now 82 percent of the 2019 level, and the 38-million-pound ($47.7-million) reduction in their income has put a strain on the industry that must be addressed.

Lynch, however, insisted there is plenty of money available for pay rises.

"It'll just mean they have to cut back on their profits," he said.

Britons hoping to escape the misery of a summer of rail strikes by heading overseas for a holiday could be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire, with recent disruption and delays within the aviation industry caused by worker shortages set to continue for some time.

With the cost of plane tickets also set to rocket up by around 10 percent this summer, John Holland-Kaye, CEO of Heathrow Airport, said it will take"12 to 18 months for the aviation sector to fully recover capacity".

"What we saw in some airports over the past few weeks is that supply and demand were out of balance," he told the Financial Times newspaper. "We need to make sure we are planning much better."

The Evening Standard newspaper said the aviation industry, like the rail industry, is struggling to adapt to a new normal and is working to build up enough capacity to cope with the post-lockdown clamor for holidays.