Britain faced another week of disrupted travel from rail strikes from Tuesday, in a failure for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s new strikes law that was intended to curb disruption to public services during industrial action.
The Strikes Act empowers employers in certain sectors to require workers to maintain minimum levels of service on strike days so disruption to essential services like ambulances and trains is minimised.
But Britain’s train operators have decided not to implement minimum service levels (MSLs) – set at 40% of the normal timetable for rail services – for this week’s strikes, called by trade union ASLEF.
Sunak’s government, under pressure to tackle the problem ahead of an election expected later in 2024, enacted the strikes law last year, promising passengers “certainty that they will be able to make important journeys on a strike day.”
