Union leaders say the situation is still resolvable with less than 48 hours until strikes hit Britain\’s railways this week

Union leaders say the situation is still resolvable with less than 48 hours until strikes hit Britain’s railways this week.
“We’ve got 48 hours left and we can do some hard negotiating,” said Mike Lynch, general secretary of the RMT. “We’ll be available all day and all night during that period.”
“But with what Network Rail has put on the table, a measly 2 percent pay increase, that’s not going to crack this nut,” he says.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has accused the country’s largest rail union of “punishing” millions of innocent people after it confirmed a series of crippling strikes will take place.
Mr Shapps said the travelling public faced a week of “misery” because the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union refused to call off their strike, which was set to begin on Tuesday.
However, Labour accused Transport Secretary and Prime Minister Boris Johnson of purposefully “pouring petrol on fire” in order to cause the country to “grind to a halt” in order to stoke political divisions.
With rail strikes set to hit the UK, two of the country’s largest teaching unions have stated their willingness to follow suit.
The National Education Union has stated that if it does not receive an inflation-based offer by Wednesday, it will notify the education secretary that it is ready to ballot and go on strike.
The RMT confirmed on Saturday that strikes at Network Rail and 13 train operators will take place on Tuesday, Thursday, and next Saturday, as well as on London Underground on Tuesday.
“Despite the best efforts of our negotiators, no viable settlements to the disputes have been created,” said general secretary Mick Lynch.