‘Government wants to divide country over rail dispute’: Hull MP Karl Turner

SOLIDARITY: Hull MP Karl Turner, second right, on the picket line with RMT members in Hull today

By Simon Bristow

Hull MP Karl Turner has accused Ministers of not wanting to settle the rail dispute because they want “division in the country” as he joined striking workers on a picket line this morning.

The Hull East Labour MP joined members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) on a picket line at Paragon Station as they staged their second strike of the week over pay, conditions, and jobs.

Mr Turner said: “I’m here to support working people who have decided to withdraw their labour. There was a ballot of the membership and it was unanimously in favour of this action. These men and women have voted to go on strike. It’s not a social experiment, they are doing it to get management around the table.

“The problem we’ve got is the Government are shackling management because they don’t want to get the dispute resolved; they want division in the country.

“These men and women just want a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work. But it’s not just about money - they have put three thousand redundancy notices out, so they are effectively sacking staff as well as damaging their future.”

He added: “There was £500m profit in the industry last year and the chief executive of Network Rail is on £600,000, and a train guard is on £26,000 and a cleaner on less than £20,000. They are not asking for the world, they are just asking management to resolve this, and with the cost of living crisis and the situation in the economy, to try to bring their wages up to a standard where they can manage, and that’s why I’m here supporting them.”

SHUT: Paragon Station was closed by the strike

Asked about reports that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had instructed Shadow frontbenchers not to attend picket lines during the dispute, Mr Turner said: “I don’t know if that’s been misreported. I speak to Keir regularly and he doesn’t want his Shadow Cabinet involved in what is an industrial dispute.

“This is the person who is asking the British people to make him Prime Minister and I think it’s reasonable for someone who wants to become Prime Minister not to get involved in an industrial dispute.”

He added: “If Keir Starmer was Prime Minister next week this dispute wouldn’t be happening, because he would have Louise Haigh (Shadow Transport Secretary) get round the table with management to get a resolution.”

Gaz Jackson, RMT regional organiser for Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, said concerns about job security needed to be settled first.

He said: “My message to Government is unshackle Network Rail so we can get around the table and get a negotiated resolution. We need job security first and then we’ll talk about pay, because if you haven’t got a job it doesn’t matter whether you want a 25 per cent pay rise or five per cent.”

Mr Jackson said the strike was solid and members “know what it’s going to take”. He also praised the public for their support in response to the strikes.

He said: “Eighty-nine per cent of our members in this dispute voted for industrial action and the feedback I’m getting is people are determined, they are willing to do this, and they know what it’s going to take.

MAKING HIS POINT: Karl Turner, centre left, being interviewed by Peter Levy from BBC Look North

“The support from the public has been fantastic, and you can see that in Hull today. We’ve got a battle bus and I’ve been driving across the region and the strike is holding really well.”

Asked about any frustration from passengers, he said: “I would ask people to be patient and if anybody wants to know why we are doing this then come and talk to us. Don’t listen to the right-wing media.”

Mr Turner also said the strike was well supported. “I’ve only been here 45 minutes and I’ve seen half a dozen cars tooting their horns in support,” he said. “A bloke has just come up and given them £20 for Costa coffee and he didn’t look very militant to me.”

The rail strikes are the biggest in 30 years, and with workers in other sectors considering industrial action over pay amid the cost of living crisis and spiralling inflation, the UK could be set for widespread industrial unrest on a scale not seen since the 1970s.

This includes teachers, NHS staff, and the legal profession, with criminal barristers due to begin industrial action next week in a long-running dispute over funding for legal aid.

Mr Turner, a former barrister, said: “When criminal barristers go on strike you know you’ve got a problem. It will be the vicars going on strike next.”

Paragon Station was closed by the strike, and is expected to also be closed during a further stoppage planned by the RMT on Saturday.

Hull Trains said it would operate a reduced timetable on Saturday between Doncaster and London King’s Cross.