Mims Davies, the Member of Parliament for Eastleigh, has spoken out against a decision reached by the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), confirming that their members will be taking industrial action over the role of the guard on South Western Railway.
Commenting Mims said:
"I am disappointed but not surprised by this move by the RMT which is totally irresponsible, unnecessary and a blatant political move against the government, which will in fact make life harder for everyday people trying to go about their daily lives, and further demonstrates this union’s lack of interest in customers."
"Even more frustrating is that South Western Railway have already made it clear that they intend to keep two members of staff on each train!"
"For many that have travelled on Southern Rail this will feel like a double dose of deja vu, when strike action on the rail network disrupted the lives of tens of thousands of people across the South and South East, resulting in people losing their jobs, being absent for the births of their children and missing vital hospital treatment."
Having heard that the RMT were balloting its members for similar industrial action on the South Western Railway, the MP for Eastleigh wrote to the Transport Secretary asking that his Department does everything it can to avoid similar disruption across the South and South West. This week she learnt that despite their best efforts the Department for Transport had been unable to prevent such action.
The threat of industrial action follows comments made by the President of the RMT Sean Hoyle in which he set out that the RMT will pursue an agenda of disruption across the county in a bid to bring down the government.
Commenting Mims said:
"As the MP for Eastleigh I intend to meet with representatives from South Western Railway, and on top of highlighting concerns raised with me by constituents about their current level of service, I will be looking to see what action they will be taking to minimise disruption during industrial action."
"In the meantime I would again like to call upon the RMT to see sense and get back to the day job."