![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/top-tory-told-get-back-to-work-and-meet-unions-as-rail-strikes-pile-on-more-misery/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/0_Exclu-tag-Mark-Harper.jpg&description=Labour's Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has written to Tory cabinet member Mark Harper after official records showed he hasn't met with the RMT or ASLEF at all in 2023 Tory Transport Secretary Mark Harper has been told to "get back to work" after failing to meet rail unions at all this year - in spite of strikes piling misery on passengers this weekend. The frontbencher is accused of failing to do his job despite the threat of a summer of walkouts in a dispute that has been going on for more than a year. Louise Haigh, Labour's Shadow Transport Secretary, has written to Mr Harper, telling him to talk to the RMT and ASLEF - who he's not met since November and December respectively. Ms Haigh fumed: 'The fact that Mark Harper has refused to do his job whilst the British public have faced over a year of rail chaos is unacceptable. The very least we should expect from the Transport Secretary is to sit down with the unions and rail operators, to try and reach an agreement to end these strikes for good. "The fact he has failed to do even that means we can safely add the Transport Secretary to the list of things that do not work in Britain anymore.' Official meeting logs show the last meeting Mr Harper held with the RMT was in November, and ASLEF in December. It means he has only met with both major rail unions once since being appointed in October last year. Rail strikes have been going on since June 2022, and have seen dozens of walkouts, with more likely in the coming months. England's situation stands in contrast to Wales, Labour says, where publicly owned Transport for Wales agreed a pay deal to end strikes in December. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said striking rail workers are still waiting for an invitation back to the negotiating table. He said: "We've been on strike for over a year. This campaign's probably been running for two years. "The issues are the same. They're attacking our jobs. They're making redundancies. They're closing services." Mr Lynch){kind=link}
Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has written to Tory cabinet member Mark Harper after official records showed he hasn’t met with the RMT or ASLEF at all in 2023
Tory Transport Secretary Mark Harper has been told to “get back to work” after failing to meet rail unions at all this year – in spite of strikes piling misery on passengers this weekend.
The frontbencher is accused of failing to do his job despite the threat of a summer of walkouts in a dispute that has been going on for more than a year.
Louise Haigh, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, has written to Mr Harper, telling him to talk to the RMT and ASLEF – who he’s not met since November and December respectively.
Ms Haigh fumed: “The fact that Mark Harper has refused to do his job whilst the British public have faced over a year of rail chaos is unacceptable. The very least we should expect from the Transport Secretary is to sit down with the unions and rail operators, to try and reach an agreement to end these strikes for good.