PRESS RELEASE : Shapps Threatens to Fire and Re-Hire

The press release issued by the RMT on 19 August 2022.

RAIL UNION RMT has slammed plans announced by Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps to impose new contracts on railway workers, effectively ‘fire and re-hire’ on worse conditions, unless RMT calls off strike action.

The Tory minister told Sky News that if the dispute cannot be settled “we will have to move to what’s called a Section 188, it’s a process of actually requiring these changes to go into place”.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said that Mr Shapps had no authority to issue Section 188 notifications as he was not the legal employer but now seems intent on forcing through fire and re-hire on rail workers despite previously claiming that he had nothing to do with negotiations between the employers and the unions.

“Despite his denials Mr Shapps has clearly been dictating how the train companies should conduct negotiations with RMT and now he’s ordering them to fire and re-hire workers.

“The minister also appears to be increasingly desperate and out-of-touch making wild claims about train services between London and Manchester without having a clue what is actually happening.

“Instead of threatening to cut thousands of safety-critical jobs, introducing driver-only trains, closing ticket offices, bailing out the private rail companies as well as bringing in more anti-union laws the government and the employers should enter meaningful negotiations with RMT,” he said.