15 December 2016

The General Secretary of RMT Mick Cash has today spoken out against Southern Rail after he was barred from conciliatory talks with the company.

"Southern Rail were fully aware last night that I would be attending the talks this morning at Acas alongside our Aslef colleagues," he said. "RMT is furious at the complete contempt that has been shown to us by Southern Rail this morning which leaves us in a state of limbo when we should all be around the table thrashing out the issues that have led to the current action."

He added: "Our members were expecting discussions to take place today and instead we have had the door slammed in our faces. That is no way to rebuild the confidence of the workforce in the Southern management and the talks process and it is no way to reach a solution which is what the public are crying out for."

The union chief explained that he had arrived to attend the meeting but "was told that I would not allowed to take part by representatives from the company".

Earlier this week, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling told the BBC that he would consider further anti-trade union legislation in light of the Southern Rail strikes, which the government has attempted to smear as "politically motivated".