The threat of rolling walkouts that would cost ‘tens of billions’
MONTHS of rail strikes threaten to ruin a busy summer calendar of music and sports events and could cost pubs, restaurants and cafes ‘tens of billions’ of pounds.
Glastonbury and the cricket Test between England and New Zealand at Headingley in Leeds will be hit by this week’s industrial action. It could also impact Wimbledon, which begins a week tomorrow.
Dozens more showcase events are under threat after RMT boss Mick Lynch yesterday declared: ‘We will keep this strike going until we get a settlement.’
A senior rail source told The Mail on Sunday that the RMT had privately threatened that this week’s walkouts could be the first of a series of strikes ‘throughout the summer and beyond’.
The news will come as a bitter blow to businesses struggling to recover after two years of Covid restrictions.
Any strikes in July could impact major sporting events including the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on July 3, The Open at St Andrews in Scotland, which begins on July 14, and the Goodwood race meeting between July 26 and 29. The Commonwealth Games take place in Birmingham between July 28 to August 8.
Strike action could be announced to coincide with the August Bank Holiday as it will not only impact commuters during the first part of the week, but also families planning a getaway
over the long weekend and revellers heading to the Reading, Leeds, and Creamfields festivals, as well as London’s Notting Hill Carnival.
Kate Nicholls, of industry group UK Hospitality, said: ‘This week’s strikes are a huge blow, but rolling strikes will be devastating in terms of takings lost and in knocking consumer confidence to book tables, parties, conferences or buy tickets to events. It will recreate the effect of lockdowns.’
She added: ‘If walkouts of this scale were repeated once a month, the cost would be in the tens of billions.’