Travel chaos: Urgent warning as commuters told work from home as train strikes to hit AGAIN a week after Tube walkout
COMMUTERS are being warned they could be told to work from home as train strikes are set to hit AGAIN.
More than 50,000 railway staff will walkout later this month in the biggest dispute on the network in 33 years.
And RMT boss Mick Lynch - who earns £125,000-a-year in pay and benefits - has warned even more could follow.
RMT claims Network Rail and the train operating companies have subjected their staff to multiyear pay freezes and plan to cut thousands of jobs which will make the railways unsafe.
Despite intense talks with the rail bosses, RMT has not been able to secure a pay proposal nor a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies.
The strikes threaten widespread travel disruption during a number of major events, including concerts, test match cricket and the Glastonbury festival.
Glastonbury starts on June 22, while that week will also see England play New Zealand in a Test match in Leeds, the British athletics championships in Manchester, and gigs in London's Hyde Park by Sir Elton John and The Rolling Stones.
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There will also be a Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in London on June 24 and 25 and it is Armed Forces Day on June 25.
Meanwhile workers will be hit hard - with three in four Brits commuting to work everyday.
They will be told to “only travel if absolutely necessary" meaning many will be forced to work from home.
The announcement of the strike has caused huge anger and has left Brits facing a summer travel meltdown with chaos on the rails and rocketing fuel prices piled on top of airport misery.
The Prime Minister yesterday described the rail strike action as "reckless and wanton" in the Commons.
At Prime Minister's Questions, Labour MP Afzal Khan said: "Two weeks ago the Prime Minister told the House: 'To the best of my knowledge everybody is getting their passport within four to six weeks', however the Passport Office is currently quoting a 10-week service time, with many of my constituents waiting well over that period.
"Cancelled summer trips could cost families over £1 billion. Does the Prime Minister accept that the Passport Office backlog is placing additional pressure on families already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis?"
Boris Johnson replied: "Actually what we are doing is 91% are getting their passport within six weeks I can tell him. We are putting hundreds more staff into the Passport Office.
"The strength of demand by the way is a sign of the robustness of the economy because everyone is frankly wanting to go on holiday and quite right too.
"But when it comes to travel chaos, have we heard any condemnation yet from the opposition for the RMT and their reckless and wanton strike?"
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Downing Street has urged the RMT to call off rail strikes planned for later this month and come to the negotiating table.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said strikes would cause "lasting damage" to the industry and those who work in it.