Fifty Tory MPs call for anti-strike laws to prevent excessive walkouts from crippling commuters
FIFTY MPs have called on the Government to pass new tougher laws against strike action to help long-suffering passengers on Southern Rail.
In a letter to The Telegraph, politicians say it's not fair for unions to be able to cause such "widespread disruption" on such a "flimsy" argument.
The group are calling for further action to ban strikes on "critical infrastructure" such as trains and bus services unless it is deemed "reasonable and proportionate" by a judge.
They also say that unions should be legally bound to run a "skeleton service" when they are on strike.
MPs including Dominic Raab, Nick Herbert and Sir Gerald Howarth said that the right to strike must be "balanced" with the right to go to work and see loved ones.
The news comes as rail bosses are planning to beat militant union strikes by hiring an army of part-time drivers to keep services running during industrial action.
Commuters on rail services have experienced months of misery as drivers repeatedly walked out over the issue of guards on trains.
Around 300,000 have been affected by Southern Rail's repeated strike action, and there are plans for more driver walkouts on January 24, 25 and 27.
Unions say it is unsafe to have trains without a guard on board to shut the doors.
The letter says: "It is not fair that such wide-scale disruption can be caused on so flimsy a pretext.
"New legislation is needed to require strike action on public infrastructure to be ‘reasonable and proportionate’ in the eyes of a High Court Judge.
"There should also be a requirement for a skeleton service to still run on strike days."
Chris Philip, the Tory MP who organised the letter, said an urgent change in the law was needed, "especially with the threats of militant strike action now being made in other industries and on the rail network in other parts of the country".
He will put his proposals to Parliament in a Private Members Bill later this month.
The chaos also could spread to other areas of the country after union drivers threatened to strike on other routes too.
Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn and his Shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, have both said they would join picket lines for the union strikes, despite the misery the action is causing to hundreds of thousands.
Mr Corbyn said: "I would rather stand on a picket line for a safely staffed railway than stand with the fat cat rail bosses charging rail passengers an arm and a leg."