RMT Strikes: Impact on Businesses

Question

Asked by

To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact on businesses, particularly high street businesses, of the RMT strikes on London Underground services which took place in April 2026 and are planned again for May and June; and what steps they are taking to mitigate any such impact.

My Lords, transport in London is devolved to the mayor and Transport for London, and any impacts of strike action on London’s transport network are for TfL to assess and manage. Nevertheless, the Government understand that this is extremely disappointing for passengers and businesses, and we encourage all sides to work together to resolve disputes as quickly as possible.

My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for the Answer, but yesterday the RMT’s general secretary threatened to maximise strike disruption nationwide. This month’s Tube strikes have already cost small businesses an estimated £760 million. Do the Government now regret removing the 50% strike ballot threshold in the Employment Rights Act, thereby guaranteeing strike action across the country, at immense cost to small businesses?

I wonder if the noble Lord has forgotten how much money and revenue was lost during strike actions under the previous Government. We have to remember that the Secretary of State, when she came in, took swift action to deal with this, and I am pleased to say that the incidences have reduced dramatically. Obviously, there are discussions going on with RMT; it would be completely inappropriate for me to discuss that at the Dispatch Box.

I, too, thank the Minister for her reply to this Question. I have spent a lot of time in my working life trying to help resolve disputes; in my experience, there are often faults on both sides when disputes arise, but I particularly recognise the impact for businesses and the public when transport disputes arise. Does the Minister agree that, yes, improving industrial relations needs to remain a key objective in that sector, but that in particular a key challenge in developing Great British Railways will be to establish with the relevant unions the right new bargaining structures for the future?

In answering, I thank my noble friend for all the work he has done in this area; he probably understands more than anyone just how important it is to bring parties together. He raises absolutely critical points. We have to bring benefit from collaboration, and I think we have the right building blocks in place to make sure there is the respect due between different parties to make sure that we can move forward positively.

My Lords, part of the noble Lord’s Question alludes to the frailty of British high streets. I am sure that, in her travels as a Minister, she is visiting lots of high streets and seeing shuttered restaurants, empty shops and boarded-up pubs. This kind of hit from the strikes is the final straw for many of these businesses. She may not be able to control the unions, but which of these other policies can she control? There is the huge rise in employer NIC, the huge rise in business rates, the hike in employment costs and the most expensive energy costs in Europe. Does she recognise that there is work to be done, not just on strikes but on preserving and saving our high streets? This Government have to act now to do that.

I did wonder when I saw this Question if it would result in the question that the noble Lord asks. As a former local government leader as well, I am absolutely aware that the problem with high streets is not a recent phenomenon but goes back years, and we have to do everything we can. There are some real innovative schemes coming together to support businesses, but I go back to the point that strikes are not helpful in this scenario, and that is why we are determined to improve industrial relations as we move forward.

My Lords, the 20% drop in footfall reported by the hospitality and retail sectors as a result of these strikes suggests that at least 1 million of the capital’s 6 million workforce did not travel into work as planned. Most of them had to work from home, which meant that swathes of meetings were cancelled, ranging from large-scale events and conferences to a mass of those smaller but critical face-to-face meetings on which so much business, particularly in SMEs, depends. Does the Minister agree that, if you add this loss of productivity to the actual cost of lost working days, the true cost of these strikes could run into the billions?

In the recent dispute in London, the particularly disappointing aspect was that in fact, particularly last Thursday, 88% of journeys in London still took place. I think the problem—well, if it is a problem—is that, because of Covid, many more people are able to work from home, and they decided to take the risk out of their day and stay at home. The noble Lord is right that the impact can be devastating, but the positive thing in the dispute this week is that ASLEF did not go out on strike. I think that holds hope for the future round.

My Lords, my noble friend Lord Sharpe referred to the threat made yesterday by the RMT to bring about a total stoppage of the railways nationwide if they did not receive an above-inflation pay rise with no strings attached. Last week, I asked the noble Lord, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill, whether the Government would insist in future that pay rises on the railways would be linked to productivity improvements, and he managed to avoid answering. Will the Minister answer now for the Government that very simple and straightforward question? What is the Government’s policy about achieving productivity improvements on the railways in connection with increases in pay?

Part of the difficulty when we came into government in 2024 was that there was no agreement on the table around productivity between the private owners of TOCs and staff. I assure the noble Lord that work has been done in this area, as he would expect, and all TOCs have productivity ready due to government action recognising that the benefits of this will be to both staff and passengers.

My Lords, last week I was not singing the praises of the RMT when I was walking with two prosthetic legs between here and Victoria, and I probably speak for many disabled people who rely on the Tube to get to work. But I speak in this place for the smaller businesses out in Rochester where I live—the taxis even out there recorded less work because people were not at work and were either working from home or, probably more likely in many cases, having a day off unpaid. Will the Minister from the Dispatch Box similarly condemn the actions of the RMT?

It is a very interesting dispute. ASLEF is on record saying that it finds the dispute bizarre because of its nature in terms of proposing a voluntary scheme that is not going to be enforced. I hope the discussions will get underneath the issues that the noble Lord mentions. Of course, our sympathies go out to people who are particularly affected, as he mentioned, by such action. That is why it is so important that we get industrial relations on the right footing in this country, and I am delighted to say that we are in the process of doing that.

The immediate mitigation of a tube strike is that people take the bus, or they try to take the bus, but the Mayor of London is going to remove all the buses from the most famous high street of all, namely Oxford Street, to the great detriment of shoppers and tourists with a knock-on effect throughout the London bus network. If it is not too late, can the Government call in this decision? If there is any further attempt to extend it, will the Government call it in to stop further pedestrianisation and the blocking of Oxford Street in the interests of business and visitors?

To relate a small story to the noble Baroness, when I first became an elected councillor, there were proposals to pedestrianise the centre of Leeds, where I am from, and people were predicting that the sky would fall in and there would be queues right back to the M1. It has led to the city absolutely thriving. People will find other ways of getting where they need to go. I think putting pedestrians first is a very interesting and encouraging step forward, and I am sure, when it is successfully implemented, the shops will be very grateful that he has taken the initiative.