Housing Minister Lee Rowley says 'unions do not need to strike' as industrial actions halt trains

Transcript

00:00 Well, the unions, in my view, don't need to be on strike.

00:02 They're impacting my constituents in North East Derbyshire

00:04 right now who want to get to work,

00:06 and they shouldn't be doing that.

00:07 I don't know why they're striking.

00:09 I wish they weren't.

00:09 This is a very longstanding dispute.

00:11 People just want to get on with getting to work,

00:13 and the unions should just stop and call the strike on.

00:16 Is £65,000 enough for driving trains?

00:19 Yes.

00:21 So you're asking them to go back to work.

00:24 You can actually, I'm guessing, make them go back to work,

00:27 or certainly their employers can, because you

00:29 change the laws.

00:30 So why are those not being implemented?

00:32 What would you be saying to the rail companies this morning?

00:35 Well, I hope they'll use them in the future.

00:37 I'm not close to it, as you say, but as a housing minister,

00:39 rather than a rail minister.

00:40 But what I understand is that the rail companies have said

00:44 they may use them in the future.

00:45 I think that would be--

00:46 Shouldn't they be using them now?

00:47 Arguably, I hope that they would.

00:49 And I think the prime minister said he's disappointed

00:51 that they're not using them.

00:52 It's ultimately for the rail operators to decide.

00:55 But those laws are there across a number of sectors

00:58 to make sure that when strikes happen,

01:00 that people are not inconvenienced

01:02 more than they need to be.

01:03 And ultimately, none of this would be necessary if the unions

01:06 didn't call unnecessary strikes.

01:08 [BLANK_AUDIO]