Industrial action could lie ahead at Network Rail after unions claimed that the employer was threatening to sack 13,000 maintenance workers and re-employ a reduced number on new terms and conditions, according to a report in the Independent.
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The report added that Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) general secretary Bob Crow has written to Network Rail chief executive Iain Coucher today (Friday) asking the threat to be withdrawn.
The union has claimed that the threat to sack the workforce, who carry out day-to-day maintenance of tracks, signals and overhead lines, was made during talks with RMT representatives.