UK to see 2nd national rail strike after talks hit stalemate

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Britain is facing the second of three national railway strikes after new negotiations between union and employers ended in deadlock. The Rail, Maritime and Transport Union accused the government of “wrecking” Wednesday’s talks. It said the 24-hour walkout by 40,000 cleaners, signalers, maintenance workers and station staff would go ahead as planned on Thursday. Rail infrastructure company Network Rail said it was “disappointed that the RMT have again chosen to walk away from negotiations.” The union held a daylong strike on Tuesday that brought the U.K. rail network to a crawl, with only a fifth of passenger services running. Another walkout is planned for Saturday.