Jeremy Corbyn has backed Scottish workers who are choosing to go on strike during COP26 despite the looming prospect of travel chaos.
The former Labour leader said he hoped a deal could be reached between transport bosses and railway staff but insisted "sideline condemnation" was not the way to resolve it.
The MP, who remains a hugely influential figure in left-wing politics, spoke to the Record ahead of his visit to Glasgow next week where he will host a series of alternative COP26 events.
Corbyn, who stood down from Labour's top job following the 2019 General Election defeat, is staging four events in Scotland from November 8-11 as part of his Peace and Justice project.
Among the events is a "climate justice cabaret", bringing together musicians and artists, as well as a panel with trade union leaders and two in conversation-style meetings.
World leaders will begin arriving in Glasgow on Sunday for the international climate summit but preparations on the ground have been rocked by looming industrial action which could see almost all local rail services cancelled.
Members of the RMT union are set to walk out for the duration of COP26 as part of a long-running dispute with ScotRail over pay.
Corbyn insisted there was "a lot of sympathy" among the public for strikes after 10 years of Tory austerity politics at Westminster.
He said: "Unions don't willingly take strike action. Workers don't willingly give up wages to go on strike. They only do it because they believe very strongly that a justice must be resolved.
"I would hope the Scottish Government and the rail companies will come together very quickly and reach some kind of agreement which means the strikes won't have to go ahead.
"But it does mean there has to be active engagement - sideline condemnation of the strike isn't going to solve it. It's about supporting workers' rights to take that action.
"Is there ever a good time to go on strike? No. Workers going on strike lose wages but they are doing it for a reason."
Asked if unions risked losing public support, Corbyn said: "The public, as a whole, have seen their living standards lower, their wages frozen, or their incomes reduced because of the coronavirus as well as 10 years of austerity.
"So I think there is a lot of sympathy for unions taking action to prevent things firing and rehiring and improving wages and conditions.
"If even the Chancellor accepts that wages in Britain are too low, and the take of the wealthiest out of our economy has grown astronomically in the past 10 years, I think there is time for a reckoning.
"Are there going to be disputes? Probably yes, but that is a sign of the inequality in our society."
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