Rail workers have the “grit and determination” to see through the biggest rail strikes in 30 years, a transport union boss said, as an insider warned walkouts could continue until Christmas.
John Leach, assistant general secretary of the RMT union, said workers were prepared for a “war of attrition” in pay negotiations with ministers.
Meanwhile, a union source told The Daily Telegraph that the RMT had a “mandate for strike action for six months”.
Services on the railways and London Underground are set be crippled from midnight in the biggest walkout in the industry for more than 30 years in a row over pay, jobs and conditions.
Despite speculation that a deal would be reached to avert the strikes, ministers have now conceded they are likely to go ahead.
Unions have accused the government of sowing division between rail workers and operators to escalate the dispute, while ministers said it is not their job to resolve negotiations.
