Conservative plans to introduce a ban on all-out strikes would see rail workers treated like "slaves", union bosses say.
The party wants to implement a guaranteed “minimum service” law to reduce the impact of walkouts.
It would make unlawful any strike action that resulted in train numbers falling below a set percentage of the normal timetable.
The party has not indicated what that proportion could be – although it has said that similar measures in other European countries set the mark at between a fifth and third of regular services.
“Rail strikes have a real impact on people’s lives,” said transport secretary Grant Shapps . “They seriously inconvenience businesses and the public, damage the economy, and force people to use less sustainable means of transport.”
General election: On the campaign trailShow all 114 1 /114General election: On the campaign trail
General election: On the campaign trail Boris Johnson drives a Union flag-themed JCB, with the words "Get Brexit Done" inside the digger bucket, through a fake wall emblazoned with the word "GRIDLOCK", during a general election campaign event at JCB construction company in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire
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General election: On the campaign trail A sculpture of an owl is bedecked with an EU beret as Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson gestures during an interview at a general election campaign event in Bath
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General election: On the campaign trail Boris Johnson (C) talks during a question and answer session on a general election campaign visit to Ferguson's Transport in the town of Washington, west of Sunderland
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General election: On the campaign trail Jeremy Corbyn makes cup of coffee as he campaigns in Barry, south Wales
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General election: On the campaign trail Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson visits a Christmas market in Salisbury
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General election: On the campaign trail Liberal Democrat Leader Jo Swinson on the election campaign bus on route to Chelmsford
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General election: On the campaign trail Boris Johnson, centre, talks to veteran James Gammer as he visits a veterans centre
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General election: On the campaign trail Jeremy Corbyn has a photo taken outside Birkbeck/SOAS University
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General election: On the campaign trail Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson during a visit to the Cardiff United Synagogue
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General election: On the campaign trail Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage reacts as he attends an election debate
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General election: On the campaign trail Prime Minister Boris Johnson on The Andrew Marr Show
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General election: On the campaign trail Opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn eats some chips in Whitby, northern England
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General election: On the campaign trail Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn addresses the audience during the launch of Labour's environmental policy in Southampton
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General election: On the campaign trail Nigel Farage playing golf on a range at One Stop Golf in Hull
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General election: On the campaign trail Jeremy Corbyn addresses the audience during a climate emergency rally in Falmouth
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General election: On the campaign trail Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson meets supporters during a visit to Dunkertons Cider Company
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General election: On the campaign trail Boris Johnson visits Chulmleigh College
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General election: On the campaign trail Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn as he appearing on the BBC political programme The Andrew Neil Show. The opposition leader defended his handling of anti-Semitism allegations after Britain's most senior rabbi suggested the issue was a "new poison" within the party that had been "sanctioned from the very top". In an unprecedented intervention ahead of next month's election, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis suggested Corbyn was "unfit for high office" due to his perceived failure to clamp down on the problem within the party
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General election: On the campaign trail
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General election: On the campaign trail Prime Minister Boris Johnson launches the Conservative Party Scottish Manifesto in North Queensferry
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General election: On the campaign trail Britain's Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn poses with WASPI (Women Against State Pension Inequality) supporters after he outlined Labour's plans to repay the "historical debt of honour" owed to women born in the 1950's
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General election: On the campaign trail Jo Swinson alongside the Lib Dem's candidate for Truro and Falmouth, Ruth Gripper, and founder of Finisterre, Tom Kay, during a tour of the British surfing brand, which creates sustainable surfing gear, in St Agnes, Cornwall
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General election: On the campaign trail Prime Minister Boris Johnson poses with sheep as he visits the Royal Welsh Showground, in Llanelwedd
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General election: On the campaign trail Boris Johnson prepares to serve food at the Royal Welsh Showground
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General election: On the campaign trail Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage visits Seaham
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General election: On the campaign trail Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives for the Conservative party's manifesto launch in Telford
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General election: On the campaign trail Protesters wait for the arrival of Prime Minister Boris Johnson ahead of the launch of his party's manifesto
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General election: On the campaign trail Jo Swinson gestures from atop a crane during a visit to an eco home building site in Sheffield
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General election: On the campaign trail Jeremy Corbyn meets a supporter on a train on his return from a visit to Sheffield
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General election: On the campaign trail Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a visit to Bassetlaw District General Hospital in Worksop, Nottinghamshire
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General election: On the campaign trail Nigel Farage campaigns in Hartlepool
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General election: On the campaign trail Jeremy Corbyn outside an Amazon depot in Sheffield, to announce plans for a workers' rights revolution and to ensure big businesses pay their fair share of taxes
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General election: On the campaign trail Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson, First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, during their successive appearances on BBC Question Time Leaders' Special at the Octagon in Sheffield
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General election: On the campaign trail Liberal Democratic Party leader Jo Swinson visits a primary school in Cambridge
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General election: On the campaign trail Boris Johnson lays a brick during a visit to the Barratt Homes
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General election: On the campaign trail Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn attends the launch of the party's election manifesto at Birmingham City University
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General election: On the campaign trail Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage holds his party policy document during the party's policy launch in Westminster
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General election: On the campaign trail SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon joined Dundee East candidate Stewart Hosie to made a keynote speech at The Quay
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General election: On the campaign trail
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General election: On the campaign trail A man heckles as Jeremy Corbyn gives a speech at the Senior Citizens Hall in Macclesfield
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General election: On the campaign trail Britain's opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn visits residents affected by flooding in Conisbrough
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General election: On the campaign trail Nigel Farage visits a butcher's shop in Sutton-in-Ashfield
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General election: On the campaign trail Jeremy Corbyn laughs during a visit to the Scrap Creative Reuse Arts Project, Sunny Bank Mills
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General election: On the campaign trail Prime Minister Boris Johnson hold Rosie the rabbit during a visit to a primary school while on the campaign trail in Taunton
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General election: On the campaign trail Jo Swinson playing with children at the Battersea Arts Centre in Lavender Hill
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General election: On the campaign trail Jeremy Corbyn poses with Labour activists as they canvas in Govan, Glasgow
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General election: On the campaign trail Nicola Sturgeon during a visit to The Shed, a Climate Challenge community project at North Edinburgh Arts
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General election: On the campaign trail Jo Swinson holds up a sack of barley during a visit to Crafty Maltsters Scotland
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General election: On the campaign trail Jeremy Corbyn tries a scone in Bentley, Doncaster
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General election: On the campaign trail Nigel Farage takes a mouthful of homemade cheesecake during a stop at the Grimsby Seafood Village
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General election: On the campaign trail Boris Johnson hauling a consignment of frozen chocolate gateaux, during a visit to Iceland Foods HQ in Deeside
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General election: On the campaign trail Jo Swinson puts on a high visibility jacket during a visit to Sigma Pharmaceuticals, a family run pharmaceutical wholesaler in Watford
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But unions have been quick to condemn the policy proposal.
Mick Whelan, general secretary of the train drivers’ union Aslef , told Sky News : “The right to strike – to withdraw your labour – is a fundamental human right. We are not slaves.
“Aslef has rarely called a strike and, when we have, it has always been as a last resort and as a result of management intransigence.”
Mick Cash, general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers , added that the organisation would almost certainly fight the proposed change.
“Banning strikes is the hallmark of the right-wing junta, not a democratically elected British government,” he said.
It comes as members of the RMT itself were on a walkout from West Midlands Trains on Saturday as part of a long-running dispute over the need for guards on services.
A 27-day strike, meanwhile, has also been called next month on South Western Railways over the same issue.
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