TRANSPORT union TSSA warned today of a national strike in 2022 as the “twin threats” of railway job cuts and a deepening cost-of-living crisis for workers loom.

In a statement, general secretary Manuel Cortes said widespread industrial action “is very much on the cards” if rail bosses do not extend an agreement blocking compulsory redundancies. 

The union wrote to managers in November seeking assurances the ban — negotiated by unions last year amid Covid-19 disruption — would remain in place throughout 2022, but no such guarantee has yet been forthcoming.

Mr Cortes stressed that job security is especially important for workers at a time of rising inflation and soaring energy bills. 

“Our union has been crystal clear that any threat to use compulsory redundancies will be met with industrial action ballots,” he said. 

“We have been told that although thousands of people will be leaving employment within our rail industry through voluntary severance, this won't be enough to deliver the £2 billion worth of cuts the Tory government is seeking.

“Make no mistake, trains will be coming to a halt if any of our members is pushed out of our rail industry against their will.

"We will of course seek to coordinate any industrial action with our sister rail unions and any other workers fighting the attacks which [Prime Minister Boris] Johnson and his cohorts unleash.”

Mr Cortes said the union would also be seeking a wage increase which “at the very least matches the price hikes” that workers face. 

ScotRail separately announced today that it had been forced to make temporary timetable changes due to mounting staff absences caused by the rapid spread of the omicron variant. 

The company confirmed that “hundreds” of its staff north of the border are self-isolating, including more than 120 drivers and about 70 conductors.

To provide customers with more certainty, a temporary timetable will be in place from today until January 28, it said, with journeys in the central belt the most affected.

A total of nine routes in and out of Glasgow’s two biggest stations will see changes between Mondays and Fridays, while three routes to and from Edinburgh Waverley are also being altered. 

ScotRail operations director David Simpson said passengers should “plan ahead and continue to check train times.”