The 24-hour strike, which commences at a minute after midnight tonight, follows a similar rock-solid stoppage on April 24 after the company sacked three people, including a union rep, over unsubstantiated hearsay allegations of harassment.

"The allegations in this case come from unsubstantiated hearsay tittle-tattle from a consultancy firm employed by Virgin, and the company has since made a mockery of its own disciplinary procedures," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"Virgin has spent a fortune taking dozens to staff off trains for interrogation sessions, has intimidated staff into making statements, and has held hearings that amount to kangaroo courts.

"Rather than using managers without food-hygiene qualifications to stand in for striking chefs and stewards, the company should re-instate our members and ask itself how it allowed unproven allegations to escalate into a miscarriage of justice," Bob Crow added.