Fresh wave of rail strikes announced

The RMT union has confirmed its members at Network Rail and 14 train companies will strike on the 1st of October.

Its coincides with the eve of the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham, but will also affect thousands travelling for the London Marathon.

Train drivers to walk out

Earlier the union Aslef announced train drivers will also walkout on the 1st, then again on the 5th.

The trade body representing rail operators says fresh strikes announced by Aslef are "not in the long-term interests" of staff.

Drivers at 12 companies are walking out on the 1st and 5th of October in a row over pay.

Members of the RMT union have already been told not to book onto shifts for the first of those dates.

Another unions likely to take action

The TSSA's also likely to announce similar action, after strikes were postponed when the Queen died.

Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, said: “We would much rather not be in this position.

“We don’t want to go on strike – withdrawing your labour, although a fundamental human right, is always a last resort for this trade union – but the train companies have been determined to force our hand.

“They are telling train drivers to take a real terms pay cut. With inflation now running at 12.3% – and set, it is said, to go higher – these companies are saying that drivers should be prepared to work just as hard, for just as long, but for considerably less.

"Real terms pay cut for a third year in a row"

“The companies with whom we are in dispute have not offered us a penny. It is outrageous that they expect us to put up with a real terms pay cut for a third year in a row. And that’s why we are going on strike. To persuade the companies to be sensible, to do the right thing, and come and negotiate properly with us. Not to run up and say, ‘Our hands are tied and the government will not allow us to offer you an increase’.”

He added: “Train drivers kept Britain moving – key workers and goods around the country – throughout the pandemic and we deserve to be treated better than this. That’s why we are calling on the companies – which are making big profits, and paying their chief executives enormous salaries and bonuses – to make a pay offer to our members to keep up with the rise in the cost of living.”

"Hugely inconvenience passengers"

A Rail Delivery Group spokesperson said: “These strikes will once again hugely inconvenience the very passengers the industry needs to support its recovery from the ongoing impact of the pandemic. They range from those left out of pocket because they can’t get to work, to people missing vital appointments and to thousands of London marathon participants, who, after months of training, will have their journeys to London disrupted at the weekend.

“The strikes are not in the long-term interests of rail workers or building a sustainable rail industry. We want to give our people a pay rise, but without the reforms we are proposing, we simply cannot deliver pay increases. Revenue is still around 80% of pre pandemic levels, no business can survive that scale of upheaval without implementing change.

“The actions of union leaders have very real consequences: every strike day takes more money out of their members’ pockets. We want to see the industry and its people thrive – we are asking the unions’ leadership to do the right thing, call off these damaging strikes and work with us to make that happen.”

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