Rail strikes announced on FA Cup final day
Both City and United fans planning on getting the train down may face delays and cancellations
Last updated 27th Apr 2023
Both Manchester City and Manchester United fans are dealing with the news that train strikes have been announced on the day of the FA Cup final - June 3rd.
Members of Aslef will walk also out on May 12 and 31.
The union said it has rejected a "risible" 4% pay offer from the 16 train companies it remains in dispute with.
General secretary Mick Whelan said drivers have not had a pay rise at those companies since 2019.
He said: "Our executive committee met this morning and rejected a risible proposal we received from the Rail Delivery Group (RDG).
"The proposal - of just 4% - was clearly not designed to be accepted as inflation is still running north of 10% and our members at these companies have not had an increase for four years.
"The RDG, in turn, rejected our proposals to modernise Britain's railways and help them run more efficiently, for passengers and for businesses, in the 21st century.
"Consequently, we have today announced three more days of strike action on Friday May 12, Wednesday May 31 and Saturday June 3 at the companies with which we are in dispute, and which are letting down passengers, and taxpayers, so badly.
"We are also withdrawing non-contractual overtime from Monday May 15 to Saturday 20 inclusive, as well as on Saturday May 13 and Thursday June 1."
The train operating companies involved in the dispute are: Avanti West Coast; Chiltern Railways; CrossCountry; East Midlands Railway; Great Western Railway; Greater Anglia; GTR Great Northern Thameslink; London North Eastern Railway; Northern Trains; Southeastern; Southern/Gatwick Express; South Western Railway; SWR depot drivers; SWR Island Line; TransPennine Express; and West Midlands Trains.
Aslef said its negotiating team has met representatives of the employers on eight occasions over the past year to try to find a resolution to the long-running dispute.
The union said it took eight one-day strikes to bring the train operators and the government "to their senses and persuade them to sit down and talk properly".
A Rail Delivery Group spokesperson said: "This is disappointing news for our customers and staff, more strike action is totally unnecessary and will only heap more pressure on an industry already facing an acute financial crisis.
"Senselessly targeting both the final of Eurovision and the FA Cup final is disappointing for all those planning to attend.
"After many weeks of negotiations with the Aslef leadership, today we made a revised and fair offer including a pay rise of 8% over two years.
"It would have introduced overdue, common-sense improvements already in place in parts of the network, which would see more trains running on time for passengers. Sadly, this has been rejected.
"We urge the Aslef leadership to rejoin us at the negotiating table and work with us to find a solution to the issues our industry faces and so we can give our people the pay rise we have always said we wanted to do."