Greater Anglia staff to strike next week after talks over pay and jobs fail

Staff at C2C and East Midlands Railway are also set to walk out

Author: Alan Jones, PA Industrial CorrespondentPublished 22nd Jul 2022

Staff at rail companies across the East of England are set to talk about next week after talks failed to resolve a bitter dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

40,000 workers are involved in industrial action across the country, including staff at Greater Anglia, c2c and East Midlands Railway.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) will walk out on Wednesday July 27, crippling rail services across the country.

The Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) has also announced a strike by its members at Avanti West Coast on the same day.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: "Strike action will take place next Wednesday as planned and our members are more determined than ever to secure a decent pay rise, job security and good working conditions.

"Network Rail have not made any improvement on their previous pay offer and the train companies have not offered us anything new.

"In fact Network Rail have upped the ante, threatening to impose compulsory redundancies and unsafe 50% cuts to maintenance work if we did not withdraw our planned strike action.

"The train operating companies have put driver-only operations on the table along with ransacking our members' terms and conditions.

"RMT will continue to negotiate in good faith but we will not be bullied or cajoled by anyone.

"The Government need to stop their interference in this dispute so the rail employers can come to a negotiated settlement with us."

Transport for London (TfL) said while the industrial action does not involve its staff, varying degrees of disruption are expected on the District and Bakerloo Tube lines, London Overground, and the Elizabeth line, which all share some sections of track with Network Rail.

Passengers should also expect some disruption on the morning of July 28 with a later start to services as signalling staff return to work.

On July 30, members of the drivers' union Aslef at eight train operators across the country will go on strike.

Andy Lord, TfL's chief operating officer, said: "The upcoming strike action will mean disruption for some of our customers, with the London Overground, Elizabeth line, and London Underground services being affected.

"I encourage customers to check before they travel as the levels of service will vary on different modes of transport and different days. Alternative travel, including buses and other Tube lines, is likely to be much busier than usual."

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