Greater Anglia train drivers to walk out as more rail staff join massive strike
Drivers will walk out for one day on Thursday 23rd June
Last updated 9th Jun 2022
Train drivers from Greater Anglia have announced they are to join strikes on the railways later this month.
Union ASLEF has made the announcement, which also affects staff working for Hull Trains and Croydon Tramlink.
Greater Anglia drivers will walk out for 24 hours on June 23rd.
It comes as 50,000 members of the RMT, also working for rail firms, are already set to walk out unless a deal can be reached in a wide-ranging dispute over pay and conditions.
That strike will affect c2c and Greater Anglia services on June the 21st, 23rd and 25th.
Mick Whelan, ASLEF’s general secretary, said: "The latest Department for Transport statistics show that passenger numbers reached the milestone of 90% of pre-covid levels on Thursday 19 May – and went up to 92% over the next three days."
"And the Railway Industry Association says that footfall is returning not just during the week but at weekends, too, and are at their highest levels since March 2020. That’s great news – not just for the railways, but for Britain.
"But this blows the argument – made recently by the DfT and the privatised train companies – that “there is no money” right out of the water. Of course there is money, now the railway is returning to normal, because passengers are back and services are packed again.
"Many of our members have not had a pay rise since 2019. We will fight to maintain the pay, terms & conditions, and the pensions of our members.
"We are not naïve. The train companies are doing very well out of Britain’s railways – with handsome profits, dividends for shareholders, and big salaries for managers – and we are not going to work longer, for less.
"We want a pay rise, for train drivers, who kept people and goods moving during the pandemic, in line with the cost of living, so that we are not, in real terms, worse off."
Yesterday, Andrew Haines from Network Rail said the organisation was "doing everything we can" to avoid the strike action.
"There are two weeks until the first strike is planned. We will use this time to keep talking to our unions and, through compromise and common sense on both sides, we hope to find a solution and avoid the damage that strike action would cause all involved," he said.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has described strike action as "incredibly disappointing".