Train driver union announces additional rail strike over pay
Train driver union Aslef has announced its members working for Hull Trains, Greater Anglia and Croydon Tramlink will strike at the end of June over salaries.
Hull Trains train drivers will strike for the whole of 26 June, while Greater Anglia’s workers will walk out on 23 June, which coincides with the second of a three-day rail strike called by the union RMT.
Croydon Tramlink employees will carry out industrial action from 28 June to 29 June, and then again on 13 to 14 July.
“Many of our members have not had a pay rise since 2019,” said Aslef’s general secretary Mick Whelan. “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.”
The announcement comes a day after the RMT agreed to go back and have talks with Network Rail, City PM reported.
The government-owned operator is also drawing up contingency plans, as the RMT strike has the potential to create massive disruption across the national network.
Contacted by City PM, the Labour Party said it wasn’t supporting the industrial action.
“We’ve been clear in the position that the strikes shouldn’t go ahead,” a party spokesperson said. “Nobody wants to see industrial action that is disruptive.”
Aslef is not the only union to be contemplating a rail strike, as Transport Salaried Staff Associationn (TSSA) served Avanti West Coast with a notice of an industrial action ballot.
“Avanti West Coast staff are asking for some basic fair treatment – not to be sacked from their jobs; a fair pay rise in the face of a cost-of-living-crisis; and no race to the bottom on terms and conditions,” said TSSA’s general secretary Manuel Cortes.
“We could be seeing a summer of discontent across our railways. We are preparing for all options, including co-ordinated strike action.”
Commenting on the TSSA, the rail operator said it was disappointed by the workers’ decision.
“Our whole focus now should be securing a thriving future for rail that adapts to new travel patterns and takes no more than its fair share from taxpayers, instead of staging premature industrial action which would disrupt passengers’ lives and put the industry’s recovery at risk,” said a company spokesperson.