UK train drivers are planning a nationwide strike over pay this month, marking their first coordinated industrial action in 27 years, while other rail workers also announced two more days of their own walkouts in August.
The train drivers’ union Aslef said the one-day strike on July 30 was a result of rail companies not making a pay offer in line with the rising cost of living.
The action will mark the first collective action taken by train drivers since 1995 and will be the latest disruption to the rail network. A strike last month by unionized RMT workers targeted staff at Network Rail, Britain’s rail infrastructure provider, and more than a dozen train operators.
It has brought the network to a standstill and industry executives fear the driver walkout could be more disruptive to the affected lines as there are very few back-up options to replace striking drivers, other than a relatively small pool of managers who are also trained drivers.
Along with the July 27 walkout, which the RMT announced on Wednesday after rejecting a “zero” pay offer and vowing to continue striking “as long as necessary”, Asleff’s action will coincide with the start of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham on 28 July, threatening to hit attendance.
Grant Shapps, the transport minister, said Asleff was “cynically arranging” strike dates to coincide with the games, with union bosses “determined to cause as much misery as possible”. He added that train drivers earn on average just under £60,000 a year, more than double the national average.
The RMT on Thursday night announced two more strike days for its members next month – on August 18 and 20 – across 14 train operating companies.
Aslef members across eight companies – Arriva Rail London, Chiltern Railways, Greater Anglia, Great Western, Hull Trains, LNER, Southeastern and West Midlands Trains – will take part in the walkout.
Train drivers at individual train operators have gone on strike recently, but Aslef’s move is a coordinated move that could cause disruption across the country.
“We don’t want to inconvenience passengers, not least because our friends and families use public transport,” Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said. “We believe in building confidence in the UK’s railways – and we don’t want to lose money by going on strike.
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“But we have been forced into this position by the rail companies led by the Tory government. The drivers at the companies we are striking at have had real wage cuts for the past three years,” he added.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said after the union’s two new strike dates were announced that the rail industry and government needed to understand that the dispute over pay, job security and working conditions was not just going to go away. “Now that Grant Shapps has abandoned his desperate hopes of becoming prime minister, he can get back to his day job and help sort out this mess,” he said.
Other unions are also consulting on further walkouts. The TSSA, which largely represents managers and supervisors, has selected 10 train operators and Network Rail. The strike dates are expected to be announced within days.
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