Rail strikes planned this month WILL go ahead Aslef chief warns as he admits train drivers are on £59,000 but says staff haven’t put ‘an exact figure’ on the pay rise they want
- Aslef members at Arriva Rail London, Chiltern Railways, Greater Anglia, Great Western, Hull Trains, LNER, Southeastern and West Midlands to strike on July 30
- General Secretary Mick Whelan: ‘Virtually no service’ expected in some areas
- Network Rail, RMT and TSSA members also set to strike this month and next
Nationwide rail strikes are still due to go ahead this month as ‘no-ones coming to the table’ to find a solution, according to union leaders.
Mick Whelan, General Secretary of train drivers’ union Aslef said the strike planned for the end of this month will mean ‘virtually no service’ in areas affected.
Members of Aslef at Arriva Rail London, Chiltern Railways, Greater Anglia, Great Western, Hull Trains, LNER, Southeastern and West Midlands Trains are due to walk out on July 30 over a pay dispute. All services are expected to be disrupted.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Network Rail and Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) staff will strike on July 27 for 24 hours
Mr Whelan has said Aslef members have not had a pay rise since 2019, which is the driving force behind their strike.
He said the union has not yet put ‘an exact figure’ on the pay rise it is looking for.
‘Most people don’t understand that nobody in the rail industry has had a pay rise for three years… and the cost-of-living crisis is hitting all workers,’ he said on Sky News’s Sunday programme.
He added that taking action ‘saddens’ the union and said: ‘We’d much rather be talking to find a way out of this but unfortunately no-one’s coming to the table.’
When asked if he considered the median salary for a train driver of around £59,000 might already be considered a lot to those outside the industry, he said: ‘Probably to a lot of people it is, and I look at other workers and think they should have what he had.
‘We don’t enter into this politics of envy debate. For us it’s about everybody’s entitled to a pay rise.’
He added that there are ‘a lot of traditionalists who would like to see occasionally (the Labour Party) stand up and stand with workers more regularly.
‘I’ve seen an awful lot of what they’ve done behind the scenes, so I’ve seen that there’s a massive amount being done. I just think that occasionally we should communicate more.’
Mick Whelan, General Secretary of train drivers’ union Aslef said the strike planned for the end of this month will mean ‘virtually no service’ in areas affected
Members of Aslef at Arriva Rail London, Chiltern Railways, Greater Anglia, Great Western, Hull Trains, LNER, Southeastern and West Midlands Trains are due to walk out on July 30
Drivers on Greater Anglia are also set to strike on July 23, while those on Hull Trains will strike on July 23 in addition to yesterday’s (July 16) action.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Network Rail and Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) staff will strike on July 27 for 24 hours.
Network Rail services will be affected by the RMT strike as well as Chiltern Railways, Cross Country Trains, Greater Anglia, LNER, East Midlands Railway, c2c, Great Western Railway, Northern Trains, South Eastern, South Western Railway Transpennine Express, Avanti West Coast, West Midlands Trains and GTR.
It also includes the Gatwick Express, adding to the travelling woes of those hoping to travel abroad over the school holidays.
Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) members will also be striking over pay, job security and conditions on the same day (July 27).
The TSSA strikes will affect Southeastern services between London and Kent, as well as parts of East Sussex.
Stations that may potentially be impacted also include London St Pancras, Victoria, Charing Cross and Cannon Street, Dover Priory, Ramsgate, Ashford International, Dartford and Sevenoaks.
Members of the TSSA stationed at West Midlands Trains, Great Western Railway, Greater Anglia and TransPennine Express are currently going through a balloting process to determine if they join the industrial action.
TSSA members along with 14 other train operators are also set to walk out on August 18 and August 20.
Edinburgh’s Waverley Station: Commuters have been warned that some areas will face virtually no service during planned strikes later this month
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch has said the ‘dispute will not simply vanish’
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch previously told The Telegraph: ‘The rail industry and the Government need to understand that this dispute will not simply vanish.
‘They need to get serious about providing an offer on pay which helps deal with the cost-of-living crisis, job security for our members and provides good conditions at work.
‘Recent proposals from Network Rail fell well short on pay and on safety around maintenance work. And the train operating companies have not even made us a pay offer in recent negotiations.
‘We remain open for talks, but we will continue our campaign until we reach a negotiated settlement.’
The Government has proposed new minimum service requirements to tackle the ongoing issue, which would require a certain number of trains to run during a strike.
But ministers have admitted that it could take some time to draw up new laws.
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