A national strike on British railways will have a catastrophic effect on the live music industry and events if it takes place in late summer, commercial bodies have warned.
More than 50,000 Network Rail workers and 13 train companies, represented by the RMT union, will leave on June 21 in a dispute over job cuts and wage freezes, with new strikes scheduled for June 23 and 25.
Some 10,000 London Underground workers are also expected to go on strike on June 21 in an independent dispute over pensions and job losses. The strikes are expected to cause severe disruptions and reach the high point of the festival season, with Glastonbury in Somerset on 22 June for the first time since the pandemic.
GWR, the train company that serves Castle Cary, the closest station to Glastonbury, has said it expects to keep trains with timetables from London Paddington throughout the festival. But he said other parts of his network are likely to be “more affected” by the strike action and that customers “may have to consider alternative ways to travel to a station that serves Castle Cary.” .
National Express, which provides coaches from 70 locations, said it had seen a “significant increase” in travel bookings on scheduled train strike dates and was “working hard to increase availability whenever possible”.
Other events, such as a series of concerts with artists such as Elton John in Hyde Park and the UK Athletics Championships in Manchester, are also scheduled for this week.
Michael Kill of the Night Time Industries Association, which represents nightclubs, event venues and festival organizers, said the proposed industrial action could have a “catastrophic” impact on the sector, which he said was “very fragile”. “after the pandemic and in the middle of the cost. of the living crisis. “There seems to be another barrier in every corner,” he said.
RMT members protest in front of St Pancras station during a London Underground strike on June 6, 2022. Photo: Vuk Valcic / ZUMA Press Wire / REX / Shutterstock
Jon Collins, CEO of Live, an umbrella organization for business partnerships in the live music and entertainment business, said the action could be devastating for event operators already struggling to recover. of the pandemic, with smaller companies likely to be the hardest hit.
“While our members understand the concerns of the RMT, there is frustration that this has come at a time when we are trying to rebuild the live music industry after nearly two years of closure,” he said.
“It’s not just the Glastonburys of this world. It’s the smallest festivals and concerts, where people have paid £ 8 or £ 15 for a ticket, where customers may think, ‘I shouldn’t go.’ ‘The event may go ahead, but you may not get the benefits you were hoping for, which could be critical for the business in this year of every year.’
Announcing the June 7 strike, the RMT said the railway workers had been treated “horribly” and that despite their “best efforts” in the negotiations, “the railway industry, with the support of the government , his concerns have not been taken seriously. “
Secretary-General Mick Lynch said: “Railway companies make at least £ 500 million a year in profits, while fat cat railway chiefs have received millions of dollars during the Covid-19 pandemic. injustice is fueling the anger of our members and their determination to reach a fair deal.
“RMT is open to meaningful negotiations with railway chiefs and ministers, but they will have to come up with new proposals to avoid months of disruption to our railways.”