Although members of the Railway, Maritime and Transport Workers’ Union (RMT) have been offered a 5% pay rise, train travel with much discounts for family members and cash bonuses of up to at £ 900 each in a fight to avoid further strikes, they have announced another. departure on July 27th.
Less than 48 hours later, the Aslef machinists’ union will go on strike for pay, while the RMT has announced two more days of strike action on 18 and 20 August, which will affect 14 train and Network Rail operators and will involve 40,000 workers.
Meanwhile, members of the Transportation Wage Association (TSSA) have also supported the July union action in recent days.
As few as one in 10 trains could run during the Aslef strike on July 30, even worse than one in five trains that stopped running for three days of RMT action in June. It is the first national outing since 1995.
The Transportation Employee Association (TSSA), which represents station and box office workers, said workers in the southeast will also go on strike for pay, job security and conditions.
Strike plans were announced shortly after some members of the Aslef union voted in favor of accepting a 5 per cent, plus bonus, payment offer from Scotland, stopping the potential for falls in Scotland.
At the end of July, ballot boxes will be closed for strike action at Avanti West Coast, CrossCountry and Direct Rail Services.
Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, said: “We do not want to go on strike – the strikes are the result of a failure in the negotiations – and this union, since I was elected GS in 2011, has only been on strike . until this year, for a handful of days.
“But we have been forced into this position by the train companies, driven by the Tory government. The drivers of the companies where we are on strike have had a reduction in real wages over the last three years, since April 2019. “
Here’s what you need to know about the July 27 and 30 RMT and Aslef strikes, and other possible union strike actions.
When will the next train strike take place?
On Wednesday, July 13, 2022, it was announced that Network Rail and RMT staff will go on strike on July 27 for 24 hours. On July 14, Aslef announced that its train drivers would leave on Saturday, July 30, leaving only one in 10 trains running.
Two more RMT strikes are expected on August 18 and 20 in a protest over job security, pay and working conditions.
Which railway operators will be affected?
Arriva Rail London, Chiltern Railways, Greater Anglia, Great Western, Hull Trains, LNER, Southeastern and West Midlands Trains will be affected by the Aslef strikes on 30 July.
Southeastern, which is wholly owned by the Department of Transport (DfT) and provides train services between London and Kent, as well as parts of East Sussex, will be affected by the TSSA strikes. Potentially affected stations include London St Pancras, Victoria, Charing Cross and Cannon Street, as well as Dover Priory, Ramsgate, Ashford International, Dartford and Sevenoaks.
RMT rail strikes in August will affect Network Rail as well as the following operators: Chiltern Railways, Cross Country Trains, Greater England, 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 (including Gatwick Express).
Currently, the TSSA also votes members of West Midlands Trains, Great Western Railway, Greater Anglia and TransPennine Express for industrial action.
Will the Tube be affected by more strikes?
The London Underground was stopped 24 hours a day on 21 June 2022 when members of the RMT decided to go on strike followed by how Transport for London is reducing operating costs.
So far, the RMT has not announced any further Tube strike this summer, but members renewed their strike mandate on June 24, meaning they have the right to strike again on a date set by the National Executive Committee. of the union.
RMT leader Mick Lynch said: “Transport for London and the mayor of London need to seriously rethink their plans for hundreds of job cuts and try to take pensions earned with effort from workers who serve the people of London on a daily basis. “
Meanwhile, nighttime action continues to affect the Central, Jubilee, Northern and Victoria lines every Friday and Saturday until December 6th.
Why are workers on strike?
Aslef strikes refer to pay. Mick Whelan, Aslef’s general secretary, argues that members have not had a salary increase since 2019.
“We want an increase according to the cost of living – we want to be able to buy, in 2022, what we could buy in 2021 – for those partners, who were, you will remember, the people who moved workers and key goods. across the country during the pandemic, ”he said.
The August RMT train strikes (and the July 27 railroad strike) are the latest in the union dispute over job security, pay and working conditions. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “The railway industry and the government need to understand that this dispute will not simply go away.
“They must be taken seriously when offering a salary offer that helps to cope with the crisis of the cost of living, job security of our members and provides good working conditions.
“Network Rail’s recent proposals fell very short in terms of pay and safety around maintenance work. And train companies have not even made us a pay offer in recent negotiations.
“We remain open to talks, but we will continue our campaign until a negotiated agreement is reached.”
Meanwhile, TSSA members are protesting over pay, jobs and conditions.
“If the ministers made any sense, they would come to the table and resolve this, so we have a fair deal for the workers who were hailed as pandemic heroes,” TSSA Secretary General Manuel Cortes said.
Can I get a refund or travel with another service if my train is canceled?
According to the consumer group Which ?, the process differs depending on the train company someone is traveling with, and customers “can only claim compensation during a train strike for a delay depending on the replacement time or emergency replacement train or bus services “.
What is the government doing about it?
The Government has already threatened new minimum service requirements that would require a certain number of trains to run during a strike. However, ministers have warned that it could take months to draft new laws.
Grant Shapps, the Transport Secretary who has left the race to become the next Conservative leader, was quick to condemn the strikes.
“With a salary of almost £ 60,000, it’s not fair for train drivers to hurt those with lower wages with lower wages,” he wrote on Twitter.