Fresh train strikes announced
Members of the Aslef union will take action on September 1 and will be subject to an overtime ban on September 2.
It comes after The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers announced last week that 20,000 of its members would strike on August 26 and September 2 as part on the ongoing dispute.
The ongoing industrial action, which started in June last year, has had a major impact on the hospitality sector, with trade body UKHospitality previously estimating that the strikes have so far cost the sector in the region £3.25bn.
It has led to some businesses, including steakhouse group Hawksmoor, launching meal deals on strike days to encourage diners out.
The latest ban on overtime is likely to 'seriously disrupt' the network, likely to mean trains start later and finish much earlier than usual, with fewer or no services in some areas of the country.
Companies affected by industrial action include Avanti West Coast; Chiltern Railways; c2c; CrossCountry; East Midlands Railway; Greater Anglia; GTR Great Northern Thameslink; Great Western Railway; Island Line; LNER; Northern Trains; Southeastern; Southern/Gatwick Express; South Western Railway; TransPennine Express; and West Midlands Trains.
Mick Whelan, the Aslef general secretary, said, “We don’t want to take this action but the train companies, and the Government which stands behind them, have forced us into this place because they refuse to sit down and talk to us and have not made a fair and sensible pay offer to train drivers who have not had one for four years – since 2019 – while prices have soared in that time by more than 12%.
“The Government appears happy to let passengers – and businesses – suffer in the mistaken belief that they can bully us into submission. They don’t care about passengers, or Britain’s railway, but they will not break us.”
