Passengers on Britain’s railways should expect more strikes to follow the current round of industrial action within months, the boss of the train drivers’ union Aslef has warned ahead of a third day of disruption amid a simmering row over pay.
Mick Whelan, the general secretary of Aslef, said the union was scheduled to enter negotiations this month with some rail operators over future pay levels, and that a failure to strike a deal would mean it would look to launch a fresh round of industrial action to run alongside the current dispute.
He added that this was likely, as the current breakdown in talks over a pay agreement for drivers for the last two years would make it hard to strike any future agreement.
The union leader was talking ahead of the third and final day of rolling strikes carried out by the union on Monday, which is expected to close most of London’s commuter lines because of the 24-hour action carried out by Aslef members.
On Friday and Saturday, the union carried out action on the other parts of the network, causing widespread disruption for travellers.
The industrial action is the latest in an almost two-year dispute over pay between the union and rail companies, which has resulted in a series of strikes that have completely shut down the network.
Union officials are due to begin a fresh round of talks with some rail operators from this month, and others throughout the year, which would be aimed at reaching an agreement over pay levels for the next two years.
Whelan said: “The reality is, we are going to ask for a pay rise, they are going to say: ‘We can’t give you a pay rise if we haven’t been able to settle the previous two years,’ but they are not going to settle for the previous two years, so what are we going to do?
“We don’t want another dispute but at this moment in time, it is very much heading along that line again.”
He said this would probably lead to “further action” that could run in tandem with the current dispute, with the union having to ballot separately and secure a separate mandate. However, this would probably still be months away as the talks would need to conclude and then go through various union committees before reaching ballot stage.
There seems no prospect of an end to the current dispute between rail companies and Aslef, with Whelan conceding that drivers were “in it for the long haul”.
Last year, Aslef rejected a deal from operators through the Rail Delivery Group, the body that represents all rail companies, which would have led to drivers’ salaries increasing to £65,000 for a four-day week.
Talks have completely stalled, with Aslef’s last meeting with the RDG coming in April last year. It said its last meeting with the rail minister Huw Merriman was in January 2023.
Whelan said: “We don’t want to be here, we don’t want to be standing on picket lines, losing money. We want a better, safer, cleaner railway.”
A RDG spokesperson said: “Nobody wins when industrial action impacts people’s lives and livelihoods, and we will work hard to minimise any disruption to our passengers.
“We want to resolve this dispute, but the Aslef leadership need to recognise that hard-pressed taxpayers are continuing to contribute an extra £54m a week just to keep services running post Covid. We continue to seek an agreement with the Aslef leadership and remain open to talks to find a solution to this dispute.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Aslef is the only rail union continuing to strike, targeting passengers and preventing their own members from voting on the pay offer that remains on the table.”
