Commuters are to expect severe disruption if they are travelling by rail on Saturday October 1 as members of the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) have agreed to go on strike.
The strike action will last 24-hours on October 1 but previous days of action by the union showed that services could be impacted on the day before and after the strike takes place.
RMT say that the decision was made after the union failed to receive any further offers for better job security, pay or working conditions from rail bosses. Railway workers on Network Rail and 14 other train operating companies will be taking part in the action.
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The 24-hour strike will bring rail travel to a shuddering halt and will severely impact those travelling along the east coast mainline. Network Rail signal callers have been front and centre of the pay dispute and their decision to strike will have an impact right across Scotland.
Workers from Network Rail and LNER taking this decision is understood to have the greatest impact on those in Edinburgh and the Lothians. By striking, workers hope to bring rail industry bosses back to the negotiating table for a better deal.
RMT will be amongst a host of other unions covering various industries that are believed to be taking or considering strike action this Autumn. A previous strike by RMT was cancelled out of respect to Her Majesty The Queen.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “Transport workers are joining a wave of strike action on October 1st, sending a clear message to the government and employers that working people will not accept continued attacks on pay and working conditions at a time when big business profits are at an all-time high.
”The Summer of Solidarity we have seen will continue into the Autumn and Winter if employers and the government continue to refuse workers reasonable demands.
“We want a settlement to these disputes where our members and their families can get a square deal. And we will not rest until we get a satisfactory outcome.”
Earlier this year long queues were seen at Edinburgh's Waverley Station as passengers struggled to move up and down the east coast. LNER as well as many train operators, including Scotrail, were forced to run reduced services between the hours of 08:00am and 6:00pm due to signal callers and other vital members of rail staff being on strike.
The national rail dispute will see strike action on:
- Network Rail
- 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
- GTR (including Gatwick Express)
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