Rail workers are set to spark major travel disruption by staging another walk-out on the day of the Eurovision Song Contest final.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will strike at 14 train operators for 24 hours on May 13, in an ongoing dispute over pay and working conditions. The fresh wave of industrial action was announced after union leaders rejected the latest offer from the Rail Delivery Group (RDG), with the RMT saying that the offer included a first-year payment of five per cent only if the union terminated its industrial mandate, meaning no further strike action could take place.
Tens of thousands of Eurovision fans are expected to travel to Liverpool when the city hosts the song contest on behalf of Ukraine next month, with public transport already having been predicted to be much busier than usual. Network Rail previously urged people to plan their journeys in advance and allow extra time to catch trains, saying that their services to Liverpool Lime Street station were expected to be "very, very busy".
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The ongoing strikes, the first of which was staged in June last year, are the biggest scale of industrial action seen in the UK since 1989. The walk-outs have had a huge impact on rail travel, costing the UK hospitality sector an estimated £1.5bn as operators ran hugely reduced timetables on strike days.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: “The RDG have reneged on their original proposals and torpedoed these negotiations. No doubt their decision is due to pressure exerted on them by the Tory Government.
“Therefore, we have no alternative but to press ahead with more strike action and continue our campaign for a negotiated settlement on pay, conditions and job security. We are re-balloting our members and if we beat the draconian anti-trade union laws on turnout, we will have a renewed mandate for action.
“We will then put on a further programme of strike action to make the employers and the Government, who continue to hold the puppet strings, see sense in this dispute.” The news follows an earlier announcement by the drivers union Aslef of strikes on May 12 and 31, as well as on June 3, the day of the FA Cup Final.
The RMT is currently re-balloting its members on the 14 train operating companies, with a result expected May 4. The union said if it beats all the legal thresholds for turnout and achieves a “yes” vote, it will have a further six-month strike mandate.
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