(Picture: PA Wire)
Planned strikes by rail and postal workers have been called off following the Queen’s death.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union were due to walk out on 15 and 17 September in their long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
Its general secretary, Mick Lynch, said: “RMT joins the whole nation in paying its respects to Queen Elizabeth. The planned railway strike action on September 15 and 17 is suspended. We express our deepest condolences to her family, friends and the country.”
The strikes were set to take place at 14 rail firms, and involve 40,000 workers. It is now unlikely that any further strikes will disrupt specific events including the Queen’s funeral or the coronation of King Charles III.
The Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) also called off planned strikes. A statement said: “Upon the news that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth has died, TSSA union expresses deepest condolences to her family, friends, the country and those affected by her passing.
“TSSA is cancelling planned industrial action for September and will be respecting the period of public mourning. The union pays respect to Britain’s longest-serving monarch.”
The train drivers’ union Aslef also suspended a planned strike.
In light of the sad news of Queen Elizabeth II’s death, ASLEF is postponing its industrial action on 15th September. We express our deepest condolences to her family, friends and the country.
— ASLEF (@ASLEFunion) September 8, 2022
A Network Rail spokesman said: “We welcome the unions’ decision to call off next week’s strikes and we join them and the rest of the railway family in sending our condolences to the royal family.”
A planned strike by workers at Royal Mail due to take place on Friday was also called off. Members of the Communication Workers Union were due to continue a 48-hour walkout in their dispute over pay and conditions.
Its general secretary, Dave Ward, said: “Following the very sad news of the passing of the Queen and out of respect for her service to the country and her family, the union has decided to call off tomorrow’s planned strike action.”
Britain has faced a wave of industrial action across different sectors as workers demand higher pay and conditions to counter soaring inflation.
The rail dispute is likely to be high on the agenda of the new transport secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan.
Her predecessor in the role, Grant Shapps, had suggested that changes could be imposed by legislation if workers did not agree to new deals.
During her leadership campaign, Liz Truss had called for a shake-up of labour laws and said she would raise ballot thresholds to make it harder for strike action to take place. She also backed a cooling-off period so unions could not strike as many times as they liked in a six-month period.
