Rail workers are to stage another walkout in an escalation of the national dispute over pay, job security and working conditions.
Members of the Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA) at nine train operating companies and Network Rail (NR) will walk out for 24 hours from midday on Monday, September 26. The union remains in talks with NR about the possibility of a settlement but is urging Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to intervene in a bid to break the deadlock.
The strike action will coincide with the Labour Party conference in Liverpool. As a Labour affiliated union, the TSSA said it will be looking for support from delegates and MPs to join them on picket lines.
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TSSA union leader Manuel Cortes said: “The dead hand of Grant Shapps is sadly stopping train operating companies from making a revised, meaningful offer. Frankly, he either sits across the negotiating table with our union or gets out of the way to allow railway bosses to freely negotiate with us, as they have done in the past.
“The reason for the current impasse lies squarely at Shapps’ door and passengers are paying a high price for his incompetence and intransigence. I welcome the fact that negotiations are ongoing with Network Rail and the gap towards a resolution is narrowing.
“Time will tell whether a deal can be done to avert our next strike. I will be standing on our picket line in Liverpool and will be encouraging fellow delegates and Labour MPs to do likewise, so they can rightly show they stand shoulder to shoulder with those fighting the Tories’ cost-of-living crisis.”
The affected train operators are yet to comment on the fresh walkout announcement. During the last national rail strike in July, only one in five trains were running across the country, with some areas having no trains running all day.
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