Rail strikes have been announced for the opening weekend of the League One could season and could hamper travel plans for Bolton Wanderers supporters heading to the opening game of the season against Ipswich Town.
The Whites open their campaign on Saturday, July 30, with a trip to Portman Road to take on the Tractor Boys. The season is starting earlier this year owing to the winter World Cup in Qatar.
Bolton did the double over Ipswich last season with a spectacular 5-2 victory at Portman Road. They followed this up with a 2-0 triumph at the University of Bolton Stadium in January.
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The journey by road takes well over four hours so the train presents a perhaps more appealing option, given the train station's close proximity to Portman Road. However, strike action has been called for that Saturday which is expected to hamper services that weekend.
Services will likely be disrupted as members of the Aslef union at Arriva Rail London, Chiltern Railways, Greater Anglia, Great Western, Hull Trains, LNER, Southeastern and West Midlands Trains stage a walkout on Saturday, July 30. Other strikes will also take place on Hull Trains on July 16 and 23 while drivers on Greater Anglia will strike on July 23.
It comes after the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) announced their plans to strike on July 27 while TSSA members on Avanti West will strike on the same day. Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan said: “We don’t want to go on strike – strikes are the result of a failure of negotiation – and this union, since I was elected general secretary in 2011, has only ever been on strike, until this year, for a handful of days.
“We don’t want to inconvenience passengers, not least because our friends and families use public transport too, and we believe in building trust in the railways in Britain, and we don’t want to lose money by going on strike.
“But we’ve been forced into this position by the train companies, driven by the Tory Government. The drivers at the companies where we are striking have had a real-terms pay cut over the last three years, since April 2019.
“These companies are offering us nothing, saying their hands have been tied by the Government. That means, in real terms, with inflation running ahead at 9%, 10%, and even 11% this year, according to which index you use, that they are being told to take a real-terms pay cut, and that is not acceptable.
“Strike action is, now, the only option available but we are always open to talks if the train companies, or the Government, want to talk to us and make a fair and sensible offer.”
Responding to Aslef's announcement that members would be a balloting for strike action, a spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group - which represents the UK's train operators - said: “We want to see rail unions engage with train operators over the reforms needed to secure a bright long-term future for the industry, including working with ASLEF to deliver the more punctual, reliable services we know passengers care about. Instead of causing further disruption to passengers and businesses, we urge the ASLEF leadership to continue talks."
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