Train drivers have called a further week of rolling strikes across England from late January in their long-running dispute with operators over pay.
Members of the Aslef union will strike for 24 hours at each train-operating company on the national railway on different days between Tuesday 30 January and Monday 5 February. Drivers will refuse to work overtime throughout the strike period, causing prolonged disruption in parts of the network that rely on rest day working.
The latest strikes follow a similar week of rolling action in December, after 14 previous days of nationwide stoppages over the 18-month dispute.
The Aslef general secretary, Mick Whelan, said: “We have given the government every opportunity to come to the table but it has now been a year since we had any contact from the Department for Transport [DfT]. It’s clear they do not want to resolve this dispute.
“Many of our members have now not had a single penny increase to their pay in half a decade, during which inflation soared and with it the cost of living. Train drivers didn’t even ask for an increase during the Covid-19 pandemic when they worked throughout as key workers, risking their lives to allow NHS and other workers to travel.”
The strikes are likely to stop all trains at affected operators, although there is the possibility that companies could demand that 40% of their timetable runs under the government’s new minimum service levels law.
However, although the companies have not have confirmed their intention either way, it is understood that none are likely to try to use the new powers this time. The legislation is untested and rail firms as well as unions have expressed concern about the practicalities and consequences.
Whelan said: “The government has now tried their old trick of changing the rules when they can’t win and brought in minimum service levels legislation. But this new law, as we told officials during the consultation period, won’t ease industrial strife. It will likely just make it worse.”
A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, said: “Nobody wins when strikes impact lives and livelihoods, and they’re particularly difficult to justify at a time when taxpayers are continuing to contribute an extra £54m a week to keep services running post-Covid.
“Despite the railway’s huge financial challenge, drivers have been made an offer which would take base salaries to nearly £65,000 for a four-day week without overtime – that is well above the national average and significantly more than many of our passengers that have no option to work from home are paid.”
A Department for Transport spokesperson said it was “very disappointing” and that Aslef was the only rail union “continuing to strike while refusing to put a fair and reasonable offer to its members”. They added: “The Aslef leadership should do the right thing and let their members decide their own future, instead of deciding it for them.”
Drivers will strike at Southeastern, Southern/Gatwick Express, Great Northern, Thameslink and South Western Railway on Tuesday 30 January; at Northern Trains and TransPennine Express on Wednesday 31 January; at Greater Anglia, C2C and LNER on Friday 2 February; at West Midlands Trains, Avanti West Coast and East Midlands Railway on Saturday 3 February; and at Great Western, CrossCountry and Chiltern on Monday 5 February.
Drivers will refuse to work overtime from Monday 29 January until Tuesday 6 February.
The rail strikes will take place only at companies contracted to the DfT in England, but some cross-border services they operate into Scotland and Wales may be affected.
