Train drivers working across seven companies will strike on August 18 and 20 in a dispute over pay, job security and conditions, their union Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association has announced.
The TSSA had already confirmed strikes at Avanti West Coast this coming Wednesday, prompting a reminder for rail passengers that services will be severely disrupted.
These strikes next month will include station staff, management staff and operational and maintenance staff in Avanti West Coast, c2c, East Midlands Railway, CrossCountry, Great Western Railway, LNER, and Southeastern.
Action short of strike will be taken in West Midlands Trains, Northern, Greater Anglia, TransPennine Express and Southeastern.
Only a fifth of services will run, on around half of the network, as members of the Rail Maritime and Transport union (RMT) also strike in two days time.
Manuel Cortes, TSSA general secretary, said: “This is a momentous day for our members. The Tories’ cost-of-living crisis is the worst in living memory.
“Most of our members are going into a third or fourth year of pay freezes, seeing their real take home pay decrease. For many rail workers in our union this is the first time they have been directly involved in an industrial dispute.
“We do not take strike action lightly, but enough is enough. The Conservative government is the clear block to a deal for rail workers."
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "It’s hugely disappointing that, rather than commit to serious dialogue with the industry, the TSSA is seeking to cause further misery to passengers by cynically coordinating strikes to cause maximum disruption to the rail network.
“Our railway is in desperate need of modernisation to make it work better for passengers and be financially sustainable for the long term.
“The only thing more strikes will do, however, is wreak further havoc on the very people unions claim to stand up for – people who, on average, stumped up £600 per household to keep our railways running throughout the pandemic while ensuring not a single worker lost their job.
“We urge the TSSA to reconsider and work with its employers, not against them, to agree a new way forward.”
They are the same days as the Rail, Maritime and Transport union is striking against Network Rail and 14 train operators.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said union members were more determined than ever to secure a decent pay rise.
He said earlier today: “Network Rail have not made any improvement on their previous pay offer and the train companies have not offered us anything new.
“In fact Network Rail have upped the ante, threatening to impose compulsory redundancies and unsafe 50% cuts to maintenance work if we did not withdraw our planned strike action.
“The train operating companies have put driver-only operations on the table along with ransacking our members’ terms and conditions.
“RMT will continue to negotiate in good faith but we will not be bullied or cajoled by anyone.
“The Government need to stop their interference in this dispute so the rail employers can come to a negotiated settlement with us.”
